Nashvillians Now

Mother's Day

2009-05-12T21:03:00.005-05:00

Well Sunday was Mother's Day! As I am sure you are all aware :) Mother's Day at our house was very subdue due to the fact that KJ had surgery this past Friday to correct his sleep apnea. It is a pretty major surgery and involves a two week recovery. So at our house we are focused on getting him feeling better :)

However, I did take the day to take the kids to Edwin Warner Park to see the tadpole pond and walk around. We had a really good time and the kids were fascinated with the tadpoles. There were thousands of them! I, of course, brought my camera to capture our time together. It was a sweet time and it is so fun to see my kids so fascinated by nature!

We think CG had inherited my Mom's green thumb. She is fascinated with flowers!
It didn't take anytime for my son to start sticking his hands in the pond to try and catch the tadpoles!

HJ was pointing out a big tadpole to CG.

Unfortunately, out time at the park ended with CG falling into the pond! She was not a big fan of that! I tried hard not to laugh!

HJ's Spring Program

2009-05-04T11:02:00.004-05:00

So I broke my word about posting more frequently! For that I apologize. Life just gets hectic sometimes with two kids :)

Last Friday was HJ's spring program at school. His class performed two songs. The theme was patriotism and they were so cute! I managed to snap some good pics. HJ was excited because not only were KJ and I there but his Grandma got to attend too. He was so proud and did I mention how cute he looked?

Quite the ladies man, I would say!

He Is Risen!

2009-04-12T18:51:00.002-05:00

HAPPY EASTER!

My Baby

2009-04-06T13:16:00.002-05:00

It is so crazy to me that my baby is not really a baby anymore. She especially loves to tell me this. It is just not possible that she could be four next month. How on earth did that happen? KJ and I are both baffled about where the time went with her and why it is going so fast.
I am also incredibly amazed at the fact that she has a whole little life apart from me at her preschool. She is making friends on her own totally independent of her parents and her brother. She has one little friend in particular that she loves. We will call her Miss R. They are totally best buddies. Apparently it is a mutual affection according to Miss R's Mom and the girls' teachers at school. We finally got the two giggle boxes together last week for a play date. It was an eye opener for me to see CG playing so independently without her brother leading the way. I loved listening and watching her play her way with her friend without a big brother interfering. It was a sweet time and really made me realize how much CG is growing and maturing.
This weekend we ran into her little friend at the soccer field and we all went out to lunch after the games. All the adults seem to get along too so hopefully CG will get to play with Miss R more often which will thrill her. Miss R is also moving to HJ school next year with CG so they will be together next year too!

* I know there have been a lot of posts about CG and I apologize! It seems like there has been more to write about lately that involves her.*

Oh Happy Day

2009-03-30T21:26:00.003-05:00

Well for little man it was! Soccer has started and the first game was last Saturday. I missed all but the last 5 minutes because I was working at our church Easter egg hunt. I really missed out on the action, as little man had a hat trick (he scored 3 goals!) It looks like it will be an exciting season! Stay tuned for more photos and recaps.

The photo above was taken in the last bit of the game where HJ was taking his time out. Look at how red his cheeks are! When his is in the game he gives it 110%. When it is his turn to sit down he is riveted by what is happening on the field.

A Totally Different Look

2009-03-30T17:22:00.004-05:00

On an almost 4 year old, both the cherry blossom look

and the self-dressed princess look some how work.

Getting Bolder

2009-03-29T07:03:00.005-05:00

As I am sure you have noticed, spring time is here! The trees are turning green or flowering, bulbs are blooming, and it is getting warmer. It is just beautiful outside! It is such a time of hope and renewal!
I am enjoying taking Molly on more walks now that it is warmer again. I always walk her on the same routine. For the last couple of days, I have been admiring this absolutely gorgeous yard in our neighborhood. It is full of blossoming cherry trees. The trees are absolutely beautiful. They are so full and heavy with blossoms, some of the branches are close to the ground. Every time I have walked by the house, I have thought it would be an absolutely perfect place to take pics of Callie. I could even see the pictures in my head.
Well on Friday, my desire for the pictures got the better of me. I decided to just go ring the door bell and ask if I could take pictures in their yard. I have never done something like that before but I REALLY wanted to take those pictures. So I worked up the courage to do it and did! The lady was so nice and seemed so flattered that I wanted to do that. She even walked me around her whole yard showing me other places she thought would make pretty pictures. She encouraged me to move around the wrought iron furniture and use it if I wanted to too. I am so glad that I asked! So without further ado, here are some of the spring pictures with the cherry blossoms I snapped of Callie!

A Women's Retreat

2009-03-25T12:34:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of going on a women's retreat with some of the women from my church. I was actually very hesitant about going as I don't really know anyone that well. However, God truly blessed me on this retreat! It was at a beautiful house on Smith Lake in Alabama. The house sat on a point and was surrounded by water. It was just beautiful! Spring was starting to show and the weather was perfect. I got to know a lot of women better in an uplifting environment. We did the Beth Moore video series "Loving Well," which was great! It was a really good time and I am so glad I got over my own shyness and went!
Below are some pics I took from the retreat:

My favorite group shot.

There was lots of laying around relaxing and talking during the weekend. It was so refreshing! This is my friend Hope lounging.

There was also lots of good food shared around a big table!

Everyone had a gift bag filled with great little goodies but was also for people to write notes of encouragement and kindness to you and place in the bag. When you left the retreat you had a bag filled with goodies and sweet notes!

The daffodils on the property had just bloomed and were so pretty!

Breaks

2009-03-22T14:16:00.009-05:00

So as everyone has now noticed, I have been on a blogging break. My only excuse has been complete blogging burnout. I have just needed a hiatus from the blog and also some time away from the computer for the most part. However, it has meant a lot to me to hear how much my family and friends have missed it. I am now (I think) ready to jump back into regular blogging. So hopefully the blogging break is over!

On to another break! We had our spring break from school last week and chose to spend it visiting family and friends in Ktown. I packed the kids up and headed to Knoxville last Sunday and came back yesterday. KJ joined us on Wed. there for a needed break from work. During our time in Knoxville, we got to go to the zoo, visit friends and family, and enjoy a sweet birthday party! KJ and I even got to enjoy a date night to his favorite restaurant called Trailhead which is up in Townsend. Below you will find my pictures from the week. Hope you enjoy! I already miss everyone and wish we could have seen even more friends!

Tuesday's Zoo Trip with Friends:

Checking out the rhinos.

Enjoying the petting zoo which completely grosses me out and makes me nervous!

HJ and Miss M posing with the zoo Beaver.

Watching the elephants!

Sweet, sweet kids!

Friends since they were 3 months old! You wouldn't know they haven't seen each other in months!

Thursday's Dinner and Smore's Roast with Sweet Friends!

I can't get over how much this little girl looks like her Momma! I love her eyes!

These balls are meant to be jumped on while you are sitting on them. However, two almost 6 year old boys grow tired really quick of playing with them they way they are meant to be played with!

Playing on the slide.

HJ roasting his marshmallow.

Blowing out his marshmallow fire.

Enjoying their yummy smores.

I can't decide if I like this picture better in color or b&w.

On Friday we enjoyed breakfast with our beloved Grammy and Grampy! She makes KJ's favorite breakfasts.

Friday evening we had a lot of fun celebrating a birthday with friends at an inflatable play place. The kids had a blast and completely wore themselves out. We enjoyed catching up with more friends!

Picture Princess

2009-02-11T20:07:00.006-06:00

So awhile ago, I found this website for a company called, Shabby Apple, that sells some of the cutest little girl clothes! I just love all their dresses. They are so pretty, unique, and feminine! (They also sell some great looking women's clothes!) And as it turns out, I happen to have a little girl who is pretty, unique, and feminine, so the dresses fit her personality! I would love to have a lot of their cute dresses for her as she would look precious in them. Shappy Apple happens to be having a great contest to find the next picture princess and I think my little princess would be perfect in the winning role as a model for their summer line. Plus, it would be a way to score their spring line of adorable dresses! My favorite being the Creamsicle dress. You can find all the little girls and girls dresses from Shabby Baby, here.

Callie should be the next picture princess because she is a princess or at least she believes that with all her heart! She loves all things girly, pretty, and princess-y. She loves to dress up in pretty dresses and dance around the house, smiling and swaying to the music in her head or what is playing on the stereo. Callie loves having her picture taken too. She loves to pose and then can't wait to see how the picture turns out. She thinks it is super fun to dress up, ham it up in front of the camera, and then view the results. Callie is by far a picture princess!

O Happy Day...

2009-02-04T15:39:00.001-06:00

I said goodbye to my braces today!

(and good riddance too!)

KJ would like everyone to know....

2009-02-03T14:44:00.002-06:00

that he is the 5th best disc golf player (same thing as frisbee golf, I am just not allowed to call it that as disc golf sounds a lot more cool) in Nashville. He and Kan played in the Crockett Park Ice Bowl on Saturday. KJ placed 5th out of 100. Kan placed 100th. He had a great attitude about it though! He said someone had to be last and he was just filling that role.

Randomness

2009-02-03T10:08:00.004-06:00

It seems as your kids get older, life gets busier. We are entering a new phase of life (actually we have entered it and been there for a little while now!) This new phase involves lots of sporting events and lots of helping out at the kids schools. I am loving it all! I am pretty sure that from now until college starts, I will probably have a sporting event to watch on the weekends with only short breaks for holidays and in between one sport ending and another starting. However, HJ is loving it and we love watching him!
I am also kinda the official baker for any school function going on. There have been a few things going on in January that have required lots of baking. I am the muffin and cookie queen! I will do a post soon of the recipes I am using in case anyone is interested in having some great, tried and true, recipes for taking somewhere or entertaining. They are very well received! Be looking for that if you are interested.
We have also enjoyed friends coming to stay with us. It is like fun pajama parties. I love getting to really talk and visit with people. When they stay with you for a weekend, you really get to bond in a way that doesn't happen when it is just little bits of times together here and there. We love having people come stay with us and it is all new as we never had people stay with us when we lived in Ktown. So we will just say there is an open invitation to any one wanting to come to Nashville. You have free lodging here if you would like it!

Here are some random pictures from some of HJ's basketball games and some time with friends!

We put KJ's friend Kan to work helping to FINALLY after a year, install our basketball goal this past weekend.

HJ is the point guard for his team. This is him calling play #2. KJ is so proud he can't stand it. HJ is one of the littlest kids on the team but he plays the hardest and hustles the fastest! I tear up at some of the games because I can't believe how mature, focused, driven, and sweet my son has become. It is hard to believe only a short time ago he was a baby and now he is a leader among the other boys. It just doesn't seem possible for him to be growing up this fast!

These are random pictures from different games. I definitely need a new lense for shooting sports photography, especially in a dark, old gym! I need some better instruction too, on how to take good shots under these bad lighting, fast action conditions.

Below, are some of the million pictures I took over the weekend of our friends and their now 3 month old baby. I posted pics awhile ago of this baby when she was 6 weeks old. She has only grown cuter in the 6 weeks since we have seen her! The family shot is one of my favorite pictures I've taken. I can't decide if I like it better in black and white or color.

Saying Goodbye

2009-01-13T18:09:00.004-06:00

This week saw the passing of my Granddaddy. He has been sick with liver disease for awhile and was admitted into the hospital last week and died on Sunday. My only memories with him were happy ones, as I can't remember a time he was upset or unhappy. Granddaddy just always seemed so genuine. I think that is the lesson I take most with me from his life. He is one of the most genuine people I have ever know. He never cared what anyone thought but just tried to live his life right and treat others right. That genuine love, respect, acceptance and truth he gave everyone, is in my opinion, his legacy. I can definitely take a page from his life and try to remember that it doesn't matter what others think of me as long as I am living for God. That is something I struggle with daily and just seemed to come naturally to him.
Granddaddy was also so content! He always seemed absolutely happy and content with what he had, never seeming to look and yearn for something else, just was happy to have what was his. I think that is something so many of my generation struggle with and can learn so much from the older generation, including myself. His sweet presence filled with quiet life lessons will surely be missed as I didn't even realize what he was teaching me until it came time to reflect on his life. Isn't that just the way it is with so many things? Isn't it so sad that I didn't realize how much his quiet life lessons and presence resonated with me, so that I could have told him? I hope he knows!
Some of my favorite childhood memories involve his hugs. He gave the best hugs! He would completely wrap you up in his strong arms and lift you off the ground while swinging you around. It was a safe, secure place to be and so filled with the absolute certainty that this man thought I was so special. There just aren't many people in life that give you that kind of absolute acceptance and love! Some of the smells that bring back childhood are his too. He always smoked a pipe when I was growing up (he quit quite a few years ago). Now, whenever I smell a pipe, it brings back fond memories of times spent with him whenever we would visit.
I will surely miss my sweet Granddaddy and hope he know how much he meant to me and how much I love him. I am so glad his suffering has ended. I love you Granddaddy! God Bless you and Keep you!

