Kids Autumn Pictures

I took advantage of a beautiful weekend. My family got out early and visited our local botanical gardens. There are some pretty good deals right now on Christmas Photo cards orders through Snapfish that is offering free shipping thru November 30th with this code: CARDJOY. Tiny Prints is offering 20% savings plus free shipping by using this code: JOY121.

 

 If you are interested in seeing more photos, you need to  CLICK HERE!  We ended up spending approximately an hour and half in the Japanese Gardens that we didn't get to walk around to the other gardens.  One of my favorites is the Rose Garden.  CLICK HERE to see more miscellaneous garden photos.  

Enjoy the photos and take advantage of the Christmas card savings! 

Me and My Big Mouth

Katie LOVES Logan's rolls.  She asked to eat there after school yesterday.  I think I was crazy as a bed bug for taking my crazy kids out to eat by myself.  The kids wanted to sit by each other, which is always a bad sign.  I let them, to avoid a bad scene and us leaving without getting to eat.

I guess it could have been worse, Katie and Colton grabbed their crayons and pretended that they were shooting ketchup and mustard at each other.  Colton would not sit down and stay down.  They both got  a little crazy throwing the peanut hulls in the floor.  Ugh!  Needless to say, in the end, I survived.

In one of our conversations, Katie wanted to talk about Halloween.  She asked Colton if he decided what he was going to dress up like.  He came out of the blue and said "Einstein."  Before you all go, WHAT?  This is code for Frankenstein, which is also code for Hulk.  I know, you have to have a language manual with you at all times to figure out what he is talking about.  The problem with this costume selection is we have not be able to find the muscle Hulk costume in Colton's size.  Ugh!  I will keep trying to find it though.  Meanwhile, I began suggesting some of the costumes that he already has in his closet.  I just bought him a muscle Superman costume.  Katie asked me, in front of him, if I could color his hair black like Superman.  Well that got his full attention. "You color my hair black, like Superman?" he asked.  I told him that I could and I could make the little swirl in the front like Superman.  That's all it took.  All the way home and last night, he told me to color his hair right then because he needed it.  Ugh!  I couldn't get him to understand for anything.  Poor baby.  When I got him ready for bed, he asked me "you color my hair like Superman?"  I assured him that I would for Halloween, but of course he doesn't understand that Halloween is a couple of weeks away.  I would have probably colored yesterday, but I plan on taking the kids pictures today for Christmas cards.

Katie has had a loose tooth for sometime.  I didn't want this ugly dangling tooth in our Christmas cards, so I've been begging her to let me pull it.  Nope, she wouldn't have it.  So, I gave her one week to pull it.  She said that she wanted to pull it at school, so she could receive a tooth necklace.  When I picked her up yesterday from school.  Mrs. M was giggling and saying that she has tried really hard all day to pull that tooth.  Mrs. M didn't know the arrangement.  For some reason, Katie doesn't trust me.  I've pulled all three of her first teeth and all three times, she has cried and carried on about "it's going to hurt, I just know it."  Last night was no different.  She tried until after 8PM last night to pull that tooth.  Now it was mama's turn.  Doug got it on tape how crazy she was acting just for me to pull a tooth.  As soon as she let me get ahold of it.  It took one pull and it was gone.  Her eyes were huge once again and began to laugh.  I asked her if it hurt.  "No," she said relieved.  I told her that she's got to work on that trust issue with me.  Well, I know I was glad to get that over with and our Christmas pictures are expected to be pretty.  Katie woke up finding her tooth fairy money under her pillow.  She said that she is going to save her money to buy Novi Star doll.

Hope you have a blessed weekend.       ****** ROLL TIDE!!! ******

A Great Lesson to Learn

While waiting for the dismissal bell to ring, I enjoy watching the children playing on the playground at school. Most of the time, I have the opportunity to see Katie playing with her classmates.

I have to tell you, I am impressed with her classmates. They really work and play as a team. Most other classes, I've seen outside playing, branch out into groups. You have the very obvious cheerleader hopefuls. The sports' fans, practicing their football techniques. The Socials, sitting around catching up on the latest gossip. Then, you have groups that just like playing on the playground equipment. Katie's class seem to really get along and ALL play well with one another. Today, they were playing "Shark." It's where a few kids volunteer to be the sharks and then you have the land lovers. The sharks try and catch the land lovers. Basically, it's like playing tag. Not once did I hear fussing or someone say "I quit." They all seemed to have a very good time. When Katie got in the car, I asked her if they always play that good together. She said "yes." She added that Mrs. M tells them . . .

"Be Polite, not rude. 

Be Nice, not mean. 

We are here to help each other and not hurt one another."

I LOVE IT!  I think it's a philosophy, we could all live by.  What a great lesson my child is learning in school.  

