Lady Toppers game was worth $8

This past week our Lady Toppers Basketball team have been not only hosting the North Half Basketball Tournament but have also been competing. Can I just first say, our girls are some of the sweetest, nicest girls in the school and Coach Buchanan and Coach Gates have done a fabulous job of making school first basketball second and teachers know if there is a problem with one of them to see the coaches!!! That kind of discipline is always a breath of fresh air. The team knows what is expected and they want to please these two ladies!

Now, after working these games this week I am reminded how I live in a wonderful shell. Most of those who attended these games were just excited sports fans, moms, dads, students, and administrators who wanted to cheer their kids on to a victory; however, in every game there has to be a winner and a loser. Now this is where I am always shocked and I don't know why. As the person who was taking up money with another teacher, we were the first people to be abused. $8!!! Well, we did not set the price nor did our school. We are only doing as we are told so don't bite off my head and then when we make you pay for a kid again call someone else not us. Fans were not purchasing a seat like at a concert, they were paying to walk through the door so everyone had to pay. District or State events just are not the same as a regular season game and we as a school have no control over that. It was kind like yelling and huffing at the mail man when he brings a bill to your house.

I also understand being upset when your team does not win, but no matter what should we not teach our students how to lose graciously. Instead we saw moms and dads act as though their student can do no wrong and that the only reason they lost was because someone does not like someone else. Get real! When a police officer has to ask you to leave and then forces you to leave shame on you! Maybe all calls were not great and maybe they were and no I don't like to see my kids lose but I also want them to have class when they don't win. The first time my parents were escorted out of a ball game would have been the last time they would have attended.

For the rest of my life I will remember this weekend and those kind faces who graciously paid the $8 and thanked us for being there willing to do a job no one else was. I will remember the sweet basketball boosters who made sure we were comfortable and had plenty to eat and drink. I will remember the disappointed fans who stayed to watch the Lady Toppers play even though their team lost and cheered them on. Most of all I will remember the last 15 minutes of a game that was making Houston fans feel defeated and then much like a Mississippi State Football game left us thankful we paid $8 and stayed for the end. I loved watching Sandy sitting with her daddy watching the game, chewing on her fingers, and practically jumping into his lap because the pressure of a point by point game was really getting to her. I also thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the middle of a bunch of fans who really did not know anything about basketball but wanted these girls to win so bad that we were praying every time the ball went in the air, we were holding hands hoping for the best, and crying in the end when the final second ticked past and the Lady Toppers took it all!!! It was a moment that I can relate to and am so glad I was there to witness!

Now, next time you go to a high school ball game of any type please pay for your kids, thank those that are working in any way, and enjoy the game no matter whether your team wins or loses!!!

???Facebook???

Very rarely do I blog for any reason other than keeping family and friends up to date on what is happening in our personal lives. In fact I only started blogging because my brother decided he needed to live anywhere but here and my husband keeps finding ways to take vactaions to Iraq. I like being able to put family events and milestones on here for those interested in my kids mostly; however, this is easy. There is no long drawn out process of picking out styles, accepting "friends," waiting for messages to go back and forth...etc. Every now and then I might change my background but who cares if I don't! Sometimes someone will leave a comment about a silly picture but I don't have to respond and basically there are only a few of you who bother to look anyway and some of you who do look will never read this b/c all you want to do is see pictures of the kids and that is great too!

However, this is as far as I am willing to go. Facebook/Myspace and the like....no thanks! One I just don't have time. Would it be nice to have a little facebook account to keep up with high school and college friends? Maybe, but really if I want to know something about some of them I can either call, text, email, or dare I say it write them a letter. All of which to me would take much less time and would not force me to create an account that evidently Facebook can own now even once you delete it. The more I read about these social networking sites the less I am prone to want one. I read one day how Myspace deleted over 90,000 sexual preditors off of it and now Facebook wants to be able to archive your information in order to use it any way they see fit. I listen to the kids at school talk about having hundreds of friends on their "site" and when I ask how do they know them all their response is, "Oh I don't know them all...they asked to be added so I did." WHAT!!!???!!! I guess I am the only one that scares but kids are putting their pictures on here, passing phone numbers around, and well good grief just telling everything. Even to the extent of saying things on Facebook they would never say to anyones face, therefore, creating a whole soap opera that often leads to serious consequences. I also sat through a conference for librarians the other day at MSU and we were basically "slapped on the hand" for not wanting such sites unblocked at school and encouraged to have our own facebooks in order to visit the MSU's facebook. Well, my response to that is I cannot control what people put on their "social networking" sites therefore there is no room for it in my library. I love technology but often I am afraid we do not pay attention to what we are doing with it and allow the "coolness" factor to overtake what is right and wrong.