Only In Nashville...

2009-01-10T07:52:00.003-06:00

does your son get to play basketball against Steve McNair's son!

KJ snapped this picture last night with his phone at HJ's basketball game against Steve's son. He was the only one of the Dad's to have the nerve to ask Steve if he could take his picture. All the other Dad's were jealous and they all spent the evening staring at Steve like little girl's would at Britney Spears.

Beach Dog

2009-01-06T13:24:00.004-06:00

So we took Molly with us to the beach. I am now convinced that dogs and people must have an inbred love of the beach and water. She just adored going to the beach and was instantly a beach dog. She literally could not get enough of it. She would race through the surf and tide pools as fast as she could go. I swear it looked like she was smiling the whole time! Her favorite thing to do on the beach was chase HJ. They were a pretty cute pair. I am glad we got to take her as it was a lot of fun just watching her. She kept us all entertained with her beach antics. Unfortunately I didn't get many pics of her racing around because she is just too darn fast! Before I could get the camera pointed in her direction, she was off in a different one. Anyway, the pics below aren't great because I couldn't get close enough to them without them running away but they give you an idea of the fun had!

HJ's Girl

2009-01-04T21:25:00.003-06:00

So we think HJ may be in love. Not that he would say it in those words, nor would we even want him to think that way or introduce the idea of that to him. However, there is this little girl in his class. She was in his class last year too and was held back for the same reasons we held HJ back. So they have been around each other for awhile but it is just this year that he noticed her. Apparently they are inseparable in class. HJ talks about her all the time at home. He likes her because she is "cool." She doesn't like "any of that princess stuff" the other girls like. She is fun because she likes football and sports and is rough and tumble. She can hang with the boys and HJ just adores her. She is also very artistic and appeals to HJ's creative side too. I think it is cute how much he talks about her. Well apparently the feeling is mutual according to her Mom. So after school got out, but before Christmas, we had this little girl over to play. It was cute to see HJ play with her. He was very indulgent of her and wanted to do whatever she wanted to do. Anyway, I don't know how long the infatuation will last but it is cute!

*The picture above was snapped at our house when she came over.*

Christmas 2008

2009-01-03T15:53:00.007-06:00

This was one of the sweetest holidays we have had. It started with celebrating an early family Christmas in Nashville on Christmas Eve. We then moved the party to Knoxville for a couple rounds of extended family Christmases. It was a lot of fun seeing family! CG and HJ enjoyed spending time with cousins playing football, hide and seek, and dress-up!
On the 26th, KJ's parents let us use their beach condo for a much needed family get-away! KJ has been working endless hours for the past three months. He has averaged about 150 hours a week! It has been crazy. After the deadline was met on Dec. 23rd, his boss told him to go home and not to come back until January 5th! So we got to enjoy some much needed family time at the beach reconnecting and having fun with no responsibilities or agendas. We are all back in Nashville rested and refreshed. Now if only my dryer was not broken so I could tackle the laundry!!! Thanks R & G for letting us use your condo, you guys are the best!

It has been so COLD!

2008-12-19T16:22:00.003-06:00

For the last month it has been so cold here. We have had one good snow already! However, today was perfect. It was 72 and sunny. A day like today just refreshes my soul and makes me happy! What a wonderful little gift today was. I needed that little reminder of warmer weather and pick me up.

*The picture above was taken on one of those completely bone chilling days when I wonder if somehow I woke up in New Hampshire and not Tennessee.*

Life Has Been Busy

2008-12-15T17:25:00.004-06:00

I am sorry for the lack of posts but life has been busy but lots of fun. This weekend was no exception! On Saturday we all went to a Predator's hockey game. I have fallen in love with the sport now. It was so so fun! Even CG really enjoyed it. Hopefully, we can go again soon. (However, I didn't take my camera, so no pics :()
Yesterday, some friends of ours came to stay the night and brought their 6 week old baby girl. She is one of the prettiest babies I have ever seen. She is also so alert for 6 weeks! Her personality reminded KJ and I so much of HJ. We both could not get over how alike in personality they seemed. Maybe a future match :) ??? Oh, and holding that little girl was heaven. I have missed the feel of it! It definitely did something to me.
Anyway, the baby begged me to take her picture which was good because I was itching to take it and not letting them leave until I did! I thought I'd share a few pics of this gorgeous little sweetie!
PS: I hope to get back to regular posts after the holidays so bear with me!

Visiting With Santa

2008-12-07T17:02:00.002-06:00

This Saturday we ventured to the local library for a great holiday magic show and a visit with Santa. It was a great, fun, family time! However, I didn't get a great pic of the kids with Santa. They both had goofy smiles on each picture and they gave me all of 30 seconds to get the picture.

Playin In The Leaves

2008-11-10T18:23:00.005-06:00

*Disclaimer* Before I hear it from anybody, that there are a lot more pictures of CG than HJ, please know that I am aware of that! The reason is that almost anytime I try to take a picture of him, he sticks out his tongue. I have about 150 photos of him with his tongue stuck out, from this shoot alone. CG has a few more manners. *End of Disclaimer*

Our Fall Lovin' Dog

2008-11-06T12:29:00.002-06:00

I want your opinion

2008-11-03T16:22:00.002-06:00

So I need some opinions here. KJ and I have a little bit of a differing opinion on something and I am wondering what your thoughts are on the subject. This is something that we have been talking about for a few months now and just can't decide.
You see my son (who is 5!!!!), wants to grow his hair out long (past his shoulders). He really likes the way it looks on the adult men who wear it that way and also on some kids we have seen with long hair (boy kids, there were a few playing soccer on other teams.) KJ is of the opinion that it won't hurt him and it is something he has wanted to do for awhile now and not forgotten about. KJ says it is his hair and he is old enough to have a say in it and that since it won't hurt him or anything we should let him.
I on the other hand think he is 5 for goodness sakes and I very much enjoy his clean cut preppy looks. I know as he gets older he will have more of say in his appearance (and I less, as long as it is not effecting negatively on his witness or school work, which is a rule KJ and I had said we would follow when it came to the kids' appearance) but I am not ready for long hair yet. So, should I get over it and let my 5 year old grow his hair out or should I continue to have it cut so it looks cute, more age appropriate, and more in keeping with societal norms (at least ours/mine). Or is it selfish and vain on my part???
So let me have your opinions!

The Princess and The Titan

2008-10-31T20:24:00.005-05:00

For Halloween 2008 we went to a Halloween party put on by some friends from church. The kids had a blast eating and then trick or treating. Their neighborhood was nice because all the houses were close together. CG was, of course, a princess. I even got out all her makeup, stick on earrings, and hair sparkles. She and I had a fun makeup session. She loved all the sparkles. HJ was a Tennessee Titan. The kids are now passed out in their beds from a sugar coma! Enjoy the pics!

Spiders Everywhere!

2008-10-30T12:20:00.004-05:00

Okay, well they aren't anywhere but in my kitchen and I don't have a problem with these spiders! I signed up to bring cookies to CG's Halloween party at school tomorrow. So our project this morning was making these adorable cookie spiders. We both had a ball and they turned out so cute! I haven't tried one but the dough was good. She is so proud to take these to school tomorrow.
The recipe came from the All You magazine.

1 1/4 cups flour
6 TBSP unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
10 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
sprinkles (about 1 cup)
M&Ms
pretzel sticks broken in half

Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Beat in flour mixture.

Roll a teaspoonful of dough into a ball and roll in sprinkles. Repeat with remaining dough, putting 9 balls on each baking sheet. Press lightly to flatten each ball. Place two M&Ms for eyes and 8 pieces of pretzels for legs on each spider.

Bake for 12 minutes. Let cookies set on baking sheet and then transfer to cooling rack.

This is a great kitchen project to do with little ones. She loved breaking the pretzels, putting them in and then putting the eyes on and of course dumping in ingredients! She is so proud of her spiders!

It is so sad

2008-10-30T06:53:00.002-05:00

At HJ's school they have fire and tornado drills. That is completely understandable as those are natural disasters. We even did those when I was in school. However, now there is a whole new drill that is just heartbreaking to me in its need. They call it the bad guy drill. It is practicing what to do should someone make it inside his school with the intent to hurt. His school has a great security system in place but just the fact that we are in a place in society where this new type of drill is a need, breaks my heart.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-27T13:38:00.002-05:00

I took the kids to a local pumpkin patch last week. This patch is a lot more than a pumpkin patch as they had hay bales to climb on, tire swings, a corn maze, and lots more. The kids were not in the mood to get their pictures made so I only have a few to show. They just weren't having any of it.

I am a Winner!

2008-10-25T07:43:00.002-05:00

I know you guys already know this about me but hey it is nice to have it confirmed every now and then! Ha! Ha! But I am so excited, I just won a giveaway on a blog! I never win anything and I won! How exciting! The blog is SuperHealthyKids and she is documenting how she is changing her families eating habits to be healthier. It is a great blog full of wonderful ideas and recipes.
So what did I win? I won a wonderful assortment of goodies from Quaker Oats. It consists of 2 canisters of oats, 2 boxes Oatmeal Squares, 2 boxes instant oats, and two boxes of Oatmeal to go.
So thanks Amy for a great contest!

Some Randomness in My Day

2008-10-23T19:23:00.004-05:00

My friend Aimee over at Daisyeyes, tagged me awhile ago for a fun little meme. The tagged person is supposed to list 7 random or weird facts about themselves. I am just now getting around to doing mine. So without further ado and just in case you don't think I am weird or random enough, here are my 7 facts.

1. I used to have my Ham radio (or amateur radio) license. It was actually something that was more or less forced onto me. You see, my Dad used to be big time into Ham radio. Growing up we even had a huge tower antenna in our backyard. (Yes my Dad was a nerd, something I think he would have freely admitted and been proud of). Anyway, I turned 16 well before cell phones were a common thing and my Dad wanted to make sure I was safe and had a way to get in touch in case of an emergency, should one arise when I was driving. So in order to get my driver's license, I had to get my ham radio license. Therefore, after 2 or 3 tries and lots of protests, I received my Ham radio license and the call sign KE4OHO. I even got a ham radio in my ultra cool Pontiac Bonneville car. Yes, I was uber cool in high school!
Anyway, my license expired after 10 years and I declined to renew it. So I am no longer licensed to talk on the Ham radio, should I even know where one was or how to turn it on.
Also, in case you were wondering, I did have to use the Ham radio once to call my Dad because one of my tires went flat and being the pansy I am, had not a clue what to do about it. You can be sure I was glad I had a way to get ahold of my Dad then!

2. I got a scholarship to college because of my Ham radio license. Apparently, it is pretty rare for teenage girls to have a Ham radio license (shocking, I know) and I received the female scholarship to my choice of schools.

3. I can not stand for anyone to touch my face. I think this goes again back to puberty when I had bad acne (acne, a Ham radio license, and a Bonneville, do not an uber cool girl make). Anyway, the doctor warned me that dirt and oil from hands could make it worse, so I became obsessive about it and still am to this day. I don't even want the kids touching my face. Sad and weird, I know.

4. I no longer watch TV (not even HGTV). I used to love TV, however, I am not sure what has happened but I have no interest in any shows anymore. I will watch The Office with KJ but that is all he can get me to watch with him. I would much rather read. I am really not even interested in movies anymore. I am always disappointed after I watch one so I don't really enjoy them either.

5. I have developed a love for baking. So much so, that it has become a way I deal with stress. It relaxes me so much and soothes my soul. If I am stressed, you can be sure I will be in the kitchen baking something. My favorite thing recently, has been experimenting with different yeast breads and dough. I am loving trying out new recipes and seeing what works for me and my family. I also love making old favorites healthier with whole wheat and grain flours. Baking has become a major stress reliever for me!

6. I have mentioned this one before on my blog but it probably fits well with this meme. I drink and make my kids drink a green smoothie almost everyday. They taste good and are so good for you!

