Oh, wow!

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the TN/Cincinnati game. You can read that post by clicking here. In that post I made a comment about how our mascot just wasn't his normal self. I thought maybe he was just hot, turns out it was more than that.

Tennessee's mascot, Smokey, will likely be on the field for this weekend's game against Buffalo after tearing his ACL against Cincinnati two weeks ago.

While running through the end zone during a second-half touchdown against the Bearcats, Smokey pulled up lame, favoring his back right leg. Dr. Darryl Millis, his vet, said he suffered a partial tear in his right knee and that the left is starting to go as well.

But that hasn't stopped Smokey, an 8-year-old blue-tick coonhound, from working his way back on the field. He rehabbed enough last week to make the trip to Florida and Millis is confident he'll be on the field this weekend for his traditional runs across the field pregame and during touchdowns.

"He's doing very well," Millis said. "He's pretty sound. He doesn't really have a limp at all. So, unless he has some kind of a major setback between now and Saturday, and hopefully through the rest of the season, he should be on the field."

Smokey means as much to the Tennessee faithful as any of the players, so getting him back on the field has been a top priority. He's been injected with platelet-rich plasma, done electrical stimulation on the knee and worked out on both the regular and underwater treadmills.

While Millis is hopeful Smokey will be able to finish out the season, he said it's very likely that the dog will have to have surgery at some point to repair the right knee and possibly do some preventative measures for the left. But the surgery should only require an 8-10-week recovery period and Smokey should be good as new.

"We'll rehab him the same way that a football player would rehab, with some modification, of course," Millis said. "We have a state-of-the-art rehab facility, probably the best in the world, and certainly we'll put that to use with him."

* I totally copied and pasted that article above. It was written by Graham Watson.

Wordless Wednesday

1 for 2 Woohoo!

I got my mono test results back today and mine were negative!! Yay, I'm so happy about that. Only problem is how bad do I want to know if Kendall or Kylee have it... Not bad enough to have them tested that's for sure. Kylee is the only one that has really showed the symptoms but she seems fine and well there's nothing to treat it so I say we are done with Mono! Kaitlynn will be getting checked out again within the next week to see if she can play in the championship soccer game. Praying for a normal size spleen.

Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure

Today I participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure in Chattanooga. There was a large group of us that traveled down to run or walk in honor of a grandmother of two of the girls on Kaitlynn's soccer team. It was a great day and even though Kaitlynn hasn't been feeling very well she still went and walked the course. I was one of the few that started out running it and I'll admit that didn't last long. The race started at two in the afternoon so it was pretty hot outside. There was also a number of very steep hills. I ended up doing a run/walk combo and finished with a time of 30:24. Not my best but I wasn't expecting a p.r. today. After I finished I walked back on the course and found Kaitlynn. She had stopped to get some water when I found her and we walked the rest of the course together. She wanted to run so bad, especially at the finish. Though after we talked she admitted that she wanted to play in her championship game more and the only way that will happen is if she takes it easy for a while.

Red Shoe Gala

Last night Trey and I put on our red shoes and went to the CASA Red Shoe Gala.

 CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. The gala was a fundraiser to help support this non-profit organization.

 There was dinner, dancing, a silent auction, and a live auction.

Trey was asked to be the Master of Ceremonies and as a thank-you we were sent home with this awesome cake. We also won quite a few auctions. Anyone that knows Trey knows that this isn't surprising.

Mono!

We got the results from Kaitlynn's mono test yesterday and they were positive! Based on the results the doctor was able to tell that Kaitlynn has been sick for about a month and she was likely infected at the beginning of July. That so happens to be around the time she got back from Europe so there is just no telling where she picked this up. More than likely Kendall, Kylee, and myself have it as well. I went this morning and had my blood drawn since I am running a half-marathon in the very near future. I haven't taken Kendall or Kylee yet because having blood drawn from them just sounds like a really hard task. There is no treatment for mono except for rest and protecting the spleen (no contact sports). If my test comes back positive we are just going to assume based on their symptoms that they have it as well. I just really do not want to try to get Kendall to be still and allow a nurse  to take blood from her arm especially since she has a meltdown over a blood pressure cuff. I guess we will know what our next step is early next week.

Game 10

The girls beat Sweetwater yesterday 8-0! Their record is now 9-1 for the season. Just a couple of games left.

Game 9

We watched the girls play their 9th game of the season yesterday in the pouring rain! The girls pulled another win beating Chattanooga Christian 3-1. Kaitlynn sat on the bench with her coach. She said that it was terrible not getting to play and just having to watch. She wants to be out there so bad. Game 10 is this afternoon and Kaitlynn plans to ride the bus with the team and watch it as well.

Kaitlynn's School Picture

Game 8

The middle school played their 8th game of the season on Tuesday. They ended up with their first loss of the season. Final score was 1-3. :( The girls played this team a couple of weeks ago and beat them 3-2. So, now we are the only team they have lost to and they are the only team we have lost to. The girls will more than likely be facing this team again at tournament time.

