fuhgetaboutit

Hayden and I dined together last night at Chick fil-A, and the kid would NOT pose for a photo. I tried my hardest, but he wouldn't budge. Yet these were just as fun.

Camera shy? Maybe. But shy?

Not on your life.

words to remember

My 8-year-old, eating an ice cream sundae at Applebees with my Grandmother: Ahhhh, this is the good life.

My 4-year-old, hitting me in the chest with a football during a game of toss: Whoa, right in the bosom!

My youngest, after older brother Griffin tells me he wants to have his best buddy, Robby, come over: Hey, I thought I was your best buddy!

Youngest: How come I can't be in charge?

My oldest, after telling him we'd be going to church in the morning: Good, they have the BEST doughnuts!

After watching a Netflix commercial, my 4-year-old telling someone: Take the drama out, would ya?

Someone I know who shall remain nameless: I'm heading to Weight Watchers, just as soon as I finish this ice cream cone.

Greeting my oldest in my pj's following my nap, as he came home from school: Mom, did you even go to work today?

taylor rocks in her socks

Forgot to post this fun photo of Taylor Swift last week. Only Taylor could get away with an outfit like that, and still look adorable.

Go T.

who gave Carrie scissors?

A photo from Carrie Underwood's new album, Play On.

It hits stores November 3rd. Jim and Kevin will need to be reminded to actually open the album, where they will find music inside.

I live for them

If Greg and I disagree on one thing, it's who our youngest takes after...me or my husband.

Our son tends to be unafraid of anything, including voicing his opinion at sometimes inappropriate occasions, and he is quite the character. 'He's your son,' Greg will tease me, and of course, I deny it just like I deny that I don't know where we keep the vacuum. Truth is, I don't. But I do scrub toilets, so doesn't that cancel out the other one?

Getting back to the entire point of this post, last night I realized I was witnessing another one of my 4-year-old's silly outbursts and asked him, 'Hayden...what in the world am I going to do with you?' And he responded...

'Love me?'

maybe next time we'll read a book

I checked on my oldest son after he went to bed last night, and he asked me to tell him a story.

I can do that, I figured. I mean, how hard can a quick adventure starring my 8-year-old take? So I began with the old standard 'Once upon a time,' but realized this story-telling business just isn't what it used to be. Here's the conversation:

Me: Once upon a time, there was a boy named Griffin. And he was a...

Him: A football player!

Me: Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay, a football player. And he played for the Indianapolis Colts.

Him: No, how bout Notre Dame?

Me: Alrighty then, he played for the Irish. And the crowd called him Speed, because he ran so fast.

Him: Noooo, they called me Lightning. How bout that for my nickname?

Me: Lightning it is. And Griffin was Number 9.

Him: Mom?

Me: Yeah, buddy?

Him: Could I be number 14, instead?

Me: Sure, Griffin wore the number 14 on his jersey. And he ran onto the field to the cheers of the crowd...

Him: Yeah, but how bout...I ran out onto the field through one of those giant inflatable tunnels...

Me: Ok...you ran through a giant, inflatable tunnel...and Griffin won the game for the Irish. The End.

Him: Hey, you never told the story!

No, but he did.

the stuff I can't throw away

What do you save?

I have a mountain of sentimental items from my kids that I can't seem to part with, like the handprints my youngest made at preschool, Griffin's first Happy Meal toy, first clip-on tie he wore in my sister's wedding, and you get the idea. Some things don't make the save pile, like my oldest son's science fair project on Skittles, for obvious reasons, or the nail clippings from my youngest son's first trim.

I'm sentimental, not crazy.

And yesterday, I found myself adding another item to the save storage box, when my 8-year-old returned home from school saying he had written a poem for a class assignment to describe themselves. I've read it at least a dozen times:

Griffin

The caring, nice, gentle big brother of Hayden.

Who likes to play, read, and rest.

Brings to the world his laughter and athletic skills.

Lover of caring people, playing football and Nerf gun fights.

Fears the dark and spiders.

Knows a whole lot about science, and sports, and math.

Who desperately wants to buy a cherry red Ferarri.

Wouldn't be caught dead eating a chili cheese dog.

And needs lots of care.

kenny ends the party in tears

Kenny Chesney ended the party of all parties in tears Saturday night in Indianapolis.

