Nice Surprise!!

We received some good news this weekend. On Friday night, our great niece Alexis was crowned Homecoming Queen of Magnolia High School in WV. We are so proud of you. The best part is that she was genuinely surprised and overwhelmed by the whole experience. She said she felt like it was a dream. In addition to being a very sweet young lady who is obviously well liked by her peers, Alexis takes pride in being a part of the drum line in her high school band. Way to go Alexis!!!!!

What a nice surprise I had Saturday. I received an email from some friends of ours from NC. They were going to be in town this weekend. Even though time was tight, Alex and I were able to visit with Becca and Sam for about an hour on Saturday evening. Sean had to work so he didn't get to enjoy the visit. It was really nice to have a moment to catch up with friends. Everyone else is reminded that you are welcome to come visit anytime.

We are getting excited for a road trip to Syracuse this weekend with Sean's friend Joe. We are going to get to see the Mountaineers play!!!!! Hopefully they will get back on the winning track!!!

Alex is 4 Months!!!

Oh my how time flies!!!! And boy oh boy is Alex growing fast!!!! Sean took the first picture on his actual 4 month birthday. It is one of my very favorites. You can see how strong he is getting by how well he can hold himself up. The smile just melts my heart. I printed this picture and put it on my cart at school. All of my students love to see how Alex is growing. At his doctor visit this week he weighed in at 17 pounds 8 ounces (92nd percentile) and was measured at 25 1/2 inches (70th percentile). He now wears the same size diaper as his cousin Elizabeth who is over 1 1/2 years old!!!!

His "official" 4 month WVU blanket pictures were taken a few days later. Too bad the Mountaineers lost this week. But at least we weren't alone since 4 other top ten teams lost as well. At least we lost to another ranked team. And while we are ending on a sports note, way to go Sox!!! The Red Sox finally clinched the AL East. Turns out one of the new teachers at my school is a big Sox fan, so I'm not alone in Yankee/Mets territory!!!!!

Saturday in the Park

There is nothing better than a Saturday afternoon in the park (except a Saturday afternoon at Mountaineer Field), especially a Saturday afternoon in Central Park. The Wines headed to the park last Saturday to meet some friends. Sean packed us some snacks and Joe brought the beer and bocce balls. Mike Anderson joined us and our friend Chris Whalen was back in town from LA. Alex finally met Whalen....that's the last of Sean's former roommates. Alex and I hung out on a blanket and enjoyed the sun while the former roommates played bocce ball....you throw a little white golf ball sized ball out and try to hit it with bigger balls....whoever gets his ball closest to the little ball wins....boys and their balls!!!!!

Alex spent his first afternoon at a real babysitter's this week. Her name is Luz Maria, and she is a very sweet Colombian woman. If she keeps Alex much maybe he will be bi-lingual. Then our friend Jazzy kept him while I had "open school" night. He was a good boy for both of his sitters...yeah!!!!!!!! He has mastered rolling over onto his belly. Now he is working on using his knees and feet to scoot himself along....right off his play mat and blankets onto the floor. It won't be long until he is crawing, and then we'll never keep up with him!!!

We've been keeping a close eye on the Red Sox and are hoping they can hold on and win the AL East. I've been trying to find a good luck outfit for Alex, but haven't settled on one yet...it would help if the Sox would get on a little bit of a win streak. We've also been enjoying watching the Mountaineers play on TV. We can't wait until we get to the Syracuse came in a couple of weeks.

On a more unfortunate note, it's a good thing my mom didn't name me Grace. I was going into the RiteAid a few blocks from our apartment this week and I got my heel caught in hole in a man-hole cover....down I went....like in slow motion. I scuffed my knee and shoulder a little and scraped my chin big time....OUCH!!! Nothing major: no broken bones, no stitches. I guess my pride and vanity were injured the most.

College Gameday

We were all ready for the college football season to begin, including Alex. Sean helped get us in the mood by fixing me a "WV" pancake breakfast on Saturday. Then Alex and I were set to watch the game. (Sean had to work so we recorded it so he could watch it later.) Much to our delight, the Mountaineers rolled in their season opener over Western Michigan.