Three Sweet Teas and Me

A Country Music Concert?

2012-01-21T23:41:00.002-05:00

Back in December. my sister (E) called and said that she wanted to buy the kids tickets to a country music concert. WHAT? Wait a minute...I don't need our almost 9 year old son and our 7 year old daughter getting that kind of education! Hubby & I don't even know anything about current music. I have figured out why parents don't know anything about music after they have a family. It's simple...you start listening to The Wiggles and then Disney music trying to educate your children while shielding them from the real world. But, you can always count on E to educate the kids in a way only E can do. She's been schooling them on Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean for months.

Well, she kept working on us about the concert assuring us that it would be an calm crowd in the smaller venue in Greenville, SC. So what happened? This weekend we were on our way to enjoy our Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean concert tickets-Christmas presents from E.

We had a pre-concert dinner at Sobe's in Greenville-yummy but pricey.

Then we were off to Bi-Lo Center for the concert. We paid $25 to park, but it was all worth it when we walked our short distance to and from the car in the rain.

LAUREN ALANA was added to the line-up. She started the show for the first 20 minutes.

Then we had a break while they changed the equipment on the stage which was the perfect time for pictures of the concert-goers!

Can you see we are on the top row? E said it's because the mama took so long deciding if we were allowed to go! The stage was set-up where there were people 360 degrees around the arena. We were actually behind the stage. The performers did move around singing to all sides.

Our Girl was getting dressed for the concert and referred to her outfit as her"costume." She wanted to have her hat on in the hotel so that her costume would look just right. To complete our boys costume, we got out his camo truckers hat that he got free at Home Depot. Now that I think of it, I think it says Toyota Trucks...hmmm...I don't think country singers sing about Toyotas...oops!

We brought Our Boy's glasses so he could see, and E brought binoculars too. Does this crowd look ready or what?

LUKE BRYAN

JASON ALDEAN

Lauren Alana sang Kelly Clarkston's part of Don't You Wanna Stay.

Here's how the kids looked starting around 10pm. We all had fun, and E was right...it was a calm crowd with not too much education. Now Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean have a few more fans.

One more area of good news...our hotel experience in Greenville was much better than when we went to Tuscaloosa. We did notice there were some interesting people around the lobby. Then we discovered that they were having a Narcotics Anonymous retreat going on at our hotel. Never a dull moment...never!

Brothers

2012-01-14T13:54:00.001-05:00

Here is what happens when a sister leaves her "Lego Friends" out on the kitchen counter...this scene has brother written all over it!

Girl Legos

2012-01-09T21:47:00.001-05:00

Today Our Girl bought some of the new "Girl" Legos with her allowance money that she's been saving. Lately, she's been saying that she wants to be a vet when she grows up. So...she picked the vet Lego set.

It's hard to decide who looks more interested in the new Lego set?

Happy 77th Birthday Elvis!

2012-01-08T21:46:00.000-05:00

Did you know that today would have been Elvis' 77th birthday? Well, we did because we went to his birthday party at the National Archives in Atlanta. They played some YouTube videos of Elvis performing and they had a birthday cake to celebrate too:

There were documents on display like this one where Elvis wrote a letter to President Nixon asking for a meeting with him to get a federal narcotics officer badge. Hmmmm...wonder if he ever got it?

Our Boy wasn't too happy to learn that you have to be 14 to do research handling the documents at the archives. But, the kids learned how to search the online database at http://www.archives.gov/ . Our Boy is eager to search for documents on the Titanic and on Coca-Cola.

E's Trip to New Orleans

2012-01-07T18:18:00.002-05:00

My sister, "E," likes to go and experience. For New Years, she went to New Orleans. Whenever she goes somewhere, she brings home treasures for us. About a year ago, I asked E to change our treasures to only edible ones. You know...there is only so much room for treasures, but there is always room for edible treasures, right?

From this trip, E brought us pralines:

She brought each of the kids a gummy gator:

She also brought the kids an artist's print. She brought our boy a low country boil print that has two of his favorite things...shrimp and corn (does that count as edible?):

She brought Our Girl a print of a scene of Jackson Square:

Thanks E for the treasures!

Spaghetti with Chicken and Tomatoes

2012-01-03T20:46:00.000-05:00

Last January I posted some chicken recipes; therefore, I thought I'd post a chicken recipe this January too. I found this recipe on Pinterest. We had it for dinner tonight. I modified the recipe which you'll see below, but here is the real thing from Gina at skinnytaste.com.

Spaghetti with Chicken and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

2 skinless chicken breast halves, diced in 1 inch cubes

cooking spray

salt and pepper

8 oz angel hair spaghetti

2 cups grape tomatoes

a shake of garlic powder
4 tsp extra virgin olive oil

4 tbsp chopped fresh basil

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.

Season diced chicken generously with salt & pepper. Heat a large skillet on high heat. When hot, spray with cooking spray and add chicken. Cook about 3-4 minutes, until no longer pink. Remove chicken and set aside.

Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package directions. Reserve about 1/2 cup pasta water before draining.

While pasta cooks, add olive oil to skillet on high heat. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper and garlic powder. Reduce heat to medium-low. Sauté about 4-5 minutes. Drain pasta. If pasta seems too dry, add some of the reserved pasta water (great idea...why didn't I think of that before?) Top with tomatoes, fresh basil and chicken. Can top with good grated cheese.

Somebody's Getting Glasses

2012-01-02T17:31:00.000-05:00

Our Boy's been telling us that he can't see far away...mostly when he's watching TV. He's also been complaining of headaches. Today we went to the eye doctor, and...well...he can't see far away. Looks like somebody in the family is getting glasses to start 2012. He'll have them in about a week. Here's a nice shot of the frames he picked with his dilated eyes:

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T22:03:00.002-05:00

Goodbye 2011 & Hello 2012! And just like that...it's another year behind us. Do you remember being small and thinking that you'd never grow up? And now the years just keep flying by with each one going faster than the one before it.

Seems like we were just bringing Our Boy & Our Girl home from the hospital, and now...

and now...one of them is picking out what she wants to wear...like these fancy boots!

TIME...please...slow....down!!

Faces of Christmas 2011

2011-12-29T15:58:00.000-05:00

As I was looking through our Christmas pictures from this year, I saw some themes through the facial expressions of our kids (& our dog).

Sleepy Faces:

Excited Faces:

Engaged Faces:

Grumpy girl & Mischievous brother faces:

What about you? Did you see any of these facial expressions in your house this Christmas?

Christmas Break 2011

2011-12-21T16:56:00.000-05:00

Friday was our last day of school before our two week Christmas break. My favorite part of being on break from school is that there is no alarm clock! We've been enjoying our time off. Here's how we've been spending our time:
The kids spoke to Santa during our trip to Tuscaloosa last weekend. I'm pretty sure that the kids changed up their lists for what they asked for during this visit.

Hubby is the grandson of a baker. He likes to get out the 'ol family recipes at Christmas. These are "Grandma's Cookies" which I was told that I had to marry into the family before I could have the recipe:

These are "Chocolate Drop Cookies:"

What else? Well, today Hubby and Our Boy went to volunteer at the food bank with the 3rd-5th graders at our church. They both enjoy serving here. This was their 3rd time going to volunteer.

Our Girl and I stayed home today. You have to be 8 years old to serve at the food bank, and she's not quite there yet. She also has a cold with a stuffy nose and yucky cough. Seems like both of the kids always get sick on this break from school. Our Boy missed 3 days of school last week, and now Our Girl is sick.

While we were home today, I gave Our Girl Rudolph toes...got the idea from Pinterest (of course)!

We also wrapped presents while we listened to Handel's Messiah and some Bieber too!

We're looking forward to the Christmas Eve Service at church, and being with both sides of our family this Christmas. We are blessed. Merry CHRISTmas to you!