7. I collect raku animal pottery. It is fun, wierd, eclectic, and colorful and I just love it! I can't help but smile every time I look at one of the pieces I own. I currently have a goony bird, a blow fish, and a cat (not much of a collection, but it is a start). It is expensive but so fun. I hope to get a dog next. Below is the picture of my goony bird.

You never know

2008-10-21T13:53:00.003-05:00

So my wonderful, amazing Mom came to Nashville this past weekend to keep the kids while KJ and I went kayaking. The kids always look forward to visits with Grandma and this one was no exception. I think they were even more excited because Mommy and Daddy were leaving. This of course means all the normal rules go by the wayside! Grandma also always has a bunch of projects to do with the kids, it is always a surprise to find out what the kids will be making when they see Grandma. She warned me that we were going to love the yard art that would be waiting for us when we got back. So take a look at our new lawn decorations! Grandma and the kids made these three friendly ghosts while we were gone. Now we get to proudly display these until Halloween has come and gone. Good thing they are kind of cute because I jump every time I walk by the window in the study and see something white outside at night. I am so thankful to have a Mom who makes her time so special and fun with my kids!

If you want to know, they made these with gallon milk jugs, old sheets, and twine. They are stuck on sticks.

Once Around the River Bend

2008-10-20T09:41:00.003-05:00

Soooo, it was finally the weekend to go on our overnight kayak trip! Of course, the weather took a turn for the colder right before we were to leave! I woke up on Saturday morning, not real sure that this was a good idea for me to go, seeing how much I love to be cold and wet. However, I am so happy that we went! We had a blast! It was a great group of people, beautiful scenery, and great food! With warm clothes and a camp fire, I was not a bit cold! We kayaked for a total of about 8 miles down Chattanooga's River Gorge. The scenery was breathtaking. I only got to start enjoying the scenery after lunch on the first day as the first part of the day I was completely absorbed in what I was doing. I had a traumatic first experience in the kayak. As soon as they put me in, the wind was blowing and quickly blew me way out into the middle of the river and down the river in the opposite direction from where we were supposed to be. I have never been in a kayak before and had not a clue what to do. Luckily, the one of the guides raced down river to save me and give me some direction on turning around. After awhile in the kayak, I felt much calmer and in control and could then enjoy the scenery and experience. Hanging out at the camp site was a lot of fun. The men played poker and the women yahatzee. We also sat around and talked, roasted marshmallows, and ate and ate. It really was an amazing trip and would recommend it to anyone!

Where in the World?

2008-10-07T16:54:00.003-05:00

It has been a super busy month! I have been in an ebay selling frenzy, baking frenzy, and then we went to the beach! We had an amazing time at the beach and got to enjoy gorgeous weather and a gorgeous beach! It was perfection! Since getting home, I have been working on pictures, packaging up ebay items, and visiting the local Children's Hospital with CG.
She met her match with the driveway last night and completely scraped up her face. However, her mouth took the blunt of the trauma. Two of her teeth are very loose and the ER doctor prepared us that she may loose them and not have any teeth there until her permanent ones come in. Her thumb sucking will not help matters if they stay in because it will probably pull the loose teeth in weird positions. She is not in a lot of pain anymore except when she eats and her face is still swollen. I won't torture her by taking her picture as that would not make her happy right now. Poor girl! Luckily, we had professional pictures done a few weeks ago and then I got some on the beach. All that to say, it has been a busy week already!

Here is a sneak peek of beach pics. If you are interested in getting a link to the whole set, email me and let me know!

Hopefully, it won't be much longer and all the craziness will subside and I can get back to regular blogging!

Disney on Ice

2008-09-23T16:57:00.006-05:00

Two Saturdays ago, we took the kids to see Disney on Ice at the Sommet Center. HJ was just excited to go to where the Predators play but CG was ecstatic to be going to see the show. (HJ soon got super excited about the show once it started!)

While we were at soccer, some of the other parents told us that a lot of little girls had on princess dresses at the show. CG was thrilled for the opportunity to wear hers. When I took her pictures, she actually preened and posed, all by herself. I have never seen her do that before (all without any prompting or directions for me). She was just enjoying the picture taking process in her princess gown!

At the preshow, they had all the princess dresses set up to look at. Here is CG in front of the Belle dress.

And of course, I must include a picture from the show!

Here is a picture of HJ at the ice show! I have been getting a lot of questions about where all the pics of HJ are. Let me show you why there aren't many. Every time I put the camera up to my face he goes and does something silly. He just can't be still and smile!

Another Soccer Saturday!

2008-09-23T15:44:00.006-05:00

I am so far behind in posts, it is not even funny. However, the end is in sight for ebay! Then it will be back to regular blogging. I can't wait to be done!

Two Saturdays ago, we had another soccer day. I got to go to both kids games as HJ's wasn't during nap time. So now, I will post pics from his game since I didn't get any the last soccer Saturday! HJ is so aggressive with the ball and really gets in there with the action. He also has a wonderful grasp on the game and doesn't steal from his team mates. He even tries to pass the ball! I think being small makes him try even harder. He is so fun to watch!

This is him before the game, warming up and showing off!

He tries so hard and plays so well!

Here are both kids right after their respected games. Look at those red cheeks! It was so hot that day!

Soccer Saturday

2008-09-07T15:24:00.005-05:00

So, CG had her first soccer game ever yesterday. Let me tell you, it was a riot! Imagine 8 little 3 year old girls on a soccer field playing 4 on 4. At any given time, AT LEAST one girl is bawling, three are oblivious to what is going on, and maybe, maybe, three are aware that this is a soccer game and you are supposed to be chasing the little black and white ball. It was hilarious! Oh, and also on the field is about one parent per girl either drying tears, trying to talk the child into playing, or telling their daughter what to do. KJ is so, so proud that his daughter played the entire game without tears AND seemed to get the purpose of why she was there! However, it does help when one's Daddy is right there to remind her and tell her what to do with every step she takes. CG seemed to really get it and made a great effort, even scoring a goal! So enjoy the pics of her first game! She seemed to really enjoy playing it.

In the above couple of shots, CG is making her way to the goal and in the above one, she shoots and scores! Notice Daddy, cheering and encouraging her the whole way!

I love the above picture of CG running and dribbling the ball. Every time she dribbles the ball, she put her hands out to her sides. I don't know what the purpose of that is but she does it every time!

This picture doesn't have much to do with CG's soccer except that it was taken at her game and it is now one of my all time favorites of my little man. He was leaning over and touching his toes and I called his name and this is the priceless shot I got. I love it!

Still Here

2008-09-05T19:38:00.003-05:00

Yes, we still have a dog! Although, she is incredibly confused as to where her constant companions have disappeared to a lot of the week. She is used to having them around to play with all the time and when they aren't here she kind of mopes around. She then seems to decide that I am boring and flops down to wait for me to do something exciting. It is kind of sad to see her miss her buddies! However, she is still super cute. Those ears kill me!

Whew!

2008-09-02T11:55:00.002-05:00

I am tired! We survived our first super busy week with both kids back in school and me going to meetings. I have volunteered to be the room Mom for HJ's class this year and am also on the Hospitality committee for the school. With the year just starting, everyone had to get caught up on responsibilities, etc!
CG started preschool for the first time. She is loving it and can't wait to go each day. The school has a Noah's Ark theme this year and her class is the Elephants. I think she has been watching HJ go to school for 2 years now and she is excited to see what it it all about. She did not cry or anything when I left her the first day and was so excited to tell me about her day when I picked her up. She is definitely handling it better than her Momma who can't believe she is already old enough for preschool! I miss her terribly when she is not home. CG goes to school MWF.
HJ goes WRF. It is kind of an odd schedule but when I figured out I get one day a week home alone with each one separately I was really excited. I haven't had consistent time alone with HJ in 3 years! I pray it will be a sweet bonding time for us this year as this is his last year home before he starts kindergarten. I hope not to have to do to many chores or errands the days I am home with the kids alone. I want that to be a special fun time for them.
HJ absolutely loves school and his teachers are amazing! We were truly blessed to have been led to this school. We love it there.
Well I am off to start another busy week. Posts will probably still be pretty sparse due to my trying to get ebay auctions listed and such but I hope in a few weeks to be back to regular postings! The pics above are CG on her first day. She was so happy!

Soccer Princess

2008-08-22T15:56:00.009-05:00

Have you ever wondered what a soccer princess would look like? You have???!!!! Well good, because I now know what one looks like. She emerged from my house yesterday afternoon to start her soccer career with her first ever soccer practice. Allow me to introduce you!

A soccer princess only wears the finest in pink soccer footwear: pink cleats. She also will only allow her legs to be graced with pink shin guards, covered by the most beautiful purple soccer socks! Aren't they gorgeous?????? Oh, and of course a princess would only play soccer with a pink and purple ball!

Now a soccer princess can not start her soccer career without making sure everyone knows she is a princess. The best way to do this is to wear a shirt that announces it to the world. Our princess choose this beautiful purple one with a pink princess hat with the word "Princess" spelled out under the hat. A princess is always subtle!

A princess also always must have appropriately fashioned hair. For soccer that would be the pony tail which this princess dawns exquisitely!

After making sure that she is properly attired for the occasion, the princess makes sure she plays with perfection, daintily kicking the ball around and trying hard to look like she knows what she is doing. She is after all a princess, she must keep up appearances.

Only when she thinks no one is looking can she let down her hair so to speak, and stick out her tongue in interesting ways, making sure no one is observing this most unroyal like behavior!

An Explanation

2008-08-19T07:48:00.002-05:00

For the next few weeks, posts will be very sporadic here at Nashvillians Now. With school starting up, the kids and I will be entering a new, much more hectic schedule, that will take some getting used to. I am going to have to get used to getting two kids up, ready, and out the door in time for school after a lazy summer of having nowhere to be at any particular time. Also, in order to keep running, I will have to start getting up at or before 5am, which I have found leaves me exhausted by the afternoon. It is going to take my body some time to adjust to getting 45 minutes less sleep a day! Soccer is also gearing up to start in two weeks which will add to the busyness. In addition to school and soccer mayhem, I also have to start all the ebay madness that I do twice a year, here next week. It is good money but a lot of work! Add all that together, and I don't have a ton of time to blog. So bear with me over the next few weeks, and I will be back to regular postings!

5 Years Ago

2008-08-12T14:23:00.003-05:00

5 year's ago today my father passed away. Prior to his death he had battled pancreatic cancer for 2.5 years. The anniversary of his death is a bittersweet time for me where I try more to focus on the blessings that have come and are yet to come. I know with absolute certainty that my father is in heaven and that he is no longer in pain but in constant worship of our Lord and I often envy him of that peace and happiness as I struggle on Earth through my own sin. That to me is a wonderful blessing and praise!
I also love to think about how faithful our heavenly father is. You see when my father was diagnosed with cancer they gave him 3-6 months to live and he lived for 2.5 years! God was also faithful to grant my father his dying wish, which was to see his first grandchild, my son HJ. HJ was born exactly 7 weeks prior to my father's death. Dealing with much of the grief surrounding his death was done for me in the context of that wonderful new blessing in my life and also through a sleep deprived haze that every new mother feels. However, the memories of my father's awe inspired face as he looked at and held this new little life is a memory I will carry with me forever. I try and hold fast to the sweetness and not the loss and pain.
I also love to think what he would think about my kids now. I know that he would be tickled and proud of HJ's love for football. He too (as most men do) loved football. He loved UT but more so he was a Redskin fan. I grin to think about the vie that would be going on between KJ and my Dad to gain HJ's attention toward their favorite teams. My Mom is trying to teach HJ about the Redskins and HJ has more interest than most (especially in Tennessee) for the Redskins. However, HJ will ultimately become a Titan's fan (which would have been okay with Dad too). My father would just be so proud to call my little sports fan his grandson!
I also get tickled thinking about my stoic and reserved father being completely wrapped around the pinky of a certain little pink and purple princess. I think he would be completely at the mercy of little CG and there would be more pictures of the two of them than we would know what to do with.
So anyway, I thought I would think about him today in happy sweet moments and try not to dwell on the sad. He would not want any of us to do any less. He hated to be the center of attention, especially sad attention!

This is what happens....

