Pictures to be “thankful” for…

Hey there, y’all! I know I’ve been a little incognito lately but have just been so busy.

I hope y’all had a good Thanksgiving. We traveled to my hometown and had a great time. It’s always so nice to go “home”. It was really nice to get away from my household chores and let my mama spoil me…I mean us.

I could write all the details of the fun things we did, but who has time to read them? So I’ll just share some pictures of the things we did…after all, pictures are worth a thousand words, right?

We couldn’t have asked for better weather…it was just gorgeous.

We made some great memories driving in the back of the pick-up truck (only behind the house in the woods), going for a walk in the woods, going to the river and skipping rocks, and eating some yummy southern Thanksgiving food.

This week I’ve hit the ground running and am just about up to my eyeballs in birthday party stuff. Hunter’s birthday is tomorrow and I can’t wait to share his party with you…but you’ll have to wait until after Saturday. Wish me luck .

On a happy note, I’ve made up with my friend the Silhouette. We are back on speaking terms and friends again….not best friends yet. All in good time, all in good time .

The Late Great, Mr. Larry Munson

Today is a sad day for all of us Georgia Bulldog fans out there.

Today is a day that we all knew would happen at some point, but we just didn’t want to face the fact.

The legendary Georgia Bulldog play-caller, Mr. Larry Munson passed away yesterday.

Growing up in a house of Georgia football fans one thing was always for sure…every Saturday during football season the house rang with the gruff, scratchy voice of Mr. Larry Munson.

And when I say his voice rang through the house, I mean it was everywhere. Every radio in the house, including the ones in the bathrooms, blared with his voice. You actually felt like you were at the game.

If you had the opportunity to go to a game, you would see menfolk all over the stadium wearing radio headsets to listen to the voice of Larry call each and every play of the game.

To say that he had a way with words is an understatement. His love for not only football but Georgia football would make anyone get excited to watch and/or listen to a game.

There are so many “Larryisms” as I’d like to call it. I believe he’s the one who coined the phrase “Silver britches” and "Hunker down". But my favorite of all time is from 2001 when we played Tennessee at Tennessee. We came back and with 5 seconds left in the game David Greene threw a touchdown pass to Vernon Haines. Larry was so excited he yelled… "We just stepped on their face with a hobnail boot and broke their nose!!!”
{It still gives me chills listening to those words.}

Like any major event that happens in ones life, I will always remember where I was when I watched this play and heard those sweet but stabbing words.

I was with my Daddy on the porch watching the game. I was attending UGA at the time but didn’t make the trek to the game. We all hooted and hollered and cheered.

As only my Daddy could state…”Hoooyah!”
It's for certain, Larry had a way with making everyone appreciate the excitement of the game of Georgia Football.

There will never be another Larry Munson. He will forever be missed and treasured.

Thank you Mr. Larry for the wonderful memories and for allowing this once little bulldog to grow into a true “big” bulldog. As the great Elton John once sang, “Your candle burned out long before your legend ever will.”

Baking, Nursery Rhymes, and Parties oh my!

 

Man, I have really been horrible lately about writing. Somehow I’m only getting to write maybe once a week.

What is wrong with me???

Oh wait. It’s called kids, school, school projects, and a calendar full of events.

I’m sorry I haven’t been around much. I know that your life just can’t go on without me…hahaha.

Just kidding. I do miss writing everyday or a couple of days a week. I love writing and wish I could do it more. But these kids love to keep me busy.

The week was pretty hectic with Dallas tracking back in. Yup, vacation is over…back to the grind we go. I will admit that my house seemed to be cleaner {or shall I say more picked up} when she was out of school than when she’s in. I find that I’m running all day from here to yonder and the house takes a back seat so to speak…which I will admit drives me a bit crazy. But, there are only so many hours in a day.

So, when she went back, we were reminded that Friday would be Nursery Rhyme Day.

The kids were encouraged to wear costumes representing nursery rhyme characters and they were going to put on a performance for the parents.

I started thinking early in the week of who she could be.

I thought, and thought, and pondered, and thought.

She and I decided that she would go as “There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.” How cute, right.