No one can accuse the guy of not being sentimental. The night began with the roof opened at Lucas Oil Stadium, and Kenny performed his final few songs in a blue Colts hat featuring the well-known horseshoe. During the ballad 'Better as a Memory,' Kenny choked up and barely got through the lyrics, often letting the band carry him while tears fell from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. Obviously, the final show of his tour combined with the news that he won't be back next year left him an emotional mess.

A couple of things you might have missed:

Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry's guyliner

Miranda Lambert grabbing a black bra that a fan threw on stage for Kenny and putting it over her t-shirt

Kenny giving Jennifer Nettles several hugs and kisses and holding her hand as they walked the stage

Some disappointed fans who didn't hear Sugarland perform their hit 'Stay'

Me taking a photo of the entire stadium from the stage during my Sugarland introduction, only to have it not turn out

Me making a pitstop in the ladies' room when it was over, and locking myself in the stall

A WFMS listener buying a beer for Greg, who couldn't have been happier

The woman behind me asking Greg, whose arm was around my chair, to make sure his fingers didn't drop in her drink

And Greg telling that woman, 'Why? My fingers are clean. I've only picked my nose.'

Fun times.

photo crasher

Nice photo, huh?

Well it WOULD have been had my husband not wormed his way into it. The girl posing was seated in front of us at the Kenny Chesney show Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium. Her friend was taking the photo to capture the moment when Greg decided to 'enhance' the background.

Fortunately, they found it amusing and sent it my way. Never a dull moment.

we're all atwitter...to twitter

It's here.

The biggest event in country music, a Kenny Chesney concert. He hits the stage at Lucas Oil Stadium tomorrow night, yet the fun lasts all weekend, beginning with the party tonight at the Hard Rock Cafe. You may recall Kenny making a surprise appearance at the shindig a year ago, and we are hoping for the same incognito appearance of Kenny in a ballcap and glasses.

We're covering it all, the Hard Rock action, the Sun City tailgate party outside Lucas Oil, and the backstage action before the show. (Somehow, my co-host Jim Denny amazingly scored an appearance at Hooters as well.) Our cell phones are charged, so look for our twitter pics to see what's happening in downtown Indy over the weekend. We'll be tweeting like crazy over the next 48 hours, which can only mean one thing.

Kenny's in town.

Kenny's in Town

The morning show had fun putting this together. We featured it this morning.

See you at the show!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG1rHPczdyw&feature=player_embedded#t=126

Kanye called Taylor, she forgave him, Obama speaks his mind, and that's all folks

If you were up early, as in 5:20 this morning, you heard the morning show talking about President Obama's thoughts on the Taylor-Kanye dealio.

An ABC reporter apparently tweeted what was an off-the-cuff remark when the President was asked about Kanye's ego, I mean, interruption at the MTV awards Sunday. Hey, just because he's the President doesn't he mean he isn't human. Who would have thought that the audio would be heard, but TMZ has posted it. See below...

Go Prez.

http://www.tmz.com/2009/09/15/obama-calls-kanye-a-jackass/

country stars twitter for taylor

Lady Antebellum: “WE LOVE YOU TAYLOR SWIFT!”

John Rich: “KanyeWest is a lowlife. He needs to have his @@@ kicked in the middle of the stage right now! What a piece of @@@@!!! Go TAYLOR SWIFT.”

Not surprisingly, B-F-F Kellie Pickler was quick to comment. She Tweeted, "Tater Tot, you handled yourself with grace. Kanye, don't mess with my lil' sis."

Brad Paisley chimed in, "Poor Kanye. So shy, so humble, such a class act. Why doesn't anyone like him? I mean, come on! Just kidding, of course. He's a total a**."

Reba McEntire's tweet offered congrats and advice -- "So proud of Taylor winning last night at the VMA's! Way to go girl! Lesson to all of us to keep a firm grip on the microphone."

Blake Shelton was surprisingly G-rated with his comments. "Sorry y'all, but we're just a little bit protective of Taylor Swift around here! Hey Kanye -- by 'around here,' I mean the world. Moron."

Jack Ingram kept it brief but heartfelt. "Taylor Swift is graceful amidst weirdness."

Jewel Tweeted, "You can't steal Taylor Swift's thunder. He only made himself look like an a**."

taylor swift goes postal

Taylor Swift.

