Thanksgiving with the fam

This year we spent Thanksgiving at my Grandma Millie and Aunt Bea's houses. The final count was 44...which means it was a full house. Here are some pics of the days spent with everyone. This last picture is of Andrew today right after he was picked up from the bus stop...notice anything missing?????

Summer is over...School begins...

I always hear myself saying, "Things have been really crazy around here". Although I sound like a broken record I just can't seem to say it enough. August 10th was Andrew's first day to kindergarten and so far he likes it. Alyssa stays at home with Daddy, Dale, everyday while he tries to run a safety consulting business. I work full time as the Assistant Manager in the produce department at Kroger. Codi goes to school Monday through Friday and works five days a week, sometimes six, after school and on the weekends. We don't have a lot of down time, but so far we aren't pulling out our hair....yet. Here are a few pictures of us enjoying the last moments of summer and Andrew starting school for the rest of his life.

Watermelon Girl!!

Alyssa's first experience with watermelon...I think she likes it!

Checking the Mail!

This is the sight I get to see every time I check the mail. It makes it a better experience getting bills in the mail knowing I get to see beautiful flowers every time...and the mail lady likes them too.:)

Phase Two!

The backyard is so close to being ready for the decks to be put in and the grass in the bottom part of the yard to be installed. Here are a few pics of my lovely flowers and Dale's hard work in the woods.

Noodle Girl!

Alyssa loves Ramen noodles, spaghetti noodles, mac n cheese and anything else you can think of that has noodles in it. Here she is eating the rest of my Ramen noodles after she already finished hers and Dale's.

My bewy huts!

For my birthday Dale took me out to do one of my favorite things; watch a movie at the movie theatre and pig out on movie theatre food. We went to see Angels and Demons and I ate a hotdog, nachos and some popcorn with a coke; not too great for my diet, but you only turn 29 once (or maybe several times for some women). When we got home the kids were already in bed, so I snuck into Andrew's room to say goodnight. He proceeded to inform me of a very interesting fact. "Mommy, I ate five pieces of pizza tonight," (Really!) "Yeah, and I had four breadsticks," (Oh Wow!) "Yes, and I had two brownies," (Holy Cow!) "Mommy," (Yes Honey?!) "My bewy kinda huts," (I can imagine so! Where did you get all this food?) "Sissy, she got it from Pizza Hot!"
Later that evening I had a brief conversation with Codi about portion control for five year olds!

Back Yard Projects

Dale and I have been working on the backyard for 4 years trying to make it kid friendly. This hill has been an ongoing concern because during the rainy season it becomes a creek and the kids just slide down it; not slip-n-slide, more like mudslide. Here are a few pictures of the process.

Andrew eats HOTDOGS!!!

For most of you who follow this blog, you know Andrew is THE pickiest eater in the world. Dale and I have been working with him diligently to get him to try new things every day. This last week I made mac-n-cheese with cut up hotdogs in it for lunch. Andrew was skeptical, but tried it...the first words out of his mouth were "Mom, they taste like nonis (pepperonis)." Which I thought was pretty interesting, but thrilled that he tried it. This week he requested the same lunch, but I put the hotdog on a bun. He proceeded to take the hotdog out of the bun and asked me, "Why eat bread with it when the hotdog tastes so good by itself"? I had to think about that one for awhile and still can't come up with the answer. Why do we eat hotdogs on buns?

Easter Egg Hunt

My cousin Page and her husband Mike and their new little nugget Elizabeth came to visit in Blairsville. So for Easter, or rather the day before Easter, we went to Blairsville to see them. Audra, 9 months prego and her little girl Addison were there, as well as Erika and her husband Brandon. It was good to see everyone. Here are a few pics of the kids egg hunting.