a monkey & a princess

Wordless Wednesday - Silly Faces

2011-11-16T00:01:00.000-06:00

Wordless Wednesday - Deep Thinker

2011-11-09T00:01:00.000-06:00

Wordless Wednesday - Halloween

2011-11-02T00:01:00.000-05:00

Dorothy

2011-10-31T15:39:00.000-05:00

Grace - aka Dorothy - had a busy Friday. We met one of her best friends for a late breakfast of scary face pancakes and then headed to her party at MMO.


We shopped a clearance sale for her costume last year & I picked up her ruby slippers recently. One of her favorite stuffed puppies, Purplish, played the part of Toto.

We got to the party and the kids had a costume parade where they also trick-or-treated. After that, we headed upstairs for some games.

Grace had fun with all of the games. A couple of things that caught my attention were the spider web game and hopscotch.

For the spider web game, they were supposed to kick these inflated spiders into the spider web. She didn't hold back & put her newly acquired soccer kicking skills to work {which actually would be nice to see her use more when she's playing a game}.

She also was serious about her hopscotch.

After Grace's school party, we headed home for a break. Later that afternoon, we headed out for her program at dance class. The kids had a few minutes of free play before the program started.

Watching the older girls...

Here's Grace as she was getting ready to do her tap routine...

Dorothy got the rest of the weekend off. Don't let that fool you though. We were plenty busy, and Grace hung right in there with us.

Wordless Wednesday Part 2 - More Soccer & a Little Baseball

2011-10-26T22:06:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday Part 1 - Scenes from a Soccer Game

2011-10-26T18:06:00.001-05:00

A frosty morning

Working on a tooth

Wordless Wednesday - Pumpkins

2011-10-12T00:42:00.001-05:00

Create Canvas

2011-09-22T07:54:00.000-05:00

Do you pin? I resisted Pinterest for a while, but curiosity eventually got the best of me. I requested an invite and immediately started pinning. I've gotten several ideas {recipes, party ideas, holidays, home, etc.} filed away and look forward to actually doing something with my pins. One pin that I saw inspired me to be crafty. Sooner than later. I haven't made anything lately, and I wanted to finally do something. Something that wouldn't frustrate me like organizing my scrapbook stuff can.

I have been keeping an eye out for some kind of sign or lettering or something with "create" on it without much luck. After seeing these canvases, I thought it would be cool to do something along these lines.

Source: staciedwardsblog.ca via Kim on Pinterest

I made a quick trip to the store for a canvas, foam brushes, letters & acrylic paint and got started.

Some sanding required...

I am planning to paint my office - that I'm stealing from Pete - a gray color. I wanted to do something different than just white on white like I saw on Pinterest. I chose a darker gray. For a more weathered look, I used a brush & acrylic paint instead of spray paint.

Wall color will be Sherwin Williams Summit Gray

And I wanted my letters to pop. 3 coats of paint & more sanding, and they were ready to glue in place.

Now, back to de-cluttering and emptying the office so we can get it painted. I'm looking forward to incorporating this into my new space.

So, do you pin? Have you created anything fun lately? You can follow me on Pinterest here.

Wordless Wednesday - Grace

2011-09-21T07:57:00.000-05:00

Doe Run Farm

2011-09-15T07:31:00.000-05:00

I first learned about CSA's {Community Supported Agriculture} a couple of summers ago. Pete read about them somewhere and was telling me about them. I did some reading of my own and decided we should try it out. I then did a little more research to find a local CSA and found Doe Run Farm. With Doe Run Farm, we could have fresh vegetables that are organic {not as big an issue to us at the time but more so now} and locally grown. I played with the numbers, and the cost worked out to be not much more than we would spend in the produce section at the grocery store each week. And the hardest work we'd have to do was get in the car & drive a few miles down the road to pick them up. No fighting bugs or squash bores. No traffic jams in the produce section.

One week's haul from fall share

I was a little sad to realize that it was too late for us to take advantage of the summer share that year since it was June by the time we made the CSA discovery. We decided to keep an eye out for the fall/winter share registration. We got signed up and anxiously awaited the season.

The fall season arrived, and we had quite an educational experience. We were familiar with most vegetables, but we did have some new things that we tried out. It was interesting to try the new things. Some of our favorites from the season were sweet potatoes and apples.

We were sad to see the season end but were even more excited to get the summer share. The months between seasons seemed to drag by. The season finally arrived in May, and we anxiously awaited each week's box.

One of my fondest memories growing up is the time I spent at my Grandmother's house during the summer. She had a garden and had several friends that had gardens. She even had a sister & brother-in-law who farmed. There was never a shortage of fresh fruit and veggies at her house - both to eat and to can or freeze for later. I spent many days sharing my time between playing in her pool and helping her can. We canned beans, cut corn off the cob for freezing, made pickles and jellies. And when I wasn't helping her, I helped my Mom some too since she cans as well.

Thanks to our CSA share, I've spent a lot of time reflecting back on those days as I've been cooking the goodies from our box. I've spent less time at the grocery store. {I've only been going to the grocery store once or twice a month during our share season. I have picked up other staples at a supercenter when I shop for other household items.} I've spent time in the kitchen with the kids {Sam especially} teaching them more of what I learned. And I've even put some things up for later.

I'm really glad that we made the CSA discovery. We've enjoyed delicious food all summer long and will continue to enjoy some of it during the winter months. This summer's share just ended, and we're already excited for what the fall share will bring. Sweet potatoes are still one of my favorites!

If you're local and interested in trying out Doe Run Farm, they still have shares available for the fall season. You can register here until the end of the month or watch for next year's summer registration.

*I am a paying patron of Doe Run Farm and have not been compensated for this post.

Wordless Wednesday - Roses...Just Because

2011-09-14T07:03:00.000-05:00

Grace's Senior Year

2011-09-13T13:42:00.000-05:00

Here we are. The week I've looked forward to and dreaded at the same time. Grace started her senior year (as my Mom likes to call it) at MMO last week. She cried the first day of big kid school because she wanted to get on the bus with big brother Sam and her friends. Those first few days were kind of rough, but she settled down and we enjoyed her last few weeks at home with me.

I've been looking forward to peaceful mornings to hopefully get things done a little easier. I've dreaded this because I know that things will really kick into high gear now, and kindergarten will be here in no time. Grace woke up the first morning excited and ready for school. Because of the cooler weather, Pete told her she needed to wear pants. She insisted on jeans, which was huge surprise. We fought for months last year about wearing jeans. She even wore tennis shoes...another source of morning frustration. She's growing up I guess.

Ready to go!


Grace & her teacher

Grace is settling nicely back into the school routine. She fought me half of last year because she was signed up for 3 days a week and only wanted to go 2 days. This year, she is already complaining that she is only going 3 days instead of 4 days. I think she might be a little bit like her school-loving brother. I think we'll stick with 3 days, and I'll savor these last months {I know, almost year} before she starts kindergarten.

Are your kids settled back into school?

Sante Fe Chicken Burritos

2011-08-29T08:12:00.004-05:00

Welcome to...Kim's! I was recently catching up on some magazine reading and ran across a recipe for Sante Fe Grilled Chicken Soft Tacos. In my de-clutter mode, I cut it out and added it to my recipe pile. I liked the fact that it was a recipe that I didn't have to go shopping in order to prepare it. I did do some bulk shopping recently though, which included burrito sized tortillas, boneless skinless chicken breasts and a pico de gallo salsa. I originally planned to make a few batches of our chicken fajitas to freeze for later use. I ran across the recipe again this weekend and made a last minute change. A good move!

I gathered the necessary ingredients...chili powder, cumin, paprika, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, brown sugar, olive oil & boneless skinless chicken breasts. {We tend to buy some spices in bulk. It seems to be cheaper. We also buy bulk olive oil, but I was finishing off the little bottle we had to buy on vacation.}

Measure the spices and brown sugar into a bowl.

Mix them together using a whisk or fork.

Add the olive oil & mix together. The mixture will be crumbly paste-like. Now, it's time to get your hands dirty...rub both sides of each chicken breast with the seasoning.

Let the chicken sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Grill over medium heat until done. Let sit 5 minutes before thinly slicing.

While the chicken was marinading, Pete cut up some of the peppers and onions from our CSA to grill while he was grilling the chicken. We loaded our tortillas with pinto beans, grilled chicken, grilled onions & peppers, cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo salsa {I sampled this in-store & loved the flavor - spicy but not too - as well as the texture. It isn't mushy like a lot of salsas are.} & even a few fresh tomato chunks. I then learned that I have mad burrito wrapping skills.

We also had tortilla chips with pico de gallo salsa and a dab of guacamole. The burritos. were. awesome. They were a big hit with the kids and Pete too. So big a hit that I used the rest of the pack of chicken and now have 2 dinners' worth {and lunch too with leftovers} marinating in the freezer. They all raved that it was great and as good as going to one of those burrito places. I'm happy to have a new Mexican recipe to add to my collection.

Sante Fe Chicken Burritos
Adapted from All You's Sante Fe Grilled Chicken Soft Tacos

2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
6-8 burrito sized tortillas

Extras: grilled onions & peppers, pinto beans, cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo, lettuce, olives and/or whatever else you like in your burrito

In a small bowl, mix chili powder, cumin, paprika, red pepper, salt, pepper & brown sugar. Stir in oil until moistened & crumbly.

Rub the seasoning on both sides of chicken breasts. Let sit at room temperature up for 30 minutes {or freeze for later}.

Grill chicken over medium heat until done. Let sit for 5 minutes before thinly slicing.

Serve with tortillas and desired extras.

Wordless Wednesday - Star Wars Cupcakes

2011-08-24T08:54:00.000-05:00

We celebrated 7 this summer with Star Wars cupcakes...

White Barbeque Sauce

2011-08-18T09:53:00.000-05:00

White Barbeque Sauce is a staple around here. In other places, you have barbeque sauces of all kinds - honey barbeque, Kansas City style, Memphis Style. Even South Carolina is known for their mustard based barbeque sauce. Here in Alabama, it's all about the white sauce. It is mostly used for barbeque chicken, but we've been known to use it like ketchup for french fries & hushpuppies. Here at home, I like it with oven roasted potatoes.

I've been using this recipe for White Sauce for a long time - since before I left home. And we won't talk about how long ago that was. My Mom has a cookbook - from my Grandmother's church if I'm not mistaken - that had the recipe in it. I have adapted some because I like a thicker sauce than the original recipe makes.

White Barbeque Sauce

6 heaping Tbsp mayonnaise
3 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Whisk together all ingredients until smooth. Additional mayo and/or salt & pepper can be added to obtain desired thickness and flavor.

*Note: when making a bigger batch, I don't usually use the full amount of vinegar or pepper.

I've been known to quadruple this recipe when Pete's got the smoker fully loaded with chicken, so it's adjustable. {And good!}

Wordless Wednesday - Ice Cream

2011-08-17T07:34:00.001-05:00

Road Trip to Falls Mill, Monteagle & Chattanooga

2011-08-16T12:17:00.000-05:00

We had hoped to escape for the weekend before school started. We had reservations at a hotel with a really cool pool.

The weather forecast - for rain - didn't cooperate with our plans. We cancelled our reservations and decided we should do something...anything...else. Something before the chaos of schedules - school, soccer, scouts, and dance/gymnastics.

We packed a cooler with some drinks & a few snacks and then stopped for a eat-while-you-ride lunch so we could get on the road.

We didn't really have a particular place we wanted to go so we just started driving and ended up here at Falls Mill.

Pete & I visited here many years ago. It was neat to see it again. The kids enjoyed looking at all of the machines & equipment inside the mill.

In the country store upstairs, they had an Aeolian player piano. The lady there gave us a quarter to put in it. The kids had fun listening & dancing to the music.

Sam soaked up the history and loved learning about how the mill operates. He declared that he enjoyed coming there so much that we should visit every month. That's one thing I like about that kid. He is pretty easy to please. Quite often, he'll say that whatever we're eating, doing, etc. {family day trip, game night or leftovers for dinner} is the best "fill in the blank" EVER.

After we finished touring, we picked up some corn meal and pancake mix. I've already started using the corn meal for frying okra from our CSA, and I'm hoping we can make pancakes this weekend.

Pete said the drive to Monteagle was a pretty drive so we headed that way after we left the mill. It was pretty, but I'm sure it would've been even better had we not run into torrential downpours.