I got really excited I must say because I was going to use my pretty little Silhouette SD to help make her costume.

I decided that I would print/cut out boy and girl figures on iron-on transfers and put them on a shirt. I mean how hard can it be, right? She could then wear some of my boots draped over her.

Well, as usual the idea in my head is much easier than it actually turns out to be.

First of all, I was doing this last minute {of course} and didn’t order the special heat transfer paper. I just bought some at Wal-mart thinking it was all the same….wrong!

I purchased the boy and girl figures from the Silhouette website. I was so proud of myself because I figured out how to put the on the computer and get them ready to print.

They were so cute. Each one was a different color and all I needed it to do was cut out the outline of the kids…right?

Well, when I cut, things went terribly wrong.

It started cutting out every edge…the eyes, mouth, outline, flower on the girl’s dress, etc, etc,

No, no, no!!! That’s not what I want it to do.

I worked for hours on that thing and just couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. I was literally to the point that I not only wanted to chuck the dang thing out my window, but I was seriously questioning my purchase of the whole Silhouette.

To save what sanity I had left, I just print the pages to the computer and cut them out. That night I ironed on the people and it did turn out super cute.

That evening while at dance I was telling this story to my good friend. She looks at me and in one breath says, “What about YouTube?”

W-H-A-T?!

What do you mean – What about YouTube????

Where were you three hours ago when I was about to beat my brains in????

Well, I’m happy to report that I went home that night and checked out the old YouTube by granny they have tutorials on this thing.

Now my confidence is back up, and I’m going to learn this dang program and machine if it kills me.

Anyway, before I digress anymore, Dallas’ outfit was super cute. I also decided that she needed some curlers for her hair.

And here she is…. “There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.”

If you can’t tell, she was a bit nervous to be wearing this outfit. She doesn’t like to have attention brought to her in public places, so she was a bit reluctant to wear this to school. But she learned real quickly what the term “Put your big girl panties on and do it” meant.

And, she did it and did great. She got up in front of the crowd….and that’s what matters. She overcame her fears and did something new. I’m a  proud mama!

We had a full weekend {as usual}…

It started with basketball for Hunter at 8:00 AM on Saturday.

Left there, home for showers and off to two parties.

Our old neighbors who moved across town {as you may remember} had a house warming party. So, after we attended a birthday party, we headed to their house for a little while.

I helped make a little food for her.

I made a chicken corn chili that was wonderful. I will post the recipe for this one…it was easy and a crowd pleaser.

I also made some cookie balls.

Oreo Cookie Balls

Nilla-Strawberry Cookie Balls

Nutter Butter Cookie Balls

I’ll tell you, they were so easy and people loved them.

We also went to dinner at a couple’s house Friday night and I made a Pumpkin-Pecan Cheesecake

You can find the recipe: HERE

Are you tired yet or just bored?

Last week was a busy week but looking forward to Thanksgiving being with family filled with laughter and good food.

As I sign off for tonight just wanted to share a couple of pictures from the past week that just melt my heart.

Can you tell we’re in baseball birthday mode???

Thankfulness and Party Mode

OK so yes, I have not been that great at listing all of my things I'm thankful for.

Well, to be honest, I've been a bit busy (imagine that), and I wasn't sure if I was boring y'all with all my gushiness, so I decided to back off.

Of course I have a list of things I'm thankful for, and I think about those things everyday...and thank the goo Lord above for all the things He has blessed me with.

So, here's a quick run down...

God -

Without Him, nothing is possible! He is everything!!!

My kids -

 first and foremost.

They are my heart and no matter how batty they make me some days, they are mine and they make me laugh and fill my soul with pride. I am thankful for them.

Our families -

 all of them...parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews, etc...they are what keeps our world going 'round.

Friends -

I've said it before and I will say it again, I am one lucky girl with the friends that I have.

I've got some special friends here in Raleigh and friends all over...

including my bestie in KY. Man I miss her and wish I could see her more often.

Starbucks -

Especially Pumpkin Spice ones. Although I'm not so thankful for the few Lb's I pack on from drinking them during the holidays.