2008-08-11T13:59:00.003-05:00

when you send your hubby to take your son to get his haircut. The husband gets distracted with the TV and doesn't pay attention to the fact that the hair destroyer (I mean dresser) has taken the electric shears to your son's gorgeous hair, shaving it all off! Both KJ and I hate it! HJ loves it and I really had to hold back tears when I saw him. He looks like (I can't decide which one, maybe both at different times): a redneck or a cancer patient. None of which I think he is. Luckily it is hair and it grows back quickly!

It's Already Started

2008-08-11T13:45:00.002-05:00

It is that time of year again (already???). The time of year my hubby and son become fascinated and obsessed with a little brown ball made of pigskin and the teams and men/boys that play with it. It is Football time in Tennessee again! This past weekend marked the start of the Titan's football season with the first preseason game! Luckily, (as KJ and HJ see it) KJ had the opportunity to purchase season tickets to the Titans for this season. He of course jumped on it! Saturday night my boys went to the game and there was not a more excited little boy in Nashville to be found or a prouder Daddy (KJ just eats up how much HJ loves and adores football). I am glad they have this male bonding. It is so sweet to watch. However, it is going to be hectic in our house when UT football starts and we are making the trek to Ktown for the Saturday home games and then turning around and rushing home for the Titan's Sunday games. KJ and HJ can't wait!

Could It Be Any Nicer?

2008-08-08T15:24:00.002-05:00

Today is such a wonderful gift from God!! It is 84 degrees out, sunny, and hardly any humidity. It is such a change from our 100 degree, high humid weather we have had for the past few weeks. One could almost say it is starting to feel like fall! It is just perfect out and we have been outside almost all day. Although, we were inside long enough for my daughter to overflow the toilet causing massive amounts of water to spill out of the toilet and into the whole bathroom and first two feet of her bedroom but that is a story for another time. I would prefer to focus on the beautiful weather and forget that ever happened, thank you very much!

*Would you like to make something out of the fact that my daughter is still in her pajamas at 10am in the morning? I didn't think so!!!!!*

2 Weeks

2008-08-07T11:04:00.004-05:00

Well we have had a dog now for 2 weeks! It has been a lot of work but actually a lot of fun for the most part. The kids are really bonding with her but are not too crazy about her teething tendencies. We are working with her consistently about not using her teeth on us (she never bites down but does like to put her mouth on your arm). Sometimes she remembers and sometimes not. We are also trying to be consistent about the jumping on people thing. She gets so excited she jumps. Hopefully, over time and maturity she will figure it all out. Another "fun" thing I have had to deal with is that on Wednesday, I let her out to go potty and romp in the yard before we left to go to the YMCA only to have to chase her down to get her and then find out she stunk and had rolled in dog poop! Yuck! I took her in and straight to the bath which caused us to be late to the YMCA. We are also realizing that leaving the house for a whole day requires hiring someone to come let her out and play with her 3 times a day! On Monday, while the kids and I were in Splash country and KJ at work, we hired our teenage neighbor to come 3 times to let her out and play with her. It is not as carefree a life style as 2 weeks ago. However, the kids and KJ are completely smitten and I admit she has wormed her way into my heart too!
She is still sleeping thru the night. That is a major praise. She sleeps from 10pm to 7am with no noise or accidents! She has had 3 accidents in the house (during the days), thankfully all found early and none poop! She hasn't had one in about a week so maybe she has got the whole concept of going outside and I think we are better at reading her signals. She is still a super sweet dog who just loves all of us (and anyone else she meets) and wants to play a lot.
She loves to play outside with the kids and neighbor's dog. The kids have even taught her to go down the slide. She seems to really like to do it and goes over and over again. It is pretty funny!
She also still likes to snooze on the air vents. She is super cute sleeping! These pictures are of her worn out from playing outside this morning with the kids, enjoying the cooler air.

Are we Crazy?

2008-08-06T14:28:00.002-05:00

KJ and I have committed to go on this kayak trip in October. We are going with 10 other people who all know each other and we only know one other couple. I think it will be a lot of fun but a lot of exercise that sounds suspiciously like work. My friend Hope and her husband are the couple going that we know. She is super excited about it as is KJ, in fact she booked the trip back in February when she read an article on it in the March 2008 Southern Living (Tennessee section, page 6). She went ahead and booked a full trip for 12 and are now rounding up the 10 people to go. Her husband Geoff and I are thinking it sounds like fun but an awful lot of work! Hopefully, it will have cooled down quite a bit by October! Also, my idea of camping is in a trailer with my own bathroom, I am not even sure there will be a real bathroom. The good thing being married to a wanna be comedian is that he can make any situation funny, so I am sure it will be alright, right?

Visiting

2008-08-06T13:12:00.002-05:00

There is one thing that I had never before experienced before we moved to Nashville. That would be the wonderful, relaxing, fun time you can have when you go back into town for a visit. We get taken to favorite restaurants (P.F. Changs!) and I get to have a completely stress-free time. You guys that live near your parents don't get to experience what it is like to visit and stay with your Mom. I never have to pack much because she has all mine and the kids favorite toiletries there waiting for me. She has her house kid friendly with all their favorite toys out and waiting to be played with. The fridge and counters are stocked with our favorite foods. She always even remembers to have my Diet Dr. Peppers for me in the plastic containers because I don't like the taste of it out of a can (I know I am weird). When KJ joins me his drink favorites are there waiting for him too. Do you want to know the best part is though? She sends me (or us, if KJ is with me) out without the kids to be by myself (ourselves) shopping or hanging out! Do you have any idea what a treat that is for me now that we live away from our free (ie: grandparents) babysitters. It feels like heaven to go out and spend all the time I want browsing around stores and bookstores. Then when I come back the kids are in bed and Mom and I get to sit around talking or reading. It is so relaxing and stress free. Then when it is time to leave she sends me off, with her house in kid created disarray, saying that she will take care of it all when we leave and not to worry a bit about it. I love it and am so grateful for Moms and in-laws that make visits pleasurable! Coming home is almost like a trip to a spa for me: no cleaning, cooking, meal planning, or bed time duties! I just love being able to relax and be pampered and taken care of!

Lemon Cookies

2008-08-01T13:55:00.004-05:00

This summer I have been on a quest to recreate the lemon cookies that Ham & Goody's makes. They are so good! Well I think I have come as close as I possibly could. These things are wickedly, sinfully, delicious! I highly recommend them if you love the Ham & Goody's cookies! Oh my, I could seriously eat every single one of these, they are that good.

Iced Lemon Thins

3 cups unsifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup reconstituted lemon juice

Sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda together in large bowl. Beat butter and sugar together. Gradually add dry ingredients and lemon juice to the sugar mix. Chill dough 1hour. On floured surface roll dough out to 1/8 inch thickness and cut cookies out. Place on ungreased sheet and bake at 400, 7-9 minutes. OR after 1 hour of dough chilling, take dough out and make a log out of it (think store bought refrigerated cookie dough log). Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 2 hours, then just slice 1/8 inch wide slices and cook as above.

Once completely cooled glaze cookies with this:

1 1/4 cups confectioner sugar
2 TBLS lemon juice

mix together and ice cookies

*the recipe makes a lot more cookies than what I took a picture of!*

Curiosity

2008-08-01T10:20:00.002-05:00

Okay I have a request from all 5 of you who read my blog (and any other random people that stumble upon it :) I am curious as to what every body's most used small kitchen appliance is? I know this is completely random and weird but then so am I. You see I have been baking a ton more than I ever have before in my vow to cut grocery costs and eliminate most processed foods from our diet. Because of that, I have been using some of my small kitchen appliances more than ever and was just thinking "I wonder what everyone else uses routinely?" I know, I know, I am weird. So anyway, if you would like to humor me today, comment below and appease my curiosity.

I will start:
I use my griddle almost every other day for pancakes or french toast. I had hardly touched it in 10 years, until a couple months ago and now I use it all the time.

I use my bread machine a couple times a week. I don't actually bake in it because I don't like the way the bread comes out in it but it is awesome for mixing up dough and letting it rise. I then transfer it to a different baking pan. I will have to do a blog on some of the amazing bread recipes I am making. I won't be buying bread much ever again, unless I am in a pinch. It is really good and easy to do!

I also use my blender almost everyday for those awesome green smoothies the kids and I drink. I will also occasionally mix up fruit slushies for the kids in the morning.

Those are my top three. A close 4th would be my Kitchen Aid mixer. I probably pull it out at least once a week.

So what about you?

Purple Princess Bear

2008-07-31T10:41:00.003-05:00

CG is at that stage of life where she adores the colors pink and purple (purple being her favorite, who do you think picked out Molly's collar?). She loves all things sparkly and of course anything to do with a princess!
Last night, we took the kids to the mall for a special treat. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe (it was kids night and they ate for $1.99) and then to Build-A-Bear to use the gift certificates they got for Christmas from their great Granddaddy. The bear you see above is the bear CG built and picked out all by herself. You may not be able to tell from the pics but the bear is purple with sparkly silver threads all over it. She then proceeded to pick out a Sleeping Beauty outfit for it complete with pink, purple, and yellow panties. The bear is so hideously gaudy it is cute and pretty much sums up without words the stage of life CG is in right now! I think anyone who knows her would pick this bear out as hers if their was a bear line up. Oh, and in case you are wondering, she named the bear Aurora (Sleeping Beauty's name). Aurora is what she wanted to name Molly so she settled with naming her bear that. KJ and I could not stomach having a dog named Aurora!

Puppy House Training Fun

2008-07-31T07:39:00.002-05:00

This is one of those puppy house training moments no one shares with you when you are talking about getting a dog. Having to take your puppy out in a thunderstorm with torrential rain! Molly was sitting by the door begging to go out for about 10 minutes while KJ and I debated the pros and cons of taking her out. KJ finally dawned his raincoat and proceeded to take Molly out for about 10 minutes in the stormy night only to have her not go. I was next, I walked her around the yard for 15 minutes in the rain before she finally went. The joys of puppy ownership! Maybe now she will figure out it is best to go immediately upon being taken out in the rain. The sooner you go, the sooner we can all get back inside!

Chigger Update

2008-07-30T21:28:00.003-05:00

FYI: I have done a ton of research now on chiggers and the best way to treat them. A common misconception is that they burrow under your skin. This is not the case. Tiny microscopic larvae (disgusting, I know) get on your skin and inject some kind of stuff under your skin which causes your skin make a little tube so they can suck up your liquified skin cells. They never burrow under your skin. They brush off very easily and will come off in the shower when you bathe. The red bumps that form are your bodies reaction to the substance they inject under your skin. The white bumps are the feeding tubes. The longer that the critters are actually on your skin feeding the worse the bumps and the longer the itching. It is recommended that anytime you are in places prone to them that your come home and bathe immediately (we all waited until that evening). The bumps show up 12-14 hours after the bite. Putting clear nail polish remover on the bumps has been the home remedy for years with the assumption that it kills the chigger because they can't breathe. Since the chigger is not there under the skin it doesn't work for anything but helping relieve the itch but cutting off the air flow to the bump. We have been using anti-itch meds and taking Benadryl because I don't want to put the harsh chemicals in nail polish on our skin although I am about to the point I don't care as long as the itching stops (the anti-itch meds do help).

Okay, I know this post was more info than you could ever want and most of it disturbing, but I hope it prevents some of you from this misery!

A Warning

2008-07-30T16:02:00.002-05:00

Our little jaunt to the blackberry patch was not quite the innocent sweet time I thought. I had no idea that blackberry bushes were a haven for chiggers. Well I do now! HJ and I are covered in chigger bites on our lower body. They itch like crazy! Luckily CG did not get any bites but she had 2 ticks on her legs and I had one. Yuck!

Just wanted to send out a word of warning regarding wild blackberry patches!

Baby, It's Hot!

2008-07-28T17:42:00.002-05:00

It is so hot here. Hovering right around 100 degrees with the heat index! Uggghhh! It is even miserable to go out and play with the kids. We did get out early this morning and took a "hike" through the woods, which is one of the kids favorite thing to do. HJ discovered a huge patch of wild blackberries! We proceeded to pick as many as we could and plan on going back next week when most of them will ripen up. The kids were so excited about their "find."

Anyway, back to the heat. Our air conditioner is on the fritz. It can't keep the house cooler than 80. It is pretty stinkin hot in the house. We are going with out any lights all day long in an attempt to keep it cooler. All of us are walking around in the bare minimum for decency. Even the dog is feeling the heat! She stays laying on an air vent soaking up the little bits of cool air emerge from the vent. It is pretty cute! Here is hoping the repair man can get out soon!

