Pom Pom Flowers

For Jason and Kristen's shower I thought I would get a little creative and try to make some decorations.  I saw these pom pom flowers on another blog and thought they looked like something I could make.

First, you will need tissue paper (I used 4 - 5 large pieces), scissors (maybe), a pipe cleaner, and ribbon.

Next, cut the tissue paper in half, giving you a total of 8 to 10 sheets.

**I read where you could use napkins instead of tissue paper.  I thought that was a neat idea if you could find the color of tissue paper you wanted.

Then you will take your stack fo paper and start to fold it like a fan.

Tie the pipe cleaner around the middle.

And begin to fluff.

I took the pipe cleaner and made a little hook so I could loop the ribbon through.  Depending on where you are going to hang/place these, you could do the same.

Viola, you have a pom pom flower!

Arkansas State Review

Football season is here and week 1 is in the books. It was an exciting week especially considering this was Paige’s first Auburn game. I think she even said “War Eagle DaDa!” while at the game (or something that sounded nothing like that unless you are a proud daddy holding your girl as AU scores a touchdown). Anyway, Paige and LeeAnn have heard my analysis of week 1 but for all those sitting around waiting, here goes.

In week 1, Auburn beat a very feisty and scrappy Arkansas State team. If you are a glass half-full kind of person then you see 52 points and a QB with some ridiculous stats. If you are a glass half-empty kind of person then you see a defense with some significant weaknesses. So which is it? I’ll try to clear that up.

While it is hard to really get a good picture of this team from playing Ark. St. in week 1, I would like to start with 5 observations of this team:

1. We have a QB! Cam Newton is the real deal. His arm strength is ridiculous and he has great speed. Combine this with some great composure in the pocket and you have a great QB. That being said, he will not be able to make those runs against SEC opponents, but I can’t wait to see him try. As a side note, just look at this guy’s size. He may be bigger than ¼ of our DL and LBs.

2. We have a punt returner! Q. Carr is a breath of fresh air returning punts and made some great solid catches and returns. Still room for improvement though as he caught a couple he shouldn’t have and called for a fair catch once when had plenty of running room.

3. I was worried about RB depth. Well, HELLO MIKE DYER! This true freshman will be special if he continues to develop. Deceptively fast and strong. Reminds me of a young Ronnie Brown. Hopefully like Ronnie he will learn to not dance around and instead hit the hole hard.

4. Onterio McCalleb is still very important to this team. Most underrated player on this team in my opinion. If he wore number 24 and an extra 15 pounds I’d probably confuse him with a certain Cadillac. His speed and cuts are amazing and once he gets those shoulders turned up field he is hard to stop. I look for him and Dyer to be the featured backs by the end of the year however we ideally need 4 RBs so Mario will also play a huge role especially with catches out of the backfield.

5. True freshman on the D-line are just ridiculously good. Whitaker (has the body of a NFL lineman) and K. Carter on the interior may be the best 2 linemen we have and with experience will be significant contributors to this team. Lemonier has a sick first step of the line at DE and there is a certain Ark St. right tackle still looking for his shoes after Lemonier put a move on him in the fourth quarter and juked him out of his shoes. Craig Sanders is a very undersized DE and will need to get bigger and stronger. That being said his contributions to the special teams were amazing and it will be hard to keep him off the field.

The Good – In addition to the above, the offense in the Ark. St game was simply amazing. Over 600 yards! 400 of those were by Cam Newton. On the flip side, it was against Ark. St. so I’ll hold Cam’s Heisman till he beats MSU. I highlighted some defensive positives above and would like to add that Savage is a great open field tackler and is an asset in the secondary.

The Bad – Overall defense giving up 23 pts to Ark St. That being said, Ark St is actually pretty good on offense and we played a very vanilla defense. On the other hand our secondary needs to significantly step up this week. Our safeties looked timid at times, but they both are coming off injuries. The corners were giving a lot of ground and overall they all need to play a little stronger and get off blocks better. This was a problem and will continue to be with stronger teams and receivers. Additional worries include the punting, with a 39 yd avg.

