Ballet Recital 2009

Kaity's ballet recital this year had the theme of The Prodigal Son. Each of the classes (divided by age) danced to a song corresponding to different parts of the story. It was really good! Kaity was, of course, beautiful, and did a wonderful job.

Mother's Day 2009

Jeff and I surprised my mom by driving to Augusta today to spend the afternoon with her! We met up at the Augusta Mall and window shopped. Naturally, we spent a generous amount of time in Barnes & Noble! We went to PF Chang's for dinner, which was really good. There were only two bad things about the trip ... Berk was working and couldn't be there, and it was too short!






The Rest of the Story ...
Well, make that three bad things... on the way home we stopped in Thomson for a bathroom break and got more than we bargained for. While sitting in the car with the kids waiting for Jeff, I saw an altercation between two police officers and a guy. The police were questioning this guy, and he tried to make a break for it. They didn't take too kindly to it, and the three of them commenced to a fist fight. I made Kaity get in the floorboard of the car! (Joe was asleep.) Oh, yeah ... the men were maybe five feet away from us. The man broke away at one point, pretty sure I heard a gunshot, and he ran around the side of the building. The police ended up winning the fight, backup came and the guy was arrested, end of story. But it made for a really interesting bathroom break! And man, was Jeff disappointed he missed it.

Playing Tiger

Kaity and Joe have a game of pretend that they play pretty often. The general theme is that Joe is a tiger named "Tigger", and he does various things, usually whatever Kaity tells him to! She's getting better at accepting the story lines he suggests, but it's hard not to be the Big Sister. Today the story is that "Tigger" has a family -- Kaity is Violet, Tigger's wife, and their cubs are Tigger Stripes (a Webkinz), along with Midget and Pouncer (cupcake toppers). At one point, our 1-year old cat, Lily, wandered by, and Tigger headed for her. Violet said, "It's just a cat in with our children, don't kill it!" To which Tigger replied, "I'm trying to capture it and bring it to our lair!" Violet replies, "It's not a lair, it's our house."

Later, they were prowling around the living room and saw a hairbrush on the floor. Pretending it was some sort of thornbush, Violet tells Tigger, "Those things are dastardly! You could have one of those stuck in your paw for the rest of your life!"

And here are some random photos of the kids and Jeff that I've taken lately, and haven't posted yet.
Jeff and the kids snuggling on the couch. I don't think they were actually asleep.


Jeff and Joe playing Excite Bike on the original Nintendo. Yes, the ORIGINAL, from 1985. The only problem with it is that the games get stuck in the player. We've solved that by always using the Game Genie, even if we don't enter codes.


Kaity and I usually do our morning Bible study and prayer at the same time. Joe can't read yet, of course, but he doesn't want to be left out! He sometimes gets out the Bible he got from church and "reads" along with us.

Ladies' Night Out 2009

Every year, the women's ministry in our church, Women Walking Worthy, headed by my friend Ashley Hall, hosts a Ladies' Night Out for the ladies in our church and community. This year, the theme was "What's Your Story?" and the program featured three women from our church sharing their testimonies about what God has done and is doing in their lives. It was amazing! My main contribution to the evening was providing the meal. The head of our kitchen ministry, Lydia Black, worked with me to organize everything and to make sure it all ran smoothly. I enlisted the help of a few friends, Debbie Settle, Lindsay Simpson and Sandi Simpson to come up to the church the day before LNO to help me cook for the nearly 300 ladies.




The menu was Lemon-Rosemary Grilled Chicken, Berry Peach Salad, Cheddar-Broccoli Salad, Veggie Ranch Rotini, Italian Confetti Salad, and yeast rolls. Dessert was on the table, ready to serve -- a single layer cake, half devil's food, half red velvet, with cream cheese icing. Abbie from Common Road Bakery made all of the cakes.



The men in our church helped by serving tea and water and by doing all the cleanup. This picture is of two of our college people, Kris and Ben, who came to help. Clearly, it wasn't all work and no play!

