Brady

Our sweet boy turned 5 on the 24th of July. He is one of the greatest loves of my life. I enjoy him more at 5 than I ever have before. He is learning to make better decisions. He is calmer and enjoys full access of the house- for the most part. His favorite place to be is where I am and my favorite place to be is where ever he is too. Soon, Brady and I will be the same age...

upon reflection....

You know, now that I think about it- the birthday plate is just another example of how Granny liked Mr. D. best. For those of you who do not know, my Granny never made my favorite cookies or anything I liked ever again- once she met Mr. D.. She was smitten kitten with him- which tickled me. She also believed that he got me all kinds of great things. She would say.. "it sure was nice of P... to get you (fill in the blank here... car, house, dog, whatever)". It was as if I made no contribution to the family what so ever - or could actually purchase my own stuff. It was cute and annoying all at the same time. Anyway- did she have a birthday plate at her "estate" for anyone else?? I rest my case.

another treasure

Imagine if you will.................................................................. Mr. D.'s new birthday plate.


I found this at Granny's yesterday and I snagged it for our house. Now, I can't wait until his birthday.

vintage FAB *updated

If you could see what I am doing... you would see me counting down the minutes until the CMS fall potluck......... and wondering what I will be making..............BECAUSE I am the proud owner of this...










I know-- you are amazed, and I am too. We found this yesterday at Granny's and I HAD to have it. I am sure you can see why!

It is a food carrier. I asked my mother what Granny would carry in each pan and she said something like this:

cobbler
macaroni and cheese
field peas, corn or green beans
dressing
fried mini chicken (drummettes)

See how it all fits in each layer and then you just stack it up and carry it to where you need to go. I can't wait!!

Rylee

I found treasures big and small today... and one I couldn't even bring home. Rylee is so FUN and SWEET and she smells so good (most of the time).. I just LOVE LOVE LOVE her. I had to take a break from the estate cleaning to play with her. She has such a great little personality. We found out today that Rylee's cousin due in December is going to be a GIRL!! I could imagine their years of matching dresses .. just like Kim and I wore for years. I can't wait.

Do you see what I see???????

oh readers----

I am going to Granny's today--- stay tuned!!

Time with Taylor

As you all know- I asked for local people to give suggestions of things to do while my friend Karen was here from NC. You could have heard crickets chirping.... no one really responded. I put it out to the Facebook crowd.. and got one response. It was from our college friend Taylor. He spent a lot of time in Alabama, his family is from here and it was a commonality that the two of us had in college. Anyway, he left us a "to do" list on my Facebook page. To honor him, I decided to make a little Flat Taylor type guy to do things with us around town. No one thinks that Karen and I are as funny as we think we are- but with this little guy- we thought we were hysterical. Taylor loved it too!! Click here and enjoy the pics.

cleaning out my phone

This weekend I cleaned out my phone's pictures. Here are some camera phone pics I thought you might enjoy.

Our phone contract is ending soon, which means we have to use or lose our phone credit towards a new phone. This is a picture of me impersonating what I thought I would look like on one of the bigger BlackBerry phones. I currently have the Pearl. In actuality it is one of those trivia machine at a restaurant.


This is my latest passion. If I could only eat one thing in the whole world- I would choose one of these little cake bites. In fact, I love them so much that I took Mr. D. and Karen there on Saturday. We each got 2. Mr. D. popped the whole thing in his mouth in one bite and I forbid him to eat his other one since he didn't savor it like it deserved. I am serious folks- they are that good. I asked about getting my birthday cake from here (late August) and the lady said that they were booked up and that we should have ordered it months ago. Anyone who comes to town- please know I will take you to get these little cake bites. But, you BETTER savor it or I won't let you have another. (OK- I totally gave in and let him eat the other one.)



This is a picture of Caleb playing hide and seek at a new Italian place that opened up near our house. We went to dinner with them on Friday night to try it out. Below is a picture of Parker with his slice of cheese which is bigger than his head.
I had my cooking camp last week. They made recipes I had never tried before- and I haven't heard if they liked them or not yet. If you're interested we made this, this and this. I did try the corn and it was SO yummy. I will definitely be making that recipe again. I didn't try the other two recipes. Anyway, in addition to all of this, they made cakes and decorated them "professionally" with the decorating tips, fun icing and the works. Here are their creations.

2nd grade boy

3nd grade boy

6th grade boy

1st grade girl

Here is Kate showing off our classroom's new aquarium. It is incredible and amazing. The kids are learning to treat is respectfully- and I think it is a great addition to our incredible classroom.
Mr. D. had to meet us to help us get it in the building and set up. He brought Brady.




I thought this was cute and brilliant all at the same time. We have a child in my room who we made "responsible" for the aquarium. He created this weekly check list of his responsibilities. This represents his 5 days of the week and from top to bottom it is.. feeding (5 pinches), check the thermometer, check if it is clear or cloudy (I love the lines that look like flames for cloudy) and then to turn off the light before he leaves. How creative!