The kids were ready for a snack after we left the mill, so we continued with our eat-while-you-ride plan. Apparently, the multitasking was too much for Grace. She fell asleep mid-snack with her hand in the bag.

We continued through the rain towards Chattanooga. We were afraid that we would bring the rain with us since it was moving in that general direction, but we lucked out and didn't get wet during our stop for dinner in Chattanooga. We've been to Chattanooga several times - enough for Sam to occasionally ask when we can go back to Sticky Fingers. So, it wouldn't be right to go to Chattanooga & not eat there. Right?

I saw this bike on a building as we were driving in. After dinner, we walked to find it. I thought it was cool because it reminded me of the bikes we rented at the beach and it is similar to the bikes Pete & I just got.

We spent several minutes looking at all the "stuff" that was used to create it. Really cool!

Grace spotted a carriage down the way...

On our way back to the van, we made one last stop at the Moon Pie store. The kids had never had one so we bought a box of mini's to take home.

Although we didn't get to spend the day lounging around the pool as we'd hoped, we a fun day on our impromptu round about trip to Chattanooga. Sam has asked when we'll be headed back to Nashville. I think our next road trip might involve eating spaghetti in a train car...or something like that.

Have you been on any road trips lately? Or come up with some spontaneous fun?

Happy Mail Day

2011-08-11T08:53:00.003-05:00

It's not very often that we get anything in the mail other than the occasional bill or loads of junk mail so today was a really special day. I found 2 boxes on the porch & another in the mailbox.

The first box was a surprise from my hubby...a Lisa Leonard "play everyday" necklace. I love her jewelry! This is actually my 3rd piece. I have a camera necklace and a bracelet. I wear them all the time.

The 2nd & 3rd boxes were both from Picaboo. I first learned about Picaboo last summer. I took advantage of a FREE photo book offer they had, and I also bought 2 different Groupons for them. I started working - last summer/fall - on the book for our 2010 vacation, but we got busy. I didn't finish it until a day before my Groupon expired last week.

I did a custom cover and upgraded the pages in my book to the lay-flat pages. I love how it turned out. The print quality {and overall quality, too} was great!

After I ordered my book, I still had some credit left on the Groupon. I got to work and put together a 2012 calendar.

Again, I upgraded...I got the 11x14 calendar which has laminated pictures, but the calendar pages are matte to make writing on them easier. I added in a few birthdays and called it a calendar.

Since I was in a hurry, I used photos from earlier this year for the first part of the calendar and finished it with last year's Halloween & Christmas at Disney pictures. If I had more time, I would've considered doing a theme {kids, Disney, beaches, flowers, etc.}, putting some photos on some of the calendar pages {i.e., a pic of Sam on his birthday square, etc.} or even putting more pictures on the top. I do have another Groupon to use still so I need to get busy so I'm not rushed at the last minute to create something. What will I do next???

Have you received anything fun in the mail lately?

P.S. I don't get anything if you buy their stuff...other than the satisfaction of others benefiting from my experience.

Wordless Wednesday - Soccer Season is Here!

2011-08-10T00:03:00.000-05:00

1st Day of School

2011-08-09T07:50:00.000-05:00

Hello first day of school.

Hello 2nd grade.

Hello breaking 102 books read records.

Hello new teacher.

Hello to friends...old and new.

It's going to be a great year!

P.S. Wow! He has grown so much since last year!

Wordless Wednesday - Seven

2011-07-20T17:06:00.001-05:00

Move It, Move It

2011-03-26T01:02:00.000-05:00

Grace likes to move it...multitasking...drawing & singing...

To Simplify

2011-03-03T15:59:00.000-06:00

Hi! My name is Kim, and I have a clutter problem. You probably wouldn't really know this if you walked into my house right now, but it is there. I hide it. Sometimes better than others. I'm on a mission to de-clutter and simplify. I happened upon a tweet by @SimpleMom today {thanks to my hubby} regarding Project: Simplify. 5 weeks to less clutter & more organization. I'm in! Are you?

Snow Projects

2011-01-15T15:02:00.001-06:00

Who knew when the snow started Sunday night that it would pretty much keep us at home. ALL. Week. Long. We {Sam, particularly} had our share of fun in the snow, but it wasn't enough. I spent most of the day Tuesday cleaning out & rearranging the pantries. It was a huge project that I've wanted to tackle for a while, but our normal schedule hadn't allowed for it. Once I finished that, I couldn't stop. It was on to my office that has basically served as an overloaded closet for the last year. One thing led to another and by yesterday, Pete was painting it for me. I finally got a real chair for my desk and I downsized my large (extra deep) file cabinet for a smaller 2 drawer cabinet. Here's the progress so far....

The color is very chameleonish...in some light, it looks like a blue gray...others it is a greenish gray. It is called Atlantic Gray from Lowe's Seaside Retreats line.

My office is a small space & the khaki color seemed to feel dark in there. The color has done it's job of lightening up the room some.

It feels good to be better organized. Looking forward to finishing up this project and moving on to the next one {Grace's baby furniture is coming out & part of the suite I had growing up is moving in}. Will be back with more pics after I finish reloading the room...

Have you been inspired by being house bound this week?

Snow Much Fun!

2011-01-11T00:44:00.000-06:00

We don't get too much snow here, so when the weathermen start talking about snow, we get a little giddy - and empty the grocery shelves of bread, milk & eggs. The snow we got last night was talked about pretty much for the last week with more emphasis placed on it the closer we got to the weekend. We spent as much of the weekend as we could out of the house because it seemed likely that we'd get snow that would shut the city down.

A shot out the front door just after midnight last night - snowlight!

And we did. It's a good thing we enjoyed our weekend out because we woke up to 8"-9" of the beautiful white stuff this morning. This was the first big snow we've had in quite some time - I'm guessing it is the most we've had since the 1993 blizzard. Sam & Grace saw their first big snow.

We put on layer after layer & headed outside. We met up with our neighbors where a snowball fight broke out almost immediately. We then headed to a nearby school to try to sled since we are lacking in the hill department.

Sam & Grace ready to play


Sam & our neighbor - and his schoolmate - E

We discovered that our "secret" spot wasn't such a secret. There were several other people there. Thankfully our neighbors had a couple of sleds {we'll have one for next year!} and even brought a couple of black trash bags - which worked as well for a low budget sled. This was Sam & Grace's first time sledding, & they had a blast. I even gave it a try - for the 1st time in who knows how many years. Pete was as excited as the kids to sled, but the pics I got didn't demonstrate it. I'll spare him the embarrassment of posting what looked like a painful experience judging by his expression. LOL!

Grace lost her gloves & boots several times.

Sam ended up with snow EVERYWHERE!

After a while the kids got cold, we headed back home & got them inside to warm up. Pete built a snowman. It was cool to have enough snow to make a real snowman. Ours {when we've actually bothered to build one} have always been small.

Mr. Life is Good

After Pete finished his snowman, he & I had a snowball fight. Probably the 1st one we've had. It was just us {the kids were getting warm inside}. And it was FUN!

Our backyard

Another first for us was making snow cream. We opted for the sweetened condensed milk & vanilla route. It was pretty good!

Drizzled with chocolate vs. Plain

Our time out of the house over the weekend included a trip to Michaels. They were having a big sale plus we wanted to try & find some crafts for our time stuck at home. Our craft of the day was Shrinky Dinks. I remember doing them as a kid so it was fun to share it with the kids. After a little negotiating, we have some left for tomorrow. We'll probably "hit the slopes" again, but we'll still need other things to do. 9" of snow doesn't disappear overnight, ya know?

All of the snow fun wore Pete & Grace out. They napped for quite a while this afternoon. We fixed "football snacks" for dinner to eat while we watched the National Championship {go SEC!}. Gotta get to bed now. I'm sure tomorrow will be snow much fun too!!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T10:17:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year! May 2011 be filled with many blessings!!

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Epcot Fireworks

2010-12-28T20:48:00.000-06:00

A shot from our visit last week...

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Decorating the Tree

2010-12-01T23:51:00.000-06:00

Our Disney ornament collection is growing. Here are a few of them...

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Jessie & Bullseye

2010-10-27T09:42:00.011-05:00

We ran across Jessie & Bullseye during the MNSSHP in 2008. Grace really likes Jessie & will be dressing up as Jessie for Halloween.

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Football Player & Cheerleader

2010-10-20T09:43:00.013-05:00

Sam & Grace dressed as an Alabama football player & cheerleader for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party in 2008. When it came time to get ready to go to Magic Kingdom, Sam wasn't interested in wearing his pants or pads.

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Boo to You Parade

2010-10-13T08:30:00.001-05:00

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Scarecrow

2010-10-06T20:30:00.000-05:00

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Halloween Decor

2010-09-30T00:47:00.000-05:00

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Grace Meets Minnie

2010-09-15T09:59:00.000-05:00

Pete got this shot of Grace & Minnie during our first trip with the kids in September 2008. We had dinner at Chef Mickey's on our first night at WDW - a dinner that has become a tradition. After checking in to our hotel, we head over to the Contemporary to Chef Mickey's. It is a good opportunity for lots of character time {without using a park ticket} to set the mood for our trip.

A Growing Boy

2010-09-14T16:01:00.001-05:00

We went for Sam's 6 year checkup last week. I can't believe how big he is getting. He weighed 61lbs and was 4'1.5" - still in 95-97% range for both. We had a discussion with his doctor after he asked about Sam's appetite.

Dr: Does he eat well, have a good appetite?

Us: Yes, he's a great eater. We're scared for the teenage years. (After soccer practice last week, he ate a Chickfila sandwich in addition to kids' meal. The kid has always had an appetite.)

Dr: Well, let me tell you. All-you-can-eat buffets {not my favorite for various reasons} are going to be your friend. Take him and let him eat. And hope he gets full before they kick him out.

Fortunately, Sam stays active enough to burn what he's eating. I really am scared though about how we'll pay to feed him through the teenage years. Or how we'll survive the buffets.

The Weekend

2010-09-13T23:44:00.000-05:00

Our weekend...

Saturday

Chocolate chip muffins
Newspaper editing
Soccer game
Mini crescent dogs & sweet tater fries
Garage cleaning
Playing in pool
Dinner & Alabama game at Grandma's (ROLL TIDE!!!)

Sunday

Church
Lunch & a trip to Costco
More garage cleaning
Flank Steak Sandwiches with Blue Cheese for dinner
Homework!

Settling into School

2010-08-27T15:41:00.000-05:00

Sam started back to school a few weeks ago. 1st grade. I can't believe it! We had a great summer, but he was ready to go back. He loves school! Sam's first weeks have been great. He still LOVES riding the bus. He still buys lunch in the cafeteria, but he has been taking his lunch a lot more this year. Something new for this year at lunch - his teacher allows them to buy ice cream on Friday. I made a deal with him that if he was good and got a "G" all week, I would let him buy the ice cream treat. So far, this has worked out well.

Here are a few shots from his first day of school. We barely opened the door to go outside and the it's-too-bright-out-here faces appeared.

We finally managed a decent picture when he got inside at school. He was excited to be there! And he could see. I guess these last 2 shots will go in the scrapbook. One day. It may be embarassing for him, but I'm not sure if I can resist the crazy faces.

Pete, Grace and I went to have lunch with Sam for the first time this year today. We treated him to Subway and learned more about his day. We also had a chance to talk to his teacher and got a good report from her. I'm really excited for what this year will bring. I'll be helping with some room mom duties. Sam is already getting some extra activities to keep him challenged. I think it is going to be a great year!

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Measuring Up at the Lodge

2010-08-25T14:39:00.000-05:00

I saw this idea somewhere...take a picture of your kids in the same spot during your trips to Disney to see how much they've grown. Grace didn't make it out of the stroller the 1st time. She was only 17 months old at the time. The stroller fight wasn't worth it...

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Timeout at Whispering Canyon Cafe

2010-08-17T22:40:00.000-05:00

If you give the waitress a hard time at Whispering Canyon, you too can sit in the corner for timeout...

Soccer - From the Sidelines

2010-08-14T16:12:00.003-05:00

Sam had his season opener today. And Pete has his first game as a head coach. We had an early game, but the heat showed up early and it as HOT! Sam is still a little rusty, but I think it's going to be a great season.

