This warms my heart

This photo makes me so happy. I probably wouldn't be as thrilled about it if it actually happened more often. Long before I had children this is how I always imagined them... eating a healthy snack and enjoying a book on a cool fall afternoon. What bliss!

Pumpkin t-shirts

Last week, we decided to make pumpkin tie- dyed t-shirts for the Kindergarten Fall Festival.

We invited our friends, Elijah, Benjamin, and Mrs. Amy to join us for the fun.

This is Benjamin. He is "three and three quarters, and soon he'll be four."

Apparantly if you wanted orange tie dye, you needed to purchase it weeks ago because there was none to be found. We ended up using a paint spray. That was scary.

Here are J and E spraying their shirts (and the counter and sink).Then, Amy and I decided it would be best to just add the rest of the dye to water and soak the shirts in the sink.

Smart, right?


Well, it worked. They weren't as vibrant or detailed as I had imagined, but here is the finished product. We drew several small pumpkin faces on D's shirt (with a sharpie) and one large face on J's shirt.
Cute, huh?
And, it was fun!


Of course Friday was the rainiest day that we had in Georgia all year, so I was very afraid that we were going to turn into oompa-loompas. The gods were in favor of us retaining our current skin tone though, so no early Willy Wonka costumes this year.

Here is a meme about Chris that I pulled from Andrea's blog...

All About My Husband
1. He’s sitting in front of the TV: what is on the screen? sports. Specifically football, but the Georgia Bulldogs trump all. Or home imporovement.
2. You’re out to eat. What kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Ranch
3. What is one food he doesn’t like? pretty much anything that I love
4. You go out to the bar. What does he order? Bud Light or Jack Daniels
5. Where did he go to high school? Marietta High School
6. What size shoe does he wear? 11 1/2
7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? nothing. He throws everything away.
8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? turkey and cheese
9. What would the Husband eat every day if he could? Spaghetti
10. What is his favorite cereal? Golden Grahams
11. What would he never wear? anything orange
12. What is his favorite sports team? Georiga Bulldogs
13. Who will he vote for? John McCain
14. Who is his best friend? I am, of course.
15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do? stack things on his desk
16. How many states has he lived in? 1
17. What is his heritage? Austrian- his grandfather was actually the first in his family to be born in the US. His great- grandmother was pregnant with him when they came across the big pond.
18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind? ice cream cake from Dairy Queen or German Chocolate
19. Did he play sports in high school? yes
20. What could he spend hours doing? watching football, riding bikes, and playing with the boys

This is how we spent our weekend when we weren't riding bikes.

A tour of my week...

Hello All! I am not dead. I did not fall off the face of the earth or run away to a foreign country- although that idea does have some merit.

I did, howev-ah, have an insane week, so instead of boring you with one of my favorite things today, I have decided to bore you with the details of my week. I love having all of the power (insert sinister laugh track)!

Saturday:





We took both boys to Homecoming in Athens. This was Daniel's first game.

Notice how Daniel spent his time "between the hedges."

Sunday:

After two services at church, we hosted "Brother John's Traveling Salvation Small Group," Sunday afternoon.

Monday:

A Blur. I actually cannot remember what I did all day Monday. Hmmmmm.....

Tuesday:

I spent the day with well over a hundred Kindergartners at Jaemor Farms in north Georgia. We had a blast picking apples and riding a hayride around the farm that didn't have any hay on it.

Wednesday:

I attempted to help Susannah start her new blog Honey in My Coffee. We got her all set up, now I just have to teach her how to use blogger. Maybe next week.

Then we made pumpkin t-shirts with Elijah, Benjamin, and Amy.

Thursday:

I spent the day at the dentist with Jonah. He had to get three holes in his teeth patched. He now has three pirate teeth because they neglected to inform me that they were sticking stainless steel crowns in my baby's mouth.

Note to moms and dads: If your child needs a filling or crown, and you want to be vain like me, request porcelain crowns before they go back to the dentist chair instead of finding out afterwards like I did. :) Just a little friendly advise.