She's certainly been the topic of conversation lately, including this blog after the Kanye debacle. All of us on the morning show decided Monday morning that we would no longer buy Kanye's music...oh wait, we never have.

So I got to work this morning and was rushing around, grabbing coffee, reading the news and rolling my eyes at Kanye's supposed cryfest on last night's Leno, when my co-host told me to check my mailbox.

Inside was this card from our pal Taylor Swift, which she penned within 48 hours of the CMA nominations being announced last week. Something tells me Taylor has way more important things to occupy her time, yet she found some moments to send each of us a personalized note from the road, along with a couple of guitar picks.

A class act, no question. Someone's momma raised her right.

Go T.

taylor swift deserved better

All I can is...what a jerk.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/news/436578/kanye-west-crashes-the-stage.jhtml

taylor swift excited? An understatement

The CMA nominations have been announced for the show in November, and Taylor Swift got up early this week to watch them from her bed in her hotel room.

She was kind enough to share what she calls 'one of the best days ever' with her fans. Love her excitement. Check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnN7kIqDgz0

I've got competition

Tucking in my 4-year-old last night, I gave him a hug and kiss goodnight. And then we chatted for a quick second:

Me: Love you, buddy...more than anything.

Him: I love you more than anything, Mom.

Me: Ok, night.

Him: ...Anything in the whole world.

And I as turned to walk out the door, I heard this:

...'Well, except Mickey Mouse.'

on yesterday

Hitting a huge pothole while merging onto 465...Frustrating

A flat tire when I should be picking up my son...Stressful

Having 7 police cars pass by without so much as a wave...UNBELIEVABLE

And how was your day?

breaking up with Starbucks, Round Two

Ok, so I caved.

Didn't make it past noon today, when I found myself in the Fivebucks drive-thru, as I like to call it. But, there's always tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'll be searching for a support group.

more difficult than I thought

Ok, so I'm not doing as well as I had hoped.

I'm talking about my not-well-thought-out plan to eliminate Starbucks from my diet. Sounded good at the time, not really for health reasons, because I think everyone in life deserves a little, possibly daily, indulgence. In a nutshell, I'm tired of paying nearly five dollars for my coffee. The taste has been an addiction of mine over the past six years, so good that I've overlooked the almost five-dollar pricetag.

Last week I made a promise to myself...quit buying it. I had hoped to just wake up on a Monday with this newfound willpower. Instead, I told myself what's one more day, said the same thing on Tuesday, again on Wednesday, and you get the idea.

'I'll start next week,' I told myself.

How sad. It's like a diet now, constantly being put off. So, last night I convinced myself that if I can give birth, I can swear off highly-priced caffeine. I've tried all the tricks, downsizing from the largest cup, to the medium, then the smallest, and even tried buying the stuff on an every-other-day basis.

No luck. And so, here I am.

A new week. A new Monday, even though it's really Tuesday, but I told myself yesterday was a holiday. Translation? Buy coffee. I haven't caved yet, however I am sitting in a studio here at work asking myself what one MORE day would hurt. For good time's sake. One for the road, as they sometimes say. And my newest, and saddest, reasoning yet? Maybe I could keep buying Starbucks this week until I'm out of cash in my wallet. And then that's it for good. No using my debit card.

While I'm being completely ridiculous, what about only buying on days I'm wearing jeans, days I have my hair in a ponytail, or days that begin with 'T?'

Oh help me.

I like his answer better

As parents, we are sometimes forced to come up with quick answers to difficult questions. If you're a mom or a dad, you know what I'm talking about.

Like where do babies come from, what does God look like, where does our dog go when it dies, etc?

So I was bracing myself for the worst as Greg and I were leaving an Indianapolis Indians baseball game last night with the boys. We came face-to-face with flashing red and blue lights and a man at the entrance, sitting on the street, handcuffed with police at his side. Greg shot me a glance, as if to say 'I'm sure this will be interesting.' After all, it's not every day you see someone getting arrested. And for an added twist, the man appeared to be intoxicated and was openly crying. A loud bawl, if you will.

The ordeal was quickly interrupted by my 4-year-old, who asks more questions than Jeopardy's Alex Trebek hears, when I instantly heard him say, 'Hey Mom?' I tried hard to find the words that would make sense to a young boy, when he stated...