You Can't Make This Stuff Up-Part 3

2011-12-20T14:47:00.001-05:00

This is Part 3 of my You Can't Make This Stuff Up re-cap from our trip to Tuscaloosa for my sister's graduation. Part 1 is an account of our hotel; Part 2 is an account of our waitress; and Part 3 is an account of well...poop. Yes, I'm afraid you read that correctly...poop.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel briefly. Then we decided to go out again. So we were all 7 (my parents, sister, children, Hubby, & I) walking to our car. The kids and I were riding in the back. As I was walking to the car I stepped in something squishy. Gross! As I got in the car, I said "Hey kids, watch out right here...there's something squishy." Then I crawled all through the car to back seat. The kids got in next. Our Girl started saying, "Ewwww...what is that smell??!?!?!" I started smelling the kids. "Mom, It's not me!" No, it wasn't the kids. The squishy stuff I stepped in??? Yep, you guessed it...I stepped in poop!! I tracked it on the floor mats all the way to the back of the car! We had no idea that the hotel where we stayed allowed pets. Hmmm...maybe that's why the rooms smelled bad too!

So...my sister, E, swung into action ripping out the floor mats. I handed her my shoes. Ewww...I handed her my purse that I sat on the floor! Ewww! She scrapped off my shoe on the parking curb. Then Our Boy stood on the very same curb. Yep, poop on his shoes too! A Poop-o-rama!

Hubby and E took the floor mats to our "nice" bathroom to clean them. But, guess what? As they started cleaning, the tub wouldn't drain! Gross to grosser!!!! You CAN'T make this stuff up!!!!!

So...see this girl with the doctorate degree? Well...who would have thought she'd be cleaning poop on her gradution weekend. We had to keep her real, right? Congrats & Best Wishes to the graduate! We love you E!

You Can't Make This Stuff Up-Part 2

2011-12-19T13:40:00.000-05:00

See this Grand Buffet Grill & Gift Shop? We tried to tell Hubby that the online booking of our hotel was a package deal where it included dinner here.

See how now I'm in on the action with my sister & my parents? I think it's a coping strategy for the pure awfulness of the situation.

Hubby didn't go for it.

So...back to the story...there we are at the diner restaurant with the waitress that I told you about in Part 1 of this story. Here's her story (you can't make this stuff up):

I'm from Alabama, but I moved to Georgia to follow my parents. Lived in GA for thirteen years. Worst mistake I ever made was buying a trailer next to Atlanta Motor Speedway. My son...he served some time in prison in GA. You know burglary is a bad word. He don't have a mean bone in his body. He does have over 100 tattoos all over his body.

My parents moved back home to Alabama, and I did too. Now I have my son back in Alabama with me. Got his parole transferred to Alabama. Now he works in a tattoo place close to here. He did all his own tattoo's on homemade equipment, and the guy who hired him told him to "just think of what he'll be able to do with professional equipment."

Then my Dad tells the waitress..."You know we only have one race in Atlanta now. They took one away from Atlanta Motor Speedway."

Her response: "That sucks. That brought in a lot of revenue."

She went on: You know I followed my parents back home, and then they left again and moved to Florida. Said they had better doctors there.

Bless her heart...you can't make this stuff up.

Think this day is over? Well, the answer in no. Check back for Part 3 in the next post.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up-Part 1

2011-12-18T22:40:00.000-05:00

This weekend my sister, "E," graduated with her doctorate degree from The University of Alabama. We (my parents, Hubby, Our Boy, Our Girl, and I) traveled to Tuscaloosa to be with her for this special day. So...all of that is very believable...this was my sister's 4th college degree (1 bachelors degree, 2 masters degrees, and now her doctorate)...she likes to learn and has always done well in school. Our family is close and supportive...again...not a surprise that we would all want to be with her on her special day. That's about where the normal, believable part of this weekend stops; the rest of it seems like fiction...but it is all true.

Here's Part 1 of our "You Can't Make This Stuff Up" weekend:

When Hubby, the kids, and I got into town, we called E & my parents to let them know that we were close. They said that they were on the way back to the hotel and they had air freshener for our room. I told them they were kidding, and they laughed and assured me that they were not kidding. They said they'd gotten us the best room after looking at 4 rooms prior to picking this one for us. E booked our hotel rooms using an online service where you can't get out of it once you get there and see how the rooms really look (or how they really smell).

So, we got there & it was as bad as they said...you can't make this stuff up! But, we told ourselves that we wouldn't be there long and we could make it. It was time to go to dinner. E picked the restaurant. Her first nursing job was in Tuscaloosa, and she lived there for about 2 years. The restaurant she picked was a diner with good Southern food that we had been to before. The waitress is where this story gets better (or worse).

Our waitress was petite. She had brown hair with bangs. Let's just say that she had the look of someone who had experience with life, and let's just say that she shared all of her worldly knowledge with us (including our 8 year old son and 7 year old daughter). Check back for Part 2 in my next post to find out more about her stories of stuff that you can't make up!

Crafting, Cooking, & a Chorus Concert

2011-12-11T21:37:00.001-05:00

What's been going on around here? I'll tell you...it's Crafting, Cooking, & a Chorus Concert.

We made canvases and Christmas ornaments. I saw a project on Pinterest with the green and red dots, and I saw one with reindeer made from the kids hand prints. So, we combined those ideas to make canvases and Christmas ornaments. Here's a canvas:

Our Boy made this elf in art class at school. I love how he added details like a belt.

Our Girl made this angel in art class. I love how the angel has on high heels and a necklace.

I made these yummy treats for a teacher party. They are more work than you'd think!

And Our Boy had his Christmas chorus concert. He even surprised us by being part of the dance team:

It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas around here!

9 Nights Away

2011-11-27T19:51:00.001-05:00

Tonight is the first night that the kids have spent in our house since last Thursday-9 nights away from home. Why you ask? Hubby has been working on hardwood floors for the bedrooms. He laid raw wood floors and stained them in the bedrooms. Then he urethaned the whole house. We had to stay off of the floors with no heavy furniture for 7 days. He finished them last Sunday...so that makes today 7 days off of them.

Here's our girl's room with the raw floors:

And our boy's room with raw floors:

Here's our girl's room completed:

Here's our boy's room completed:

And here's our room completed:

We're thankful for our families for letting us crash with them this week! The great thing about this project is that everything got dusted and cleaned! Everything went in garage for the week, and then everything had to come back in this weekend. It's like we're moving except it's back into the same house. I've gotten lots organized and tried to de-clutter too. The rough part about this project is that we're "wore slap out!"

Yesterday Hubby and I worked from morning to midnight. We skipped breakfast and lunch, and finally had to make time for dinner. Then we got up and started again this morning. There is still more to do, but it will have to wait for another day.
It's nice to have everyone home after 9 nights away. I'm sure we'll all sleep well in our own beds. Wishing you all a good night!

"May You All Live To Be 94"

2011-11-26T22:33:00.005-05:00

Last Sunday, we celebrated my grandmother's 94th birthday. My cousins came to town from Virginia and Maryland to celebrate. All four of her granddaughters and her two great-grandchildren went to church with her.

After ushering at their church, my parents joined us for lunch.

GG with her great-grandchildren

The kids with my parents

After lunch, the kids went in the yard to find pecans.

They each found a few

Then they sat outside to crack their pecans

After lunch, GG said..."May you all live to be 94." Happy Birthday GG!

Tragedy Averted

2011-11-14T20:58:00.004-05:00

Last month, Our Girl turned 7!! Wow...hard to believe, but true nonetheless. So, she's been asking for an American Girl doll. She hasn't really ever been that interested in dolls...so I wasn't sure about spending $100 on a doll for her. Well...her grandmother and aunt gave her birthday money to finally buy one.

Our Girl decided on the "My American Girl" doll with brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles to look like her. We even took her to the American Girl Bistro for lunch. She picked out two outfits from her Daddy and me. Then she spent her allowance to get the doll's ears pierced and to get the doll's hair "done."

Our Girl LOVES her girl! As soon as she gets up in the morning, she gets her doll up. When she goes to bed, the doll goes to bed. She takes her everywhere...to school, to go out to eat, everywhere. Well, last Sunday...Our Girl took her doll to church with my encouragement.