On another note Kaitlynn is sick. In fact she was feeling really bad Tuesday at school but didn't want to tell anyone because she wanted to play in the soccer game that afternoon. She let us know after the game though and it isn't good. We are still waiting on some test results (which we may not get until Monday). As of now she is not allowed to be involved in any activities where physical contact is possible due to an enlarged spleen. This means she will not be playing in Game 9 today or Game 10 tomorrow. She is really bummed out but and visit from some friends bringing gifts last night cheered her up some. We plan on going to the game today to watch because even though Kaitlynn can not play she wouldn't miss it for the world.

Kaitlynn's 12th Birthday Party

Last Sunday we celebrated Kaitlynn's 12th birthday by taking her and five of her friends to a place where they could ride go-karts, bumper boats, play putt-putt and lots of other games.

 The girls had so much fun in the arcade especially since they managed to hit the jackpot multiple times on what I like to call the gambling games. Seriously, do not take these girls to Vegas! They were addicted!

 Below is a picture of Kaitlynn's cake that she designed. Zebra stripes, a soccer ball and it was blue! Three of her favorite things.

 We all had fun riding go-karts and I got a glimpse of what it would be like in four years.

 The girls got soaked on the bumper boats. I chose to sit those out.

I did however take a ride on the kiddie swings. I think we were all technically too big for them but they let us ride anyways. It was a great time and I could definitely see us doing this again.

Warrior Dash Tennessee

As I mentioned in a previous post I celebrated my 30th birthday "Warrior Style."

The Muddy Moms took on another race and this one proved to be the muddiest yet.

We were all so clean before!

 

This was my second Warrior Dash event and I was so happy that there weren't any nasty ponds to swim through!

 It was hotter, but that was mostly because our wave did not start until 1:30 our time. 

 The fire! Love this picture.

 There I am crawling into the mud pit ready to start my swim.

The after shot! We definitely found the mud this time! I can't wait until our next adventure.

3 Year Blogging Anniversary!

283 posts in year 3!!! Go me! I started this blog three years ago today and I love it! Each year I try to publish more posts than I did the year before and I sure did that in year three. 105 more posts than year two. Wow, I can't believe it! I have really grown to love blogging. Last Christmas my mother-in-law turned my blog into two books titled Making Memories that Last 2008 and Making Memories that Last 2009. I love them! They are big motivators for me to keep blogging. Anything that I want to remember gets a blog post. I promise to make year four even bigger. I hope you all keep reading!

The big 3-0!

Happy Birthday to ME! Today I turned the big 3-0! Here is a picture of the cake Trey got me. It's theme is my fantasy football team... The Bahama Mamas! :)

 Cake for breakfast? Yes, please!

After a nice breakfast of champions which consisted of birthday cake and two Diet Mountain Dews I ventured out to compete in a Warrior Dash (I'll blog about that in another post). Today has been a great day. It's still hard for me to believe I'm 30 years old. Time sure does fly when you are having fun!

Game 7

The girls played their 7th game of the season yesterday and they won 7-0! Another shut-out for Kaitlynn. The girls are playing awesome. Sorry, there isn't a picture for this post. We had a taste of fall yesterday. The temperature was only sixty degrees at kick-off and there was a cold drizzle of rain falling. Next game is Monday, I think...

Game 6

Game 6 = 3rd shut-out of the season!

 The girls beat Dayton today 8-0!!!

Kaitlynn earned her 3rd shut-out of the season!

Next game is Thursday.

Game 5

Another soccer game last night and another win! The girls won 4-1, but it could have easily been a much higher score. We played away and the goals that the other team provided were not the right size. They were much too small. No exaggeration the other team's goalie probably had 30 + saves! It was almost a shut-out... With three minutes left in the game Kaitlynn ran out to save the ball and a girl stepped on her hand. She let go of the ball and the girl scored. Not real sure if there should have been a call on that one but it doesn't matter the girls won and Kait's hands appears to fine. Next game is this afternoon!

It's great to be a Tennessee Vol!

Trey and I went to the Tennessee game this past Saturday. It was their second game of the season. The girls do not go but they always show their team spirit on game day. I love Kendall's pose and expression in this picture. She is such a little diva.

 Kylee even had her "Go Vols" mani/pedi to show off.

 I think last season I may have mentioned Vanimal... I guess this season I will show you all a glimpse of our tailgating van. About a year and a half ago Trey purchased a 15 passenger van. He made some upgrades to it and now it comes with us to every home game and sometimes some away games. It has also been known to show up to some of Kaitlynn's soccer games.

 Trey and I at the top of a parking garage, our favorite place to tailgate.

 The van has a satellite dish so that we can watch other teams play before our game starts.

 Trey flipping burgers on the grill.

 Our Tennessee tent.

The power source for all of our electronics, including fans when it is hot outside. The biggest improvement to the van.

Our flag pole.

 Ha, and this silly bird feeder... At every game there is an older man walking around selling these. Trey finally bought one from him Saturday.

 The Pride of the Southland Band.

 The team running through the "T".

 Smokey was a little hot. He wasn't as feisty as he normally is.

 Us in our seats.

 Can you tell what just happened?

 Oh yes, the next pic tells it all!

Another win for the Vols this past weekend. They beat Cincinnati 45-23! Go Vols!!