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Toy Story

2010-08-11T11:28:00.002-05:00

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Checking out the Wilderness Lodge Pool

2010-08-04T14:53:00.002-05:00

Wishing I was here today...

Chef Sam - Back in the Kitchen

2010-07-31T23:50:00.003-05:00

Sam has always had an interest in helping out in the kitchen and in cooking {go here}. As part of his birthday present, we gave Sam Paula Deen's My First Cookbook. We've looked through it a couple of times, and he has been bugging me ever since to make something. I told him we'd have to wait until we went to the grocery store for a few things.

Fast forward to this morning when I woke up to Sam telling me that he, Grace & Daddy were making Cinnamon Rolls from the cookbook {apparently they'd found something that didn't require a trip to the store}. He practically did a Tigger bounce back to the kitchen after he told me. I looked at the clock...it was almost 8:00. I decided I should get up & see what they were up to.

I walked into the kitchen & found that the kids had their aprons on. They were ready!

We gathered the needed items...

A cookie sheet, parchment paper, crescent rolls {we used reduced fat}, large marshmallows, sugar & cinnamon.

After we gathered our ingredients, we pretty much let Sam & Grace do the rest {although we did help some with the crescent dough. I'm not sure how long they carried the tube around in their hands before we got started, but it was a little harder to work with.}

These are super easy, & I can't wait for Sam to make them again.

Separate the dough into 8 triangles.
Put 1 large marshmallow on each triangle.
Mix together 1/2 cup sugar & 1 tsp cinnamon. Sprinkle some over marshmallows.
Wrap dough around marshmallow making sure to seal it well. {Some of ours weren't sealed good & lost the marshmallow}
Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over rolls.
Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. {The recipe didn't call for it, but the kids sampled a marshmallow while the rolls were baking - just to make sure they were good}

A big thanks to Paula Deen. This recipe is kid approved. Grace asked Pete as he was tucking her into bed tonight... "Can we make the cinnamon rolls we made last year {Grace speak for any time in the past - see this post} when we wake up in the morning?

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Out & About at Coronado Springs

2010-07-28T14:28:00.002-05:00

From my trip in February...

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Dinner at Chef Mickey's

2010-07-21T14:08:00.000-05:00

Workin' the List

2010-07-17T00:28:00.000-05:00

So, we've been a little busy working our Summer List. Hopefully some posts will come in relation to all the fun stuff that is keeping us busy.

We've been so busy that I need to go & update the list again. More checkmarks to make...until later...

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - A Tinker Fairy

2010-07-14T22:46:00.001-05:00

Vacation at Rosemary

2010-07-03T23:31:00.007-05:00

When our plans to go to Gulf Shores got nixed because of baseball {and the condo was booked for the rest of the summer at the time}, we booked a carriage house in Rosemary Beach.

We got settled in on Saturday & had an action packed day on Sunday. We shopped at the outlets in Destin, ate an afternoon ice cream snack at Sugar Shak & had some evening beach time. The day was perfect!

Most of the rest of the week, we ate in at the carriage house. Inspired in part by Once a Month Mom, I had a menu planned for the week & even cooked some things ahead of time to bring with us.

We were glad when we woke up to RAIN Monday morning that we'd spent Sunday like we did. Especially glad that we had gotten in some beach time. It ended up raining at least part of the day for the rest of our week, which was okay. It allowed us to really take it easy.

We snuggled under blankets to watch TV & movies.

The kids had their moments of sweetness where they really got along - no fighting - and even had us giggling with them.

We played games.

We went back to Sugar Shak. {And even made homemade chocolate ice cream at the house.}

We swam when the weather allowed - usually once a day, sometimes twice. {We also decided Grace might have a future in a science lab since she LOVED wearing her goggles so much. Or maybe she'll just be a good swimmer. Same difference...right?}

Pete & the kids made a trip or two to the Donut Truck. The truck with hours of 6:00-12:00 which is really 6:00 until they sell out. Get there early or you don't get any...

We spent a few hours at Pier Park one afternoon when we had a long rain-free stretch. We shopped some, ate ice cream {vacation, remember?} and walked out on the pier to watch surfers and fishermen.

I enjoyed watching surfers when we were in Hawaii, so to see the waves were big enough to bring out surfers was exciting. I caught this series of shots about halfway out on the pier.

Sam had a great time splashing around in the puddles...something he doesn't normally get to do...

Once it seemed like the weather would cooperate for us to ride bikes, we rented bikes. We went on several bike rides around Rosemary Beach. And even rode in the rain. That was fun! Over a few days, Sam got a good bit of practice riding. He's riding his new bike {that he got for Christmas} at home much better now.

The weather was finally good enough at the end of the week to get another day in on the beach. Pete & Sam worked hard to build a castle. Grace worked hard on tearing it up before they could finish. And Sam & Grace worked hard to not smile when I tried to get a picture of their castle. Maybe they were over vacation by then? Or maybe just tired of the camera being in their faces...

Like I mentioned, we mostly ate in while we were there {well, other than the ice cream...}. For a change, Pete picked up pizza & tomato/mozzarella salad at Wild Olives one night. It was really good! No fussy kids, no dress up required. {We did dress up one night & go out though.}

Did I mentioned that we napped? Every day. Even the grown ups. It was nice!

We had an awesome week. It was just what we needed. And I think we've found our new favorite {non-Hawaii, haha} beach. We'll go back...Rosemary is calling.

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Spectacular Display

2010-06-30T00:02:00.001-05:00

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Mickey Ice Cream

2010-06-23T08:28:00.002-05:00

Walt Disney Worldness Wednesday - Castle

2010-06-09T00:50:00.004-05:00

School's Out for Summer

2010-06-08T23:58:00.004-05:00

Sam has been out of school for a week & a half. We haven't wasted any time getting our summer on. And to help us keep track of everything we hope to squeeze in this summer, I was inspired by Meg's Summer List. Our list is hanging on my office door so we can easily keep track of it. I'm curious to see how many things are checked off the list at the end of summer.

One of my favorite parts of summer growing up was playing in the water - pool {my Grandmother had one that we were in all the time}, slip-n-slide, sprinklers, etc. Since we don't have a real pool {yet?}, we have picked up stuff for the kids to play in. We broke out the slip-n-slide and a pool when some of Sam & Grace's cousins spent the night recently. They had a blast!

Grace...

Sam...

J...

Sissy...

Grace has about decided that since she has turned 3 that she is too big for a nap. Most days, that is okay. But when you play outside half the day, it's hard not to crash & burn around suppertime. She was playing by herself in her room and got quiet. I went to check on her & found that she had gotten into her bed and fallen asleep. Sweet girl.

Grilling Time Hawaii Style

2010-06-03T16:08:00.007-05:00

I seem to be on a Hawaii kick. Again. Or still? I ran across a recipe for Polynesian Chicken & Tropical Coleslaw in the summer edition of Publix Family Style. Being a sucker for many things Hawaiian and/or Polynesian, I was in. I gathered all the necessary ingredients & made a date with the Grill Master - Pete. I also fixed baked beans & King's Hawaiian rolls to go with it. We followed the recipes as written {except we doubled the sauce recipe} and it was great, but I have to tell you, Pete's "low & slow" in the smoker would be even better. That being said, we'll definitely make this again even when we don't have time for the smoker.

Polynesian Chicken
serves 6

3/4 c unsweetened pineapple juice
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp Dijon-style mustard
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 clove garlic, minced
12 chicken thighs and/or drumsticks
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper

For the sauce, in a small saucepan combine pineapple juice, honey, mustard, soy sauce, cornstarch and garlic. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Remove from heat. Transfer 1/2 of the sauce to a bowl; cover and set aside.

Sprinkle the chicken with salt & pepper. Cook over a charcoal or gas grill using indirect heat until done. Brush frequently with remaining sauce during the last 5 minutes of grilling. Serve with reserved sauce.

Tropical Coleslaw

3/4 c mayonnaise
4 tsp vinegar
2-3 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp celery seeds
1/2 tsp salt

Combine mayo & other ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in one 16oz package coleslaw mix, one 8oz can pineapple tidbits, drained. Cover & chill up to 4 hours before serving. Stir in 1/2 c chopped macadamia nuts, toasted, just before serving.

*Slaw doesn't keep very long. Make sure not to make TOO early (same day).

Hawaii 'Fun'd

2010-06-03T14:42:00.002-05:00

In our former lives - aka, before we had kids - we went to Hawaii 4 times in a 4 year period. We liked it so much that there was only about 6 months between our 2nd & 3rd trips. Once Sam came along, we knew it would be awhile before we could handle the 9+ hour flight - with or without kids. We decided that our next trip would be to celebrate our 15th anniversary.

It has been a long {or short?} 7 1/2 years since we were last there. It's time to start planning to go back. As I mentioned before, we have had a change jar for quite some time. It was most recently "The Disney Jar". With our plans to return to the islands, we decided it was time for a little updating. We removed all things Disney & cleaned up the jar. A trip to Michael's for "Hawaii" stickers & we were ready to re-theme our jar. Start building a nest egg for a little something extra on our trip. Start building excitement for our soon to be planned trip.

It didn't take long for me to question my decision to make this a family project. Sam does great with this kind of stuff, but Grace is still a little difficult to reason with when it comes to sticker placement.

We made our way through our stickers & finally finished our decorating. Now, we'll start planning our trip, saving our pennies and working on our shakas.

Flowers in Macro

2010-05-19T22:32:00.002-05:00

A Close Encounter

2010-05-18T23:18:00.002-05:00

We stood outside this evening in hopes of seeing the International Space Station {& shuttle Atlantis} pass over our house. We had a 3 minute window to see it. Fortunately it wasn't longer because I am sure we looked like a bunch of idiots - or maybe just crazy people - as we watched. We were giddy with excitement and yelled at each other a little bit. Pete was especially excited because he spends 40 hrs a week supporting ISS.

This shot was taken looking towards the northwest.

And then as it passed on over, I got this shot. Too bad my other camera was acting up & I didn't have a tripod...might have been a little better.

So there it is. My first post in over a month. And it has some really poor quality pictures. Oh well. I have others in the works that are much better...

Coconut Cake

2010-04-08T23:30:00.003-05:00

I remember my Grandmother making Coconut Cake when I was growing up. I don't recall specifically if it was an "Easter" thing, but I loved it and have adopted it as part of my Easter menu {which this year consisted of...Coconut Cake}. I'm not a big cake baking person. I have made a few cakes for Sam {Lightning McQueen, a fire truck, football}, but I'm don't really like making round cakes {there is an exception - Chocolate Praline Cake, but that's another story}. Maybe it is laziness or just a lack of time...but getting layers to work together, getting the icing in the right proportion...not my thing.

Coconut Cake does take a little time, but it is so easy. This probably isn't anything you don't already know, but the required ingredients...

Yellow or white cake baked as directed in 9x13 pan
1 can cream of coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 8 or 12 oz whipped topping
coconut

Let the cake cool a few minutes, then while still hot, use a fork to poke holes in the cake. Mix together the cream of coconut & sweetened condensed milk. Pour mixture over the cake and refrigerate a few hours or overnight to let the cake soak up the milk. When you're ready, mix whipped topping & coconut together {both to your taste} and spread over the cake. Sprinkle more coconut over the top. Return the cake to the refrigerator until ready to serve. Or eat right away. But this cake does get better with age so let it sit if you can.

For the ooey gooiest parts, go for an outside piece. Yum!

I'm linking up this spring favorite of mine to Hillary's blog. Check it out. She's doing a great jewelry giveaway. {And Pete, you should go too...hint, hint...} And I'm sure there are other cool favorites to check out too.

Now...back to sorting through Disney, Grace's birthday & Easter pics so hopefully I can finally get those posts done.

{Insert mushy title here...}

2010-03-23T23:15:00.003-05:00

14 years ago today - March 23, 1996

The beginning...

of a new family with many great memories to be made...

...and many more to come!

Happy Anniversary Pete! I love the life we have created together. And I love you!

My Favorite Memory (Disney February 2010)

2010-03-05T21:30:00.002-06:00

I went on a quick trip to Orlando a couple of weeks ago with some of my family (grandparents, stepmom, 3 brothers, sister-in-law, niece & nephew) to accept an award for my Dad, Jim, who passed away in May 2005.