Busy Busy Busy

Sometimes when there aren't any posts for a while, it's because I'm being lazy. Sometimes it's because we haven't done anything of interest. But in this case it's because we've been really busy, and I haven't taken the time to post about it!

The last weekend in April, our friends Paul and Sandy De Jong came to stay with us for a few days. They attended a professional photographers' convention in Athens, and used us for room and board. We're so glad they did! We had a great time with them. We got to walk to downtown Commerce to show them the future home of our family and the coffeehouse. Just today, Joe asked me if Paul and Sandy could come back to see them! Paul is a fantastic photographer, and you can see his website by clicking on the link listed to the right ... GardenHouse Photography.





Last Tuesday/Wednesday, Kaity took the Iowa standardized test. I don't know anything about it, except that I'm pretty sure it's required by the state. Anyway, one of the other homeschooling moms administered it to several of the students. I don't have a clue when we'll get results back to find out whether our oldest child is a genius or a dolt. (Just kidding! Please don't send angry letters!)


But Kaity being tested meant that Joe and I were able to spend some quality time together alone! We went up to Spencer Park in Commerce and played Skip-Bo, which Joe calls "Dis-Bo" for some reason. We also ran errands and generally enjoyed ourselves.

Buttermilk Wheat Rolls

Buttermilk Wheat Rolls

• 1-1/2 cups warm buttermilk (70° to 80°)
• 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1-1/4 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted, optional

In bread machine pan, place the first 10 ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select dough setting (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or flour if needed).
When cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and punch down. Divide into 24 pieces; shape each into a ball. Place on two greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. Brush with butter if desired. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yield: 2 dozen.

The Amazing Scavenger Hunt

Easter weekend, we had a different kind of hunt than most people probably had. Jeff and I organized a scavenger hunt for our college people! We met in downtown Commerce at Wingslingers, had dinner, then divided everyone into 4 teams. We had done a hunt last year, and we knew that everyone had been thinking of ways to get around the rules they remembered from last year. Naturally, we're no match for a group of bright minds like that ... so, we changed the contest completely! They had to find a picture of a word for every letter of the alphabet (except ex- counted for 'x', but they got a bonus for an actual 'x' word.) We wouldn't let them use books, magazines, or internet, and all pictures had to be taken from inside the car. In alphabetical order. With the same digital camera. We closed up every loophole we could think of! Maybe we were a match after all. :)




In addition to the letters, they had 10 possible bonus items to get. They got pretty creative -- which worked well since there was a creativity bonus, too.


Yes, that is an empty toilet paper roll. In the Wal-Mart bathroom. Blech.


Of course an older model Volkswagen was one of the bonus items -- Jeff was involved!

First prize was Chick-Fil-A gift cards, Second was gift cards to the local Christian book store, Third was a package of Oreos. And after the hunt was over, we had an ice cream sundae bar set up on the dining room table. I guess that means everyone won!

Fun With the Phillips and Finns

Baxter!


Joe!


Georgia!




I'm being lazy about writing, but here are some more pictures of recent events. Last week, I drove to Conyers to see my friend Leah and her two little crumb snatchers. Kaity had gone to visit with her Nannie and Papa (Jeff's parents) so it was just Joe and me on the trip. Joe actually took the picture of me, and the one of me, Leah and Georgia.

Easter Sunday

Easter in pictures ...

Train Ride

Friday, Jeff took the day off and we celebrated our anniversary by going on a train ride! A few weeks ago, Jeff asked me to research trains for us, and I found a great deal on-line for the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway. They were doing a sale for the winter where their tickets were 40% off. How great is that? So, we booked 4 tickets and away we went!


Jeff's grandfather, KJ Pittard, was a conductor on Southern Railroad for 40 years.




We went to the station in Blue Ridge, Georgia and rode the train up to a little town on the Tennessee-Georgia border. The town is actually split by the border, so on one side it's McCaysville, Georgia and on the other it's Copperhill, Tennessee.



While in the town(s) we had a two-hour layover during which we ate lunch at the Nifty Fifties Diner, shopped and browsed, and ate Mayfield Ice Cream. :)