During the sermon, Our Girl came to me with HUGE crocodile tears streaming down her face & with a doll with blue ink all over her face. I'm still not exactly sure what happened. I looked online & found a site that said to rub the marks with cooking oil. As soon as we got home, I gave it a try...and...well...she's good as new! See for yourself:

Sooooo thankful that a tragedy was averted!

Road Trip

2011-11-06T21:09:00.008-05:00

On Saturday, we took a road trip to support Coach Gritti and the Rhodes Lynx against the Birmingham Southern Panthers in Birmingham. We arrived in Birmingham just in time for lunch. What did we find to eat? Well...it was the dining hall at Birmingham Southern. Hubby loved it!! He thought he was back at UGA with the meal plan!

He was talking it up to the kids making this guy ready for college!
After lunch, it was time to head to the game. Here's our girl cheering on the team.
Our boy and Hubby were on the sidelines during the game getting an ear full of language from what I understand. Things like the "s word"..."stupid."

Our boy was excited because he got to run on the field to retrieve the tee!
Our girl was excited because she wore her new red sweater dress!
My whole family went to game. Here's a pic of the group:.
The kids with DoDo & EJ (my parents):
The kids with their E (my sister):
Our family:
A girl and her daddy:
Our boy said that there were two great things about the whole day: one was good and one was gross. The good was that he got his picture made with Coach Gritti, and the gross was that there was a dead rat on the track. Well...there you have it!

Treasures

2011-11-06T20:36:00.003-05:00

Whenever I go thrifting, I can always count on a complaint from one of the kids. They just don't appreciate a good trip to Goodwill like I do! Today the girls went shopping for our Operation Christmas Child boxes for school at the dollar store, and guess what? There just happens to be a new Goodwill right next door! How can you pass it by? It's easy...you can't! Today I found 2 treasures:

Treasure #1

At school we perform our annual Kindergarten Christmas play. We are starting to practice for the big event next week. So...I found this bracelet for $1.87. How perfect is it? My students will love it!

Treasure #2

There is a restaurant in town that has great food, and it also has a fun gift shop area. In the store, they have an Eiffel Tower for $100. Well, treasure #2 from today is similar Eiffel Tower that we got for $4.74. How can you pass that up...$4.74?!?!?!

Treasures for Others:

Today we also bought our supplies for our Operation Christmas Child boxes. The kids liked packing their boxes, and they both wrote a note to include inside. Our boy's note says: "Dear Friend, I hope you like all of the things in the box." Our girl's note says: "You are on my heart." We did something new this year too...the kids decorated plastic shoe boxes with stickers.

Did you find any treasures this weekend?

HaPpY HaLLoWeEn

2011-10-31T22:15:00.009-04:00

There are so many things to blog about, but since it's October 31st...I'll start with some pictures from Halloween!

Trunk or Treat on Wednesday night at church:

Whoa...our spider web blew off in the strong winds this week giving "Jack" a new wig:

June!! She is a clown this year:

One little witch ready to trick-or-treat:

We live in a neighborhood that draws a big crowd of trick-or-treaters. We usually stock up with loot. This year we spent about $65 on treats:

Our kids like to go trick-or-treating, but they LOVE to give out treats to others. How about a handful for you?

Happy Halloween!

Youth Flag Football & Cheer Night

2011-09-11T20:44:00.003-04:00

On Friday night, the youth flag football players and cheerleaders were recognized. The cheerleaders stood with the varsity girls pre-game with the cheer banner, and the youth boys ran behind the varsity players through the banner. There were even fireworks to add to the excitement. At half-time, each child was recognized by name. What a fun night with a win for the football team too!

A Great Day for a Boy & A Great Day for a Girl

2011-08-14T22:53:00.003-04:00

Today we started the day with Sunday School and church, and then we had full afternoons planned for both of our kids.
Our Boy was excited to ride Marta and go to a Braves game.

Getting ready to run the bases:

Our Girl was excited because she got to meet Baby Nora. Not only did she get to meet her, but she also got to feed her! Talk about a happy girl!!

We had fun playing with Big Brother Owen too!

It was a great day for Our Boy and Our Girl today!

1st Day of Practice 2011 Flag Football & Cheer

2011-08-14T22:30:00.004-04:00

"A great day for football"

These 2 are ready for practice!

Flag Football Cheerleaders 2011:

Team-building fun:

Flag Football Boys 2011:

Patriot League Blue Team:

Post-Picture Transportation:

It's Back to School Time Around Here

2011-08-06T17:24:00.004-04:00

That's right...it's back to school time around here! I love Back to School Time as a Kindergarten teacher. I love school supply shopping, and I love getting my classroom just right before the 1st day. I do not, however, love the alarm clock. Ouch! The kids have done pretty well this week getting back in a routine. We always take a photo outside the school during this week. It's fun to look back to see how much they've grown.

This week both kids had homework assignments to share about themselves. They both had to bring items that would fit in a brown paper bag.

Our Boy's Assignment was based on a story that they read in class...which I can't remember right now. The 3rd graders had to bring items in to share based on the following guidelines:

A memory from long ago: a photo of him with his EJ in a wagon frame

A memory that makes you laugh: an image of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books

A warm memory: a greeting card from his birthday

A sad memory: one of his stuffed animal dogs that is missing an eye

A memory that is more precious than gold: a photo of our family on a trip to Disney

Our Girl had to bring an item for her 1st Grade Brag Bag that would tell about herself. She chose her Wishing Star from when we ate at Cinderella's Castle and a photo at Disney too!

Camp Meeting 2011

2011-07-20T22:41:00.003-04:00

Camp Meeting 2011

Six Flags 2011

2011-07-20T22:23:00.003-04:00

Six Flags 2011

Bumper Cars

Monster Plantation

An Old Gas Pump...he wanted a picture of it!

Sky Buckets

I LOVE Back to School Shopping

2011-07-15T22:18:00.003-04:00

This week we were in Target, and I was immediately drawn to the dollar section with cool stuff for my Kindergarten classroom. Here are my finds:

This wire basket was $2.50. They had them in several colors. Then I got 4 sets of plastic cups. Each set had 4 cups/$1. I got the idea at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits. The kids take a cup and fill it up with items they need for Writer's Workshop, and then they take it wherever they need to write.

$1 Super Star of the Week Items: awards and bookmarks

$1 Items for Birthdays: awards and stickers

$1 fun stickers and Congratulations awards

$1 Stars that I'm using for my students "Center Pictures." The kids move their Center Picture to mark what center they are working in. I will glue a photograph of each student inside the stars.

$1 Wipe Clean boards that I'll use for handwriting practice. These will be great for name writing practice. Each set has 4 boards.

I will use the $1 star name tags to label the kids' cubbies.

And who can resist a Cat in the Hat notepad for $1?

Hubby couldn't get out of the Target dollar section fast enough, but I could have stayed there at least another hour or 2 or 3... :)

July Journal Writing: A Dog and A Cat

2011-07-13T23:14:00.003-04:00

Today was "Write-Whatever-You-Choose" for the kids' summer journal writing assignment.

Our Boy chose to write a song about a dog. Like to hear it? Here it go:

There once was a dog named Spot that lived in his dog house.
He eats kibble and has a great time.
He takes walks-many, many walks.
He goes many places, and places, and places.
He has 25 pounds of kibble.
Do you know what Spot would like?

Our Girl wrote a story about cats:

I love cats because they are soft. I do not have a cat because my Dad is allergic. When I go to DoDo and EJ's and play with one, it's name is RJ. The End.

Summer Sentences

2011-07-12T11:44:00.003-04:00

I always have our kids work on academic skills during the summer. This week we've been working on writing better sentences using the format from here. You start with a simple sentence: The dog barked. Then you use these prompts to improve the sentence: describing word, who or what?, did what?, where?, and when? Both kids really liked coming up with silly, new sentences orally. Then they each had to record one new sentence on their own.

Original Sentence: The dog barked.

Our Boy's new & improved sentence: The friendly, sweet, fluffy, white dog loved his dog house outside all the time.