This is another cute thing from my classroom. I loaned one of the little girls a book about New York since she is going on a trip there next week. It wouldn't fit in her cubby so I told her she could put it on top of the cubbies. Later, I walked by and saw a note she had left that said "Dad- Pick it up"- this cracked me up!



We also have a new view master. I must admit I am still as fascinated by it now as I was as a child!

I went to someone's house this week and they had a automatic lawn mower. I was fascinated by this.

Here is a picture of something cool that happened this week. I was randomly walking down the sidewalk when Alice and Eden rode by. It was a treat to get to see them. I just love these little ladies.
This is the vase I bought at the tag store- and I put these water bead in it. I think this is a very cool looking thing in my bathroom.
Hope you enjoyed!

Thursday 13: Thirteen letters that make me HAPPY

1) K
2) A
3) R
4) E
5) N

6) I
7) S

8) C
9) O
10) M
11) I
12) N
13) G


Karen is going to arrive at 8 in the morning. We haven't seen each other in almost 2 years. I am giddy with anticipation about the next 4 days!!

the love of a child

So, yesterday I was working with a little girl in my class. Everything was great.. we were just going along doing a lesson and suddenly big crocodile tears started falling on her paper. Now, this is one of the most reserved kids I have, so I knew something must be TERRIBLY wrong. I asked her and she said it was nothing. We worked a little while longer and she suddenly threw herself into my lap and took to sobbing. It took a little prodding, but finally she said (and I swear this is a quote)..

"my Mommy won't let me buy you a bump-it"
Trying not to laugh I told her I didn't need a bump-it and that it was going to be fine. Then she said "but how will you know I love you if I can't buy you something that you really really want?"
This led to a whole discussion about equating buying things with love blah blah blah. So anyway after much discussion- I think she understands I don't really want a bump-it. There you go, dear readers- a cute and funny and sweet kid story all rolled into one.

I want to spend my summer like this

This is Maddy Rose. She is the daughter of Mr. D.'s cousin Jeanette and her husband Patrick. This picture cracked me up- so I asked to post it and her mom said yes. What a cute little Diva!! I just love it.

my cabinet

In case you have ever had the misfortune of opening this cabinet in my house, Mr. D. made a new shelf in there and fixed the organizational dysfunction!!

Brady's visitor

Brady had a visit from a friend he has be dying to meet. This is the dog on the other side of the fence. Daisy is Parker and Caleb's pup. Look at Brady showing her how to get treats. It looks like she is taking notes!!
Now, both of their dad's have treats........
Those obedience classes are awesome! Can't wait until Daisy can come again. Just like when the boys visit, she didn't want to leave!

tourist in our own city

Yesterday Mr. D. and I became tourist in our own city. We took advantage of the 80 degree weather, grabbed the cameras and hit the local botanical gardens- the #1 free activity in the State. Mr. D. is the photographer in the family. He not only has a fancy shmancy camera, but also knows how to use it. He even switched out lenses and things like that. Meanwhile, here I am with my Cannon SD(my initials)1100. I just look and click. I have NO artistic vision. This is me trying to have vision and be artistic. These are not the usual things I would take pictures of. He kept telling me to slow down and take my time. But really, there is only so slow that you can click that little silver button. Of course some times, I accidentally turn the camera off instead of taking pictures. I think they should make left handed cameras, but that is another story all together- maybe even a Thursday 13, thirteen things that I wish were made for left handed people. Anyway, back to the photos. Remember this??
Our plan is to fill these frames with artistic photography taken by us. Today was our first attempt at getting the job done. Of course, our pics will be in black and white, so as you view them, envision them converted. We didn't get the job done- but that is part of the fun. I loved our time together. We also got some great pics of each other, but due to Mr. D.'s confidentiality clause, I removed those from the album. I did leave in a picture of me that Mr. D. took and liked. Everything else is in the albums- it is unedited, the great and the blurry together. So, I present to you- Photography by Me and Mr. D.

something fun

This week I created a huge spider web type maze that went all of the library. It took the children on a journey going over, under and through shelves. They had to work together to untangle themselves, and to get to where they needed to be without disrupting any other person's lines. When each child got to the end of their particular string they found an ingredient we needed for making pancakes. FUN FUN FUN!!

Finally!!!

Finally, Meredith and Keith have posted so I say to you all :Meet Henry!! Isn't he the cutest little thing. He is our new nephew, and the son of Mr. D.'s brother Keith and Meredith. We have been so excited about his arrival, and now we are even more excited about his life ahead. We are going to have so much fun with this little guy!

our other nephew takes flight

Donovan earned a flight in a airplane this week for finishing his reading contract for June. He contracted to read 6 hours, and read 14 instead. This is through a program called the Young Eagles. He flew around for about 20 minutes and when he was finished he announced that he wants to be a paratrooper.
Another nephew making us proud this week!!

Henry

Henry arrived in the wee hours of the morning. Whoo Hoo!!

What do you think??