{me, Adam, Darlene, Zach, Amberlee, Jennifer, Jordan, Matt, Jo, Charles}

It was a great trip - on many levels - and when I got home, I tried to start a post about what I had experienced that weekend. I was having a hard time putting my thoughts and feeling into words. And the chaos that has been the normalcy of our lives lately wouldn't let me finish. A post will eventually come about our time at Magic Kingdom maybe, but I think my sister-in-law Jennifer summed up the details and emotion of the award ceremony better than I could.

Hillary at The Other Mama just started a new thing...Hillary's Friday Favorites so I thought I would share this...my favorite memory from the trip...as written by Jennifer. So grab a tissue and when you're done, check out Hillary's blog for other favorites.

My Magical Weekend...
by Jennifer Pearce

I heard this word "magic" throughout the weekend. I guess being at Disney World, one would expect to hear this. For my kids, they experienced the magic within Disney itself. From the characters, rides and atmosphere- they were in awe. However, for me...I experienced "magic" in a completely different way.

We were invited to Orlando this weekend to receive an award for Matt's dad. This May will be five years since he died. He attended the same appliance conferences when he was alive and when we were notified that they wanted to acknowledge him this year- we were beyond honored. I never expected to experience what I experienced this weekend.

You see, I knew Jim was a great man. I knew he was very special. What I didn't know was how many other people knew what I knew. I'm not sure any of us were really emotionally prepared for what we witnessed.

{Dad}

We tried to prepare physically. Darlene was to receive his award and say "a little something". Since she had attended some of these conferences with him as his wife, I looked to her to be our leader. She was going to have to somehow relay feelings of gratitude about the award, without losing her cool from talking in front of hundreds of people all while attempting to blanket her emotions for a minute. We had a hard time coming up with the right words, whereas Jim would have had 4 or 5 alternate word options. We miraculously pieced together what could have been a novel- into a short & sweet speech.

Many, many, many people came up to each and every one of us family members during the awards banquet- I cannot express the welcoming that they bestowed on us. We mingled, ate a meal and watched other people be presented with awards.

Then the time came. A very exceptional man by the name of Mike Staats was the one to be presenting Jim's award. He and Jim were friends before his death and I had heard of "Captain Toolhead" many, many times. The "Captain Toolhead" that I had fabricated in my head was so minuscule compared to the Mr. Staats that awaited us. I honestly thought I was going to be able to make it through the presentation with just a few fallen tears. Although Mr. Staats warned the audience that he was a writer & not a speaker- I know without a doubt that I may go through the rest of my life without hearing a better speech than what he spoke.

{"Captain Toolhead"}

We all somehow maneuvered to the stage and stood by Darlene while she effortlessly and flawlessly said our words. I'm not sure there was a dry eye in the entire banquet hall after that ceremony.

I can never express how much this weekend meant to me. I know the other family feels the same. Part of our misfortune is that we need Jim to perfectly document this moment using all the right words- to even come close to its true meaning. I know that I don't ever want to forget one minute of this experience. So, in honor of Jim, who loved to write & share things with others- I'm doing the same.

Each of us remember Jim in different roles & different ways. The only one that attended with us that doesn't remember him is Jordan. He was only 15 months old when Jim passed away. There are pictures in our house and he is very aware of who Jim is. Jim is still a presence in our home. However, we somehow forgot to really explain the events of this weekend to sweet little Jordan. For while he was focusing on being on his best behavior at the table, listening & clapping on cue and not really knowing what was going on, he wanted an explanation.

Jordan looked at me with his innocent eyes and says, "So, in a little bit- Grandpa's gonna come out on that stage?". The only words I could muster out was, "No buddy. Grandpa's in heaven remember?". He accepted that as an okay answer and went back to eating his steak.

{Dad}

I didn't know the irony of his question until the ceremony was over. Jordan was right in his thinking all along. The emotions, words and events of the entire banquet couldn't have said it better. Jim absolutely came out on that stage that night. He was there, much more alive than I have ever been.

It was magic. And at the most magical place on earth.

{Jennifer doesn't have a blog, but I think she should...}

My New Favorite Song

2010-02-26T23:47:00.002-06:00

I've been a fan of BNL for a long time. Looking forward to the new album. This song is the new BNL.

Indoor Soccer

2010-02-26T20:59:00.003-06:00

Sam is playing indoor soccer again this year. And loving it! I finally made it to one of his games {maybe the only this year}. He is getting better and better. He seems to like playing defense.

Pete is coaching. And despite Sam's defense tendencies, he can handle a kick off.

It is a great activity for him between fall soccer and t-ball/baseball in the spring.

A great way to spend some energy when it is too cold to play outside.

Stars in Alabama

2010-02-26T20:43:00.002-06:00

We recently attended a dinner at The Ledges in Huntsville. Pete's group was recognized in Boeing's annual awards dinner for their work on the ISS last summer.

The weather was crazy that night. It was cold, windy and raining. {And it got worse. The wind was so bad that my umbrella broke as we were getting into the car to leave. It flipped around and handle bent with me trying to hold onto it.} The clubhouse reminded me of a clubhouse we went to in the Ft. Lauderdale area when I traveled for work. {The golf course in Florida was actually used in the movie Caddyshack.} It was very nice. And Pete got crystal and I didn't.

The Disney Jar

2010-02-26T19:51:00.004-06:00

Pete & I have had a change jar for a long time. Our original one was so big that we never could fill it. We ended up getting rid of it and buying one that was a little smaller. It is still big. For our 10th anniversary cruise, we saved enough change to buy the romance package. We had appetizers in our room, flowers, chocolate covered strawberries, big thick robes, etc. It was nice. All from loose change.

When we decided to take the kids to Disney World for the first time, we bought some Disney stickers and named the jar "The Disney Jar". We have saved change before each trip and used it towards souvenirs or a pirate cruise. A little something extra.

Our next trip is coming soon so I recently decided to count the change and see how we were coming along.

Sam came home from school when I was mid-count. He helped me make stacks of 10 dimes, 10 pennies, 5 nickels and 4 quarters. We even had some $20, $5 & $1 bills.

We counted and stacked. And counted and stacked. It took a couple of hours to work through all of the change.

When we finished, we had a total of $284.75. It took us a while to save it. Some was literally pocket change. Some came from couponing. Anything I saved in coupons {although I didn't put it in every time} would go into the jar.

We loaded our change up and took it to the bank for safe keeping until it is time for us to go to Disney World. And we've already started saving again for our next trip. And to make it fun, we'll be re-theming our stickers soon for our next destination. The plan is for our next big trip to be to Hawaii. Just as soon as we save enough pennies.

Valentine's Treats

2010-02-14T00:40:00.003-06:00

Treats for the kiddos...

Treats for the Momma...

Publix had these awesome strawberries when we shopped this afternoon for our Valentine's dinner. I bought 2 lbs & some chocolate to dip them myself {they were also selling chocolate covered strawberries by the pound}. Pete grilled ribeyes. We also had shrimp scampi, baked sweet potatoes, broccoli, caprese salad and rolls. It was delicious! And we didn't have to fight the crowds at the restaurants.

What is your favorite Valentine's dinner? Or Valentine's treat?

This Week on "House"...

2010-02-10T00:09:00.005-06:00

The other night, I was pretty tired and NEEDED to go to bed early. Grace still doesn't have a great sleep pattern, but the last week or so has been a lot worse than normal. We have put her to bed not once, twice, three times... but sometimes even more. Tuesday night was no exception. She came out of her room and asked for some milk. We gave her a little bit and then sent her back to bed.

A few minutes later, she came back into the living room again. She said her nose hurt. And she had green stuff in it. Considering she had had some congestion & drainage, her statement didn't surprise me. She kept on saying she had something green in her nose. Pete was ferociously searching for the nose sucker that has mysteriously disappeared. I got her in my lap & started looking in her nose. I asked Pete to bring me a flashlight. She did have something green in her nose. But it wasn't what I was expecting to find. It was as she described "a pen top" {which turned out to be a pencil eraser}.

It was 9:30. Pete looked at me, "I'll take her" {to the ER}. At the same time, going through my mind was...he has to get up to go to work in the morning...I am tired...looks like I'll be even more tired when I get home from the ER and go to bed. So I got dressed, grabbed some stuff to entertain Grace while we waited {and a Mountain Dew for me - hello, caffeine!} and we were on the way.

We got to the ER and only had to wait the amount of time it took me to fill out paperwork and for them to enter it in the computer. Phew! No super long wait. We got into a room & the nurse that took us back said she wanted to look in Grace's nose. Grace was less than thrilled about that. It took the 2 of us to hold her still just so the nurse could shine a light to see in her nose. I could only imagine how fun it would be when they were ready to actually do something about getting this green object out of her nose. We were just trying to look in her nose, and she was pitching a huge fit.

We got Grace's coloring book & crayons out and started coloring. A few minutes later, the doctor came in and wanted to see Grace's nose. Wow! That was fun! He left to gather his "tools" and would be back soon. A few minutes later, he came back with some saline spray & something in a syringe that would numb her nose. So he sprayed the saline and followed it with the numbing stuff. And the stuff just ran out of her nose onto her pajamas. She didn't like that..."I'm messy". The doctor said he had to go finish his "contraption" {and give the med a few minutes to work} and he'd be back.

He came back with his tools...a male nurse or tech, a female nurse, 2 different types of forceps and a paper clip. I felt like I was in a scene from "House" - enter House, Cameron & Chase. He bent the paper clip and made a hook at one end and said he expected it to be the best thing to retrieve our green thing. Everyone got into position. {I wish I had pictures!} They put the head of the bed straight up so Grace could sit up against it. The male nurse {Chase} got onto the head of the bed & straddled the frame so he could lean over the top of the mattress and hold Grace's head still. The other nurse {Cameron} was at the foot of the bed with a pillow covering Grace's legs. She was also holding her hands. I was sitting on one side holding on to her & talking to her while the doctor {House} was on the other side. It really went pretty fast, but Grace - expectedly - screamed the whole time. The nurse told her she could have a popsicle when they were done. Grace told her that she wanted purple "because it's my favorite!". Once the doctor got the eraser out {and handed it to me as a "souvenir" - gee, thanks!}, he thanked his backup for their help. The male nurse said it was the most fun he had had all night. They left & Grace enjoyed her popsicle while we waited to be discharged.

At some point while we were waiting, some hospital person came by and offered Grace a bear. It turns out that the bear was made by ladies at our church. They meet each month to make these bears and then deliver them to the hospital for them to give to kids when they are in the ER or staying in the hospital. Grace loved it. She wouldn't let go of it.

We finally got our discharge instructions - "Do not put things up your nose". And we were able to go home. I hoped that Grace would fall asleep on the way home since it was almost 11:30. No such luck. I guess the excitement of going to the hospital was too much. We got back home, and the bedtime fight continued. I was glad when she was finally asleep.

Wordless Wednesday - Take 2...100 days of school

2010-01-27T22:31:00.002-06:00

Sam's project for his class "100 days of school" celebration...

Shells from the souvenir shop at the beach...

100 seashells by the seashore...

{almost} Wordless Wednesday...The Snow from a few weeks ago

2010-01-27T00:10:00.000-06:00

A cold Grace...

Fiesty Sam...{I LOVE this shot!}

Just enough snow to make a few snowballs...

Our treeline...

A miniature snowman...

Makin' Room

2010-01-24T22:55:00.002-06:00

We knew that Pete's dad would be coming back to live with us for awhile after his surgery. We found out a few days ago that he will be here on Thursday. So we spent part of this weekend doing some rearranging. We worked on getting Sam moved into the guest room upstairs. Pete's dad is almost 4 weeks into recovery from having his foot amputated. He has come a long way, but he still has a long way to go. He'll be staying in Sam's room until he can either manage at home by himself or can manage the stairs. However it works out.

So Sam is sleeping in his "new" room for the first time tonight. He seemed pretty excited about it. I hope it isn't a tough adjustment for him. Or his Momma.

Tomorrow, Pete is having a cyst removed from his ankle. Our prayer is that his recovery is quick. He has a busy spring ahead...coaching indoor soccer and t-ball, miles of walking at Disney. And I'm sure that he'll be playing some golf too.

I hope that we are starting to settle back into a routine and that I can have time again for some of my hobbies...cooking, scrapbooking and blogging. I think I will need those things and that time spent for my sanity.