Our Girl's new & improved sentence: The golden retriever rocked (imagine fist in air here) in the house this morning at 6:00.

Review:
The good: Both kids were excited about writing! Neither of them are big fans of having to write, and this assignment really made them excited about writing. A+
A concern: Let's be real...not every sentence we write has all of these components: describing word, who or what?, did what?, where?, and when? B

Have you seen these?

2011-06-29T17:05:00.004-04:00

Today we went to Bath & Body Works because I had an exchange. I didn't have my receipt, and the item I was exchanging had been marked down 75%. So...I had $2.62 to spend on anything I wanted! Well...look what I found for $2.00:

A bee you ask? Yes, a cute little bee for the top of the pump hand soaps. Check it out:

Won't the kids and my Kindergarten students LOVE to wash their hands with this cute little fellow? They had cute little ladybugs too.

What a Day!

2011-06-28T22:24:00.002-04:00

Today was...let's just say...interesting! Here's a quick list of what I mean by interesting:

1. Hubby fell off a ladder today. He landed on his elbow and hip. Thankfully, he only has scratches and bruises.
2. We found, and promptly killed, a scorpion in our bathroom tonight. Yuck!
3. After dinner, Hubby was playing ball with our dog. Playing ball IS one of our dog's favorite things to do!! Well...tonight the ball bounced off of something and landed right in the pot of petite red potatoes that I boiled for dinner. Again...it was AFTER dinner when it happened.

Hopefully tomorrow will be interesting in a less eventful way!

Play-Doh Fun

2011-06-22T11:49:00.005-04:00

This morning the kids wanted to get into the Play-Doh...sigh! All mamas know that Play-Doh=mess! But, it's always a fun time!

Here are some creations from today:
Ice Cream: Colorful=our girl; Vanilla=our boy

Our girl made this dog for her brother:

Play-Doh Mustaches anyone?

Well...I guess we'll see how long it takes to clean up this Play-Doh Fun!

A Summer Letter to my Kindergarten Students

2011-06-20T15:58:00.017-04:00

Dear Kindergarten students,

I hope you're having a great summer filled with lots of fun! I went with my family to visit our nation's capital, Washington, D.C. We saw lots of things that we studied in Kindergarten that I wanted to share with you. Here are a few things that we saw:

White House:

Washington Monument:

Here's a view from the top of the Washington Monument. We rode to the top in an elevator, and then we looked at the city from 500 feet above the ground.

The Lincoln Memorial:

Remember on the back of a penny where we looked at the statue inside the building? Well, here we are in front of that statue at the Lincoln Memorial.

At the Lincoln Memorial, there is a marker where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Inside this exhibit, we saw the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner.

We also saw Abraham Lincoln's real hat that he wore.

Write me a letter to let me know what you've been doing this summer! I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you!

A Novice Becomes a Pro

2011-06-16T17:10:00.002-04:00

Hubby gave Our Girl a lesson on how to mow the grass.

Now the novice is a pro!

Summer: The Good News and The Bad News

2011-06-15T15:06:00.004-04:00

Summer means that there's good news and there's bad news. As our boy says, which do you want first?

I'll start with the bad news. The bad news is that there's no school lunch in the summer which means Mama is in charge of 3 meals a day plus all the dishes that go with that! Our school has the BEST lunches with yummy FRESH food where the kids get to select what they'd like to eat each day. So...that's the bad news...too much cooking/cleaning...not too bad, huh?

Now for the good news of summer...NO ALARM CLOCK!!! Yippy!!! The kids are to the age now where they actually sleep in at least until 8am. Oh how I've missed sleeping until 8am! One day this week we actually stayed in our PJs until 4pm! What do we do on a lazy summer day such as that? I'll tell you...lots of great stuff:

Just enjoy being home!!! We're never home during the school year! June loves summer too. Here she is with our boy's stuffed "June."
Our boy likes to set up his trains all around the house...

Our girl likes to paint. Here are 2 of her creations from this week:
"Girl Listening to Headphones"

"Girl with Balloons"

Hope you're enjoying your summer too!

A Night at the Zoo

2011-06-14T22:04:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, we had a fun night at the zoo! We attended a special night event for members of the zoo with fun activities. Here are some pics:

You can always count on smelling the flamingos at the zoo,
brushing some goats, and

visiting the gift shop for some fun.

But, they also had extra activities for this event:
We enjoyed temporary tattoos,

visits with book characters,

carnival-type games with prizes,

and live music by Laughing Pizza.

We had a fun time, but then it was time to eat! We tried Six Feet Under for the first time-yum!

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-22T09:25:00.005-04:00

For Mother's Day, the Kindergarten classes had a Muffins with Mom. We received crowns and sashes stating, "#1 Mom."

The kids performed this cute song for us & donned their sunglasses:

In art class, they painted us butterflies:

We also received framed portraits with 3 statements about us. My girl said, "My Mommy sews me clothes. She makes good brownies. She likes anything with pigs on it."

Here's a picture of the kids & me at church on Mother's Day Sunday.

I'm one lucky mom!

Kindergarten Field Trip

2011-03-31T18:15:00.003-04:00

Today the Kindergarten classes went on a field trip to the GA Aquarium. It was the same day that Good Morning America was there doing a story on the new dolphin exhibit. By the time we arrived, all of the cameras were gone. Oh, and the Dolphin Exhibit doesn't open to the public until Saturday.

We did see lots of cool exhibits & the students had a great time...including Our Girl. Here's a pic of her with a classmate checking things out:

Like sharks...with lots of teeth

and whale sharks too...

and take a look at this grouper:

and look at this guy too:

Whew...field trips are always tiring! Here's our girl on the bus ready for the trip back to school:

Spring, Where are you?

2011-03-29T21:53:00.002-04:00

I'm upset with the Groundhog...he lied. Spring, Where did you go? Weren't we just enjoying you by wearing shorts and flip-flops a little over a week ago? Do come back soon!

Cherry Blossom Festival 2011

2011-03-24T20:43:00.001-04:00

Vertebrate v. Invertebrate

2011-03-17T21:53:00.005-04:00

Our boy has been learning about vertebrates and invertebrates in his 2nd grade class. He was assigned a class project for each. For the vertebrate project, the kids were asked to create a model of a vertebrate. So what did Our Boy create? It's a dog of course! It's a dog that ended up costing us about $25 of supplies from Michael's.

For the invertebrate project, the students were asked to make a six-sided box report project. Each side of the box had an assigned part of the report. Our Boy selected shrimp for his invertebrate project. Here's the side about predators. Like how he wanted to add a pic of himself eating shrimp? We tried to be more thrifty with this project. It cost us about $4.00 for the blue paper.

World of Coke

2011-03-07T20:26:00.004-05:00

Recently we took the kids to the new World of Coke. They were so excited about the tasting room that we pretty much missed all the rest of the museum. Well...except for the 4D theater...our girl wanted to see that show twice!!

Here are some pics of our adventure:

Hubby tried to taste ALL of the different flavors. I want to say that there were 46 flavors?? Needless to say, he was not feeling well by the end of the visit! You can see him filling up his cup behind the kids here:

The verdict...Coke is it! The kids decided Coco-Cola Classic is the way to go!

This is a pic outside with the World of Coke in the background. It was a fun day!

Quotes of the Day

2011-03-02T20:45:00.003-05:00

Quote of the Day #1
Our Boy was building with Legos tonight before bath time. I was in the kitchen making dinner for a friend who had a baby. Then we had this conversation:
Our Boy: "Mom, I like how you cook in the kitchen."
Me: "What do you like about it?"
Our Boy: "I don't know...it's just nice."
Me: "Oh thanks...that makes me want to cook for you more."
Then after bath time, this is how the conversation went:
Me: "Tell your daddy what you said about me cooking."
Our Boy: "Oh mom, I just said that because I wanted to finish building my Legos before my bath!"

Me: "Hmmmmmm....I guess you're gonna be hungry from now on."