The Rest of the Story - The OL could have played better overall and will need to step up this week. However at times they gave Cam Newton about an hour to find an open receiver and opened some big holes. When a defender did come thru the line, Cam usually bought time with his feet and size. He is just going to be hard to bring down. He also had one play where he ran around for like 5 minutes before finally completing the pass.
The wildcat was effective at times and not at others. I look for us to open this up as the season goes on and receivers other than Kodi will get playing time here and I even look for Mario to take a snap or 2.

On Defense we have plenty room to improve and I expect we will. A lot of true freshman saw playing time and they will continue to grow. The true test comes this week with MSU. They put up 49 on Memphis and looked good doing so. We are going to have to pressure the QB and play strong in the secondary to keep them from repeating that point total. Additionally the offense will have to score points and may have to get creative to do so. I hope we get to see T. Reed this week and he may play a significant role.

I am going to pick AU to win on Thursday night in Starkville but I think it will be very high-scoring and VERY close. I think it will come down to turnovers and whoever is positive in that category will win. I honestly see it going either way and I am going to call it that this may be one of the hardest games we play all year. Starkville is not an easy place to play (although a fun place to watch a game!) and MSU is much improved under Mullen. They will make noise this year in the West and will beat someone they are not supposed to this year; I just hope it isn’t us. WAR EAGLE!

Paige's First Game

As Auburn made their debut for the 2010 season, so did Paige!  She got to go to her first, of many, AU games!!!  The whole day was so much fun!!

Normally for the first game it would be 100 degrees outside so we opted to eat at Buffalo Connection.  The weather was nearly as hot as usual but I am glad we stayed inside.  It was perfect for Paige (and we figured there would be plenty of other games where we could tailgate on campus). 

Thank you Aunt Shirley for the adorable AU outfit!!

Nana and Papa Joe gave Paige a cute Auburn cheerleader doll - it was too cute and she really enjoyed playing with it.  We used it to practice our cheers.

Right outside the gate, getting ready to go in to the stadium

Paige after her first Auburn touchdown.  Yes, she fell asleep just as the game started and slept basically through the first quarter. 

Paige was an angel the entire time we were there.  I had been practicing cheers and the fight song with her but didn't know how she would really react with a full stadium doing them too.  I don't know that she even noticed what was really going on.  Everyone around us told me how great she was (of course she was great, right?!?).  I think her favorite part was staring at all of the people.  She would stare them down until they looked at her and smiled.  I can't decide if she and I will be going back to any games, but we will definitely be going back for the food and fun!!

Oh, and I forgot to say that we won - yay!  War Eagle!

Ranch Dip

To get this football season kicked off I thought it would be fun to share the recipe to Brad's favorite football dip, Ranch dip.  I don't really know that is the real title but that is what we call it when people ask what it is (to us just plain old "dip", "are you going to make some dip this weekend?", dip = ranch dip, is there any other kind?).

So, here's what you need:

*A packet of ranch dressing
*A thing of bacon bits (the jar with the black top)
*2 cups of shredded cheese (you can use mild or sharp cheddar, I like the fancy style so I normally get which ever one looks better to me at the store)
*16 oz sour cream (I use fat free and don't have any problems)
*A bag of scoop fritos (needed to eat the dip with)

Sorry the measurements are exact (a thing of this, a thing of that) but the picture should explain what a "thing" is.

Mix it all ranch, bacon bits, cheese, and sour cream all together.  I normally mix the ranch and bacon bits first, then add the sour cream, then cheese, but you could do it any way you wish.

Viola~

You have ranch dip ready to go to your tailgate! 

I like to make it a day ahead of time or early in the morning before the games begin because it tastes better after all the flavors have time to mesh together.  But, if you can't make it then, don't worry.  It will still taste great!  I have made it in the car on the way to a game.