More Molly

2008-07-27T07:33:00.004-05:00

Well it has now been over 3 days with a dog. I still look at her sometimes and wonder as to where this dog came from and how long she is staying and then I remember she is ours and am still a little overwhelmed. However, I do not regret the decision to get her. The kids just love her and she has been such an easy, good, sweet dog. I think I was prepared for absolute craziness but she is so sweet and well behaved it is still such a shock. She is sleeping thru the night, has not had a single accident in the house, plays great with the kids, and is pretty much just chewing her toys (with just a couple minor slip ups), and she lets me bathe her. (I was glad to hear from Becca that her dog was so good too, all I had heard was horror stories so it was nice to hear that a puppy can be good, because I keep waiting for her to go crazy, its good to know that this might not all be an act but she might really just be this good and sweet!) I think she has been a great addition to our family and it doesn't hurt that she is just too cute!

*Sorry for all the Molly posts, but she is the biggest thing to happen to us in a long time and pretty much consumes our days right now*

This little position of Molly's is adorable. She sticks her front and back paws out and lays flat on her belly. It gets me every time because it is so cute. I also love her little nub for a tail. It is hilarious to watch it wag!

The First Night

2008-07-25T15:03:00.002-05:00

I have to say, I was dreading last night. I have heard so many horror stories about sleepless nights with puppies. However, apparently Molly is awesome! She went right into her crate with no fuss. I did not hear a peep from her until I woke up in a panic at 2:30, that she had not woken up to go pee. I had read that young dogs need to pee twice in the night. So I rushed out of bed and dragged the poor, sound asleep dog out of her crate and into the night to pee, where she peed a tiny bit. I put her back in her crate and did not hear another peep out of her until I woke her up at 5:30 again to pee. This time it was pouring down rain and she did not go. So back in the kennel she went until 7:00! I am so impressed with this dog and she is cute to boot! More pics to come soon. Man I wish I had my SLR camera working. Soon though!
So far no accidents!

Mini Vacation

2008-07-24T20:43:00.002-05:00

I never thought that I would ever be able to say that I took a mini vacation to Knoxville. However, being a Nashvillian was something I never thought would happen either. This Sunday, I packed the kids and I up and the three of us headed to Ktown for some fun. On Monday, we spent the day at Splash Country with my Mom, Tuesday we went to the zoo with friends and then went over to Grammy and Grampys for a visit. On Wednesday, we headed back up to Splash Country with friends and my Mom. Unfortunately, it is hard to get pics at Splash Country but trust me when I say the kids loved it! We had such a good, fun mini vacation. HJ bawled crying in the car when it was time to leave. He had so much fun with friends and Grandma!

A New Addition

2008-07-24T19:29:00.004-05:00

Well we have a big announcement! This is something we were definitely not planning but are pretty excited about, I think..........

Last week, KJ and I took leave of all of our senses and committed to adopting a dog. Molly came to live with us today. The kids are thrilled and Molly seems to be a complete dream. She is not barking, jumping, or biting. Three of my big dog pet peeves. She loves to play with the kids and will let them pet her however they want. She let us immediately slip a collar on her and even doesn't seem to mind the leash to much. I have been reading a great book, Good Owners, Great Dogs, to help be prepared for the new addition. I have absolute no experience with a dog and this book has been great. Molly has, so far, been the model puppy. I was expecting so much and she just seems so mellow and sweet. It may be just her first day though and the hyperness and craziness of puppyhood could hit anytime. However, I think I am more prepared now that I have read this book.

Molly is an 8 week old Pembroke Welsh Corgi. A sweet little herding breed. They are supposed to be super intelligent but in a medium size body. They are supposed to be easy to train and great with kids. So far, I am very impressed. She seems to be a great, welcome, addition to our family. The kids, especially CG, have wanted a puppy for a long time now and are just over the moon with our little Molly. CG keeps asking if we really get to keep her forever. She is just so happy. She loves petting and brushing her. She even sits beside her while she is napping and looks at books and pretends to read to her. It is so sweet! HJ is looking forward to Molly being able to play fetch and soccer which I am sure will come very soon! He loved it today when she chased him around the baseball bases. (Yes we realize our grass needs to be mowed!) So without further ado, here is Molly!

I am convinced....

2008-07-18T13:47:00.003-05:00

that my son can only speak sentences that end in a question mark. I am equally convinced I may lose my sanity due to this fact.

What I am Listening To...

2008-07-18T07:07:00.005-05:00

Full Attention by Jeremy Riddle

This has got to be one of the best worship/praise CD's I have ever heard. I had the pleasure of hearing him sing "God Moves in Mysterious Ways" in person and was moved to tears. I went home and downloaded it and then ended up downloading almost every song from this CD. I listen to it over and over when running and working out. It really speaks to me where I am right now in my walk with the Lord. I don't usually recommend music as I know everyone has their own tastes but man is this good! It is too moving, rich, personal, and just plain good not to recommend!

Here are the lyrics for the song that got me listening to this wonderful artist!

God Moves in Mysterious Ways

God moves in a mysterious way
His Wonders to perform
He plants His Footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm
Deep in unsearchable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright Designs
And works His sovereign Will

And ye fearful saints fresh courage take
The clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break in blessings
Yeah (and) in blessings (yeah)
And in blessings on your head

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense
But trust Him for His Grace
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face
His Purposes will ripen fast
Unfolding ev'ry hour
The bud may have a bitter taste
But sweet will be the flow'r
Yeah

And ye fearful saints fresh courage take
The clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break in blessings
Yeah (and) in blessings (yeah)
And in blessings on your head

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His Work in vain
For God is His own interpreter
And He will make it plain
In His own time
In His own way yes
In His own time
In His own way

Uninvited Guests

2008-07-17T10:56:00.002-05:00

Usually I love to have a house full of guests. It makes me happy. However, these disgusting things are most unwelcome and uninvited (thankfully they are not inside or I would have to move)! They are hornworms and they have taken up residence in my tomato plants and are doing their best to eat my sweet innocent plants. I have picked 9 off already. They are very hard to see as they blend in perfectly with the plant stems and leaves. Uggghhh! I hate bugs and these are the most disgusting plus destructive, the worst kind! Does anybody know of a nontoxic remedy to them (I don't want to spray my plants)? Or am I stuck just looking for more of these nasty things daily to try and save my plants? They haven't done to much damage so far and I hope I have gotten them all but we thought we did last night when we pulled 4 off but this morning when I checked I found 5 more.
Sorry for this most disgusting post and picture but this is me trying to keep it real!

Be Still My Heart

2008-07-17T08:04:00.002-05:00

There is not much in life that gets my heart going more than when my sweet hubby gets out his guitar to sing and worship with the kids. It is such a sweet, precious thing. I am blessed indeed!

Confession Time

2008-07-16T14:01:00.006-05:00

Okay, I have a confession to make. I spend way to much money on groceries and toiletries. I have not been a good steward of the money that God has provided KJ and I. I have been one who just goes to the grocery buying whatever I feel like without a super clear cut plan on what to make for the week and thus way overspending. I haven't looked at the sale ads to plan my meals around sale items or clipped coupons. I really haven't put much thought into it, just going along my merry way buying what appealed and spending an absurd amount each month. Neither KJ or I really thought about it until the other week, we sat down to map out our new budget for this school year (two kids in school means A LOT less money each month). When we really sat down and looked at the appalling numbers and realized how much we could be saving if I would just put a little more effort, commitment, and diligence into my shopping and planning, I was super convicted about it all. My job as the homemaker is to be a good steward of our money and I have not. I would not get a good performance review! Nor would I hear "Well done good and faithful servant." I am now completely committed to cutting our grocery and toiletry budget by at least half but hopefully even more in the coming months.

Some of the ways, I am going to do this is by being super diligent to a meal plan and sticking with it! I would like to plan my meals around what meats, dairy, and produce are on sale at the stores I shop at. I want to stick to my list with no impulse buys (this is big because I am very very bad at impulse buying!). I am also going to try and make all of our breakfasts to cut down on the money I spend on breakfast items (ie: cereal bars, frozen waffles, and frozen pancakes.) I am off to a good start with this as I now have a huge stash of homemade frozen pancakes in the freezer as well as a loaf of zucchini bread! I am also going to try and become a diligent coupon user. There are a lot of great web sites and blogs that help out in all the areas I have described above. One thing that really has my interest is playing the CVS and Walgreens game. You can amass some significant savings by shopping at these stores and learning how to shop with coupons, sales, and extra bucks.

CVS has some amazing deals. Each week they offer some great sale items and with coupons you can get these toiletries for next to nothing and get CVS money back. Walgreens has great deals too but they don't offer money back. So anyway, after much, much research, reading, and amassing coupons, I was ready for my first CVS and Walgreens trips. You can see what I scored below! I want to leave you with some links if you are interested in learning more about shopping for steals at CVS and Walgreens. One of the best resources I have found for learning how to be a better shopper in general but also at CVS and Walgreens is Money Saving Mom. She has amazing tips and advice for how to create a grocery budget, meal plan, and shop for amazingly cheap. She feeds her family of 4 for $35 a week. I won't ever get there as I am not willing to shop as much as she does for deal nor can I give up all the fresh fruits and veggies we eat but I am excited by the wealth of ideas and knowledge she has. In her blog, she also outlines the major deals to be had at both CVS and Walgreens each week with where to find the coupons you need to do the deals! A huge time saver. This link will take you to the CVS deals for this week. At the bottom of the blog post are links to take you to places to read about how to play the CVS game. Another great website is Couponmom.com. She has lots of great advice but also, you can research the great deals your personal grocery store is having that week with the coupon needed beside each deal. This was a huge help to me this week in planning my shopping trip! I was able to get some great deals at Kroger on dishwashing detergent tabs (I scored Electrasol tabs for $0.33 for a good size box!) I also got a great deal on shampoo for the kids (Loreal kids for $0.55) I wouldn't have found or figured those out without reading her line by line site for deals.

Anyway, with more diligent planning and shopping, I hope to be a much better steward of the money we have been given to steward. I believe this is my Christian duty as a wife and mother to be the best steward I can be. Like I said I was really convicted! So enough about all that, now for some fun. Here are the deals I got at CVS and Walgreens this week.

This was the purchase that got me started in the CVS game and will hopefully carry me through quite a ways. The deal was if you spent $20 (before coupons) on any Maalox, Excedrin, or Gas-X item you would get $10 back in CVS extra bucks which can be used on anything in the store for your next purchase. Well this turned into a great deal. With coupons, I spent $13.28 out of pocket for the above items including tax. However, I got $10 extra bucks back, and extra $1 buck back and a $3 off a $15 purchase coupon back! So really, when you look at it that way I only spent $2.28 for all the items. My goal is from now on in my purchases from here on out to use little if any of my real cash to purchase items. Hopefully, with coupons and extra bucks plus the great sales they have each week, I can keep our house stocked with toiletries and stuff for very little cash! Incidentally, that $3 off a $15 purchase coupon I got to use on another purchase, is figured before you lay your coupons down. So say I had a total of $16 (before coupons), I could put that down making my purchase $13 and then you could subtract any more coupons you have and then pay with extra care bucks and hopefully earn more extra care bucks to replace the ones I spent.

This was a great deal on these toothpastes. This was my second CVS transaction. I got both toothpaste tubes for only $0.05! They were buy one get one and I had two $1.50 coupons to use. That gave me a $0.21 overage which they applied towards my tax on the items which was $0.26 resulting in my 5 cent purchase.

From Walgreens this week, I got these shampoo and conditioners for free! Yes free! They were buy one get one free on sale thru Walgreens and there was a buy one get one coupon in Sunday's coupons. So I got both free! Sweet!

Anyway, all I have read says it really takes a 3 month commitment to doing this to see the huge, massive savings you read about. You have to have the time to amass coupons and stock up on things when they are on super sale instead of just buying it when you need it. I hope to give it the full 3 months and hopefully, I will be getting our toiletries for pennies! This has taken awhile to figure out and I am still figuring it out but it is actually a lot of fun to see how much you can save and how cheaply you can get things you need.

Make This!

2008-07-15T16:43:00.001-05:00

If you've got a lot of zucchini laying your house that you don't know what to do with, make this! It is heavenly and the best part is you get two loaves. One to eat and one to freeze for later. Even the kids gobbled it up and I can't seem to stop snitching bites. Yum. Oh, and did I mention how wonderful it smells when it is baking? Oh my! This is too good not to share.