Fall -

This one in particular! The temperatures have been so lovely for a couple of months now, and the leaves have just been beautiful.

You -

I am so thankful for you as my readers! I have enjoyed writing since the 7th grade and love to write what's on my mind.

So, thank you for reading, and please keep on doing so.

And on and on and on I can go!

Here it is Thanksgiving is around the corner...next week to be exact and a week later it will be my baby's birthday.

My baby...he'll be 4 years old!

I cannot believe it. I feel like I was just pregnant with him waiting (not so patiently) for him to come...6 days late I might add.

If you know me at all you know how much I LOVE parties!

I get so giddy and have been known to go a bit overboard.

But, to my defense, I'm only reciprocating to my kids what I had growing up

(great birthday parties).

So, needless to say, his birthday is a couple of weeks away and it is party central here in my brain.

I've got ideas swirling like a tornado in my head and I can't get the ideas down on paper fast enough!

What's that? What's the theme?

Oh, sorry, I seemed to forget that...

Baseball!

Of course it is because our son is obsessed with baseball and I couldn't be more excited. I love baseball. If you don't know that check it out HERE.

So, I'm in baseball party mode and so excited to use my Silhouette to make all kinds of fun things for the party.

So, check back in a few weeks and see how the party all turns out.

He certainly is one cute baseball player!

Thankful #'s 2 & 3...and a little project

Hey there, y'all. I hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday.

This week is just flying by, but then again they all do.

I started today thinking of what I am thankful for. I've got a few to catch up on seeing I was a bit late getting started, technically today I have 2.

As I was driving the kids to a playdate at the park this evening I was thinking I am thankful for friends and playdates.

While Hunter had school today, Dallas had a playdate with a friend from her class.

This is her last week of track out and up until now everything's been great. Today, she was done with me...LOL.

So, a friend of mine and I set up a playdate with our girls.

The two played over here, and they had so much fun.

They were pretty quiet {not like noisy boys}, but they were just so cute.

I loved listening to them talk and interact.

 If one playdate wasn't enough, we had a second one this evening at a park with one of our good friends and Dallas' BFF.

It's always so good to see them. Now that our big girl's are in kindergarten and on different school tracks it's hard to get together as much as we used to, but we do the best we can.

We all have so much fun with them too.

So, like I was saying, as I was driving to the park playdate I was really thinking about how I was really thankful for playdates with friends here at home and at a park.

Just then this song came on the radio..."Like my Mother Does" by Lauren Alaina.

I'd not heard it before and didn't realize she was the finalist on American Idol with Scotty McCreery.

Man, listening to this song instantly brought tears to my eyes and made me realize just how thankful I am for my Mama.

Take a listen...

If you know my Mama in the least little bit and even know me, you know that this song fits us to a T.

I am so much like my Mama it's kind of scary.

But I'll tell you...there is no one in this world I'd rather be like.

She is our family's rock. She is a jewel and truly and angel.

I've always looked up to her and wanted to be not only the mother, but the teacher, friend, Christian, wife, sister, and daughter that she is.

I can only hope that I'm a smidgen as good as she is.

OK Mama, stop crying! I love you and I am so thankful for YOU!!!

Thank you for everything!

Moving on...

I've been feeling a little crafty lately and with all the Christmas ideas looming out there, I've gotten really excited.

Today while Dallas had her playdate here, I made a Christmas pillow.

Check it out!

Isn't it super cute???

Want to know how to make one??? Just click HERE.

 

I hope you have a great night. I'm gonna go finish watching the CMA awards.

 

Christmas Tree Pillow

I'm just tickled pink with how this pillow turned out...

Take a look.

I recently bought some white and red linen at Michael's knowing I wanted to make some kind of pillow cover. Today the idea just came to me. Here's how it all went down.

I measured the length and width of a pillow I already had on hand.

I then cut the red and white linens to the same dimensions I needed.

{I cut a couple of extra inches so I'd have some "hem" room.}

I folded the edges and ironed them all down making the perfect rectangle of my existing pillow.

Here's where it gets a little tricky...I don't sew. Uh, oh!

Well, I did the next best thing...I heated up my trusty old hot glue gun.