H-O-L-D...

Hold that line!

Defense

In the last post I gave my thoughts on this year’s offense. Now for my thoughts on the 2010 defense.

It is no secret that one of the biggest weaknesses on the 2009 team was the defense. It is also no secret that the jury is still out on Ted Roof due to the team’s performance. I am willing to give Roof a pass for now. The 2009 defense had to be the thinnest and most injury prone unit I have ever seen. Many will blame the Bama loss on the defense but again I give Roof and the defense a pass here. When it came to the Bama game we were so thin we were playing a true freshman undersized linebacker beside 2 other linebackers who hadn’t sat for a snap since sometime in early September. We had no backups in the secondary because the backups were the starting safeties. I read somewhere after that game that something like 26 Bama players recorded a defensive stat while something like 16 AU players recorded a defensive stat. Keep in mind 11 play at a time. Bottom line – this group was tired and had absolutely no depth. We were 1 injury away from recruiting frat boys from the stands to fill in at linebacker. A pulse and a pair of cleats would have gotten you a spot on the 2 deep last year at linebacker or safety.

The primary focus of the 2010 recruiting class was to increase depth on defense and the coaches certainly achieved this goal. The fact that we have a warm body to place on the field means that this year’s defense will be improved. Do I expect significant improvement? No, while we have added depth they are inexperienced. While this group of freshman is extremely talented, inexperience in the SEC can spell trouble and it is this reason alone that I believe AU will lose 2-3 games. I’ll go through each position and discuss whether we are upgraded, worse or the same as last year.


Defensive Line – Same. We lose one of the best pass rushers in AU history in Antonio Coleman and that is a huge loss. However we have some VERY talented freshman providing key depth here. I also really like Nick Fairley who will start this year at tackle. Watch for this guy to spend lots of time in opponents’ backfields. If this unit plays together and we develop 2 great pass rushers this defense will be just fine. Remember the names Lemonier and Whitaker as I look for them to develop quickly into very solid players.

 

Linebacker – Upgraded. As I discussed above, this unit is upgraded just because we have warm bodies to provide depth. A bonus is the fact that again these freshmen are EXTREMELY talented and will be a significant strength of this team for some time. Coming back are Josh Bynes and Craig Stevens and both are solid linebackers. This year Darren Bates moves from safety to linebacker and I love the move. Bates can flat out hit somebody. Oh and by the way he is fast! While he may be on the small side, anytime you can move a guy with a nose for the football, who can hit hard, closer to the ball it is a good thing. Look for this group to be a very strong part of this defense if they all stay healthy. If Bynes and Stevens go down however, we could be in trouble with inexperience leading the way.

 

Secondary – Upgraded. Again the presence of any depth whatsoever improves this group; however I am still very concerned about this group’s depth. On the bright side Aaron Savage and Zac Etheridge both return at safety and Mike McNeil provides some great depth at this position. Neiko Thorpe and Demond Washington are solid corners but Neiko needs to continue to grow and improve. T’sharvan Bell provides good depth and a nickelback option, however behind him is again inexperience. This group MUST stay healthy and will rely on the DL to put some pressure on opposing QBs.

 

Overall we are improved if for no other reason than depth. However I am very concerned about the lack of experience as most backups are true freshman. If these guys mature quickly and there are relatively few injuries then this Defense will be just fine with solid depth. If there are injuries especially at a few key positions (CB) then we are in for a long defensive season. That being said, if you read my comments on the offense earlier I think they can score enough to keep us in most games. However a quick paced Malzahn offense means the Defense will likely be on the field a lot. Lastly remember Chizik has presided over 2 championship defenses (04 AU and 05 Texas) and I truly believe that he and Ted Roof will have this group playing much better and just having Chizik on the sideline makes me feel much better.