Coming to Terms

2010-01-20T23:28:00.004-06:00

This time last year, we were debating the decision of whether to have another baby. It was something that we went back and forth about. One day, it was yes. And the next day, no. Despite the fact that my body doesn't know the meaning of "textbook pregnancy", I LOVED being pregnant both times. From the Lovenox shots 2 times a day for 26 weeks & unplanned c-section with Sam to the {work induced - I'm convinced} bedrest with Grace, pregnancy was still a great time for me, for us. We finally reached the decision that we probably were fine with the two wonderful blessings that we have been given. It was a hard decision and one that took me a long time to accept. I went through some depression and grief. Another chapter of life was over.

Fast forward to late last year...

Pete's dad went into the hospital for what we - and he - thought would be a quick stay for IV antibiotics to get rid of an infection in his foot. After a couple of days of meds & some testing, it was clear that the plan of action wasn't working. Long story short...he had his foot amputated on New Year's Eve. What a way to end the year. He continues to improve and should be home {staying} with us soon.

It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I had a better appreciation for our decision. After Pete had spent nearly every day over a 3 week period either at the local hospital or traveling to the VA hospital in Birmingham. After we'd muddled through the holidays with this extra "stuff" going on. After we were just c.o.m.p.l.e.t.e.l.y. worn out. I can't even imagine surviving the last 6 weeks being pregnant {apparently I don't do textbook so who knows what would be going on} and having a 5 year old and a 2 year old. Or worse, trying to survive with a newborn {c-section recovery, no sleep, night feedings, etc} and a 5 year old and a 2 year old. I know we could - and would - adapt, but it still wouldn't be easy.

Life, Interrupted

2010-01-05T00:55:00.001-06:00

Life as we know it at our house has been redefined in the last few weeks. We have gone from chaos to extreme chaos. Seriously, it has been crazy. I am determined to get back to a slightly calmer life, but until then I'll leave you with this...

Hope you had a memorable Christmas! And may the New Year bring you health and good times with loved ones!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-12-08T17:47:00.010-06:00

{I turned 35 a couple of weeks ago, and I'm behind on everything - including blogging.}

35. That's my new number. I had a hard time with 35 for some reason. Hopefully 40 won't be so bad. My birthday was a great day though.

It started with me answering the door to find this...

And then later, I opened the door to find this...

Pete came home to pick me up for us to have lunch with Sam and had a little surprise. When I opened the door, he had the cupcake in his hand with the candle in it. He sang "Happy Birthday" to me. And had this...

A dozen cupcakes from Gigi's...

Birthday Surpise, Cherry Cordial, German Chocolate, Red Velvet...and I don't remember the names of all of that chocolate goodness. If you aren't familiar with Gigi's Cupcakes, you should be. Gigi doesn't mess around. These are some SERIOUS cupcakes.

Later that afternoon, we took the kids to Mom's and celebrated with them. I got a basket with some goodies and a Cricut. And a date night with Pete.

We had dinner at Pauli's and then went to the movie...

Between movie options and just being busy, we don't go to the movie very often. The more I heard about The Blind Side, the more I knew we had to go & see it. And if you have been living under a rock and don't know about it, let me just say...grab someone, spend the 20ish bucks and go see it. It is worth it. We will own it when it comes out on dvd/blu-ray. The story is touching, and it stirred up memories and emotions from when we had our foster daughter 6 years ago {in fact, she was with us on my birthday 6 years ago}. It left me wondering if we might get back into fostering once the kids are a little bit older. Or do something to help in some way...

I enjoyed the day full of surprises - from the goodies to the night out with Pete and the tug at my heart with the reminder of that sweet foster baby.

What I learned on my trip to Gulf Shores (& Birmingham)

2009-12-03T22:11:00.006-06:00

Pete recently decided that it would be a good idea if I went down to the condo when our last renter left to check everything out and collect keys from our property management company. We drove down Monday afternoon. We spent Tuesday running around - getting keys, furniture shopping, eating, meeting with the cleaning company we planned to hire. And we did a few things around the condo too. We drove back to Birmingham Wednesday afternoon for Mom's doctor appointments Thursday morning. {She is good!} Here are some things I learned on the trip...

1. The property management company that you fire due to bad service will even screw up the termination. While the condo looked clean overall, the crew left some dirty linens behind. Which kind of makes you wonder. Not to mention the fact that they were suppose to take EVERYTHING out before you arrived. You fired them, remember?

2. Lambert's - home of Throwed Rolls - closes when people stop showing up. That means when you show up in December at 6:30, you might be one of the last tables they seat. And you might have to ask them to bring you passarounds.

3. The property management company that you fire due to bad service will screw up again. After I complained about the dirty linens, they sent someone out to clean the condo. Twice. In 2 days. After they were fired. I have never seen them so anxious to clean something.

4. Riding out a what would be a tropical storm in December makes it a winter storm. A 45 mph wind is still a 45 mph wind whether it is summer or winter. And when you are sitting safe in your condo it feels kind of like being on a cruise ship.

5. If you turn on the light in your van when it is dark, crazy windy and threatening rain to get your stuff together before you get out - and leave it on - it will kill your battery. DEAD.

6. When the AAA man comes to jump start your battery and he puts the cables on the battery, it will set off the alarm and cause your horn to blare. Repeatedly.

7. Taking a shower while your horn is blaring makes for a less than relaxing experience.

8. Resetting your alarm is hard to do when your battery is basically dead and you only have one key.

9. Any time you open the door with the car in this state, the horn will start blaring again.

10. And you can drive down the road with the horn blaring.

11. The locals will look at you like you are a crazy woman when you pull up to the Walmart service department & get out and your horn starts blaring. And being men, they will think they know how to fix it without knowing that your battery was as dead as a doornail just a few short minutes ago.

12. When you are driving down the interstate and wave your hand back & forth to demonstrate how the 18 wheeler you just passed was handling the wind - or not, the 18 wheeler you are approaching might take it as an invitation to pull out in front of you. And slow you down.

13. You never know what you'll see or hear on the road. Or when you stop for a bathroom/snack break. While I was in the restroom at Priester's Pecans, a lady was using the restroom and had her car keys hanging out of her pocket. They fell out into the toilet just as the auto flusher started, and they were flushed away. The kind people at Priester's helped her call & arrange to get a new key. Not sure what happened with their plumbing.

14. Grace likes dogs. Particularly stuffed ones or statues. From the one in Lambert's to the polka dotted dogs in the Victoria's Secret window at a mall in Birmingham. And she will ask you to take her picture with one every time she finds one.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-11-27T08:27:00.000-06:00

35. That's my new number. I had a hard time with 35 for some reason. Hopefully 40 won't be so bad. My birthday was a great day though.

It started with me answering the door to find this...

And then later, I opened the door to find this...

Pete came home to pick me up for us to have lunch with Sam and had a little surprise. When I opened the door, he had the cupcake in his hand with the candle in it. He sang "Happy Birthday" to me. And had this...

A dozen cupcakes from Gigi's...

Birthday Surpise, Cherry Cordial, German Chocolate, Red Velvet...and I don't remember the names of all of that chocolate goodness. If you aren't familiar with Gigi's Cupcakes, you should be. Gigi doesn't mess around. These are some SERIOUS cupcakes.

Later that afternoon, we took the kids to Mom's and celebrated with them. I got a basket with some goodies and a Cricut. And a date night with Pete.

We had dinner at Pauli's and then went to the movie...

Between movie options and just being busy, we don't go to the movie very often. The more I heard about The Blind Side, the more I knew we had to go & see it. And if you have been living under a rock and don't know about it, let me just say...grab someone, spend the 20ish bucks and go see it. It is worth it. We will own it when it comes out on dvd/blu-ray. The story is touching, and it stirred up memories and emotions from when we had our foster daughter 6 years ago {in fact, she was with us on my birthday 6 years ago}. It left me wondering if we might get back into fostering once the kids are a little bit older. Or do something to help in some way...

I enjoyed the day full of surprises - from the goodies to the night out with Pete and the tug at my heart with the reminder of that sweet foster baby.

Trouble

2009-11-11T07:59:00.002-06:00

Have you ever played Trouble? My brother, Matt, and I played plenty of games growing up. My grandparents had it at their house. And we played a lot. When we spent the night. When we camped in their camper.

It seems that the tradition has carried on. Sam {& Grace to some extent} play Trouble with Grandma.

Sam's turn...

Grace was pleading her case with Grandma...

...and putting on the pout...

Sam was contemplating his move...

...and he eventually beat Grandma who proceeded to "get him" by tickling him for beating her.

Good times!

Pete - 39

2009-11-10T21:07:00.006-06:00

Today is Pete's 39th {I really can't believe that!} birthday. We celebrated with a sans-kids lunch at Ruth's Chris, dinner with the kids & my parents at Cracker Barrel, gifts and cupcakes. We will celebrate with the rest of the family soon.

I don't know exactly why - maybe they are easy - but i have been on a cupcake kick lately. Maybe it is my inability to make 2 or 3 perfect cakes for a round layered cake {or unwillingness to "fix" them if they're not}. Or the fact that I can't seem to ice cakes like I want them to be. Anyway...I decided to make german chocolate cupcakes for Pete. For his birthday.

A little sidetrack...

As you can see in the picture above and more closely in the one below, my cupcakes aren't all iced with coconut pecan icing. I cheated and bought a tub of icing - which is actually pretty good. I'm not sure what the Betty Crocker & Duncan Hines people are thinking, but their tubs WILL NOT ice 36 cupcakes. Unless they are mini cupcakes. Maybe. Or you get icing on a knife or spreader of choice and run it across the top of the cupcake once. I have made cupcakes 3 times recently and have had to have extra icing. It actually works out okay because Sam & Grace generally won't touch anything that doesn't have white icing on it. I picked up some Pillsbury Easy Frost {I think} to use for the occasional cookie icing for the kids. It tastes pretty good, but the presentation isn't always so pretty. Not to worry though. Grace just licks it off anyway.

Back to partying to celebrate 39...

We gave Pete his present when he got home from work. The kids were excited and couldn't stand to let him check out his stuff on his own.

Happy Birthday Pete! I enjoyed our lunch today and our time together as a family this evening. Hope you had a great day! And have many more to come!

The decorating has started...

2009-11-08T23:05:00.005-06:00

I broke down and bought a lighted palm tree that I planned to put in our foyer. {And now I'm prepared for when I retire and move to the beach. LOL! Or want to celebrate Christmas at the beach - a more likely situation. We DID ring in the New Year on Maui one year, you know?} There is room in there for something small - skinny - and I thought it would be good since our regular tree won't be seen from the front of the house. It was a little big so it is living in our dining room instead. The view from the street won't be as good as it would be in the foyer, but it does fill the corner nicely {and I'm working on fixing the ugly cord mess}.

So the decorating has started. I hope to have our non-tree decorating done by Thanksgiving. Wish me luck!

Halloween

2009-11-02T22:57:00.003-06:00

Saturday was a super busy day at our house. We started the day with Sam's last soccer game. Since it has been raining for 2 months and it rained most of the night Friday, it was cool and wet. Really wet. Water standing on the field wet. By the time the game was over, Sam looked like a pig in a pig sty. He had fallen in one of the puddles on the field and had mud from head to toe.

{My camera was accidentally left on the desk at home. I have no pictures. And I'm not real happy about it. Although...one of the other kids' mom was suppose to send me a link to hers so maybe...}

We got Sam cleaned up, went to lunch, and then came back home for the kids to nap. While they napped, I baked cupcakes and and Pete got the pumpkins ready to carve after the kids woke up.

I also put some potato soup in the crock pot and roasted the pumpkin seeds.

Once the kids were up, Pete got busy carving the pumpkins...

It's never too early to teach Sam how to use power tools.

And the kids & I started decorating the cupcakes.

I made Mummy Dogs {thanks Laura!} to go with the soup. I think Pete enjoyed them more than the kids did...

It was finally time for Sam & Grace to get their costumes on for trick or treating. Meet Peter Pan and Tinkerbell...

They were super excited to go trick or treating, but they couldn't get excited about making pictures.

