Sunday Best

Today while getting dressed to go visit yet another church on our quest for a church home, I realized we all kind of matched. I got dressed first, then Kaity came in matching me by coincidence. Joe actually pointed it out and told me he didn't want to wear his new shirt, he wanted to wear a white shirt so he'd match Kaity and me. Suddenly it hit me -- perfect time to take pictures for family photo Christmas cards, which I'd 75% decided to buy this year. I zoomed up to 100% in a heartbeat and laid Jeff out some coordinating clothes, too.

Here are the results ...







(Ken took the family picture, Kaity took the ones of Jeff and me, and I took the ones of the kids.)

Animals!

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer, do. I'm half crazy over the love of you!

Taking a bath on the desk ...

Smoky giving me a bath. He's such a sweet kitty!

The three neighboring peacocks wandering on the porch wondering why no one has fed them any bread yet.

Close up of what Ken calls a 'blue chicken'.

We also have what feels like 97 cats, but in reality is about 13. They're strays from around here, plus the cats from the quarry that Jeff rescued, plus Daisy and Smoky. Lily ran away soon after her arrival and we haven't seen her in a couple of months. The kids are sad, but at this point I'm thinking one less cat isn't so bad!

Just A-swingin'!

The grandkids have had a rope swing on a small tree near the playhouse outside. Today, Jeff relocated it to a better, taller tree in order to maximize the fun and the possibility of injury. The kids love it!

Joe was the first kid to take a turn.

Daddy helped a little. :)

I love the expression on Kaity's face!


And yes ... the adults took turns, too. It was fun!

Our New Home

At long last, I have pictures of our new home! We've had so many rainy days I haven't gotten out and taken any pictures until today. It's an absolutely gorgeous fall day! I just went grocery shopping, the kids are playing outside, Jeff and I are going on a date tonight, Daisy's taking a bath on the desk ... life is good.

The house is in the country, surrounded by pasture and horse farm and pecan trees. Very tranquil. Except for the neighbor's peacocks, who like to visit and torment the cats. :)

Our bedroom. We've more or less taken over three rooms -- the master bedroom; the "playroom", now the kids' bedroom and the sunroom, now the schoolroom. Cheryl has a wonderful decorating eye, so all this is just how she had the rooms. We added the pictures of the kids, the Willow Tree figurines, and the dresser.


The children's room! The bed has a trundle that slides out for Joe every night.

As you can see, Daisy is settling in quite nicely. She could only have been more content if she'd been sleeping on the computer keyboard.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Me at 29 weeks!

I don't update much about the pregnancy because I figure no one's really interested anyway. You just want to know when she gets here! So, I'm fine, baby's fine. The doctor estimates that she's about 3 pounds now. I have another appointment in three weeks, then it's every two weeks until D-Day. I'll have another ultrasound in early January to check more clearly on her size and development. That's it in a nutshell! Or even a pumpkin rind as the case may be. :)

The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe

A couple of weeks ago, we went on a field trip with our home school group to Athens to the Rose of Athens theatre. They did a wonderful job on a condensed version of the book -- the play was just an hour long. Kaity and Joe loved it!

Awaiting the performance ...


Peter, Edmund, Lucy and Susan having tea with Mr. & Mrs. Beaver.

The White Witch

Aslan, before the Stone Table.

The battle between Aslan and the White Witch.

Crowning the Kings and Queens of Narnia.

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersen, Good-Bye ...

The hardest thing about moving is not packing or unpacking, or even all the changes. It's saying good-bye to people you've come to love and knowing that though you may see them again, it just won't be the same. So it's taken me a while to post these pictures because I'm pretty sure tears are not good for the keyboard. Anyway, here goes ...

Our College People that you've heard/read so much about held a going away party/baby shower for us a couple of weekends before we moved. It was very thoughtful and we got some wonderfully cute and practical things for our little girl. I don't have pictures of everyone, but here are a few.

Pam ...

Andrew and Amber, glowing from their recent engagement ...

Katie and Kris ... Chad and Lydia ... watching us open presents.

What college get-together would be complete without a few rounds of Twister??

The Band/Praise Team at Maysville Baptist also had a good-bye party for us. There was fantastic food and fellowship, and plenty of laughs!

Jeff and Deric preparing to compete on a Wii game.

Chrissy and Todd. Our fearless leader (unless squirrels are involved!) and his lovely wife, one of my closest friends.

Okay, so this game was TOO funny to watch! While some games are for the amusement of the participant, this one was definitely designed for the observers!


Okay, so that's all I can handle for now! We're settling in very well here in Hart County, and I'll have pictures for you soon of our new home.

Healthy Cooking Recipe Contest

At long last, I got my magazine today! It was so cool to see my recipe in print. The picture of me that is in there is one that Kaity took. She was very excited to be a published photographer!

The recipe is a different version of the one that I put on the blog a few weeks ago. I prefer that one, but this one is really good, and definitely simpler! Want to see it? Go to Taste of Home's website and do a search for "Thai Chicken Pasta". EDIT: I just checked it out and it's a subscriber-only recipe.



My check, the cover letter for my complimentary copy of the magazine, and the actual magazine!

Kaity Turns 9!

For Kaity's birthday this year, she requested to have a little party for herself and a few friends. We don't normally do parties, mainly because I'm not crazy about having a houseful of children, but I wanted Kaity to have a special day. I wanted to make sure to have plenty of adult reinforcement, so I asked my mom to come up and help with crowd control and clean-up. We really enjoyed getting to see her and Berk, since it's been so long since we have!

Kaity's cake! She chose the design after a rigorous internet search, then my friend Lindsay worked her magic!



Kaity chose a menu of spaghetti and meatballs, apples and dip, and bisclets. I made Pretty Pink Punch by putting 3/4 cup pink lemonade concentrate, 2 cups raspberry sherbet, and 2 cups milk in a blender. It was tangy and delicious!

Haleigh, Lydia, Pamela, and Claire opening their goody bags. I found Hello Kitty stuff at Target for a really good price!


After dinner, presents and cake, the girls made bracelets/necklaces with a bead kit.