Monday Night Football

I think the directors of the youth football programs around here take this Monday Night Football a little too seriously. All of B's games are on Monday nights.....at 8:00pm. yea.

Oh well, what can ya do?

The boys have had three games so far and I finally remembered to take my camera last night.

So sit back & enjoy a little football.

(B is #21 - just for reference.)

Daddy helped out with the chains.

B is the second one standing in the back.

Time-out for a little huddle.

The coaches - discussing their loss. (Blah, blah, blah)

Our team motto: Maybe next game.

I should have known better.

Most of you probably read my last post about going to the pumpkin patch. If you read carefully, you probably also noticed that I might have referred to the word "drag" in that post.

Well, the truth is that when I mentioned my "big plan" to my family on Saturday morning, two of them looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

"What do you mean....pumpkin patch?" "But aren't they too old for that?" one said.

"But we'll miss the football games & I want to play with my friends." the other whined.

Ok. Ok. I surrender.

Let's compromise.

"If you'll go pick up my new rocking chairs for the front porch (and some pumpkins & mums).....we don't have to go to the pumpkin farm."

Looks like we came to an agreement....new rocking chairs, pumpkins & mums.

At least I was able to deliver on one thing I mentioned.......pictures.

This is the best I could do. Sorry it's not the pumpkin farm.

But they do have pumpkins & some pretty fall flowers.

Notice - the white pumpkin.....I didn't even have to paint it.

When I told G that I wanted to take some pictures of her, she had to run upstairs & put on a "fallish" outfit, comb her hair & brush her teeth. (This girl & a camera - BFF)

This is the only way I could get a picture of B - they travel in a pack on weekends. Guess I'll have to take what I can get. (Mine is the top right.)

Sorry if you came looking for pumpkin farm pictures. I was a little disappointed at first too but hey, I've still got the whole month of October to drag encourage them to go.

I have big plans.

I love this time of year.

The air gets cooler and the coffee or hot chocolate is better.

Pumpkin bread, pecan pies & caramel apples.

Hay rides, bonfires, & football games.

These are all a few of my favorite things.

One more of my favorite things began when our son was little. Every fall, we would head out to our favorite Pumpkin Farm. We'd pull the kids around in a little red wagon until I'd fill it so full with mums & pumpkins that they'd no longer fit.

Well, my little family tradition has gotten thrown to the back burner since the kids have gotten involved in sports. They usually have some sort of game to do on the weekends & other things have gotten in the way.

Guess what? I think we may have a free weekend coming up.

Have you figured out my big plan yet?

That's right. I'm going to try my hardest to drag encourage my family to go to a pumpkin farm.

I want to pick our own pumpkins and ride on the hay rides out to the corn mazes.

I want pictures of the kids with all of the fall scenery & backdrops.

My big plan should happen on Saturday (maybe Sunday) so I'll show you the wonderful, Norman Rockwell style pictures next week.

Ah.....I remember when.

These were in 2003.

Just look at those cutie pies - I can't wait to compare these to this year's pictures.

Stay tuned.

Arachnophobia

Here is just one of many reasons I'm not real fond of yard work.

I found him while I was trimming up some of the bushes out front.

Ewww.

I'm not a big fan of anything with more than four legs & less than two, so needless to say - I left his limb alone. It looks like something got ahold of his other limbs, though. I think one side of his front legs were missing.

At least it gave me something to take pictures of.

Maybe I could get him to move to the front porch for Halloween night.....nah, I couldn't handle that.

Another confession & a game of You're It!

I know what I'm about to tell you is probably going to shock you but.......

I had never been to a Garden Ridge store!

(GASP!)

(Until last Friday.)

I know.

I must have lived under a rock.

It was magical.

Walking in & seeing all of the choices in home decor, furniture & lamps.

My house is going to love my new discovery.

My banking account probably not so much.

Now for the You're It portion of today's post:

I've been tagged by Darlene over at Darlene's Days to play Six Random Things About Me.

If you've never stopped by Darlene's place, go over & say "hi", she's always

got lots of good ideas to pass along.

Let's see.....6 random things about me......

(this is difficult)

1. My favorite food is a potato (any which way is fine).

2. I was a dancer from age 7 - 18 and once was able to do a costume catalog.

(That was a long time ago!)

3. My husband & I have been together since we were 16.

4. I don't swim. (Can't, won't don't....it doesn't happen.)

5. I have a thing about hearts, purple, butterfly's, unicorns & rainbows.

(I really don't like any of them - no offense.)

6. I wanted to be on Broadway (when I was young & delusional).

Ok, that's it for me.....now it's your turn.

Anyone who wants to participate is now officially tagged.

Have fun.

Just a bunch of complaining.....

Do you ever have those times where things just add up and you take a look around & go what the heck??

It's not like I'm in a bad mood or anything. Today is actually a beautiful cool, crisp day. It's Friday - ya gotta love that.

I guess I just need a place to get these issues off my chest & I'll feel a little better so....here goes:

- Don't you hate youth football coaches who don't know what they're doing?