We went around to the 5 or 6 houses in our neighborhood that were participating. After that, we met up with Pete's sister & family to trick or treat in the neighborhood behind us. They came to our neighborhood when we lived in our old neighborhood. Pete's sister & I talked about getting together this year, but we never settled on a plan. After our short run in the neighborhood, Grace was SCREAMING that she wanted to go to Aunt Stacy's house. We later found out that Stacy's boys were upset about not trick or treating with their cousins. I guess we know for next year...

Batman & Dracula with Peter Pan & Tinkerbell

It is hard to tell in this picture, but this house was one of the more decorated houses. They had skeletons, lights and as Grace said, snoke. She was pretty scared by the snoke at this house. And asked several times later if the house we were going to next had any snoke.

Tinkerbell flew...on Daddy's shoulders...

Sam's jack o' lantern...

Grace's jack o' lantern...

We ended the evening with cupcakes and a viewing of the Monsters vs. Aliens Halloween special at Stacy's house. It was a good thing that daylight savings time ended that night...cause we needed that extra hour of sleep.

Hockey date

2009-10-31T09:13:00.001-05:00

Pete got a pair of tickets to Friday night's Huntsville Havoc home opener from work. He said his first thought when he could only get 2 tickets was for Sam & I to go to the game. He said he knew how much I enjoy going to the games and thought it would be fun for us to go. I'm glad he thought of it. We had a great time!

We had our usual round of 20 - or 100 - questions, and this time the subject was hockey, of course. I really had to dig deep to retrieve my hockey knowledge. We have only been to a few games since Sam was born. Although he sure can dish it, Sam is not a big fan of a lot of noise. It took him a while to get use to all of the noise - air horns, people cheering, yelling, etc. He even asked me after they scored their 2nd goal if people would have be loud if they scored again. I told him that he would know that the Havoc had scored again - even if he didn't see it.

During the 2nd intermission while we were just hanging out waiting for the game to start back up, I snapped these pictures. He was getting tired {long day at school plus he was on meds for a sinus infection}, but he was not ready to go home yet. I offered several times.

And then I caught this clip when "YMCA" came on over the PA system. Delirium had set in.

I saw my cousin {who is 14 and helps out with the intermission games & entertainment} talking to a security person near us. I called him over to say hi & see how the family was doing. He offered to get Sam a hockey puck. I told him that Sam would love it so he went & got one for him. Sam was so proud of that puck. He insisted on holding it as we were walking out of the arena to the van. And he quickly fell asleep on our way home. With the puck glued in his hand. We tried to take it away from him as we were getting him into bed, but even in his sleepy state, he asked for it. So he slept with it all night.

I'm glad we got to have another date night. It has been a while. But Pete needs to take him {or we should all go soon} to make sure my fuzzy memory of hockey rules is correct.

a GRAND escape

2009-10-27T22:58:00.008-05:00

Pete & I had to make a road trip last weekend. We had condo business to take care of at the beach. With our busy weekend and limited timetable {5+ hour drive each way, meetings, a few condo to-do's}, I asked Mom to keep the kids for us. And since cleaning the condo after such a quick trip was right up there on my list with sticking needles in my eyeballs, we splurged. And stayed somewhere else. Someplace GRAND. And it was. The Grand Hotel in Point Clear.

To our surprise, our room was upgraded to a junior suite in the historic main building.

We got down there late Friday afternoon and then ran a few errands. Saturday, we had a couple of meetings to attend and a few more errands. We caught part of this beautiful sunset Saturday evening before we had dinner at the hotel.

The hotel was really nice. The history just oozed from the wood paneled walls in the halls and the giant fireplace in the main lobby.

This is what we looked at Saturday while in & out of the condo. It was absolutely beautiful...but a little crisp.

It was great to getaway - even if we had such a short amount of time to get everything done. Although...it was more of a tease than a fix - beach fix, that is.

Louisville - Part 2

2009-10-19T14:49:00.004-05:00

I hope you have a minute...or five...this post is a long one...

We got up Sunday morning and wandered the 10 or so blocks over to the Louisville Science Center. We took our time and took in the sights along the way. Louisville has some awesome architecture!

One place of interest {in honor of Sam's love for fire trucks} was an old fire station that has been converted to an office building. Very cool!

Doorways are now windows...

Fireman's hat, hose, pick, horn

The fire station was built in 1891...

We finally made it to the Louisville Science Center and saw the Titanic exhibit. Then, we spent a few hours letting the kids explore the rest of the museum. They had a blast!

Thank goodness they had these raincoats for the kids to wear while they played in the water! Grace was wet enough even with one on!

We ate lunch and then made our way back to the hotel. We saw this fire truck along the way. I'm not sure if we {Sam} had seen one so big before.

In honor of our anniversary...

After a short rest, we did some more shopping and had dinner at J Alexander's. Everyone was pretty tired, so we turned in a little early.

Monday morning, we made a quick stop {thanks to uncooperative kids} by Louisville Stoneware. We left there, and then we were going to make a quick drive by Churchill Downs. Getting there turned out to be a little more complicated than we anticipated. And it included an unplanned tour of the University of Louisville.

We got to Churchill Downs and found out that they were giving free tours including a walk out to the track. So we signed up and were on our way. The tour was very interesting. I still know pretty much nothing about horse racing, but it was nice to hear about the place where the Kentucky Derby is held.

This is the main track. It is made up of sand, silt and clay - 75% sand. There is also an inside {grass} track that is used occasionally.

Some Churchill Downs/Kentucky Derby factoids:

9-11 races a day
$3 for a ticket for normal race day
$5,800 for trackside box for 6 for derby day
$20k for suites where celebrities hang out for derby
$40 for infield entry where they have a big party {similar to tailgating}; you don't even see race, just say that you've been there

Our tour guide explained that they didn't get lazy about updating the sign in 1973. Disney was there {a few days before our visit} filming a movie about Secretariat when he won in '73. They haven't had time to change the sign back out. The movie has Diane Lane in it {and I don't remember the big name male actor} and is due to be released in October/November 2010. We'll have to try to see it!

This horse ran in the 2002 season and placed but didn't win. He has retired and is spending some time at Churchill Downs. Beautiful horse! There is a miniature horse that is in residence there to keep the visiting retired horses company.

And this pic is honor of our Hawaii obsession...

We really had a great time in Louisville and plan to go back someday. Hopefully the weather will be a little warmer next time to accommodate us going to the zoo. And we'll definitely have to go back to the farm.

Fall Harvest

2009-10-16T07:29:00.002-05:00

We recently signed up to participate in a CSA - Community Supported Agriculture - for this fall. We got the 1st installment of 8 last night. It is organically grown and picked the morning of delivery. Could it get any fresher than that? In last night's box...winter squash, beets, eggplant, various bell peppers, apples, cucumbers, onion, tomatoes, peas and a few jalapenos.

They have just started to offer a bread share program that sounds really good. For the remaining 7 weeks, we will get a couple of breads a week including jalapeno corn muffins, sourdough bread, cinnamon rolls and yeast rolls. I am looking forward to that as well!

If you are local and interested in participating in this program, let me know and I will send you some information. They are sold out for the fall, but spring will be here before we know it!

I still need to finish my 2nd Louisville trip post...it's coming....eventually!

Louisville - Part 1

2009-10-14T00:09:00.000-05:00

After going back and forth about where we should spend fall break - the beach, Atlanta, Memphis, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Nashville - we decided to do something different. {Do you know how many times we've been to Memphis, Chattanooga, Nashville & Birmingham? Like a 100 times between them. They are fun places to go, but it gets kind of old doing the same ole thing over and over. The exception to this...the beach, of course. I could just about go there any time we have a few days to spare, but it isn't always feasible.} We have actually only been to Atlanta a couple of times - and had hotel reservations to go for fall break. But the rain put a huge damper on our plans.

Plan B {or was it C, D or E?} was Louisville, Kentucky. I have actually been there before - twice. The first time was in 1991 when we visited my stepsister. And the other time was 3 years ago when I went for a convention for work. Pete & Sam stayed home when I went for work. I was impressed with all of the things they have to do there - the Louisville Slugger museum, Science Center, etc. The drive was pretty easy, and there was lots of kid-friendly things to do. I put it on my "one of these days" lists for a getaway.

After we decided that Atlanta wasn't the best option and that Louisville might be a good rain-free option, I started thinking about my trips there. I remembered that when we went in 1991, we went to this farm in Indiana to eat dinner. I didn't really remember anything about the place, how good the food was, etc. I just remembered that it was neat. So I asked Mom if she remembered what it was. And thanks to her and Google, I was on my way with researching and planning. I discovered that not only was the place still open {things DO change over the years, you know?}, but Joe Huber's also has fall festival-y activities...including picking pumpkins!!! {and if you ever want to go, they have various "pick it yourself" options during the year...strawberries, apples, etc.} I was SOLD! Having our fall break trip AND getting a trip to a farm in for picking pumpkins at the same time {since we won't have time for that otherwise} - how cool is that? Between the farm and the fun stuff I already knew about in Louisville, it didn't take long to have our weekend planned out.

We drove up on Friday and hit rain just north of Nashville. The drive across the state of Kentucky {which despite the rain was just beautiful!} took a little - or a lot - longer thanks to the heavy rains and a few wrecks. We got checked into our hotel and then drove over to a mall area with lots of restaurant options. We settled on Cheesecake Factory. After dinner, we walked around the mall for a while before we went back to the hotel. We ended the evening with a short swim in the hotel pool.

We were staying downtown, so when we got up Saturday morning, we walked 10 or so blocks down to the Louisville Slugger factory and museum.

Louisville Slugger Museum - isn't that bat cool?

We checked out the museum, and then we did the factory tour. It was interesting! I know Pete enjoyed it. We all got mini bats as part of the tour. I'm not sure how long they will survive in our house. It didn't take Sam & Grace long to be dangerous with them.

After we finished there, we walked to the Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch.

We made our way back to the hotel to freshen up and were on our way to Joe Huber's Family Farm. I called the day before and made reservations for dinner at 6:00 in their main restaurant.

The drive to the farm was really pretty. The trees were just starting to change colors, and we noticed a lot of red leaves. Seemed to be more intense than we see around here. We finally got there and it. was. chaos. People were everywhere. We figured out where to go for the tractor ride to get pumpkins. {That part of it seemed so much easier, faster than at home. They would take you out to the field and drop you off. You wandered as you liked to find a pumpkin, then hopped the next trailer or the next or next after that. I wonder if they took people moving classes at Disney?}

After our pumpkin picking experience, we played around the "barnyard" - the area for kids. They had slides out of a "barn", a playground area, hayrides, a silo with an overlook. We also checked out the country store.

We pretty much had done everything that we could or wanted to do. And we still had a hour or so before our reservation. I started to second guess my suggestion that we eat there. What if we waited around and it wasn't good? We finally decided that we would just stay but check in early in case we could be seated early. {They also serve the same food in 2 overflow "barns" buffet style. In the restaurant, you are served family style - bowls and platters full of fried chicken, ham, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, waldorf salad, slaw, fried biscuits & apple butter. With small kids, I'll take someone bringing it to me at the table over having to hunt and gather at the buffet any day.} We got checked in {and found out that the walk-up wait time was 2 hours} and were seated pretty quickly. I. am. so. glad. that. we. stayed. The food was so good. And the mashed potatoes were some of the best that I have eaten. Ever.

We stopped on our way back to Louisville in Clarksville, IN for a little shopping {We weren't up for swimming and it was still early to be in the hotel room with the kids. They needed to burn off more energy.}.

The other half of the trip to follow...

A little bit of crazy

2009-10-13T18:09:00.007-05:00

I got a message the other day from Hillary about a "crazy" post party. Anything crazy goes, so in no particular order, here's an example of the crazy that goes on at our house.

1. Way back in 2001, in the days before our days were filled with bottles, naps, changing diapers and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, we took not one but TWO trips to Hawaii. In the same year. Just 6 months apart, actually. And it was great! We even got another trip in before Sam came along. We are just a little bit Hawaii obsessed. And on another level of crazy, we plan to go back in 2011 for our 15th anniversary - and probably will even take the kids.

2. We sold our house back in 2005 - and moved just 1 week before Sam's 1st birthday party. Not only did we work like mad to make the house presentable, we prepped and cooked food to go along with our Hawaiian Luau theme the next weekend {Did I mention we like Hawaii a little bit?}. For 40 or so people.