Quote of the Day #2
Tonight Our Girl was talking to her Daddy. Here's what she said:
Our Girl: "Some people just like Justin Bieber because he's cute, but I like everything about him."

Daddy Daughter Date Night 2011

2011-02-06T15:07:00.003-05:00

Saturday was the annual Daddy Daughter Dance at school. It was also Daddy Daughter Date Night at a local restaurant. So...Hubby and our girl were off for a night of fun. They had a "double date" with our girl's buddy and her daddy (from her buddy class at school). They had a great time! Here are some pics from their night:
Flowers from Daddy:

Daddy and Our Girl:

Ready to go:

100th Day of School

2011-02-01T19:14:00.003-05:00

Last week, we celebrated the 100th Day of School.

Here's a pic of the the kids and me dressed as 100 year olds.

The Kindergarteners made a picture in class of how they'd would look when they're 100 years old. Our girl's picture is on the left:

We also had a visit from Zero the Hero and his older sister Zerona:

It's always one of the best days of the year!

Biggest Loser Update

2011-02-01T19:02:00.002-05:00

Jan. 7: 1st weigh-in at school for our annual Biggest Loser competition
Jan.14: no weigh-in because of our five snow days missing that whole week of school
Jan. 21: Lost 1.4 pounds
Jan. 28: Lost 2.4 pounds, total of 3.8 pounds

Journal Entries by the Kids

2011-01-13T11:35:00.006-05:00

Snow Days

by our boy:

"One day it snowed from Sun: pm to Mon: am. I like sleeding in my box. I like riding in the moster truck in the ice. We have missed 4 days of school. I love not staing in school."

by our girl:

"We wint to my Granparis house. We got to go in the ice and fawnd rela snow."

Two Chicken Recipes

2011-01-12T12:54:00.003-05:00

Pizza-Stuffed Chicken
Source: Cooking with Paula Deen magazine; Jan/Feb 2011 p. 42
I revised the recipe a little from the original.

4 boneless chicken breasts
pepperoni
provolone cheese
fresh basil
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut chicken with horizontal slits. Stuff each with 4 slices pepperoni, some provolone cheese, and fresh basil leaf. Sprinkle each side of chicken with salt & pepper.
Use foil on cookie sheet, and spray with Pam. Cover with foil. Bake chicken for ~15 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 5 minutes until brown.

Chicken in Foil
Source: Nothing But the Best! A Collection of Favorite Recipes from The University of Alabama Family

This recipe is for a serving of one...so just make one per member of your family:

chicken breast
medium potato, sliced
carrot, sliced
mushrooms
onion, diced
salt & pepper
butter
chicken broth (original recipe called for white wine)

Shape a large piece of foil to hold all ingredients. Seal ingredients inside and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.

Let me know if you try one-yum!

Snow/Ice Jam 2011 Day #2

2011-01-11T22:37:00.003-05:00

School was cancelled on Monday and Tuesday, and now it's cancelled for Wednesday too! It's not very often that we get 3 snow days in GA!

Here are some pics of Day #2 in the snow/ice:

Hubby & me (that's my down-filled jacket...very warm):

Our girl about to boogie board down a hill:

Our boy...you can see how it's icy rather than snowy in this pic:

Snow/Ice Jam 2011

2011-01-10T15:00:00.002-05:00

Well...Snow/Ice Jam 2011 arrived last night. Here's a video of the kids rolling in the snow/ice this morning. Listen to how it crunches!! Brrrrrr

Biggest Loser 2011

2011-01-09T22:21:00.005-05:00

It's time for our annual Biggest Loser competition at school. I paid my $5 to join and weighed in on Friday. We weigh every Friday. If you gain, you pay $2. If you don't gain, you pay nothing.

Here's what's going on around home to help with my weight-loss plan:

1. Our family got a Wii for Christmas. We bought a Wii Fit with some Christmas money. Hubby and I tried it out today. And let me just say....I did not like the look of my Mii!!

2. Our family also got some new hand weights at the beginning of this month. Our girl wanted some 2 lb. weights. I bought our boy some 3 lb. weights. I got myself some new 5 lb. weights. Hubby has some 40 lb. weights, and he borrowed my 7 lb. weights too. I'll just tell you...the money spent on weights for the kids probably could have saved based on their workouts (or lack of workouts). But, we are having some good family time together during our "exercise time." :)

3. I also have been using my "Abs of Steel" with Tamilee VHS circa 1991. No...I'm not kidding!

I'll be posting on my weekly weigh-ins.

Nativity Painting

2011-01-05T21:55:00.002-05:00

I was thinking that this year I would post about the kids' projects and artwork. Then I can pick and choose the ones I really want to keep and the others...well...I can let those go.

Well...this one below is a keeper, but I thought it would be a great starter for this new plan (since it's still on my dresser from Christmas).

I teach Kindergarten, and our girl is also in Kindergarten...not in my classroom mind you. In our Kindergarten classrooms, we made these Nativity Silhouette Paintings. They turned out so pretty! I wish I had taken a picture of all of them displayed on the bulletin board because they were really nice. Here's where I got the idea.

Whoa...Twin Bell Alarm Clocks

2011-01-04T20:43:00.004-05:00

When we went to Disney in the fall, both kids decided that they wanted new alarm clocks. Hubby and I bought them, without telling the kids, and wrapped them for Christmas. Well, we have been anticipating the first day back to school with the help of these guys:

Let me just tell you something...you can hear a twin bell alarm clock ALL OVER THE HOUSE! And something else...we have two of them. Whoa...those are LOUD!

Dog & Cat

2011-01-03T19:52:00.001-05:00

The kids got new hats...one dog and one cat:

Who loves that?

New Family Devotion Book

2011-01-02T18:26:00.008-05:00

Today we were at a book store, and I found The One Year Devotions for Kids.

Isn't Jan. 1st the perfect time to find a new good devotion book? We started it on the way home from the store as a family.

Our boy started by reading James 3:2-10 from my Bible i-Phone app. Then I read the devotion in the book. It was titled The Broken Eggshell. The lesson was on thinking before you speak because you can never take back words that you say. Just like you can't put an egg back together after you crack it.

Then our girl read the memory verse at the end of the page: Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Ephesians 4:29.

Yes...a good lesson to start the new year!

Update on New Paint in Dining Room

2010-12-31T14:07:00.002-05:00

So...here it is...the new dining room paint color:

"Pecan" it's like a milk chocolate color-love it!

New Paint

2010-12-28T22:20:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Here's a Christmas day pic of our kids with both sets of their grandparents and one of their great-grandmothers. Aren't we lucky to be able to spend this day with those we love?

More on Christmas in another post. OK...now on the the title of this post: "New Paint." See this red dining room? Tomorrow it won't be red. Stay tuned...

Thanksgiving

2010-12-07T20:46:00.006-05:00

We're fully into the Christmas mode here at our house, but I thought I'd take a minute to post about Thanksgiving.

At school, our girl's class participated in the annual Thanksgiving feast. This year we let the kids choose: Native American, Pilgrim, or Mayflower. As you can see, our girl chose the Native American costume. Each class performed a song, the whole grade performed a song, and then the kids feasted together. What good memories!

Our son's grade participated in Native American Game Day. The kids played games in the gym, and then returned to their classrooms to feast.

We celebrated Nana's 65th birthday during Thanksgiving week by having family photos made. We're looking forward to seeing all of the family pics soon, but here's one of the four grandchildren. Our kids LOVE to spend time with their cousins!

Our kids are very lucky to have two great-grandmothers. We were able to celebrate Thanksgiving with both of them.

GG just celebrated her 93rd birthday. She made a pecan pie for Thanksgiving. She said that it took her all day to open the Karo syrup for the pie. She tried every utensil that she had: ice pick, knife, etc. Then she finally realized that you had to take off the top and remove the seal before you could use it! She wanted to let everyone know...if you want to use Karo, remove the seal first!

Here's a picture of MawMaw with our girl and my sister aka "E." Don't they all look pretty in their color-coordinated black and gray?

Here's a picture of the "Kids' Table." Look...it's our boy, our girl, and their Dodo (my mom).