Then I spent the rest of the afternoon fighting with him about why the dentist had told him that he could not ride his bike!

That was my week in a nutshell. Today I am headed to Fall Festival at J's school then back for the afternoon to make a pumpkin display with his class. If anyone is looking for me, I will be in the loony bin,

Favorite New Starbucks Drink

My favorite thing this week is so new that I don't even have a photo. It is also so good that I haven't stopped long enough to take a pic.


Drum Roll Please...

"This delicious sweet and salty combination brings together our rich, indulgent Signature Hot Chocolate and the flavors of buttery caramel and smoked sea salt. It is topped with whipped cream, a swirl of caramel and a sprinkle of our sea salt topping - a combination of artisan sea salt and Turbinado sugar from Hawaii."

http://www.starbucks.com/












It is so phenomenal that I had to make it at home...
Here's how:
Make stovetop hot chocolate by following the directions on the cocoa box. Either make homemade whipped cream or pick up a can and top your cocoa with the whipped cream. Then you drizzle the whipped cream with caramel. Here is how you can make homemade caramel or you can pick up a bottle at the store (starbucks even sells their caramel in a easy squeeze bottle). Starbucks adds a shot of toffee nut syrup to the hot chocolate, but I did not find this necessary at home. Maybe that is because of the exorbitant amount of caramel I added to the top. Then you sprinkle course sea salt on top.
Note: if you decide to pick one of these up at your local SB, be sure to request that they not press the lid down. You do not want to waste any of that delicious salt. Then take the lid off to enjoy.
I also had them add a shot of expresso for good measure.

Now stop into every Starbucks that you pass today, and then pick up the ingredients to make your own at home!!! Then tell me about your favorite thing and add you link here...

Congratulations Lee Ann

Last night was the season finale of Project Runway, and the finale of many laughs and late nights with the girls- until we realized that Top Chef premiers next Wednesday. Let the fun continue.

We had Martha Stewart, herself, join us.

She made us the most delicious pumpkin soup and served it in a precious pumpkin tureen.This is the only photo I took of all of us. We are doing what we do best- talking 90 miles an hour

Kristina also made cookies for each designer that was left in the competition. Kenley had a flower in her hair, Lee Ann had ruffled sleeves, and Korto had a fro.

And they were Yummy!!!

"Make it work...Carry on... Holla atcha boy!!!" Tim Gunn

Easy Smoothies

For easy everyday smoothies, I keep plain yogart and frozen fruit on hand. Add a little honey and you've got a fabulous easy smoothie.

That's it. It's easy and it works for me.

Run on over to Rocks in My Dryer for some other Works for me Wednesday tips.

We took a trip to the pumpkin patch Sunday afternoon. We only passed about a dozen other pumpkin patches on the way, but my sis-in-law assured us that this one was the best. And it was. It was perfect for the preschool/ young elementary aged children. And, when you paid to get in everything was included. Sweet!There was a 30 minute hayride- that we rode twice with Aunt Sharon and JT.
The hayride stopped to let the kids feed the fish.

Pony rides.
A petting zoo...
Complete with hornary old pig that J enjoyed terrorizing.

A wooden maze that ended with a slide.

Horseshoes.

A playground complete with two sandboxes.

A trainride.

And a firepit for marshmellows. Mmmmmm.

The boys had a blast, and we even picked out a pumpkin. I don't have a photo of that for some crazy reason. I think we were over it by the time we actually made it to the pumpkin patch.

It was Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville. It is worth the trip- and it wasn't crowded like Burts. Sorry Burt!

Happy Birthday Elijah!!!!

We celebrated Elijah's (one of J's classmates and a neighbor of ours) birthday with him this weekend- mad scientist style! How cool is that wig? Jonah was thrilled that I made him try it on for a photo. Who knew it would fit?

With that thing on he really does look like Sputnik. Elijah's mom, Amy, was very insane- I mean brave- to do a few science experiments with the kiddos.

They made GAK.

And put their hands in it!

Ahhhhhh!!!!

Notice the kid in the middle that had no gak on his hands. That would have been me as a child. Don't make me touch that nasty stuff.