I started with one side and started gluing as close to the edge as I could without the glue seeping out.

Once three sides were glued together, I got started on the Christmas Tree.

I printed out a triangle shape from Word and cut it out of cardstock. I just needed a template to help make my lines and triangle straight.

Next, I started ironing creases in the triangle kind of like an accordion.

I also cut out a rectangle of burlap for the trunk, folded and hot glued the edges.

I glued the trunk down under the tree and then started gluing the edges of the tree. I was very careful the keep the creases so it looks like a tree.

I also kept the edges of the triangle "free" and unhemmed...I think it looks a little more tree-like.

I knew something was missing. Can you guess???

A star!

I found a glittery, gold star sticker in my scrapbooking stuff...perfect.

A little hot glue and of course a silvery bow.

I put the pillow in and was ecstatic to find that I measured correctly and it fit perfectly!

Yay me!

I'm not quite finished yet. I'm going to get some Velcro {thanks, Mama for the idea} to close up the fourth edge. I want to be able to reuse the pillow.

Let's take another look, shall we?

 This is the front

This is the back

So, whatcha think??? I'm getting really excited about all the possibilities of Christmas decorations.

Want to make one yourself?

Here's what I used.

Red and white linen cut to fit an existing pillow

A scrap piece of green fabric and burlap

A glittery, gold star sticker

Hot glue

{or sewing machine if you know how to sew.}

Do you have any fun Christmas projects going??? I'd love to hear about it.

Well, I'm a few days late {8 to be exact} on starting my daily "I am thankful for..." things.

Better late than never I guess...

I start my first day with I am thankful for...my husband!

He is the best in the world and I am one blessed girl that he picked me to be his wife.

Not only is he a wonderful, supportive, and loving husband, he is a fantastic daddy.

He loves our children with every ounce of his soul.

No matter how hard of a day he has at work and exhausted he may be, he walks in the house with a smile on his face and plays with the kids until it is time for bed.

He is the best daddy I could ever ask for for my {our} children.

I appreciate him every day, but I must admit that it is "these" days that I appreciate him even more.

"These" days meaning those hard, beat your brains out at work days.

He does so much for our family and works very hard to give us the best life possible.

I can go on and on and on explaining all the reasons I am thankful for my husband, and what he does for me , our kids, and our family, but I'll leave you with this...

God put the best man in my life when I needed him most, and I am so thankful for him.

I'm sure most of you now have discovered Pinterest.

But, have you discovered

Pick Your Plum?

It's a deal of the day site that gives great deals for crafts and home decor.

{Shout out to Vickie for turning me on to this site...}

I was reading one of my favorite blogs today.

Mary Kathryn mentioned this site and the deal they had today and now I'm hooked!

I just got a personalized address stamp for $13.00 including shipping!

I can't wait to get it in the mail.

So, go check out the site and start taking advantage of these great deals!

I hope y'all have a great night and find something each day to be thankful for.

Hey there, friends.

I've been on here {the computer} for over an hour now, trying to figure out what to write today.

Well, kind of...

I've been busy doing some pinning, facebooking, emailing, blog stalking, eBay and Craigslist searching...need I go on?

Not really, you get the point.

Anyway, I'm starting to fade and not much to really write tonight.

It's been a good start tot the week.

I got my upstairs cleaned today, but most importantly I cleaned out my hoarder's, I mean daughter's bedroom...man that girl will keep anything and everything.

Right now, before I go to bed, I'm pondering all the things I want to do.

We have been in this house almost 5 years, and it is no where near where I want it to be.

Why is that????

There's so many projects I still want to do. Here's just a few:

paint my kitchen cabinets

re-do the hardwood floors

new carpet upstairs and downstairs

make curtains for my living room

Oh yeah, learn how to sew

transform E's office into a game room {this is a new idea}

fix up the laundry room {new floors, bead board, build a bench}

And those are the big projects.

There's always ongoing little projects and crafts I want to do.

I cannot wait to make this



and this

and this

just to show a few...

But most of all I want to learn how to use this...

Remember this??? My Silhouette SD?

I was so excited to get it, and I'm still excited to use it, IF I could only figure out how in the world the thing works.