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

"In Sickness & In Health"

2010-11-21T22:24:00.004-05:00

Hubby and I have been married for 11 years. Most of those years have been "in health." Well...this past week...it was time to put the "in sickness" vow to work. Hubby was SO sick...strep throat IS much worse in adults! His fever was up to 103; he couldn't eat or hardly drink or swallow; and he was throwing up. But, do you know how I knew he was REALLY sick? He was in the bed with the covers over his head with NO FOOTBALL, NO ESPN, NO SPORTS.

Our boy was so worried about his Daddy that he wanted to give his Daddy one of his stuffed animals to help look after him. I told our boy that he couldn't put his toys in there with his Daddy because they could get "cooties" on them. So...here's our boy's solution: wrap mini-Pluto in paper towels, secure with tape, and then place him on a blanket-topped pillow. Next, set Pluto beside Daddy on a chair to "watch after him." Sweet boy!

Needless to say...we are all thankful that Hubby is better now!

Our Girl's 6th Birthday

2010-11-14T21:43:00.004-05:00

This year our daughter wanted to "go to the beach" for her birthday like we did for her Daddy's birthday. Well...a few thoughts came to my head:

1. I think you have to be 40 before you get to have a beach trip for your birthday.

2. Our girl is not a big fan of long car rides when traveling.

3. You probably won't be able to swim in late October.

So...we started thinking of places we could go that were relatively close to home, that had an indoor pool, and that wouldn't break the bank.

Here's what we came up with:

A room at the Westin Peachtree Plaza on the 61st floor:

Elevator where you had to insert your room key to access your floor:

View from our room:

Indoor pool with retractable roof:

And...a birthday lunch at The Sundial:

Close to home...check.

Indoor pool...check.

Reasonable rate...check.

We all had a great time, and I think it was a big success with the birthday girl!

Happy Halloween!!

2010-11-02T22:24:00.002-04:00

Touchdown

2010-10-16T19:17:00.006-04:00

Today was game 7 out of 7 for flag football and cheering for our kids. It was the last game, and our boy made his 1st touchdown of the season! After he scored, he ran to his dad on the field and gave him a big hug! :) I missed getting a pic of the touchdown, but here's our boy getting a flag (kinda hard to see on this small pic)!

Here's another good action shot:

We played at the big stadium today. Here are the girls after their "stunt" for half-time:
We had our end-of-season party after the game. Krispy Kreme football-shaped doughnuts=yum!

The kids were so excited about their trophies too. Thanks Aunt T for your talent with the boys' trophies! They turned out great!

It was a great day for football!

Hot Wings: Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

2010-10-13T20:49:00.003-04:00

Well...leave it to Phineas and Ferb.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz got my boy set on the idea that he needed to eat some hot wings. He's been asking for them for over a week. On Sunday, we finally got the boy some hot wings.

He gave them a thumbs DOWN!!! He ended up eating some of my burger and letting the wings lie. How do you like this pic of him with the wings burning his lips? I guess that was a good lesson that you don't need everything you see on TV!

Football, Friends, and Fun

2010-10-11T21:32:00.008-04:00

We started our fun with flag football. Here's Coach Hubby with our boy and one of our girl too:

Then we met our friends from college with their 3 children.

Enjoying some ice cream:

Here are the dads below...this could be a UGA ad or a Nike ad. We're just glad the Dawgs finally pulled through with a win on Saturday against Tennessee! Go Dawgs!

Bernard

2010-10-02T22:56:00.004-04:00

This weekend our girl is in charge of the class mascot, Bernard the Bear, for her Kindergarten class. She is, needless to say, VERY excited! We've kept him very busy during his time with us:

Eating pizza

Brushing his teeth

Visiting with family (Can I get a shout-out for Aunt Pam who was here visiting from Michigan!?!?!?!)

And trying on shoes (don't tell him I put his pic on the web in a dress and pink shoes):

Wonder what Bernard's day with entail tomorrow?

Hmmmm...Mama better get a head start typing up a report of our events for the class to read on Monday!

Field Trip

2010-10-02T22:30:00.002-04:00

Our Kindergarten classes went on a field trip for a real wildlife experience! The kids got to pet and feed deer, goats, rabbits, donkeys, and many other animals. Here's our girl with a couple of the many deer we saw.

These guys were funny! Looked like they were singing because they were moving their mouths so much while begging for food.

Ok...this guy below...nasty! He was sitting on the fence eating near the buffalo. It's not a great picture...which is a good thing. Poor guy's head was all swollen and yucky...makes me a little sickish just thinking about it!

Now this guy...cute! Look at him holding our cracker like he's driving a car!
We had a great time, and it was perfect fall weather! Hooray for field trips!

A Month or Two

2010-09-28T20:44:00.004-04:00

Well...it's been a month or two since I last posted. Life has been...well...busy! Here are a few pics on some of the things we've been up to lately.
We went to a NASCAR Nationwide series race. I've never been to a race, and let's just say...it's loud!! I mean loud like you-can't-even-hear-the-person-next-to-you loud! The tickets were free so it was the right price! I would go back again...if the tickets were free...otherwise...I'd skip it.
The kids were invited to a birthday party at the local rodeo. Here's the group checking out a horse.

Here's the whole group again:

We also went for 4th annual trip to Disney during Fall Break. We're still recovering from all of our fun!

Full Swing

2010-08-09T22:35:00.005-04:00

We're in full swing of Back to School time around here--yup...it's week #2 for students.

I didn't get much sewing done this summer, but I did get our girl's Kindergarten rest mat cover completed. She picked out the kitty fabric. I suggested the soft chenille and blanket binding for the top, but she picked out the colors. I wish I could use it for a rest each day!!

I realized that I started this blog about the time our boy was starting Kindergarten. Here is his rest mat cover post. Now our boy is in 2nd grade!

Packing it all in

2010-07-12T15:02:00.005-04:00

It's sad to say that summer is nearing the end. So we have been filling our days with fun lately trying to get the most out of summer. Here are some pics of how we "packed it all in" on Saturday.

We checked out a rock quarry in town.

Went to the movies with Aunt T. Each kid also got treated to happiness by Aunt T. Our girl's happiness came in the form of mint-chocolate chip ice cream.

Our boy's happiness came in the form of racing a car around a track.

Then we met Aunt E for the Bluesberry Festival.

The "blues"

The "berry"

The playground

Waiting for the trains

We saw a freight train and a passenger train on these tracks.

What do you think? Did we "pack it all in" or what????

Spoiled again

2010-07-07T22:37:00.004-04:00

Tonight we met some friends at a new pizza restaurant. The adults were all talking, the girls were in the bathroom, and the next thing we know...the boys are sitting at the bar getting free Shirley Temples from a waitress.

Of course...when the girls returned...they got in on the action too.

Thanks M family for a fun time!

Our kids got spoiled again!!!

The Original

2010-07-06T22:46:00.004-04:00

Today we had lunch at the original Dwarf House. The kids had the best time because they were totally spoiled by the wait staff! They loved sitting at the counter to "see all the action."

They also love the door at the Dwarf House!

After lunch, I wanted to go see if Chapman's Pharmacy and Soda Fountain was still open. And guess what??? It sure was still open!!! We all went in to check it out. I ordered a limeade-sooooooooooooo yummy! Our girl got a cookies-and-cream shake. The boys didn't order anything, but they found this "character reading scale" that only cost a penny. So...you guessed it...we all checked out our character (and I tried to forget about the weight part).

Here are our character readings; you be the judge:

Our boy: "You get by because you can talk people into anything." (I'll go along with that! He is his father's son!)

Our girl: "Avoid strong drink as you can't handle it." (Hmmmm...I will remind her of this statement as she goes to college.)