A Little Bit Like Forrest Gump

I was driving in the car the other day thinking about all the stuff that I love or am somewhat obsessed with.  Then I started thinking about how I could do a mini-series on the blog about my favorite things.  I was going to take the week and each day highlight a "favorite" but then I realized that would not work.  There are other things going on that I want to write about (and now Brad wants to write about) so I couldn't make the series go just how I would like.  I also considered making one day a week a "favorite" day but I didn't know how long that would really last and there are certain things I wanted to share on certain days.  So, I decided I would just randomly share.

Today's favorite - our Starwood American Express.  I know you are thinking, "what?  you are sharing about a credit card?".  Yes, a credit card.  I completely obsessed with our credit cards, the Starwood American Express (AE) especially.

We are those people who put everything, I mean everything, on our credit cards and then pay it off at the end of the month - no carrying a balance for us!  We first use our AE and then we go to our Visa.  I am all about some points!! 

Here is why I like the Starwood so much -

* The hotels are nice and are in most large cities, places where we would like to vacation.

*You earn 1 point for every dollar you spend with the card.

* You can transfer the points from the hotel to airlines.  If you transfer 20,000 you get a 5,000 point bonus.

* Starwood hotels have good redemption rates.  1 night at the Shearton in Kauai is only 10,000 points (compare that with Hilton).

* There is a fee, $45, but it is waived for the first year and if you redeem points once a year you can look at it is as you are paying $45 for your hotel.

We have used our points twice, when we went to Key West and when we went to Destin.    It was so nice when we went to Key West to not worry about the hotel.  We used the money we would have spent on the hotel on other fun things that we probably would not have done otherwise.  We also received an awesome upgrade once we got there to an awesome oceanview room.

Ok, there you have it, my thoughts on my one of my favorite things, my Starwood credit card, and that's all I have to say about that.

War Eagle!

This is LeeAnn writing.  Sorry for all of the confusion with who was writing!  Brad and I had talked about him writing on the blog since last year and he finally got a chance to sit down and do it.  Brad will cover his thoughts on football throughout the season and I may throw in a thought or two (more like what we ate and who we saw, you know the important part of the games).

Anyway, welcome September!  The next couple of months are going to full at work (the busiest time of year for us government accountants) and at home with football season.  We are going to try to make it to Auburn as much as possible.  Brad will go to the game and Paige and I will hang out together.  I am so excited that we get to take Paige to her first game this weekend!  I don't know how long we will actually stay but I would love to stay through at least the first quarter.

Since Brad shared his thoughts on the upcoming season, I thought I should share mine.  I have none.  This is the first year in many that I really don't have any.  I am not really sure why, maybe I am just preoccupied with a little one at home.  I used to read all the articles and know everything about the players and recruits (I could tell you their number, position, year and hometown).  Not so much this year though.  I really just hope we win.  From what Brad has told me there is some hype about us doing well this year.  I partially buy into it but then I look back to other years where there was a lot of hype and memories take over (i.e. the bust 2003 where we didn't score a touchdown until the 3rd game of the season in the 2nd quarter of that game - yes, I remember and I went to all 3 games, waiting for that touchdown).

So, what do I really expect for the season?  I expect to have FUN!!!!  I expect to create great memories with friends and family - that is the best part to me (and the food - I am saving that for a later post).  Let's take a short trip down memory lane...

Me, Emily and Ashley - 2004???  Maybe 2005?  We need an updated picture!

The fam - 2009 Iron Bowl

The extended fam - before a GA or Ole Miss game, I think, maybe 2005

Rebecca and me - AU/State 2008 (I love away games too!)

I also can't wait to dress my sweet baby P  (that is one of my favorite things about having a little girl - all the clothes, we get to play dress up!)

This is a little small for her now, but she sure did look cute! (Thanks Uncle Jonathan, I know it took a lot for you to buy this for Paige.  We know you must really love her!)

I am not sure when this will fit but it is too stinkin' cute! 

Let's get this season started!  War Eagle!