3. We spent most of Fall Break this past weekend in Louisville, KY. We spent Saturday afternoon at Joe Huber's Family Farm. In Indiana. So, you could say that we drove all the way to Indiana - 300 miles - to get our pumpkins. While that may seem a little crazy, Pete is convinced that it was not too far to drive for the meal that we had at their restaurant. It. was. wonderful!

4. We went to Disney World as a {with kids} family for the first time last year. With our 17 month old. People asked why we would want to do that. The trip wasn't for Grace - it was for Sam. So we hopped on a jet plane to Orlando with the kids and a semi nap-friendly schedule. We survived. And have been back. And will go back again soon.

5. The freshest silly or crazy thing in my mind that we have done is getting the equivalent of front row tickets to see Rick Springfield at Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville. We'll spend the evening with my SIL & one of her friends at a table within sweat flinging distance of Rick Springfield. And after the show, we'll get to meet him LIVE in person. And I'll have to work hard to separate him from Dr. Noah Drake in my mind. We'll be all giggle-y and have a great time though.

I have noticed a trend as I have thought about this post and put it together. We're a little crazy about travel. What are you crazy about?

Road Trip to Louisville

2009-10-11T22:02:00.004-05:00

Gas for a road trip to Louisville, KY.....2 tanks (roundtrip)

Pumpkins from Joe Huber's farm.....$7.50

Tickets to the Louisville Slugger museum.....$20

Tickets to the Louisville Science Center.....$65

A long weekend making memories with the family.....Priceless

More to follow...

Dear Santa

2009-10-05T23:34:00.003-05:00

Dear Santa,

I know it is early, but I would like to go ahead and put in our request.

Sam needs a new bicycle. We finally got around to taking the training wheels off of his bike. And he took right off. He hasn't been riding it much lately because he likes his scooter so we didn't realize how big he has gotten for it. His circus clown bike routine is cute, but he is sure to knock his knees on his handlebars soon.

And I am sure there must be some kind of ratio law for height vs. bike size. He is starting to tower over his bike.

While we're at it, could we please have a bicycle for Grace? She has gotten the Flintstones move down, and I think she is ready to move to pedal power.

Again, I know it is early. But, I know you have lots of bikes to build. See you at the mall!

Love,
Sam & Grace's Mom

Reunion

2009-09-27T00:03:00.009-05:00

Pete & I went to his 20 year high school reunion. 20 years. I told Pete that I wasn't old enough to be at a 20 year reunion. And I can't believe it. Like I can't believe that we have known each other for almost 18 1/2 years. Time flies when you're having fun!

The dinner was held at the county museum in the town where he went to school. It was a step-up from the 10 year reunion. The 10 year was held in a building at the fairgrounds. We dodged the rain, got our name tags {his, complete with his senior pic} and stepped back in time. It was such a fun time for me. I knew no one there - the 3 or 4 people I know that he went to school with weren't there. {And since I was in middle school during his high school years - except his senior year, we didn't meet until 2 years after he graduated, and he didn't keep in touch with many people after high school, there wasn't much chance for me to know many of his old friends.} It took everyone a little while to warm up, but before we knew it, we were yelling at each other trying to talk over all of the chatter - and the 80's music that was playing. People were catching up and reminiscing about old times.

I found myself sitting back and listening to people talk. What else would I do? I did go through the motions of "nice to meet you", but then what's a girl to do? I felt like I was at a high school dance or even in the school cafeteria for lunch. People talking about ball games, partying, dating, hanging out. And it was funny to see people say the obligatory "how are you?"s and then move to their old cliques.

For dinner, we had a barbeque buffet with various cakes for dessert. Nothing too fancy or exciting. At the 10 year reunion, they had heavy hors d'oeuvres. So we've progressed from hors d'oeuvres {that is a pain to spell} to barbeque. I told Pete that at the next reunion, we'll be eating baked chicken...in keeping with the "getting old" thing.

I saw some interesting people that night. We were standing around talking when this one guy came walking by. I kept looking up to find this guy's face - I think he was like 2 feet taller than me. I don't know if I've seen someone that tall before. Pete said he went off to school to play ball. I would have thought basketball, but I was wrong - football.

And then I saw Celine Dion's twin there. She turned out be one of Pete's old friends. Very pretty, very sweet it seemed. Very Celine. There wasn't a Titanic scene for her to break out in song, so I don't know if she has the vocals Celine does, but she probably would do just fine at a Celine dinner theater {like the Elvis place in Pigeon Forge}.

Speaking of twins, and I'm not sure how this would work...but I saw what could be Pete's brother's twin. But having twins 6-7 years apart would be some kind of miracle, so we would ALL know about it. Seriously, this guy looks just like Pete's brother. Bald on top, shaved on the sides; glasses. And I could even see his brother {on rare occasions} wearing what this guy was wearing - shirt, tie, sports coat. It was weird! Even Pete noticed it before I said something to him. He said he looked up and saw him and wondered why his brother was there. Funny!

I had this overwhelming urge to take pictures from the minute I walked into the museum. The building was neat. And there was a somewhat cheesy display set up with hay bales, pom poms and megaphone. There were a couple of other details, but I can't remember now. I felt weird about taking pictures of "strangers" in such an environment. I do take pictures of strangers but they generally don't know I am doing it. And they are not the main subject in my pics. Anyway, I did get the camera out when they were doing a class picture and attempt to get a shot of Pete. The lighting wasn't so good though.

Pete told me that there is already talk of another reunion. 25 years. That is just 5 short years away based on how quickly the last 10 years have gone. I should blow up this picture and try to memorize these people's names off of their name tags. Maybe then I will be a little ahead in a few months - I mean years - when I see them again. In the meantime, I will be digging out my own yearbooks at some point to cram for my own name game {there was a lot of name tag reading}- uh, reunion.

9 minutes 45 seconds

2009-09-24T21:23:00.004-05:00

I have known for 5 years, 2 months and 6 days that you just never know what to expect when you have kids. The surprises never stop. And I had another one today.

A little history....

Sam brought home a flyer last week for a fundraiser. And it was probably the 42nd fundraiser they have had in the month and a half since school started. We've sold coupon books. We're collecting box tops and campbell's labels. We've eaten at local restaurants for school nights. And we're getting ready to do a read-a-thon for the library. This particular fundraiser wasn't for the school. It was for the hospital here - for kids.
I looked at the flyer and decided that we wouldn't participate for a couple of reasons.
1) We're doing lots of fundraisers already.
2) It is a fun run. We generally don't run anywhere {unless publix, target or getting dinner count (and not counting soccer)}.

Today...

I had no idea that they would talk about it at school {P.E., I'm guessing}. But they did. Yesterday. And again today. Sam got off the bus and said that the fundraiser was today, and he wanted to go. And he asked if I had the form they sent home from school. And my little form for Sam is somewhere in the local landfill.

I quickly got online and googled it. Bingo! I found the form. It was 3:30. Sam's group {preschool & kindergarten} was scheduled to race at 4:00. Grace was still napping, so I had to get her up and ready to go & make the 20-25 minute {at best} drive across town. There was no way we'd be there in time for him to run with his group. They would allow kids to run at a different time, but the kids would not be able to win a trophy if they didn't race with their age group. I told Sam this {and emphasized that he could still get a t-shirt if he finished} as we were leaving to hopefully avoid a nuclear explosion. He talked more about it on our way to the field. He said "it's just a mile. That's all. What's the big deal?" We got there just before the 4:15 race started.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Sam hasn't done any kind of organized running. Yeah, he plays soccer, but there's more to that than just running. So the race started, and he was pretty close to the front of the pack. And he stayed there. He kept with it. He'd slow down occasionally, and then he get a burst of energy and move ahead. But I was impressed and proud that he stayed with it.

After he crossed the finish line in 9 minutes 45 seconds, he got a ribbon. And then we got his shirt. He was so tired. And he asked, "why did it have to be so long?"

As we were leaving, we heard them announcing the top 15 for his age group. Had we made it in time, he would have finished in the top 15. Number 15 finished at 9 minutes 48 seconds. I am pretty sure he could have finished #15 if not better. Had he been running with his group, he might have pushed harder. But he did great. He set his mind to doing something and finished.

"He played t-ball on that field"

2009-09-21T22:54:00.004-05:00

OK, it wasn't this exact field, but my brother played t-ball at the ball fields where Sam plays soccer. {It was his first time to come & see Sam play and maybe the first time he'd been to the park since he played there. And his wife & kids heard all about it. He must have told them about 30 times as they walked to our field that he played ball there.} For Sam's age group, they divide the outfields into 6 soccer fields.

Sam has been a little off at times lately during soccer. I told him before we left the house that he needed to play good - focus on the game, the ball, etc.

because he had a crowd coming to see him play that day. My mom & step-dad along with my brother, his wife & kids all came. I think we increased the fans for our team by like a 1,000 percent. And being a Saturday in September, everyone showed their team spirit.

I joked that my niece was a ball magnet cause it seemed like any time the ball was kicked out, it was in front of her.

Sam played good - and played hard. He got to play 3 quarters during the game. While he was out during the 3rd quarter, he followed Coach Pete {aka Daddy} around and supported his teammates. And he was so funny to watch because while he was standing {I use that word loosely} there watching the game, he could not be still. He was jumping up & down and kicking his foot. He wanted to be in. there. playing. so. desperately.

During a break in the action, I turned around to the field behind us. There were a few kids from another team jumping in the puddles on the field. I love this shot!

And when Spiderman - I mean Sam - wasn't watching the game, I caught him climbing the fence.

After the game, Sam & J {who also plays soccer} had a quick game while we got our chairs and got ready to leave.

We headed back to the house for lunch, the football game and my brother's birthday. Happy Birthday bro! And ROLLLLLL TIDE!!!

The Man is Doing Nothing

2009-09-21T19:01:00.003-05:00

While we were driving to Starkville, Sam wrote a story. He called out the sentences to us and asked for help with spelling words that he wasn't sure about. His form is still a little messy, but he did a great job!

"The man is doing nothing.
He will be doing something.
Will the dog get the bone?
The cat will get his cat food."

I went to Mississippi...

2009-09-21T09:03:00.000-05:00

...and all you got was this really long post that took me a week to put together....

We spent last weekend in Starkville, MS to go to Pete's cousin's wedding {and for Pete to take pictures}. We left Friday afternoon in order to get there in time for the rehearsal & rehearsal dinner that evening. Not only was Pete taking pictures, but Grace was a flower girl in the wedding.

In the interest of time, we traveled the back way to get to Starkville {instead of interstate}. We were about half way there, and Sam had woken up from a nap. And naturally, he needed to go to the bathroom. So, we stopped at this gas station that we have stopped at a few times over the years on our way to Fayette {my grandmother was from Fayette so her family is there}. Pete came back out and said that he felt like he had stepped back in time about 30 years in that store. I agreed that the area we were in definitely was like going back in time. A place where you have to travel as long as an hour - or more - to "get to town". A bathroom stop at a gas station wouldn't be complete without grabbing a drink & a snack - something we haven't done much the last few years since we typically travel with kid snacks. But, we decided to get a snack this time. So the guys came back with candy bars & drinks. For the first time, Sam ate a full size Hershey chocolate candy bar. He has had some candy in small doses, but never a full size bar.

We were back on the road and made it on down to Starkville. We went to rehearsal where it took Grace a while to warm up to everyone. She wasn't sure that she wanted to wear her princess dress and throw flower petals from her basket. We finally decided that she could just hold her cousin's - the ring bearer - hand and walk with him. Just walk down the aisle, please!!!

Grace & her cousins - 2 flower girls & a ring bearer

After rehearsal, we took the kids back to the hotel to stay with some babysitters that Pete's aunt had arranged while we went to the dinner. Another first. The kids hadn't stayed with anyone other than family {or day care/MMO}. Other than the excitement of the fire alarm going off because of a fog machine being used in the lobby restaurant for a party or something, they did pretty good. Then the hard part...trying to settle them at 10:30 - they were still pretty wired. We finally got them settled. And Grace slept with Sam - instead of a portable crib.

The wedding was at 12:30 on Saturday, so we got to the chapel at about 10:00 so Pete could get as many pictures done before the wedding as possible. He was busy! Grace wore her princess dress along with her cousin {the other flower girl} and the bridesmaids.