Amazing Zucchini Bread

2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup applesauce
1/3 cup orange juice
2 cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In large bowl mix sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla
3. Beat until well blended
4. Add zucchini, applesauce, and OJ, stir well
5. Combine flour with next 5 ingredients
6. Add to zucchini mixture, stir well
7. Add nuts if adding them, stir gently to combine
8. Pour into 2 greased 9 inch loaf pans
9. Bake for 60 minutes, till toothpick comes out clean
10. Let cool in pans 10 minutes
11. Remove from pans and let cool completely
12. Enjoy!!!

Cookies!

2008-07-14T07:00:00.003-05:00

Recently, I have made a couple really good cookies that I thought I would share about! The first is the Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookie! These came from the blog, Picky Palate, and they are wonderful! The only thing is that next time I won't crush the oreos up so much. These are a definite keeper as the kids and hubby loved them!

The next wonderful cookie is the Lemon Gem. One of my favorite cookies are the lemon cookies from Ham and Goody's in Knoxville. They are so good! I am always looking for a recipe that would be similar so I tried these. These aren't the Ham and Goody's cookies but they are still outstanding. They melt in your mouth and are heavenly! They take a little time to make but are definitely worth it! Mine aren't as cute as Stephanie's at Stephanie's Kitchen, where I got the recipe, but were not bad for my first try. I made them with red, white, and blue sprinkles for the 4th of July. I overcooked mine just a bit but I will definitely be making these babies again!

Hot Wheel Fun

2008-07-14T06:38:00.007-05:00

For their birthdays, Grammy and Grampy gave each of the kids a Hot Wheel just like KJ had when he was a kid. Well the hot wheels were a hit! The kids favorite thing to do outside is push their hot wheels up our VERY long driveway, which has a nice, gradual, slope to it, and then ride it down to the bottom of the driveway as fast as they possibly can! It is hilarious to watch and looks like so much fun. They do it over and over and over again every time we are outside!

Getting on the hot wheel to head down the driveway as fast as he can!

Ready, set, GO!

Going down! (CG is nearing the top for her trip down.)

Look at Miss C push her hot wheel to the top! HJ is starting down and picking up speed!

Going faster and faster! Almost to fast for my little pocket camera to catch!

Time to start all over again!

4th of July Hike

2008-07-07T08:04:00.003-05:00

On Friday, we took the kids for their first hike! We went to Radnor Lake State Park and hiked all the way around the lake. It was a little under 3 miles. The kids did great. It was a very easy trail and the kids loved looking for animals. We saw a TON of deer. We even got to see a baby deer but I didn't have time to get my camera out for that one. We hope this will be the start of many more family hikes. We would love to find a trail that goes to a waterfall around Nashville but aren't having a lot of luck finding an easier hike the kids could do to a waterfall or water feature. If you know of one, please let me know!

We had plans to go watch fireworks that evening but after a big day at the farm on the 3rd, and a hike that day the kids were exhausted so we canceled going to see the fireworks, put the kids to bed at 7:30, and KJ and I watched a movie. Pretty lame for the 4th of July but it was perfect for us!

Thursday at the Farm

2008-07-07T06:52:00.012-05:00

On Thursday, we had the wonderful privilege of going to the farm that my friend grew up on in Nashville. She is actual a friend from Ktown and we have been friends since our first born were babies as we were in a Mom's group with them. Another absolutely dear friend of mine, who was also in the same Mom's group, drove down from Ktown to join us for the day with her two kids: Miss M and little T. Her sweetness and generosity at doing that just made my day! Both women had to miss my birthday party so it was such a treat to spend time with them, especially here in Nashville! HJ thought it was awesome that his friends were here in Nashville. I absolutely love that he can just pick up where he left off with them as if no time ever passed since he last saw them.
We were all blown away with the farm! What an absolutely amazing place to grow up! It is over 300 acres (right in Nashville near everything!). They have a pool, horses, barns, llamas, miniature ponies, donkeys, cows, turkeys, and fish. It was like paradise for the kids. It was so fun to watch the kids play in the pool, explore the farm (on golf carts, how fun!), see the animals, and just have an awesome time together. I had a wonderful time catching up and hanging out with two dear friends! The good news was that we got to hang out quite a bit with my friend from Nashville, as they were in town for the week visiting family so you will see some more pics in coming blogs on some more time with them and their daughter Miss L.

Friends since birth: HJ, Miss L, and Miss M

Ready to head to the pool! The kids loved driving around on the golf cart all over the farm.

Can we please get in the pool already????

Checking out and petting the miniature ponies and the donkeys. They were a little pushy as they thought we might have treats and were very disappointed to find out we didn't. We were also playing, How many people fit on a golf cart?" The answer is 4 adults and a lot of kids!

I am not sure who these strangers are???

Pure Sweetness!

What better way to spend the day than playing with awesome friends in the pool?

HJ and CG watching the cows and mowing at them trying to get them to come closer. The cows were very leary of us and wouldn't come near the fence.

HJ, CG, and Miss L standing in front of the Casa de la Llama (or the llama barn!) Unfortunately, we did not get any pics of the actual llamas.

The girls hiding from HJ in a fun game of hide and seek!

The Nashville Flea Market

2008-06-30T15:24:00.002-05:00

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of hosting some dear friends of ours! We had a great time visiting, playing, slipping and sliding, Guitar Heroing, and eating. On Saturday, Aimee and I ventured out without the kids to the Nashville flea market. Before kids, I loved going to places like this in good ole K-town and I was not disappointed with this flea market! It was huge and there was so much to see (we were told it was a light flea market so I can't imagine a heavy one!) It would take you many days to feel like you had seen everything and we only stayed for a couple hours. It was so much better than any I had been to in Knoxville. I got a great deal on some vintage pyrex with glass tops to continue replacing my plastic food storage. Aimee got some great deals on a wooden doll cradle for her little girl, a croquet set, and some books. Looking around makes you realize how much junk has been produced over time and how ones man's treasure is another's junk! I so wish I would have remembered my camera to take pictures of some of the funnier things we stumbled upon for sale but alas I did not. I guess I will have to remember it for next time! I will definitely go back and I really hope Aimee will come back in October for the biggest month of the Nashville flea market!

After the flea market, Aimee and I ventured to historic downtown Franklin. I have always wanted to go and poke around there and was so glad to get to! We visited an amazing fabric store that puts a certain nice fabric store in Ktown to shame on selection and prices. It would take hours to go thru all their amazing fabric. I will definitely be taking my Mom there next time she visits this way. I saw plenty I would love to have turned into cute clothes for my little clothes horse! We also ate lunch in a great little restaurant: H.R.H. Dumplin's. We had a wonderful girly morning and afternoon!

HJ's Pancake Breakfast

2008-06-24T13:30:00.004-05:00

I thought I would share this yummy recipe for homemade pancakes. My kids love them! HJ requested them for breakfast this birthday morning. I usually won't make a big breakfast on a day when we have to be somewhere (Pirate art camp for HJ!) but I made an exception for such a special day! They are super easy and yummy!

HJ'S BIRTHDAY PANCAKES

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup veg. oil

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Whisk all ingredients together. Drop a silver dollar size dollop of batter on a hot skillet. When edges appear to harden, flip the pancakes and finish cooking the other side. (These are great with either blueberries or chocolate chips added to the batter.)

No Longer a Baby

2008-06-24T12:34:00.004-05:00

Back in March, I blogged about my feelings about losing my baby to boyhood. I feel like today it is really official. HJ turned 5 today. Five sounds so old to me. When you are five you are old enough to go to school and really marks the end to babyhood. I just can't believe my son is five. These first five years have gone by so fast and have been so precious. I am excited though to see the boy he is becoming and to enter this new phase of life that involves doing and going much more than the first five. We can do so much more with HJ now, that going places is exciting and fun for all of us. This birthday is bittersweet for me though as it officially ends babyhood and begins boyhood.
We celebrated HJ's birthday with his friends and grandparents on Saturday at a really fun, cool place called Glow Galaxy. Apparently in Nashville and the surrounding area, you can find anything and everything to do for a birthday. HJ had gone to a birthday party here earlier in the year and would not consider having his party anywhere else. It is a really cool place that has lots of huge inflatable slides, obstacle courses, and moon walks (not to mention putt-putt and a cool interactive dance floor) but it all glows under black lights. It is uber cool! We all had a blast watching HJ play with his friends on everything. I enjoyed not having to do anything but sit back and enjoy the party! Unfortunately, with my camera broken, I did not get many good pics. The little pocket cameras just don't take good pics in the dark! The group pic above is as good as it gets.

Today, we woke HJ up with a family sing of Happy Birthday. I made his favorite breakfast of pancakes. We will go to his pick of places tonight to eat. I think he wants pizza. It will be a small celebration in comparison to Saturday, but sweet.

Happy 5th Birthday my sweet, sweet boy! I am so proud of the boy you are becoming. Your compassion toward others inspires and awes me. Your intelligence blows me away everyday. Your love for life is a joy to behold. Your love for your Lord and Savior and hunger for his word humbles and inspires me. Having the blessing of you in my life is one of my greatest joys. I love you more everyday and am so proud to be your mother!

Slippin' and a Slidin'

2008-06-23T13:26:00.009-05:00

After reading the 5rings Weblog, which is the blog of an old work friend of KJ's, and seeing how much fun he and his family and friends had on their homemade slip and slide, we were hooked. We went to the good ol' Home Depot and purchased 100 feet of plastic to go in our side yard to create our own slip and slide. We had our first slip and slide party with some friends last night and had an absolute blast! Everyone got soaped up with dish soap and away they went. As the evening went on, both the men and kids got more and more creative with their slides. It was a blast to watch! Last evening marked the first of many more slip and slide parties, I am sure.

All lubed up and ready to slide!

SLIPPIN' and a SLIDIN'

Riding alone got boring so the kids devised new and improved ways of going down the slip and slide! Riding on Daddy's back is a very fun and faster way to get to the bottom of the slide, than riding alone.

Riding one at a time on a Daddy, turned into everyone piling on a Daddy for a pyramid ride to the bottom!

Piling onto the Daddies, quickly turned into a game of knocking kids off the Daddies by the Daddy not being piled onto. It is like bowling for kids!

The men really got into it toward the end, with lots of races to the bottom at full speed! I am not sure who enjoyed the slip and slide more, the men or the kids??

S'mores and Lightening Bugs

2008-06-19T13:51:00.003-05:00

We had the pleasure of going to KJ's college pastor's house for dinner last night. It was a wonderful celebration of summer. They have gotten a fire pit so the kids got to roast hot dogs over it and then later s'mores! They had a ball with it and brought back fun memories of camping while creating new ones with good friends. CG was so funny eating the smore's, as chocolate is her passion in life, so she picked out the gooey chocolate bar from the smore and ate it first and then went back and ate the marshmallow/graham cracker sandwich.
After dinner, we let all the kids stay up late and run around the backyard catching lightening bugs. It was HJ and CG's first time catching lightening bugs, as they are usually in bed before it gets really dark. They both had a blast and have asked to do it all again tonight. A perfect, almost poignant, summer night!

Banana Pudding Queen

2008-06-16T13:57:00.003-05:00

Last Friday, we had KJ's college pastor over for dinner with his oldest son. His wife and three other kids were out of town. We had our Friday pizza night and, because we were having guest and everyone knows you can't have guests and not have dessert, I asked my hubby what he would like me to make for dessert. I was expecting him to name something chocolate as that is ALWAYS my preference. Instead, his first choice was graham cracker creme pie. Now you have to understand that this is an old family recipe that his Grammy is famous for. It is fairly complicated and you really need to be a blood relative of his Grammy to be able to successfully make it. Moreover, I did not want to attempt to make it and have my hubby say that it wasn't as good as his Moms or Grammy's. I mean no disrespect to them but really what wife wants to be told their food is just not as good as their Mother-in-laws or Grammy-in-laws, even when you love the two a lot! So, I told him to choose something else. Well, low and behold, he choose another item that I have never made and that my friend Joy is considered the queen of in my house: Banana Pudding! I was worried that if I tried making banana pudding the way Joy does, I would be in the same boat as being told it was good just not as good as Joy's. Well anyway, I subscribe to a lot of cooking blogs and a couple of them have mentioned Paula Deen's Banana Pudding and how unbelievable it is. I am not a huge fan of banana pudding but this sounded too good and was raved about to much not to give it a go! So I made it, and it was heavenly, and I am now queen of the banana pudding in my own house (though KJ did say, he still likes banana pudding the way Joy makes it and would like to have it that way soon, but that he loves it Paula Deen's way too, he needs a side by side taste test)! Yippee! My son even told me it was his favorite dessert. He was scraping and licking his bowl. So without further ado here is Paula Deen's recipe for Banana Pudding.

Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding

* 2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies

* 6-8 bananas sliced (I used 4 and thought that was plenty)

* 2 cups milk

* 1 5oz box instand French Vanilla pudding mix (I used 1 1/2 3oz boxes)

* 8 oz cream cheese softened

* 14 oz sweetened condensed milk

* 12 oz frozen whipped topping thawed

Line the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch dish with 1 bag of cookies. Place bananas on top of cookies.

Blend milk with pudding mix. Beat cream cheese and condensed milk together. Fold in whipped topping. Add this mixture to the pudding and stir until blended. Pour over bananas.

Cover the top with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until serving.

Is it Bad?

2008-06-08T21:24:00.002-05:00

Is it bad that, though I am excited about what my kids will be learning at Vacation Bible School, the most exciting thing for me is that KJ and I get to drop them off at 6:00 pm and then not pick them up until 8:30 pm? We get 2.5 hours to ourselves each night for 4 whole nights!!!!!!!!!! We LOVE our kids to pieces but are excited to be having some adult time too!

By the Grace of God

2008-06-06T06:37:00.002-05:00

I just ran 20 minutes without stopping for a walking break!!! You would have to realize that a short time ago, I could barely run a minute without stopping to know what an accomplishment this is for me. I am so excited to see that I could do that and I know it is only by focusing my sight on God that I did it because it is not in my nature to push myself past discomfort. Trust me it was super hard but it is such a high to know that I can do it!

*Those aren't my feet, they were downloaded from google.*

Completely Traumatized!

2008-06-04T14:42:00.002-05:00

KJ and I are pretty sure our son is going to need some psychological help to deal with the abject terror he felt for his life, not once, but twice last night!!!!
It all started with the remodel of our bathroom. There are some pretty interesting looking tools around the house right now. HJ has been warned not to touch them. However, the air compressor that is currently in our bedroom (come on I know everyone keeps one in their master bedroom, right) proved to be too much of a temptation! It is bright orange and has lots of fun looking knobs and dials on it. While KJ was talking to Drew last night in the bathroom, HJ must have been examining the air compressor. I was in the family room straightening up when I hear a very, very, very, loud hissing sound. A moment later, my son is screaming louder than the hissing and running faster than I have ever seen him run, down the hall from the master bedroom to the family room, and upon reaching me he makes an enormous leap into my arms, throwing his arms around my neck and anchoring his legs around my hips and burrowing his head into my neck. I am still bewildered trying to think about what the very loud whooshing/hissing sound is and if my son is hurt. The noise stops and Drew and KJ come out of the bathroom laughing until they see how absolutely terrified HJ is. He is sobbing uncontrollably and shaking violently from abject terror. It takes me 30 minutes to completely calm him down! Whereupon, we learn that when he pulled the release knob on the compressor, he got a face full of compressed air and a loud noise erupted from the machine that he wasn't supposed to touch because we told him they are dangerous. We think he thought he was going to die for a moment. It has put the fear of God into him, in regards to all the tools!
So after that terror, we finally get the kids to bed. I head to the kitchen and my bigger child, I mean my husband, goes down to the garage to play with his brand new toy, a gas blower. Being brilliant and too excited to think clearly, he starts the gas motor up inside the garage (luckily the garage doors were open!) and proceeds to check it out by blowing all the tile dust from Drew's tile cutting out of the garage, not paying any heed to the smoke coming from the blower. It sets the smoke detector off, but my child, I mean husband, can't hear it over the roar of the blower. Because all the smoke detectors are wired to each other, this sets off all the smoke detectors inside the house! Now, I have never heard the smoke detectors go off in our new house and they are ear drum shattering loud inside the house. They are so loud that I think the burglar alarm is going off, which is Drew's first guess too. So I am frantically punching in the code for the alarm over and over again to no avail! Drew gets the idea to hit the # and * button together thinking it will reset it. What that does is set the burglar alarm off and is the code to directly call the police department. Once the alarm goes off, we realize it is the smoke detector going off not the alarm and quickly turn the burglar alarm off. However, by that time the police have been called! I turn around to find my son, standing behind me shaking and sobbing, which I could not hear over the wail of the smoke detector. He thinks there is a fire and thought we had forgot about him in his room and he was going to die!!!! I scoop him up and try to console him over the wail of the smoke detectors. They finally go off once Drew goes down to tell KJ what is going on and he shuts his blower off and fans the smoke out of the garage. However, my son, not quite recovered from the night's earlier trauma is bewildered, terrified, and confused. He did not understand why the smoke detector went off accidentally and I had a really hard time convincing that this happens and we would never, ever forget him! I praised him for coming downstairs. THEN, the police arrived, which set off another round of questions and concerns! After laying with him for 30+ minutes and going up numerous times to calm him down after that, he finally fell asleep. My poor little boy is still talking about the terror of last night. Thankfully, it is behind us and hopefully we won't have that terrifying of a night ever again!

The Early Bird Gets the Worm

2008-06-03T07:49:00.005-05:00

Matthew 6: 26-27
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

God has greatly blessed me thru my early morning runs. I am getting to the point where it is not that hard to get up and run. I used to dread it and now I find that I am looking forward to it. My Heavenly Father has used these runs to speak to me, encourage me and teach me. These runs have truly been a blessing.
This morning I saw the deer again. They let me run closer to them than they did last time. It is amazing to me how beautiful they are. They seem to be able to look into your soul with their huge eyes. Seeing them is a reminder to me at how awesome our God is!
Friday morning, the Lord used my run to show me an awesome truth. Before I continue with the story, I must remind everyone that I am a little slow to pick up on things. You will see why in a minute! Anyway, back to the lesson.
For the past few months, events and people have weighed heavily upon me and I guess I tend to worry and fret about everything. Anyway, while running, I have always noticed how many worms there are all over the road. I never understood why until Friday. Now I am sure there is a scientific explanation as to why the worms like to come out and be on the road. However, there is also a much more basic explanation and it finally dawned on me Friday what is going on (I tell you I am slow!) Friday, I finally noticed what all the birds are doing. The birds are eating the worms! Then Matthew 6: 26-27 popped into my mind and it was like a revelation or awakening for me. The birds do nothing to store away food and yet the Lord provides a feast for them. I finally found peace and understand that God is in control and my worrying is not going to do one single thing. The birds and the worms were a visual picture to me as to how real and true scripture is and another reminder how much He loves me. It is truly amazing!

Clowning Around on a Boat

2008-05-28T18:09:00.002-05:00

Even clowning around for the camera, HJ sure is cute!!!!

Princess C's 3rd Birthday Party!

2008-05-27T14:10:00.004-05:00

On Saturday we celebrated CG's birthday with a fun princess party at Oma and Opa's house. There was of course swimming, bouncing, cake, pizza, and ice cream. However, to play up CG's love of all things princess, we hired a hair dresser to come out and do all the girl's hair into princess styles. We had tons of glittery make-up for the girls to wear and of course nails were done! The girls then put on their princess gowns for the ultimate make over. CG was in heaven! Here are some pics highlighting the fun day! Thanks for hosting Oma and Opa!

Bathroom Updates

2008-05-22T15:26:00.003-05:00

I realize it has been a long time since I have posted about all the work going on in the bathrooms of my house. This has been largely due to the fact that I have chosen to ignore all the work going on by taking two vacations and then being entirely consumed with my mother's day gift (updated Photoshop software- KJ won big points with that gift, I love it!) When I am not on the computer playing with pictures, I am outside with the kids trying to ignore the massive amounts of dust that has taken up residence in my house.
With the upstairs bathrooms, I was pretty diligent about cleaning up the dust everyday and really it did not last long as they weren't big projects in the grand scheme of home remodels. It was manageable and I thought "why does everybody fuss about dust so much during home remodels?" Well I found out why when our master bath was completely gutted! There is dust everywhere and on every surface of my house on the main level (our master is on the main level). I have basically given up fighting it and have chosen to live with it. Seriously, I can dust and then 1 hour later there is a film of dust on everything again! I am not kidding. It is crazy! The master bath demo happened while we were in Disney and it has been fun to daily watch the progress of the room turning back into a bathroom. When we came home from Disney, the room looked like new construction, as most of the sheetrock had been removed and the walls were down to the studs. We moved into the remodeled hall bath upstairs (which I will take pictures of once we move out and there is not stuff everywhere as it is a small bath. It turned out beautiful though!). The kids bath looks great too. I am just waiting on the mirror to be hung. I finally decided on one last week. Drew will hang it when he is not focused on the master or I am trying to talk my hubby into doing it. So pics will come of it once the mirror is hung!
Anyway, I finally decided to take notice of what is going on in the master bath as it is finally coming together and starting to take shape with tile and such, so I snapped some quick pics to share! I am so tickled with the way the tile in the shower looks. We found this really cool tile pattern at the tile store and Drew is repeating it on one of the walls in the shower. It is looking amazing! I am also thrilled with the cabinets that are somewhat in. Aren't they pretty? The color of wood they are is java, which sounded too yummy to pass up! As you can see from the pics we still have a ways to go before we can move back it. I am just too thrilled with the tile and cabinets to pass up sharing!

Testosterone Craziness

2008-05-20T17:47:00.002-05:00

When HJ scored his two goals, KJ decided to reward him with a trip to a toy store to buy something that KJ had convinced HJ that he really wanted. The reality is that KJ wanted it and HJ will go along with whatever Daddy wants. So they went to the store and came home with two of these nerf crossbow things. I have decided that they are the bane to my existence! HJ and KJ run around the house hiding around corners, trying to shoot each other with the nerf arrows. They think it is hilarious fun but I find the arrows all over the house, even in the toilet! I also still jump out of my skin with the crossbow shoots as it makes a very loud popping sound that when shot right behind you, can scare you. My hubby is just as much a kid as my son, so I see a long future in the house for the nerf crossbow. They are cute to watch though, having a blast and doing some sort of male bonding that I will never understand!

Fresh Herbs!

2008-05-19T17:17:00.003-05:00

I have really been getting into using fresh herbs in my cooking. They make everything taste amazing. However, they are really expensive to buy at the grocery store. Soooo, when my Mom came down on Saturday for HJ's game with my grandmother, she brought me an early birthday gift. A beautiful fresh, organic, herb garden!!!!! I am so excited about it. My only hope is that I can keep in alive and thriving. I, unfortunately, did not inherit my mother's green thumb (or her love of sewing.) Here is hoping it stays nice, healthy, and green! Thank you so much Mom! I love it!

Strong Men

2008-05-19T15:16:00.003-05:00

After working out this morning, my friend and I and all the kids trooped over to the park to let the kids get more energy out. Before we knew it, HJ and her two boys had their shirts off so that they could "show off their muscles". Then, they ran around and climbed on everything yelling "We are Strong Men!" at the top of their lungs. It was too cute not to warrant some pictures of these "strong men"!

The Best Birthday Gift

2008-05-19T06:46:00.002-05:00

Saturday was KJ's 33rd birthday. He got lots of nice gifts. However, he said the best birthday gift he ever got came from HJ.
KJ is the assistant soccer coach for HJ's team. Since HJ is on the under 5 league, on game day they break each team into two teams and have two soccer games going on at once. The head coach coaches one and the assistant the other. Today, HJ was on KJ's team to play. This was the last game of the season and it just seemed like it all finally clicked for the players. Everyone was playing the best I have seen them play. And as for the birthday gift? HJ scored TWO goals!!! These were his first two goals. KJ was so proud and said that seeing his son score and seeing how proud HJ was of himself and how happy he was, was by far the best gift he could have gotten. The only thing was, as the coach, he had to refrain from scooping him up and swinging him around and jumping up and down. That may have been perceived as being a little over the top and playing favorites. Therefore, he gave him a small hug and big high five. I was going nuts on the side line, cheering and jumping up and down. At water break, I scooped him up and jumped up and down and hugged him really big.
My Mom had brought my visiting grandmother (from Virginia) down for the day so she could see one of HJ's games. I was happy she got to see such a big day in HJ's life! His first soccer goals of his soccer career! Unfortunately, I did not have my camera, as my Nikon digital SLR camera is broken. I am devastated about it and plan on calling Nikon today. My little purse camera can't zoom in far enough to take good pics of a fast moving soccer game.