I'm still here.  We are in full force fundraising, so I've been selling, selling, selling.  My three year old is pushing every possible button I might have on my person.  Yes, he literally asks to push my buttons.  When I give him my arm, he pretends to push buttons, as he is telling me "I'm pushing your buttons."  {he is laughing}  Yeah, you don't want to know what I look like right now (hair pulled back, no make-up, stress all over my face)  As my kids would say, I've been Hulking out lately.  I try to remind myself that " . . .  and this too shall pass."  I know one day, I will look back on this time and I will laugh hysterically.  

 

It's All Entertaining

I haven't been able to share these kind of posts with you in a long time. I MISS THAT!  I love these posts from me because I get to sit back and introduce products, bands and other events with you. A time where me and my family are gathered around, sharing new finds. Now, I get to pass that off to you.

As I'm watching Fox and Friends this morning, they introduce a new band. I LOVE classical or instrumental music. I believe music jump starts your joy and what type of music you listen to adjusts your attitude/mood towards your work and life itself. Before I get too deep here, you must watch this video.

Introducing The Piano Guys! They are five dads that came together one day visiting a piano store and later became good friends. Their music was pure and fresh, even with the classics. They are very entertaining to me. The Piano Guys recently received a recording contract, so hopefully you will see more of their faces. You can find more videos on YouTube.

Here is one more video, I felt joy and peace within as I listened. So relaxing. I hope you enjoy it. For more information about this group of guys, please CLICK HERE!

Visiting overseas just for a moment, I'm sure you've at least heard of Psy from Korea.  He's new song "Gangnam Style" is the craze.  Psy is the biggest pop star in Korea right now.  Not understanding Korean, he could be saying some pretty vile things and I wouldn't know it.  The one thing that jumps out as entertaining is to watch Psy demonstrating his dance techniques.  He was a special guest on "The Ellen Show" to help Brittany Spears learn the "Gangnam Style" dance.  Too funny!  Psy did great.  I tried the dance.  I've discovered in order to make the dance successful, act like you are riding a quarter horse from hades and you will have no trouble.  {smiling}

Here is a clip from The Ellen Show when Brittany gets to meet Psy:
 

Before I end this post, let me ask you a question.  Just ponder this question for a minute or two.  Does specific songs played on commercials affect the music video count down?  We watched VH1 Top 20 this morning and two songs in the top 10 were featured on two commercials.  They were
Too Close by Alex Clare (Microsoft Windows Commerical) . . .

br />

and Everybody Talks by Neon Trees (Buick Commerical)


This wet soggy weekend marks our annual Oktoberfest Festival in town.  I don't think will be making it.  The cold front came through a lot earlier than they first thought.  There goes my photo shoot this morning.  Bama's not playing today, so no parties or hollering "ROLL TIDE."  I think it is God's way of saying, "hey, take a break and get some rest."  I think I like that idea.  Thank you for the rain and cold weather Lord.  {heart is smiling}

I have to tell you this one thing.  Last night marked our "Stupid Movie Night."  These are movies that I or Doug wanted to watch, but knew they would be too stupid to waste money going to the movie theater.  It being Autumn, close to Halloween, I enjoy watching thriller movies.  This is really the only time of year that I enjoy watching these type movies.  I've always loved mystery type books and movies.  I guess you could say that I love the "who done it" films.  It really gets my blood pumping good.  Well, I've seen the previews on TV and I finally picked up these two movies from the video store last night.  They were "The Cabin in the Woods" and "Dark Shadows."  I could not stop laughing at either one of them.  They were so STUPID!  Actually, I expected to be a little scared of "Cabin in the Woods."  Then I found out all the thriller parts were staged.  I'm not saying any more about this movie.  Oh. my. gosh!  So ridiculous.  It was nice seeing Chris Hemsworth star in this movie.  He is so adorable.  Knowing Tim Burton directed and Johnny Depp starred in "Dark Shadows," I expected it to be completely ridiculous.  I got exactly what I wanted, STUPID MOVIE.  I had to laugh.  If you like "Stupid Movie Night," I recommend these two movies.  Warning: they are not for everyone in the family - (kids no, no).  

New Restaurant Review

While watching the local news, Doug found out about a new restaurant opening soon in town. City Cafe Diner is a 24 hour, 7 day a week restaurant that opened not too long ago. They are located on Drake Avenue in Huntsville. Very easy to locate, not far from the mall. This restaurant is a chain. Their other locations are Savannah, GA on Abercorn; Savannah, GA; Augusta, GA and in Morrow, GA. Their menu is a book, like The Cheesecake Factory. They specialize in Greek food and their bakery is stocked full of delicious pastries. I had the Greek Chicken with steamed veggies, greek lemon seasoned potatoes. Our waitress was so sweet to bring over cookies for the kids and a dessert for us to try. She accidentally mixed up me and Millard's order and she wanted to make it right. She didn't have to do that, but it shows her professionalism. Doug got a cup of their turkey soup. You talk about delicious. Everything we had there was very good and I would recommend it to anyone. We had so much food leftover, we brought it home for lunch the next day. Yum! Oh and by the way, they serve breakfast all day. I wished they had a website or something to pass along to you, but they don't.