'He must be sad that the Indians lost.'

i love how you see the world

It's weird how one day you have small children, and then without notice they grow up.

A four-year-old is no longer a toddler, not yet a teenager, and certainly still needs his mom, yet almost overnight they find more independence. During a busy weekend, I spotted my energetic little guy in our backyard wearing his big brother's tackle football pads. I paused to watch my son play alone, mimicing the moves he sees from the sideline. After snapping this picture, I wrote this...

Dear Hayden,

Today I stopped to watch you play and it melted my heart. Your energy is contagious and I love how you see the world, how nothing bad happens in your little corner of life, at least nothing to keep you down. The way you admire your big brother makes my heart smile, from the time you asked me if you could get glasses 'because Griffin wears them,' or when I ask what you want for a bedtime snack and you respond, 'What's Griffin having?'

I love how you don't walk down the sidewalk, you gallup, how you dance in the car and sing way off-key with your ipod, how your tongue sticks out the side of your mouth as you squeeze the ketchup out of tiny packets at Chick fil-A, and how you shout while running out the door, 'Love you, Mom!'

Your enthusiasm for baseball is sweet, how you sleep in your wristbands, sometimes two or three at a time, how you tuck in your jersey cause 'the real players do,' and how I can't get you to sit in one place for long, but you won't leave your seat at an Indians game.

How you almost panic when you hear the music of the ice cream truck, how your blue eyes sparkle from across the room, and how the same boy who told me at the age of two 'I got it' when being buckled into his carseat still reaches for my hand.

I mostly love your heart, the way you hug our dog and cover her with a blanket, how you share without being told, and how you are content to play in a group or solo, because you never sweat the small stuff.

Sure, you have your occasional temper flares which have certainly been passed down from me, still I'm hoping it will become the passion that drives you in life. The life you love so much. If only I could capture your innocence and bottle it up, so you could always be carefree. You are the glimmer in this world, the calm when things seem tough, and the much-needed giggle at the end of the day.

Be proud of who you are, Hayden. I am.

Love, Mom

it's not just country stars who call

Remember Ally Sheedy?

Every time I think of her, the scene from The Breakfast Club comes rushing back where she shook her dandruff onto her desk while sitting in after-school detention.

I'm sure she's thrilled to stir up such hygenic thoughts. At any rate, she joins us on the show next week.

Stay tuned.

we never get bored

My youngest son is best described as a chatty Cathy doll. He loves to talk.

Just like his Momma, I suppose. My sisters still give me grief that as a child I told never-ending stories with all sorts of unnecessary details, such as the color of shirt the girl at school was wearing, or whether Bobby had a part down the middle of his hair.

Ok, so I'm descriptive. But I think those details paint a pretty nice picture. After all, who wouldn't want to know about Bobby's hairline?

And so my 4-year-old gets it honest. He talks and talks, then talks some more. Not with the typical question of 'Why' at the end of each sentence, because let's face it, Hayden doesn't really care why. Instead, he's the storyteller. Except I'm not sure where one story ends and a new one begins.

It's no surprise that following his first day of moving up to a new classroom at preschool, his teacher sent home a note that read: 'My favorite thing about today: Talking to Mr. Q about everything.'

Fair assessment.

By the way, as I tucked my little guy into bed last night, we shared an interesting conversation...

Him: Mom, it won't be long before I have a girlfriend.

Me: Really? I bet so. What do you think she'll look like?

Him: I don't know. Pretty, probably. With brown hair.

Me: Okay. You think you'll take her out to dinner?

Him: Yeah, I guess. Probably to Chick fil-A. They have good waffle fries.

Me: They sure do. What do you think her name will be?

Him: Mirinda. I like that name.

Me: (Never heard of it) But, no kissing, right?

Him: Oh, I'll kiss her. Even on the lips. But NOT with lipstick.

Me: Yep, you don't like lipstick.

Him: And she'll probably wanna come over to my house.

Me: Maybe one day you'll get married.

Him: Yeah, probably. Just like you.

Me: And have kids just like we had you.

Him: Yep. I think I'll have six.

Me: Wow, that's a lot. You've gotta help change diapers, too.

Him: I know. But, that's gross.