Hubby: "You love the best but can't always afford it." (funny and true)

Mine: "Your kind love your family but cool to others." (the wording of mine seemed weird to me, and I think I'm nice to family and friends)

Free Food for Father's Day

2010-06-28T15:36:00.005-04:00

My sister found a great deal for Father's Day at a restaurant in town-Shula's 347. All Dad's ate free for Father's Day....that's right...FREE! The food was great! We had steak, blue-cheese burger, pork chops, grilled veggies, ice cream in an edible filigree bowl, key lime pie ...all so yummy!!! Hubby admitted that the mothers were "done wrong" on Mother's Day compared to this meal!
Our boy called this the photo of "the gentlemen."

VBS (Take 2)

2010-06-27T21:04:00.004-04:00

I helped a friend at her church for our 2nd round of VBS. The kids had a great time too. Here are some pics of our girl. I didn't get any pics of our boy because he was with the "elementary group." This week it was a rodeo theme.

Our girl calls a "peace sign" (like from the 1960s) a "chicken foot." So...we had to take a picture of a real chicken foot.
The hay ride:

The square dancing:

VBS shirts

2010-06-20T14:35:00.003-04:00

We recently had VBS at our church. Each of the kids brought a t-shirt to decorate.

Here's our girl's shirt...nice hearts, huh?

Here's our boy's shirt...seriously...I love root beer????

A Tribute

2010-06-16T08:57:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, we went to help celebrate the 50th birthday of one of my favorite people.
Christy is truly amazing in every way!

Our boy loves her because...she has exercise machines that she lets him get on, she let him blow noisy horns at her party, he got to blow bubbles from the air from her fan, and she has bonfires at her parties. Our girl loves her because... she gives good hugs, she has bonfires at her parties, and she has good snacks. Those are the things that the kids say they love about her which sums up her personality...she truly cares for others and their needs.

It was over 90 degrees here in GA...so it was tough getting close to the fire to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Chirsty said the fire sounded like a good idea in January when the party was being planned! Here's Hubby bearing the heat to roast a marshmallow.

Not only is Christy amazing, but all of her family is amazing too. She has five wonderful children, two great sisters, and a great brother too! Our boy had lots of good help from these wonderful members of her family. Christy's daughter, Jessica, gave our boy this long stick to help him stay further away from the heat. Christy's sister, Gwenn, loaned our boy these sunglasses to protect his eyes from the heat. Our boy didn't mind the heat. He had the best time!

Wishing the happiest birthday wishes this year and every year to a wonderful woman! Happy Birthday Christy! We love you!

Sewing for Baby O

2010-06-14T11:08:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine, that I used to teach with, had a baby boy....so I decided I'd get the sewing machine out this summer.
I made him some burp cloths, and then I had another lady personalize them for me with his name.

I also made him some onesies with "ties." I saw these here; aren't they cute?

I had to make one with dachshunds because the mommy shares a love of weiner dogs!
Here's our girl with Baby O. She LOVED every minute of holding him. She even got to feed him! He's one adorable baby!

Summer Fun

2010-06-09T17:10:00.004-04:00

This week started our full-month of summer fun. Seems like June is already full of events to keep us busy!
This week is Football Camp. Our boy has been worn out each day when he gets home!

The girls enjoyed helping on the field this afternoon:

Post-Camp Mexican Lunch with friends:

Since our boy has camp, our girl has been having fun this week with her friend too. They played and ate pizza together:

We also went to a new bakery in town where the girls tried chocolate cupcakes-yum!

We love summer fun with good friends!

Art Lesson at the Library

2010-06-06T17:53:00.002-04:00

This week our library had a free art lesson for kids. The teacher was originally from Holland. She talked to the kids about life in Holland as she drew. Then the kids drew their interpretation of her drawings. It was a full-house packed with kids. The librarian had to turn many kids away. It was an interesting day.

It's Official

2010-05-25T21:52:00.002-04:00

It's official...our girl is now a Pre-K graduate!

Personalize a free digital greeting

Proud Mama and Daddy of 1st Grader

2010-05-24T22:04:00.007-04:00

It's hard to believe that it's the last week of school! Our son's first grade teacher asked us to write a letter to our child telling him how proud we are of him, listing things he can do now that he couldn't do at the beginning of the year, and showering him with love. So...here it is...a letter (in the form of a poem) to our boy:

It seems like yesterday that you started First Grade. We’ve watched you grow in many different ways.

You’ve learned math facts to 20 and passed many AR tests too.
Although you’ve grown taller, you still wear the same size shoe.

Your art skills are creative; your computer skills excel.
We are so proud of you! You’ve done so well!

We love to hear you play the piano; we love to hear you read.
You’re our wonderful son; the Lord has blessed us indeed!

We love you very much!
Mama and Daddy

August 2009-First Day of School

May 2009-Field Day

He won't get to read this letter until Thursday. You're getting a sneak peek! Shhhhh!

Wedding Dresses

2010-05-23T21:04:00.002-04:00

This week our daughter asked me where you buy a wedding dress. I was telling her that there are shops that just sell wedding dresses with racks and racks of them. Then I said..."You might want to wear Mommy's wedding dress one day." She responded saying, "No, yours has sleeves on it. I want one without sleeves." So...I guess that explains why in all of her drawings of herself she has this heart-shaped neckline. Hmmmm....isn't 5 a little early to start planning your wedding?
Well...I do love all the details in her drawings! Look at the earrings, the shoes, the fingernails, the heart designs on her dress, the eyelashes...I think it's just perfect!

Math Facts Cookie Party

2010-05-21T22:37:00.003-04:00

Our son's first grade class had a cookie party. Each student earned a topping on his/her cookie based on memorizing each math fact family with sums to 20.

Here's how our boy's cookie started:

Here's how it looked at the end of the party:

He didn't eat it, but he sure enjoyed making it! Great job, son, on mastering all of your math facts!

Graduation 2010

2010-05-21T22:33:00.002-04:00

This year our baby girl will graduate from Pre-K. Here's a preview of her in her cap and gown with some friends.

This year is also the first year that I participated in a high school graduation as a faculty member. Here's a pic of me with my K team.

Good times!

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T22:09:00.005-04:00

Our daughter's Pre-K class had a Mother's Day Tea last week. Here we are with the fancy hat that our girl decorated for me:

She made me this flowerpot too:

Look at my portrait she made me. It looks just like me!

We enjoyed a yummy lunch with Nana at California Dreaming! Our girl made corsages for both of her grandmothers and me. Our girl said that Nana gets a yellow flower because "she always wears red or yellow". Guess what? She had on red today!

I got a pink corsage of course...pink is my favorite!

Dodo got a blue corsage because she "always wears blue."

Here's a pic of the kids with GG-my dad's mother:

Happy Mother's Day to you!

Our Girl's Special Night

2010-05-08T23:00:00.000-04:00

Make your own slideshow

busy again

2010-05-02T16:30:00.005-04:00

This weekend has been packed full!

It started on Friday with a field trip for my Kindergarten class to the zoo. Check out this baby Golden Lion Tamarin on it's Daddy's back.

This is the mama. It was the first day ever that she had been outside. She came from another zoo that kept her indoors.

We also saw the new parakeet exhibit. We learned that the green birds with the yellow faces are the only parakeets found in the wild in Australia. The other colored birds were breed to be those colors.

Then Friday night...we had Relay for Life in our community. We kept the kids out until 10:00pm. They both slept until after 10 on Saturday morning...which is highly unusual around here! Here they are riding on the wagon to our "camp site":

On Saturday, we had two parties. The first party was at 1:00 for one of our daughter's classmates at a jumpy place. The second party was on end-of-the-year grade level party for our son. It started at 4pm and we stayed until 7pm. The kids had a great time because it was at a farm with a huge playground and strawberry fields. In fact, our daughter's class went on a field trip to this same farm two weeks ago. She loved it both times!

Our girl wanted to pick strawberries:

Our boy wanted to stay on the cool playground:

Today was a full day at church, and now the kids are at a driving range. Let's hope they make it home without a fit from exhaustion!

