"Say What?"
Top Ten Quotes Right Now

I've heard lots of funny, touching, interesting things in my life lately (that's sorta what happens when you have three girls like mine!), so I thought that on this Random Tuesday I'd give you the Top Ten Quotes overheard lately around here.

(1) "I need to buy an afro," followed soon after by "I'm borrowing a paper shredder."

It's Homecoming Week here in our town and the Junior-Senior Wars are going full-steam ahead. They compete to see who is dressed up best for the spirit days each day (hence the need for an afro...for Tacky Day), but then the competition really heats up every night. The kids begin gathering their "weapons" and head out to roll people's yards (hence the need for a paper shredder...to shred paper up into as many pieces as possible, so it can be strewn all over someone's yard). We've already been rolled twice and last night's work was truly a toilet papering masterpiece. The funny thing is that, when I was younger, people who were unpopular or unliked were rolled. Today, it's like a fun competition to see how well you can roll your best friends' houses. (Last night, the roll-ee came and had me take a picture in the yard with McKenna!)

(2) "I'm so proud that we finally played so awesome."

Delaney's middle school volleyball team competed in the county tournament this past weekend and they did so much better than we anticipated. They had been having some rough matches in the last couple of weeks, but they really brought their A-game to the tournament. We made it into the second day of competition and came two points away from beating one of our main rivals in a tie-break game. Delaney was just so proud to see them do so well finally; she even got a little weepy when it was all over with.

(3) "Roll Tide."

Delaney went with me to the Alabama-Arkansas game this past weekend and we had a wonderful time together. Good mother-daughter time, good snacks, wonderful atmosophere....and it sure didn't hurt that we dominated the game and won 35-7!

(4) "I wanna take my picture with the President."

On our way home from the game, we decided to stop into KFC to grab a quick late-night snack (apparently, all the nachos and Dippin Dots and cokes from the game hadn't filled us up!). As we walked in, Sydney said, "I wanna take my picture with the president." She ran over to a bench in the restaurant and plopped down on it. "That's not the president," I told her, laughing the entire time. "That's Colonel Sanders." (I'm still trying to figure out where that came from. Maybe he reminded her of Abraham Lincoln?)

(5) "Can you make a cupcake tower for my wedding?"

You all know how much I love to cook and bake, and right now I'm sorta obsessed with cupcakes. I've made them for a lot of different occasions lately and I've actually entertained the thought of opening a custom cupcake business out of my house (I bring different cupcakes to the midde school girls class I teach every other week at church and they totally said they would be my advertisting managers; LOL), so I was SO excited when a friend asked me to make a cupcake tower for her wedding. It's a small wedding (I'll make about 50 cupcakes, plus a small cake for the top), but I'm super-excited anyway. Right now we're thinking vanilla and strawberry cupcakes (with my yummy buttercream frostings) and a pink and brown color theme.

(6) "Thanks, Mom."

The last week has had some stressful moments for Cheryl the Mom, and sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the best job I can to raise my girls right. (You know those moments of uncertainty?...when you raise your voice when you shouldn't, when you discipline only to see them doing the same thing, when you wonder if they're grateful for the job you ARE trying to do). And that's when a simple, "Thanks, Mom" means the world to you!

(7) "Can you make me an empanada?"

I had to include this one because it was just SO random. It came, of course, from Sydney's mouth and I had to ask her if she even knew what an empanada was. "It's like a little pie," she answered. I then asked her how she knew what that was. "I just know," she said. Okay, Sydney, I'm very impressed by your intelligence (and I guess I need to find a good empanada recipe).

(8) "Mom always has a camera."

I was taking pictures last night of McKenna and her friend, Chris, shredding paper (for the aforementioned Homecoming festivities) and Sydney said, "Mom always has a camera." She is absolutely correct. I pretty much take pictures of everything.

(9) "It feels like Fall."

This morning, heading out to school, I felt the first real nip of Fall in the air. It must have been around 55 degrees and it felt absolutely wonderful! I'm definitely a warm weather gal, but about this time of year in the South I'm ready for it to head down below the 80s and 90s. And the Fall temps means that football's more comfortable, Halloween's just around the corner, and it's time to buy some fun cool-weather clothes.

(10) "Did you know, Mom, that every day is a good day?"

Sunday was a very good day here in Alabama and in the Wray household. The sun was shining, there was a nice warm breeze in the air, and it was just one of those days when it felt good to be alive. I had spent time at church with good friends, and I had been inspired by the music sung and the words spoken. I had been refreshed by the spirit of friendship actually being shared by the girls (and their Mom and Pop!). So, the day was already going well when Sydney came up to me and provided me with that zinger. I just gave her a hug and said that, yes, I did know that. (But it sure was nice to have her reminding me of it!)

And now...

how about sharing a meaningful (or funny, or sweet, or whatever) thing you've heard in the last couple of days. Share it in my comments section, or post it on your own blog (and let us know you're doing it).

Have a wonderful day!