Now do I think if you have a facebook or myspace page you are evil or should be punished in some sort of way....NO! I just wish instead of spending our time putting messages on walls and making cute backgrounds we would find someone hungry to feed, help an elderly person rake his/her yard, teach a child to multiply, attend choir practice at church, play in the yard with some kids, get the Sorry! board out and play a round or two with our family, visit your grandma, actually cook supper, shoot even take a nice long nap.

I guess I say ALL this to let the few of you out there that come here know that if you want to send me a message on some sort of wall then you are all out of luck! When we start building the house you can come write a message on those walls before I paint! I would rather talk to you on the phone, get a quick text (I am a great texter), I love getting a good email, and now a days getting a letter from the good ole post master is AWESOME!!! Also, don't assume I am technology stupid just cause I do not want to put myself in harms way to be in this "network"...there are many things I still have to call my brother about and ask how to do but for the most part I am smarter about it than most and just want to be left out of the crazy world of "social networking." Let's do lunch!!!

Emma Lee's Birthday

Emma Lee woke up on Wednesday, January 28, 2009, jumping up and down singing "I'm 6 years-old, I'm 6 years-old!" This is the first time we have seen her truly be excited about her birthday! All she really wanted was to go to Chuck E Cheese so we made plans. She went to school that day and all kinds of special things happened there. Then we went down to Grandmother Sanderson's to visit and she opened presents from her and Memaw...then Aunt Vicky and Todd popped in with an arm load. She loved all of these gifts so much. Then it was off to Tupelo to visit Chuck E Cheese. Emma Lee, Sandy, Brand, Mommy, and Daddy ate pizza, played games and enjoyed the show. She even got a special birthday wish from Uncle Bennett! That made her day! When we were all pooped out and getting into the car we asked Emma if she had a good day and she said YES but i did not get any birthday cake. Guess we can't manage it all or maybe that is just a good excuse to eat cake this week!!! She has been sooooo sweet today...I guess she is just glad to finally have her birthday get here. Emma Lee has had to wait through Daddy's (Sept.), Sandy's (Oct.), Brand's (Nov.), Mommy's(Nov.) and Jesus's birthdays in order to get to hers. What she doesn't realize is that Memaw, Aunt Betty, and she kick off the year for birthdays and really we all have to wait for ours! Well, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all!!!

Emma Lee enjoys a little dancing with none other than Chuck E Cheese himself!!!

Emma Lee takes a spin on the clock..."Look, no hands!"

Emma Lee is off to the races! She is going to be a great horse woman one day!

Here Emma Lee is earning tickets while learning to smash those scarey spiders!!!

Sandy and Daddy get into the action by seeing who can get the most hoops!

Brand can even enjoy the fun while learning to drive the BIG truck!!!

Brief look at the Garner's Christmas

We had a great Christmas and enjoyed all the visiting we did. This time always goes by so fast that it is sad when it all comes to an end but we want to thank everyone for everything...not just the gifts but also the love we receive from everyone! Happy New Year!!!

Emma Lee truly thinks she is a princess now that Popsey has given her a castle!

Sandy and Emma Lee try to show Brand how to play with his ball popper...they tend to play with his toys more than he can!

Brand is so excited he is flipping over!

MeMaw and Aunt Betty help Laurel figure out how to rip into those presents!

Aunt Jana, Sandy, and Emma Lee begin working on Santa's cookies and then move on to a might fine gingerbread house!

Laurel and Grandmother get to have a good chat

We all get a chance to have a talk with Santa!!