The highs and lows

2010-04-14T21:47:00.002-04:00

Well...I'm not talking about being a wife, mom, or Kindergarten teacher here...all the reasons I started blogging. Instead...I'm talking about my blood sugar levels lately (the highs and lows). I've been a Type 1 diabetic since I was in the 3rd grade...let's see...that's about 27 years now. It's just part of my life...not bad...not good...just part of my life. I've always had good control, and I have a GREAT endocrinologist. But here lately, I've been having the hardest time with my blood sugar levels at bedtime and throughout the night. It's been high...like 300s high. It makes me feel bad. It makes my organs ache (really like in my abdomen area). It makes my head hurt. It makes me tired (which works out at bedtime actually). It makes me grumpy. I've got to get a handle on it, and get back to "normal." Here's where I think I'm getting off course: 1. I'm busy--like full-time working-wife-mother of two-active in church kind of busy. 2. Technology--you'd think that a blood glucose machine that keeps up with all your tests electronically would be a good thing. But, when it's all "in there" in your machine...you don't write everything down on monitoring sheets like in the old days. Therefore, you don't really "see" what's going on like when you recorded it on paper.
So...here's the plan...1. Start recording everything again...like when I was pregnant. I wrote down every blood test, every Carb I ate, every exercise I did (wait...who's been exercising lately??), etc. while I was pregnant. 2. Also, my doctor said to do an evening fasting where you don't eat anything after lunch and then test your blood sugar every hour until bedtime. Then we'll find out if my pump basals are off or if my Carb ratio formula for covering food I eat is wrong. 3. Lastly, I'll try to remember that I need my health so I need to make time to be healthy.

Junie B.

2010-04-09T21:55:00.002-04:00

We took the kids to a performance of Junie B. Jones today. The kids loved it because it was a musical. We all left the theater singing!

This is the best pic I could get of our group before the show:

The Masters Baby

2010-04-06T23:07:00.004-04:00

That's right...we were at the Masters for the Monday Practice Round.

Hubby, me, my sister, and our boy at the leaderboard:

We spent way too much in the golf shop, but hey...it's not everyday that you're at the Masters! Our boy wanted this mini-putter...why? Who knows...but let's just hope it doesn't become a weapon.

Concessions on the other hand...reasonable in price...and yummy! Hubby couldn't wait for a pimento cheese sandwich!

Tiger....like him or not...we were this close to him...pretty cool!

Egg Hunting Again

2010-04-03T21:54:00.001-04:00

Create a scrapbook design

Easter Events

2010-03-31T23:03:00.002-04:00

Customize your own digital collage

Tooth Fairy Rides Again

2010-03-28T18:12:00.004-04:00

The Tooth Fairy made her second visit to our house. I was expecting it to be for our boy's second tooth, but no...it was for our girl's FIRST tooth! Our boy was in first grade before he lost his first tooth, but our girl is in Pre-K and she lost her first one this weekend. We were NOT expecting it!

I'm not sure she was ready either. I just pulled it a little and it came right out in my hand. She cried and cried saying, "I didn't want you to pull it."

I didn't think I'd ever get her picture with her new smile, but she finally gave me this one:

Good thing Mrs. Shelly had given her this Tooth Fairy pillow for a baby gift. We were ready for the Tooth Fairy after all.

1st Field Trip

2010-03-12T20:08:00.004-05:00

Our girl has been counting down the days with excitement for her 1st ever field trip! Her Pre-K class went to the children's museum. They had the best time!

Here she is with the moon sand:

She loved the painting:

Oh...and she LOVED the bus!!! First time on the cheese for her too!

Kite Home Project

2010-03-11T21:17:00.004-05:00

Tonight our girl had a "Home Project" homework assignment for her Pre-K class. Here are the instructions:

The Tail of a Kite

Animals have tails. Shirts have tails. People can even wear ponytails. But, do kites have tails? Of course! Your child is bringing home a shape of a typical kite. Please have him/her carefully cut the kite. Then, as a family, work to turn this dull white kite into...

a beautiful kite with a design of their choice and a long patterned tail. Sample ideas:

-paint it

-fill it in with torn construction paper

-make a design or picture with tissue paper

-create a collage

-decorate it like an animal that has a tail

-or your own idea

This project is right up our girl's ally...she LOVES creating! So...off she went to get her paints, and here's how it turned out:

After she was finished painting, she went to her room to play. I checked on her asking, "What about the kite's tail?"

She responded saying, "It's a family project. You do it. Show it to me when it's done."

What?????

Needless to say...it did not go down like that!

Not cool-who knew?

2010-03-10T21:36:00.003-05:00

Hubby was watching Holmes on Homes the other morning when our girl came to join him. BTW-Love that show!!

So...our girl whispers to Hubby..."Does he have something on his ear?"

Hubby: "Yes. It's an earring."

Our girl: "I think he lost one."

Hubby: "Well...I don't know if he should wear any. You won't see Daddy wear one."

Our girl: "That's because you're not cool. You have to be like in a rock band to wear one."

How do five year olds get this information??

Book Character Day

2010-03-04T18:36:00.005-05:00

This week we had Book Character Day in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday on March 2. We had a hard time coming up with costumes for the kids, but we finally pulled it together.
Here's our girl as Cinderella:

Here's our boy as a dog from Doggone Dogs:

Conversations with Our Girl

2010-02-28T21:18:00.005-05:00

As you may remember, our girl is 5 years old. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: You NEVER know what she will say. Here are some of her conversations that I have to record so that I can always remember:
1. I asked our girl to clean her room because we had a guest coming from out-of-town (Mrs. Lisa). So...she went in her room for a short time, and then emerged into the family room. Here's our conversation:
Me: "Is your room clean?"
Our Girl: "There's some stuff under the table, but no body's going to step on that stuff."
Me: "Let's go check it out." I saw stuff under the table, and I saw Barbie arms and legs peeking out from under her curtains. I lifted up the curtains, and I saw lots of Barbies and two pairs of shoes.
Me: "Did you put this stuff under here?"
Our Girl: "I didn't think you'd see that."
Me: "If you keep your house like this when you're grown, nobody will come to visit you if you live in a junk hole."
Our Girl: "I'm not going to live in a junk hole. My husband and my baby are going to help me clean my house."
Me: "My baby doesn't help me clean my house."
Our Girl: "Well, I'm going to train mine!"
Sigh.
2. One day last week I wore a pink sweater with a black tank under it. I wore khaki slacks and black boots. On the way out the door for school, our girl asked me..."Don't you want to go put on some black pants?" When I asked why, she responded saying, "Well, you have on that black shirt and boots, and those pants don't match." Sigh-"Get in the car."
3. Our girl likes to "wrestle" with her daddy. This weekend they were "wrestling" and she told him..."Daddy, Now it's time for my evil tricks."
I'm telling you...you just NEVER know!!

Spring...is that you??

2010-02-19T17:11:00.002-05:00

It is sooooooooooooooo pretty here today. The weather is beautiful with even warmer tempts expected tomorrow. After all the snow last weekend, I was beginning to question our groundhog's prediction of an early spring. Well...is sure looks like spring is on it's way this weekend! So...what do you do when the weather gets warmer?

You go and buy new spring fabric of course!

Don't you just LOVE it??? I sure do!

So...I'm thinking of making 2 new spring dresses for our girl. I bought 2 new patterns too. The pattern on the left has a dress with contrasting fabric at the neck and bottom. I'm thinking of the blue with brown scrolls for the main fabric with the pink diamonds as the accent. For the pattern on the right, I'm thinking of the the pattern that is shown in purple on the packaging. I'll use funky floral fabric for it.

Can't wait to get started...I'll keep you posted!

How to make a snow angel

2010-02-13T21:14:00.005-05:00

Both the kids liked making snow angels...I mean really...who doesn't like making snow angels? Here's our boy making his angel....get ready for pure excitement!

Here's our girl making her angel...more of a play-by-play commentary for her. I think she's looking for her own TV show!

"And that's how I did it. That's the end of my show today."

What do you get a 7 year old boy for his birthday?

2010-02-13T20:39:00.004-05:00

What do you get a 7 year old boy for his birthday?

How about a snow day out of school?

-And it was some serious snow too! We don't get snow like this in GA too often! The kids LOVED it!

Happy birthday to our boy!