I've played around with it a little, but haven't had the time to really focus on it.

{And I need to order more materials to do the things I want to do.}

I need to make time to figure this bad boy out, because I think we could be great friends.

So, if any of y'all smart, computer-like people want to help me figure this thing out, I'm accepting applications?

Oh well, I'll put it off until tomorrow and hopefully will have time soon.

Until later, y'all sleep tight!

Bulldawg Nation

We are home.

Home from an awesome weekend where I returned back to my roots.

We left in a hurry on Thursday afternoon.

I mean, I didn't even have time to clean the house before I left, and had to come home to it dirty...oh well it was well worth it.

We drove to my parent's house in Georgia and arrived in record time.

Hunter was a bit tired from sports camp that morning and took a little snooze on the way down.

Anyway, we pulled in to my parent's in under 8 hours, which is very hard to do, because it's a long drive especially with two small kids.

We hung out with Mama and Daddy for a little bit and let the kids get some energy out.

Friday morning was wonderful.

Waking up late in my childhood bed and having my daddy make us breakfast made for a great start to the day.

Eric and I got ready and headed to Athens.

I have been so excited to go back to Athens for some time now.

I was there 10 years ago and graduated 8 years ago.

8 years ago...how in the world did that happen?

Much less, how in the world have I not been back in about 7 years???

But I guess when you move straight to Florida, have kids, and then move to North Carolina, it's kind of hard to make it back a lot.

Anyway, we were back.

The streets, the campus, and downtown all still look the same.

There's something to be said for Athens. It's one of those places that gets in your blood and never leaves. I bleed red and black!

We had lunch downtown and walked around reminincing.

We walked the campus and the many hills that are throughout North Campus.

{I left my camera in the car, so there were no pictures here...sorry.}

We went to check into our hotel and get settled a little, and decided to do a little more reminicing.

We drove through town and by all the places that I lived.

The memories all came rushing back as we passed all the places where I made so many memories in the four years I was there.

Did I say I bleed red and black???

We decided that Friday would have to be our "night out" seeing that we'd have to drive home today.

So, we hit the town.

We ate downtown at East West Bistro. We had the back corner booth and had a blast eating and drinking for over an hour...but we had no kids and no timelines. It was all about us.

Then, we hit the bars. We went to all the bars we used to go to when I was in school.

We started the night at The Globe {that was always our ending place...funny how things change.} We then went to what used to be Uptown Lounge {only my favorite bar in town}. The building's still there, but it's been renamed and is some 80's bar.

We had fun dancing, but I must admit, it didn't hold a candle to my old "lounge".

We hit a few more bars throughout the evening and even got laughed at when we showed our id...

can you imagine. I mean, we're not that old, are we?

Whatever people...we hung with the youngins and had a ball.

We ended the night at 2:30 AM and decided to call our cab.

All I can say is it hurts a lot worse at 32 than it did at 22!!!

Saturday morning was pretty tough, but after a while we rallied and got ready for the game.

Afterall, that's why we were there, right??? There was no way I was missing the game.

It was homecoming and we played New Mexico State.

We knew it would be a pretty easy game, and it turned out to be that way.

None-the-less, I was back "between the hedges" and there was no other place I would have rather been.

The game was a bit of a blowout, but we had an awesome time.

{Eric scored some great seats from a work collegue and fellow UGA alum.}

However, we were a bit tired.

We headed back to our room for a quick nap.

We got ready for dinner and went back downtown for dinner at DePalma's.

This was the place where we had our first date 10 years ago...so it was only fitting to return.

The food and ambiance were just as lovely as it was so many years ago.

Here's the funny part.

After dinner, did we hang again with all those youngins going out for round 2???

Um, no!

We went back to our room, watched the LSU vs Alabama game, and fell asleep.

Hey, we can hang one night...just not two. :o)

This morning we met my parents, had breakfast, and squeezed our kiddos.

We missed them but had an awesome time!

And as for the looks of it, they had fun with Mama Suzy and Papa G.

Now we are home and all I can say is it was wonderful to be back in Bulldawg Nation.

 I just hope it's not another 7 years before I get back.