And, then you can see me standing as far away from the science experiment table as possible in the background. I don't have any idea where the children's sensory issues came from, but my bets are still on The Man.

It was a great birthday. Thanks for letting us celebrate with you Elijah!!!!!

Happy Birthday Big Six Year Old!

Karate Graduation

Jonah graduated to the next level in Karate Saturday. He is now advanced white- green belt. He also moved up to the red uniform. Does anyone else sense a marketing genius here?

As Bob Parr, aka Mr. Incredible states in his feature film, "They just keep finding new ways to celebrate mediocrity." I'm beginning to think that it might not just be the celebration of mediocirty as much as the exploitation of parents' desire to see their children recognized. Of course we will pay for a new uniform if you include a ceremony.But, I just mean that about all of the other kiddos that were involved in the graduation because of course J's graduation was deserved. Look at that punch!!!
Plus, check out how small his uniform is. I was going to have to buy him a new one anyway. Yes, that is is stomach hanging out of his old uniform. Also what mom would not be excited to get her five year old son out of a WHITE karate uniform? Red is so much more forgiving in the laundry department.
Apparantly, he also likes to get the 80's off the shoulder look going.

This is how D spends his time during karate... Great fun!!!!

Sounds like...

Recent quotes from the J Man:

Duh...Duh...Duh...Double You! Mommy "W" starts with the letter D!

Juh...Juh...Juh...Jee! And "G" starts with J, just like my name!!!

He is a genius.

I think we have a problem!

J decided recently that he wanted to grow his hair. For any of you that know my son, you know that he has what I call "Brillo pad" hair, and a LOT of it at that. Bless his heart. Genetics threw him a bad one when he got my hair, but he is a boy and doesn't have the luxury of a straightening iron. When I pour water over his head to wash it, the water literally runs off the sides of his head and doesn't even absorb into his hair.

Okay, and let's be honest here...

Although he is starting to grow into it, the child has a large noggin.

A big, thick mop of hair is not going to help him out in the large head category.

Plus, as noted earlier, it is a pain to wash when it grows any longer than a #3 with the barber shears.

That's a lot of information, I know. But, I needed the therapy this morning!!!

And, here is the point of my rant...

Last night in the bathtub:

Me: How long do you want your hair?

J: I just want to let it grow.

Me: Is there someone in mind that you want your hair to look like?

J: Yes, Karson.

Me: But, his hair is not that long.

This is Karson in his Kindergarten class.

J: No, Mommy. Karsyn V.

This is the other Karsyn in his Kindergarten class.

Um, I think we have a problem.

I must say that The Man really is THE MAN!!!

D could not figure out why we got up so early Sunday morning or where we could be going in the dark. We left the house before the sun rose and walked approximately a mile in the cold to watch The Man get into Lake Lanier. Is he crazy? It's cold out there!!!We watched him... swim (he's in the blue shorts and dark blue cap coming out of the water)...Bike...And run...
Curious George was a big help cheering on all of the athletes.It was so much fun to watch the man, and to cheer all of the athletes on. C had a lot of fun too. He always took time to wave to us, and as he ran by on his way to the finish line, he stuck his hand out and slowed down so the boys could high five him. Isn't he a great daddy? His friend David also competed. I don't know if they will still be friends today since C was the one to talk David into signing up for this- and it was David's first tri. We wanted to make sure that Curious George did not feel left out of the family photo!
And here is the reward...
Okay, that and the satisfaction of completing ANOTHER triathalon!!! We are so proud of you, Baby!

Okay, and check out this guy. Before C came out of the water, I saw a guy going over to the water's edge with a pair of crutches. I thought, "Oh no, someone is losing it and having to be helped out of the water." Well, then this amazing man came out of the water with one leg!!!!!!

Here he is on the bike. I did not catch him on the run, but I assume he switched to a regular wheelchair for the 3.1 mile run as I have seen other wheelchair bound triathletes do.

WOW! Kind of makes me feel like a lazy sloutch. I think I'll go run now!!!