When the wedding finally started and the wedding party was walking in, Grace was having a fit because some of her flower petals had spilled out of her basket. Not that she was going to throw them, but she would not walk down the aisle without them. And then at the last minute, the bride & groom's rings came loose off of the pillow. So between me trying to gather up flower petals & Pete's uncle trying to re-tie the rings, we were scrambling at the last minute.

Showtime!

The kids made their way down the aisle and did pretty good during the ceremony. Grace did try to chase after Pete at one point when she saw him off to the side taking pictures. I was pleased wit how Grace did especially since going to church on Sunday can sometimes be a disaster. If only she could cooperate like she did at the wedding when we go to church.

A few pictures were done after the wedding, and then we made our way to the reception location. We had great food, a few more pictures & the bride & groom were on their way.

Mr. & Mrs. P

We went back to our hotel for a nap, then headed to Pete's aunt & uncle's house for dinner. Grace was asleep before we got back to the hotel that evening, so I stayed in the room with her while Sam & Pete went swimming. We went to bed a little early - it was a long day.

4 generations - Pete, his mom, his grandfather and Sam & Grace

We left Starkville after breakfast Sunday morning. For a change in scenery {and a decent option for lunch - Fayette & the other small towns along the back way have pretty limited choices}, we decided to come home via the interstate instead of the back roads. And I joked with Pete that after spending so much time on the MSU campus, we might need to go by U of A to get the "germs" off. Sam hadn't been to Tuscaloosa so it was a good chance for him to see the stadium. Pete offered to let Sam & I jump out so I could take his picture. I got a few shots of him in front of the stadium, then we walked towards it and looked at the coaches' statues.

Sam at Bryant Denny Stadium

There might be a little football attitude in that expression?

We got to Bear Bryant's statue, and I was telling him about Bear and how he coached in the 60's, 70's & early 80's. And he was a really popular coach. And won several National Championships. At the end of my spiel, his question was..."well, when did he become a statue?" So then I had to explain that it wasn't really him.

A few raindrops later, we were headed back to the car in hopes of not getting drenched. We continued on to Birmingham to find lunch - at J Alexander's - and then headed on home.

Favorite tunes - young & old

2009-09-14T16:02:00.020-05:00

Every once in a while when the kids are with me and when I have had all of the kid movies or music that I can stand, I turn on XM radio. I usually listen to channel 26, formerly known as "Flight 26", now "The Pulse" {I still don't understand the whole XM/Sirius buyout. XM supposedly bought Sirius and Sirius named all the channels. Whatever...}. Anyway, Grace has picked up on a song that has been playing a lot lately. She now has her first non-church, non-kid favorite song. It is "Still Have My Heart" by Caitlin Crosby. She only knows the chorus, of course, but it is so cute to hear her sing it.

Sam found his first favorite song at about the same age back in 2006. He loved "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White T's...."oh, what you to do to me...oh what you to do to me".

Sam seems to have continued his fascination with Plain White T's cause he can belt out the chorus to their new song "1,2,3,4".

I even caught him {and Grace} on video today...

So this trip down memory lane made me wonder what I was singing at 2 1/2 years old. I thought about it, and the earliest stuff I could think of was "Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen {or in my words, "another one rides the bus"} and "Africa" by Toto.

Upon further research, I learned that they were both early 1980's songs and as much as I'd like to be younger, the 2 1/2 year old time frame puts me clear back in 1976/1977. I turned to my trusty friend, Google, and searched for the Top 100 Hits of 1976 {they did keep records back in those days}. You can see the whole list at that link, but I went through the list & paired it down to songs that I know {complete with ranking for the year} - at least somewhat. Some good stuff, but I am not sure that I was singing along with many of them at 2 & 1/2 {maybe Mom might see something on the list that seems familiar? although, she did have a newborn around that time - so maybe not}. It was the day of disco, make-up wearing, dope smoking folks. And you had to be careful cause some of those people even had evil messages when you played their records backwards. I got to know most of these songs when I was older through movies, TV, and even going to various sports events.

2. Don't Go Breaking My Heart , Elton John and Kiki Dee

4. December, 1963 (Oh What A Night!), Four Seasons

5. Play That Funky Music , Wild Cherry

11. Sara Smile , Daryl Hall and John Oates

12. Afternoon Delight , Starland Vocal Band

13. I Write the Songs , Barry Manilow

18. Bohemian Rhapsody , Queen

20. Boogie Fever, Sylvers

21. I'd Really Love to See You Tonight , England Dan and John Ford Coley

23. Love Hurts (Live) , Nazareth

25. Take It to the Limit , Eagles

26. (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty , K.C. and The Sunshine Band

31. You Should Be Dancing , Bee Gees

32. You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine , Lou Rawls

37. Dream Weaver , Gary Wright

38. Turn the Beat Around , Vicki Sue Robinson

40. All By Myself , Eric Carmen

45. That's the Way (I Like It) , K.C. and The Sunshine Band

50. Show Me the Way , Peter Frampton

51. Dream On , Aerosmith

56. Fooled Around and Fell In Love , Elvin Bishop

63. Shop Around , The Captain and Tennille

70. Evil Woman , Electric Light Orchestra

78. Got To Get You Into My Life, Beatles

81. She's Gone , Daryl Hall and John Oates

82. Still the One , Orleans

83. You're My Best Friend , Queen

85. Slow Ride , Foghat

89. Baby I Love Your Way , Peter Frampton

96. Rock and Roll All Nite , Kiss

97. The Boys Are Back in Town , Thin Lizzy

So do you remember your first favorite song? Or something close? Or even your favorite song from this time period? Like my friend Hillary {who recently took a trip down the musical memory lane}, I may be visiting itunes soon.

An anniversary of sorts...

2009-09-11T07:56:00.001-05:00

This time last year, I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to finish getting ready to leave. It was a trip that we had looked forward to for many months. We took the kids to Walt Disney World for the first time.

The trip started off a little rough. We were delayed & didn't get to Orlando until well after midnight. But, after we arrived, it was a week of many magical moments.

Like meeting Mickey for the first time...

Minnie...

Mickey ears desserts at Chef Mickey's...

seeing Cinderella's castle...

riding Buzz Lightyear over and over and over...

hanging out with Daddy...

watching fireworks from in front of the castle...

just being plain "Goofy"...

eating delicious food (this was at Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge)...

attending "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party" (Sam did have football pants to complete his football player "costume", but he refused to wear them.)...

watching parades, including the Boo to You parade...

meeting Buzz Lightyear...

spending a week in a stroller...poor Grace!!

riding the Barnstormer once or 20 times...

until Sam discovered the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad...

Sam decorated his own cupcake at Garden Grill in Epcot...

got dizzy on the tea cups with Momma...

and watched 2 fireworks shows in one night...including this "special" show they did for a special event.

We had a wonderful time and have already been back once. And we plan to go on a Disney cruise next year. I hope we don't outgrow Disney for a long time.

A year later - this weekend - we're doing something special but in a different way. I'll tell you about that later.

Happy Weekend!

Grace Speak

2009-09-08T22:22:00.000-05:00

Grace has been cracking me up lately with some of the things she says - sometimes the words themselves, other times just her tone.

Grace Speak vs. People Speak

Spicy cheese vs. slice of cheese

A common "you've already had a snack" or "it's too late for you to have sugar" snack option {really ulitimatum - take it or have nothing} is a slice of Kraft singles cheese. Grace can't quite get out the slice of cheese so she calls it spicy cheese.

Ogrut vs. yogurt

Grace is my yogurt eater. She likes it for breakfast. She will ask to have some Dora ogrut. And she isn't shy when she sees Daddy with his ogrut. They have shared ogrut many a mornings.

Ogrut vs. okra

And she eats okra, but she has been known to call it ogrut. Okra, yogurt...similar I guess?

Some of Grace's other sayings...

"Helllloooo kiddos"

"it's kind of like..."

"It's really hot today" - Grace says this pretty much anytime she walks outside & the sun is in her eyes. It could be 100 or 70...same response.

"That's going to be awesome!"

"Ok, whatever" - This can vary from a casual, it really doesn't matter "ok, whatever" to a long drawn out complete with the look {where does she get that look?} "okkkaaayyy, WHAT-ever"

"Daddy looks like uncle Peter" - cause he is uncle Peter! A couple of our nephews were here recently, & Grace heard them call her Daddy "uncle Peter".

"Uncle Peter was cracking me up this morning" - again, a result of hearing her cousins call her Daddy "Uncle Peter".

"Let's get out of here, dude!" - Grace came into our room early one morning recently. She laid down with us for a few minutes before she decided she didn't want to rest any more. She said to Pete, "let's get out of here, dude!".

In other breaking news, we recently discovered after Grace begged for some of my bread pudding, that she. does. NOT. like. it.

and she'll pull back just to get away from it.

More to follow, I'm sure...

Meet Chef Sam

2009-09-05T15:26:00.004-05:00

We walked out to our garden - or the remains of it - last weekend to check on the tomatoes. Sam helped me pick tomatoes, banana peppers & jalapeno peppers. He loves to help!

We got back inside, and Sam immediately ran upstairs to the bonus room to get his chef's hat that came with the indoor/outdoor kitchen that Santa brought last Christmas. He came back downstairs, grabbed a cutting board and knife {regular dinner knife}, and started chopping a pepper from his bowl of "washed" tomatoes & peppers. He has helped me in the kitchen several times, but I had never seen anything like this. I had to grab my camera.

After he finished chopping everything, he asked Pete to cook his tomato & pepper "creation" so he could eat it with his dinner.

A lttle EVOO in the pan, then add the peppers to saute...

add the tomatoes...

finish with a little salt & pepper {to make it a little sweet & sour, you know?}

Do you think Sam has seen a little too much Next Food Network Star, Emeril, or Paula Deen? I kind of hope he keeps it up. It would be nice to have another "chef" in the house.

Update

2009-09-05T12:50:00.000-05:00

I have wanted to post since my last post, but I can't seem to find the time to get pictures uploaded and put words on paper - I mean, screen. This post was supposed to be a "weekend review" for last weekend. And it is the weekend again, so now it is just an update.

Last weekend, we had a pretty busy weekend. Working in our bedroom, soccer practice, soccer game, shopping, working in the yard, church, working in Pete's office, dinner with my parents, playing outside with the kids. We accomplished a lot, and I wasn't exhausted from it either!

We got our bedroom rearranged. We were able to move the dresser and wardrobe around to make room for a chair.

And we got a new TV "console" {console - we bought a console & not a TV stand} to put on the wall opposite the foot of the bed. {Do you know how hard it is to find a TV "console" for your bedroom these days? We didn't want to spend a whole lot & looked at Target and every other place in town we could think of. The problem is that we wanted something 30"-36" tall so that we could sit or lay in bed & watch TV. With the advent of widescreen TVs, manufacturers seem to think that all TV "consoles" should be in the 21"-24" range. Or you can pay thousands for one that the TV comes up out of, but besides cost, I'm not interested in that...at all. And mounting it on the wall isn't an easy solution either. What do you do with components, then?}

This week in the bedroom...

The new lamps are in place, but I am still trying to decide about wall lamps. I saw some in the Southern Living Idea House in a recent Southern Living issue. I really think the look is neat, but I haven't had much luck finding any yet. I haven't looked extensively, but so far, the best bet is Pottery Barn. We'll see...

I put the bedding on the other day and really like it. I think we might need a few more pillows...or not.

We are slowly getting there. Next up...drapes and wall decor.

We have finally finished up the first phase of our front flowerbed makeover. Most of it was done back in May/early June, but we had a crepe mytle & 3 azaleas that we just couldn't manage to get into the ground. All the time we spent watering them to keep them alive for the last 3 months, we probably could have already planted them. Oh well, at least they are happy now.

{We still need a little mulch to finish up and to decide if or what we should do about the edging. The edging issue will be resolved next spring in part 2.}

As I mentioned before, Pete's office has been neglected {as much as or even more than the plants} since we moved in. We finally spent a few hours in there last weekend trying to finish unpacking knick knacks & stuff. We still have more to do in there, but we also got curtains hung in there and made room for a rug. More progress! :)

We are gearing up for a fun weekend with family & friends. We'll be celebrating the start of football season today {Roll Tide!} with some family & friends and then having some other friends over for dinner Sunday evening. I am looking forward to entertaining again!

Happy weekend!