No Fear!

2008-05-15T13:11:00.002-05:00

I have to say that my son is fearless! He was so excited to meet the 40 inch minimum (he is now 41 inches tall!) for almost all the rides at Disney. There are only 3 rides that I know of that he could not ride because he was too short. We were a little worried that some of the rides would freak HJ out. Not our boy!!!!
We knew he would adore Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain and he did. They were his two favorite. We thought he might get scared on the Haunted Mansion, instead he was a little bored because there are no real dips, turns, or general speed to the ride. Since he isn't allowed to watch anything scary on TV, we aren't sure he really got what was going on in the house and we had repeatedly told him it was all make-believe. KJ and I had been warned that the dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom was too scary and that we should think twice about taking HJ on it. After his lack of fear at Magic Kingdom, we decided to risk it and let him ride, after we had a long talk about everything being make-believe and that it would only look like the dinosaurs were coming at you and that they would not actually get you. He seemed to get it. He loved that ride too! He was totally not scared and wanted to ride it again. He thought it was super cool! My son has seemed to inherited his father's lack of fear which as KJ's teenage years are evidence too, does not bode well for me during HJ's teen years!

*The picture above was KJ and HJ on the river rapid ride at Animal Kingdom. This was their second go around. I am standing on the bridge overlooking the ride. Look at how wet HJ was! He LOVED it! (I wish I could have taken pics of him on Thunder Mtn and Splash Mtn.)

Tusker House Breakfast

2008-05-15T12:56:00.004-05:00

My awesome Mom treated us to another character breakfast at the Animal Kingdom while we were at Disney. This one was at a nice restaurant (The Tusker House) near where the safari tour is. It was a huge, yummy buffet! The characters the kids got to meet and get autographs from were: Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Mickey. The kids loved it and of course all the adults did too! It was another meal well worth the price tag not only for the food and characters but also because we got to get into the park early and get a fast pass to the safari ride before anyone else! What an unexpected bonus.

As a side note: I am not sure who the dorky family is who thought it would be cute to all dress with Disney t-shirts for their character breakfast. The Tusker House restaurant gave us this free photo of this random family all nicely packaged in a cute frame with our breakfast. Too bad we don't have a clue who would be that dorky to dress like that!

Note to Self

2008-05-15T07:32:00.002-05:00

Before getting up at 5:30 am, getting fully dressed, stretching, and getting ready to walk out the door, be sure to look out a window from your bed and make sure it is not torrentially raining! Therefore, you can roll over and go back to sleep instead of being wide awake!

The Adorable Outfit....

2008-05-14T15:33:00.003-05:00

my Mom made!
Most of my friends are really crafty and sew and make adorable outfits for their kids. I am totally not that Mommy! However, my own mother is that Mommy/Grandmother. Growing up she made me some great clothes and now makes custom outfits for my princess. I am so blessed to only have to show her a picture of something that I like and can't find or afford and have it made for Callie. I will have to showcase more of her amazing work but I will start with this adorable outfit she made for CG to wear at Disney! I love it and we got stopped numerous times to be told how cute it was.

Story time with Belle

2008-05-14T15:19:00.003-05:00

While at the magic kingdom, we went to the story time with Belle. The kids loved it and HJ got invited onto the stage to act of the part of Papa. He thought that was really cool and took it very seriously! CG was very jealous that she did not get to go onstage. She got over it once she got to meet Belle and get her autograph!

Disney Princesses

2008-05-14T14:40:00.004-05:00

As most of you know, CG is obsessed with the Disney Princesses. She runs around the house in her princess dresses and wants to talk about them all of the time. To celebrate CG's love of all things princess. My amazing Mom scheduled us to eat breakfast inside Cinderella's castle with the princesses. As you can imagine, this was the highlight of CG's Disney trip! We had a blast watching her take it all in.
To celebrate, KJ allowed CG to pick out any princess dress from the Disney shop to wear to the breakfast. This is HIGHLY unlike my cheap husband as the dresses were $65 plus tax!!!! CG was dazzled by all the beautiful dresses she could pick from and surprised us all by picking a Belle (Beauty and the Beast) dress, instead of her usual favorite Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). She quickly put it on and was the belle of the breakfast!
Disney sure knows how to put on a good show. Everyone we encountered at the breakfast was in character, from the hostess to the waiter and of course the princesses. The premise was that we were all invited to a royal banquet hosted by Cinderella who you met in the foyer and posed for pictures with. Once you were greeted by your hostess, your were escorted by the butler to your royal table. There the waiter treated you like royalty and talked with a wonderful British accent and had a very dry sense of humor. The food was amazing!!!! While you eat, the princesses mingled with all the guests, posed for pictures, and signed autograph books! This breakfast was totally worth the high price tag (even my Mom who paid thought so)! We will definitely do it again when we go back and encourage anyone going to book it early as it fills up almost 6 months in advance! Thank you Mom for a royal time!

Pictures from the Beach

2008-05-12T19:27:00.006-05:00

We are so happy that we got to spend most of a week at one of our favorite places on earth: Isle of Palms, SC. We love to go there and usually go once or twice a year. So when some great friends asked if we would like to go with them and stay at their families beach house we jumped at the chance. We loved lazing around with nowhere to be or do with great friends. The kids had a blast playing on the beach even though it was quite chilly. What you can't see in the pictures is that all the adults were fully clothed and the women had on sweatshirts while the children insisted on wearing swim suits. They also loved swimming in the heated pool. It was a great week full of fun, friendship, food, play, and rest!

3 Years Ago Today

2008-05-12T14:22:00.004-05:00

Three years ago today I was admitted into the hospital at 5:00 am in the morning to have a baby! It was a planned cesarian, as HJ had been breach and was a cesarian also. My doctor did not want to take any chances so she scheduled me for another cesarian for my baby girl. The surgery started out like HJ's did and I was not worried. However, what I was not aware of is that the epidural did not take thru all the layers of skin. Needless to say, once the surgery started I was not a happy camper. There was a lot of screaming and crying on my part which was not the way I wanted CG welcomed into the world. Luckily, after she arrived, they quickly doped me up so I was not feeling anything or very much aware of anything else going on.
After all the trauma, I quickly fell in love with my baby girl and marveled at how big she was (8lbs, 13 oz)! I can't believe she is three years old and is now super tiny. She has been a constant source of joy to KJ and I. She now thinks she is an princess and constantly cracks KJ and I up with her questions, comments, and thoughts!
Happy 3rd Birthday Princess C!

Where in the World....

2008-05-09T16:52:00.004-05:00

have we been? We have had so so so much fun these past two weeks. We spent the first week at the beach with some wonderfully sweet friends. We had a fun, relaxing time and the kids had a blast. We came home and a day later we left for Walt Disney World for the best, most fun time with my Mom!!!! We just came home today. I will post more about both trips soon but did want to get something out there to let all know we are really fine and have been having a lot of fun! Thanks to everyone who has been so concerned about my absence!

I Think, I Hope, Can I Dare Say...

2008-04-23T13:30:00.002-05:00

that my daughter may FINALLY be potty trained????? I have been pushing hard core with the potty thing for the last couple weeks. She will go in the potty if I asked her to or if she was bored but if we were doing anything, she would just go in her pull-ups. However, the last two days, she has been telling me before she needed to go and not waiting for me to ask!!!!! She is taking the initiative. She is even taking her BM's on the potty!!!!! Even if we are doing something, she stops and tells me so she can go in the potty. I am scared to declare her trained as I am sure as soon as I do she will revert back to me having to ask and prod her to go. But whoo hoo, the end of diapers and pull ups is in site at our house!!!
The justice, I guess, in her difficulty in potty training is that HJ was a dream to potty train. In March before he turned 3 (he has a June birthday), we had his cousins over to play, who are 6 months older than him. He watched them both go in the potty and when they left, announced that he wanted to wear big boy underwear and go poopoo and peepee in the potty. There was no looking back from that moment on! It was done, he was trained, that was it! We did not even have accidents after he made up his mind to be a big boy. (Granted we had been talking about it with him and he would occasionally go for us on the potty before the cousins visited.) So I guess it is only to be expected that I would get a second child who was a little harder and reluctant to train. But boy am I so excited for the day that I don't have to worry about it anymore!

The Bee-ach

2008-04-22T15:17:00.002-05:00

I'm going to the Bee-ach
I am so exc-ited
I'm going to the Bee-ach
and I am so exc-ited!
Whoo!

Okay enough with the little conga line! But can you tell I am super duper excited!!!! Our super, sweet, awesome, amazing friends invited us to join them at their families beach house next week for a little impromptu beach week (sans condo/hotel bill!!!!!)
So everyone now:

I'm going to the Bee-ach
I am so exc-ited
I'm going to the Bee-ach
and I am so exc-ited!!!

I'm going to the Bee-ach
I am so exc-ited
I'm going to the Bee-ach
and I am so exc-ited!!!

I'm going to the Bee-ach
I am so exc-ited
fading out now........

Budget Busters Challenge

2008-04-22T07:42:00.002-05:00

I have been tagged by Aimee over at Daisyeyes to participate in a Budget Busters Challenge meme. In it I have to list 5 things that cause you to break your budget.
Here are my 5:

1. The Whole Foods store here in Green Hills. I will go in there with a short list of things to get and come out with a cart full and am not sure how it happened. Everything is displayed so appealingly and is all organic and whole. Oh my gosh that place is amazing and has marketing down to a science! I want to buy everything, it all looks so good. Because of this, I have decided not to go there except for VERY special occasions. If I can't get it at my local Publix's than I really don't need it.

2. Target. I can't go in there and stick to my list. It is just not possible! Something else ALWAYS winds up in my buggy. I love that store!

3. Gymbucks at Gymboree. I can't resist shopping with such great coupons even if the kids don't need anything. I just can't let my coupon go to waste so I will go buy things there. That store is very addictive.

4. The YMCA. We pay $100 a month to be a member and then I go and add on a personal training class that you have to pay an additional fee to take. It is not exactly budget friendly but I do enjoy it and have seen some great results. That has to count for something right?

5. Kohls. I will go in there for one thing and come out $200 poorer than when I went in. Kohls has really improved their clothing lines and I love browsing there for myself and of course the kids. I love their 2/$10 play clothes for the kids. Kohls is also a great place to buy exercise wear as it is pretty reasonable. However, the cost goes way up when you buy more stuff than the exercise clothes you went in there to buy.

Okay, I think that is my top 5 budget busters. Can you tell I like to clothes shop???? I have a problem!

So I am going to tag:
Joy at Oy With The Poodles
Jennifer at Lemons and Lemonade
and
Dr. U at Are We There Yet???

Have I Mentioned....

2008-04-21T19:52:00.001-05:00

that I HATE doing dishes?????? 5 more days until the new dishwasher arrives!

Seriously Committed

2008-04-21T14:59:00.002-05:00

What I am sure you are asking am I now seriously committed to, other than KJ? Well let me tell you I have committed to be in the Music City Du Run Run! WhooHoo! Now you are probably asking what a Du Run Run is and I will tell you. It is a race where you run 2 miles, bike 10 miles, and then run 2 miles again. It is on Father's Day.
I figured that I was ready to commit to being able to run 4 miles by Father's Day and bike 10 which is for me a lot easier than running. So I am now officially in training for my big day! The reason I committed to do this particular race is that it is all on level ground. As I know I have mentioned once or 10 times before, I am LAZY and the idea or running and biking hills doesn't do it for me. However, this race seemed like a good race to start with being that the whole thing is on level ground. Anyway, I would love some company if anybody is up for the challenge!

Like Father, Like Son

2008-04-18T15:11:00.005-05:00

Everyone has always thought that my son looked like me. Granted he does, as it is hard to deny we share the same eyes and hair color. However, this is the first picture I have ever seen of HJ where I thought he looked like his father. When I saw it, I immediately thought of a picture that is in my in-laws house of KJ age 16. Thankfully, my father-in-law loaned it to me so I could scan it in. Just look at that brow evident on both boys and that similar expression. Be still my heart!
There is another one of KJ that even more resembles this picture of HJ but it is in a huge picture collage which would be a little trickier to remove. However, next time I am there I may just snatch it anyway.