Butterfly, Butterfly, Fly Away Home

While at her grandparents, Katie and her Paw-paw Millard caught a butterfly out in the field

When she got home with it in a jar, we looked it up and discovered that it was is a "Common Buckeye".  It really is pretty and she was so proud of her butterfly.  Being the kid, she wanted to keep it in the jar.  She later realized that it was best for her butterfly to let it go.  It loved my flowers out in my pot. The butterfly stayed there for quite some time.  By morning, it was gone.   

Katie has been in the butterfly kick since she's been taking care of her caterpillar at school.  Each student was assigned a caterpillar.  Katie named her caterpillar Daisy. They all got to witness their caterpillars create their chrysalis'.  Katie's little eyes were so big telling me about her caterpillar turned into a chrysalis.  It took a few weeks before little Daisy finally turned into a butterfly. Mrs. M told the class the butterflies were "Painted Ladies."  

Today was our Butterfly Release Celebration.  Katie volunteered me to make the butterfly cupcakes.  LOL!  I think the kids had a good time.  I found out today, second graders are not shy at all.  Once the students found out that I was Katie's mom, they were very talkative.  A few of the kids asked me to take a picture of their faces with icing all over it.  LOL!  Katie has some characters in her class.  Of course, a lot of boy class clowns.  The little girls were so sweet and lots of help, handing out plates of cupcakes for me to other students.  I love events like this.  I am so in my element.  Of course my husband thinks I'm trying to be a brown noser.  Ugh!  He just doesn't understand.  Teachers are holding the hands of my kids, showing them the way to their futures.  I'm going to be there, watching every step and helping out from time to time.  

Butterfly Wishes

Butterfly, flutterby 
Come to me 
Take me to Mexico 
On your delicate wing.

Butterfly, flutterby
It is early fall
I want to escape from here
To you I call.

Butterfly, flutterby
Be with me tonight
I’ll be ready in a minute
Ready for take-off; ready for flight.

Butterfly, flutterby
How gorgeous your face
Yellow, black, stained-glass wings
I see your mysterious smile and dainty grace.

Butterfly, flutterby
I’m waiting; I’ll stay
Please don’t forget me
But look! Now you’re going, going, gone, away.

Butterfly, flutterby
How can this be?
You said good bye
Now what about me?

Butterfly, flutterby
You could have come to me
Could have taken me to Mexico
On your delicate wing.

Butterfly, flutterby
This is not the end
Return for me next year
I will be waiting and watching, again and again. 

Jennie Scheihing

Close up of the butterfly cupcakes, I made.

My inspiration came from Martha Stewart online.

Kids love Funfetti cake mix, but I don't care for it as much.  Funfetti mix it is!  

I dipped twisted pretzels in blue chocolate candy and then roll them in sprinkles of all kinds.

The head is an M&M; I piped dots of blue colored icing for the body and lastly 

added Twizzler Pull-Apart candy for the antennas.  

As soon as Mrs. M brought out the butterflies in their container, they became excited.  They began fluttering their wings and flying around.  They could have thought "woo, it's cold out here."  It didn't even make it to 70 degrees here today.  Yeah, it was chilly outside.  Mrs. M tried her best to prepare the kids, so they won't scare the butterflies.  Of course, kids are going to get excited and want to touch the butterflies. 

Mrs. M passed out sponges soaked in sugar water and suckers for the kids to try to lure the butterflies to them.  I think most of the suckers only lured the kids to eat them.  

I'm happy to report there were no fatalities (butterflies) or injuries and all the butterflies flew off very satisfied. 

Butterflies get ready for a long journey for the Winter

Painted Lady Butterfly

Katie finally gets to hold a butterfly, with the help of a classmate. It made her day. 

Students sitting around in a circle, enjoying their cupcake and juice box.

 

Brother didn't leave his sissy's side for a minute.

 

Happy 1st Birthday Zayden!

My niece and her husband had all the families over to celebrate their little boy's first birthday.  For it to be his first birthday experience, he came out like a pro.  He was a prince eating his birthday cake and ripped the wrapping paper off of his presents like he knew exactly what he was doing.  LOL!  

A friend of my sister, Kim, made Zayden's birthday t-shirt.  She did such a great job! 

 

Zayden's picture with his loving parents

   

Whitney is finally show her baby bump.  

Zayden's Birthday Theme was (ta-da) Mickey Mouse. 

Whitney did such a great job with the decorations and food.  I don't know all who was involved in the preparations, but I know her sister gave her a hand making the Mickey Mouse cookies below.  

. . . Just Precious!!!!

I applaud her in making Zayden's personal cake.  Love It!!!

We had such a wonderful time during the party.  You couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather to have an outside birthday party.  The place was crawling with kids of all ages, in and out of the house.  One BIG blessed family.  God is Great!