Karen is coming to visit. She is coming the 24-27th of July. Please post suggestions here for things that you think we could do. Local blog readers and lurkers-- please post suggestions!!! I want this to be a super fun weekend for her. She rarely gets time away by herself - so I want it to be special. Plus- this is her birthday present from her hubby- so it has to be awesome. Don't be shy-- post your comments!!

Henry!!!

Meredith is at the hospital RIGHT NOW!!!
Whoo Hoo for Henry!

sometime, I just have to laugh at myself

This is my sewing set up for working on Henry's blanket. The other day, I realized just how ridiculous it truly is.

I sit on the bed in the guest room with my sewing machine on a box that is filled with lessons I am making for school. I use my knee to work the foot petal.

And this is how I sew.

Henry, you don't have to stay in until the blanket is finished.

the crazy fun weekend

This weekend, Alice and Eden came to spend time with us. We had a great time together. We took the girls to Reid's 2nd brithday party and then we had a kid's cookout of our very own. Click HERE for a 160 picture version of our weekend. Enjoy!
OH- and Yes- we did dye Easter eggs. We had so many activities and at the end of the night Parker looked at me and said " but when are we dying eggs?". I am not sure where this came from - but I got up before the kids did on Sunday and went to get the eggs. Enjoy the pics!!

nesting

I have determined that I am nesting for Meredith. Why else would I have woken up at 1:30 this morning with full energy and an overwhelming urge to update my blog to fulfill my Thursday 13 from yesterday? OK Mere, I did my part- now bring forth the baby.

It is only natural that I am nesting for Meredith since Henry is my baby also. Just like Perrin is her baby, and Kaleigh and Donovan are mine. Rylee is my baby, and Alice, Eden.. all of the other children I hold so dear to me. I feel the same way about "new baby" (Shane and Maggie's) coming in December. Even if I am never a mother, (GASP!!) it is not lost on me how fortunate I am to have so many wonderful children in my life. Children who seem to love me almost as much as I love them.

I have felt very connected to Meredith throughout her pregnancy because after all, I am expecting as well. The only difference, really, is that she has a due date and I do not. With adoption, there is a lot of waiting and wondering. It is just part of the fun- the not knowing. But, I do know that I have as many hopes and dreams for Henry as I do for my own baby(ies?). I imagine them being cousins- in the way that I was so very blessed to be with Kim and Shane. I imagine them looking forward to seeing each other, playing together, family vacation and maybe even going to camp together one day. I imagine such a special friendship for them... one day. I am overwhelmed with excitement for his arrival and know my eyes will tear up the first time I lay eyes on his sweet face- just like they did for Donovan, Kaleigh, Parker, Caleb, Ellie, and Rylee. I will have that same feeling, the feeling as though my heart could explode with love for him. So, what are you waiting on Henry?? There are so many people just waiting to love you. Everyone is ready to do their part in helping to create an amazing life for you. Henry, I know your Mommy's womb is nice and cozy, but it's time to come out already. Let's get the fun started!!

1/13 classic Alice

Here is a pic of Alice from the 4th. She loves to be in the kitchen. I am next to her shredding pork and putting it in the bowl next to her. She is using her fork to eat it as fast as I put it in there. I didn't mind because she was having so much fun eating it!! It was a classic Alice moment and I just love her for it.

2/13 Fourth of July

We had a great SSDC on the fourth of July. Mr. D. Smoked a pork shoulder all day and it was delicious!! Here are some scenes from the day. Click on the picture to see the whole album.

SSDCO9

3/13 It's not my birthday- but the present is all mine

Karen's Birthday was this week and guess what her husband gave her for a present???

A plane ticket to ALABAMA!!

Karen is coming for 4 glorious days in 2 weeks!!

4/13 Lost final season spoiler

I predict that Sun and Kate Austin will not be in the final season of LOST. I predict this because as you know, I have the Oceanic 6 living in my fish tank and on the 4th of July - Sun and Kate Austin met their demise. Foreshadowing for the final season??? We will see in January!

5/13 sign in window

Meghan and I stopped at Arby's on the way home yesterday. This window sign may need to be rethought- unless they are actually giving away free B.S. on Wednesdays.

6/13 the junk room

Classic As Seen on TV stuff. I will exhibit this as proof of how I am like my Granny. I totally want to buy almost everything I see on TV. However, I am different in that I don't actually order the stuff.

Patsy found a stuffed animal from her childhood.

Patsy putting her pup in one of our special files.

Hip hugging belt kit

Me in a crazy gardening bonnet I found. (note how sunburned I was)

A million year old bag of seeds from someone's garden. German peppers.

In this jar is the inside rollers of roll on deodorant. Per Patsy, Granny saw some angels at a craft fair (years ago) and she thought she could use these balls to recreate them at home.

Contact paper- universal in covering old boxes and baskets.

A ziplock of cut up foam. Probably a million years old. Used for making pillows.

We determined this to be a pot holder. I later took this to Maggie at our dinner party.

We aren't sure why Granny kept the waste bands of underwear-
but the name on this one cracked us up!!

The electric singer sewing machine.
Either Kim or I will get this. We both like the cabinet that it is in.

lots and lots of patterns