A MILLion stories to share 2.2

I haven't posted about my little sister lately (from Big Brothers Big Sisters), so here's a recap of the past month! I love spending time with her. She brings so much joy to my life. She's hilarious, sweet, goofy, and has quite the imagination. My mom was in town tonight and wanted to meet her. We had dinner at Dave & Buster's and then played games. They're now best friends. She decided she didn't like the name Bev and decided to call my mom "Bob" instead, which she did - all night! Also, when it was time to pick a prize with our tickets we had three people give us their tickets! We doubled what we started with. Seriously, next time, we're just going to hang out in the "prize corner" and I'm gonna let her pout about wishing she had more tickets every time someone comes around. She's better at that than playing the games and I'll save a ton of money. Maybe I'll start a college fund for her with the savings!

Last weekend we took advantage of the great weather and headed to Shelby Park in East Nashville for a bit. Check it out:

And, finally, here are a few shots from the "Ghouls at Grassmere" event at the zoo a few weeks ago:

that is all

a MILLion stories to share 1.6

This past weekend I took my little sister to Nashville Shores. It was definitely an experience. Amidst water slides, a large water bucket dumping on top of you, over-priced fried food, large ladies that couldn't keep their tops on, rain and clouds, and almost as many lifeguards as visitors, Jamenita decided to throw up in one of the pools. Too much excitement I guess. Since no one seemed to notice, we quickly evacuated the swimming area and headed to the restrooms/showers... YUCK

Despite the incident, we still had a lot of fun. I had a few shots left with the waterproof disposal camera that I took rafting. Take a look:

Isn't she cute?

Nice. I know.

Her eye is open. Creepy.

Another great photo of the two of us. 

a MiLLion stories to share 1.2

Happy Birthday Jamenita!

Last week, Jamenita, who you met in an earlier post, turned 7. 

To celebrate, I took her to dinner at Dave & Buster's.

Mmmm mm. Yummy chicken fingers and fries.

Next, we moved to the arcade area and hit the ticket winning games! Wednesdays are half price game nights. Excellent.

Finally, we traded in our tickets for a prize. 

I have a secret: this is the second time we've gone to Dave & Buster's and both times I've only let her spend a portion of her tickets. The remainder are safely stored on my D&B Card. One day she'll get to get something REALLY BIG. She'll be so excited. 

Is that deceitful?

This is what she chose:

First she named the pup "Brat," but then decided upon "Ashley." Should I be concerned?

When I took her home all the neighbor kids were out playing in front of her house. Her brother, who is 8, asked me to stay and play kickball with them. I wasn't quite dressed for the occasion, but told him that next time I'd bring my tennis shoes and stay and play. Should be interesting...

A MILLion stories to share 1.1

Meet Jamenita

This is my little sister through the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization. She's six and quite the character. We always have fun together. She keeps me young. 

Earlier this week we hung out at Centennial Park. She had just been given a Dora the Explorer pail and shovel so she insisted on playing in the sand. A few other kids joined us as we made a sand birthday cake complete with stick candles. Next thing you know, we're singing "Happy Birthday" and she's blowing out her candles.

After everyone had their turn celebrating we moved on to the playground. After several rejected requests to chase her, she settled on going down the slide by herself.

She did convince me once to go down the slide with her. I'm pretty sure I have a few bruises, but unfortunately, no pictures. The next order of business was swinging. She's old enough and smart enough to swing on her own, but she likes being pushed so she can go up real high.

We ended our day on the smaller playground where I worked hard to protect the 2 year olds hanging out at the bottom of the slide she was racing down. Smaller children just don't move out of the way fast enough for her!

The last time we hung out at Centennial (it's my favorite place in Nashville, by the way) we fed the ducks and had a picnic. She's convinced the ducks understand English.

She had doritos with her sandwich. Isn't she precious?

No matter how tired I feel or how many other things I have going on in my life, the time spent with her is always worth it. I try and hang out every other week for a couple of hours. If you have 4-8 hours to give up a month I'd recommend getting your own little. She is truly a blessing in my life. You can start here: www.bbbs.com