- Don't you hate it when your loving husband leaves pens (notice I said plural) in his pants pockets and only your clothes come out with black splotches?

- Don't you hate it when your very intelligent son just doesn't get metric conversions & has a test to prove it?

- Don't you hate it when your loving husband (yes, the same one mentioned above) looks at your newly hung mistreatments and says..."isn't there supposed to be a rod in there or something?"

- Don't you hate it when plumbers are supposed to call & set up an appointment.....and don't?

- Don't you hate it when people have a whole post of complaining?

Me too. Ok - I'm done. For now.

Hope everyone has a great weekend - I'm planning to.

My very own Scarlett O'Hara

Do I have any Carol Burnett fans out there?

If not, you're not going to get this reference.

At all.

This is the episode when she was playing Scarlett O'Hara and made the dress out of the drapes.....have you ever seen it? If not, it's hilarious.

Well, the other day I was taking down the previous owners drapes in the family room to put ours up & I turned around to ask my daughter something and this is what I see......

Yes, that is my wedding veil - she found it in my closet.

Sometimes I just don't know what I'm gonna do with that girl.

Secret Garden

Just thought I'd share with y'all this beautiful yard that I get to pass everyday. I just love it.
I was only able to snap these few pictures while slowly stalking driving by.

Now I need to figure out how to get this look in my yard.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

My camera is just itching to get G in a pretty flowy white dress & take beautiful pictures on this bench.

Yummy!

In our new community we have a cute little fruit/vegetable stand. I've passed it for days and kept thinking...."I really need to stop & see what they have."

(I got a quick drive-by shot.)

So, the other day, with a little pestering from my son, I stopped & this is what I came home with.

(Aren't they beautiful?)

(Look at the size of that peach.)

After browsing a few of my magazines the other day, I decided that I needed to make a peach cobbler with my new findings.

Words just will not do justice to describe how yummy this dessert was. Throw a little vanilla ice cream on top (since it's not sweet enough) and enjoy.

Lady & Sons Peach Cobbler

(Thanks Paula!)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup self-rising flour

1 cup milk

1 28 oz. canned peaches*

cinnamon

vanilla ice cream

*use fresh peaches if available. If fresh:

2 cups peaches, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water

Boil & simmer 10 minutes. Stir often making sure sugar is disolved. Substitute for canned peaches.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put butter in 9" by 2" baking dish & place in oven to melt.

Stir sugar & flour together, mix well.

Slowly add milk & continue stirring to prevent batter from lumping.

Being careful not to burn yourself, remove hot dish from oven.

Pour batter directly over butter. Do Not Stir.

Spoon fruit on top then gently pour syrup on top. Do Not Stir.

Sprinkle cinnamon on top.

Bake 30-45 minutes or until golden.

Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Enjoy!

More Fall Fodder

Since the weather has cooled off a little bit this week (to the mid 70's) and it's been cloudy and drizzly, I've been getting into the Fall spirit just a bit more.

One of my favorite things about this time of year are all of the great magazines that start coming out. Of course, they're out all year long, however we're usually too busy to sit down and look at them.

Well, starting around September, I start getting this warm & fuzzy feeling when I see a new magazine with pumpkins, corn husks and apple pies gracing their covers. They draw me over like a magnet. I must pick it up and flip through it, just glancing at the glorious pictures and delicious recipes that are hiding inside. My nose can smell the wonderful scents of cinnamon and nutmeg and I can visualize myself sitting by a fire with a nice warm cup of apple cider or coffee just perusing those glossy pages while making notes of which dishes to try first.

My friends, my addiction is in full force again this year and my collection has already started growing. Here is just the beginning of a wonderful magazine season that doesn't end for me until the first of the new year.

So, I'm off to grab that cup of coffee and my nice stack of periodicals and no fire today, but I will head off to the screened porch and start that list of must try recipes and decorating ideas.

Enjoy your day & happy reading.

Time to Remember

Photo courtesy of Martin J. Betters

Today is a very special day for our country.

Seven years ago this morning, life as we know it changed.

Planes crashed.

Buildings fell.

People died.

Let's take time out from our regular routines to remember those who lost their lives on that tragic day and say a prayer for their grieving families and friends.

Let's pray for our Nation and our future, that it may never happen again.

We may never know why...... but God has a plan and He has promised to be with us through it all.

A New Look

Just in the mood for a change.

Hope you enjoy this one for a while.

Have a great afternoon.

Oops! I forgot to mention that this lovely design is

free for the taking over at Leelou Blogs plus there are lots more

to choose from.

It's super easy to install, just click on over & take a look around.

Yay - I Won!

I woke up this morning with the usual Monday morning blahs.

Prying the kids out of bed, hurry up and eat, go brush your teeth find your shoes, etc. and I took a second to check my e-mail and my day suddenly got better.

I was a Winner!

Everyone wants to be told they're a winner & a Monday morning winner is even better.

Rachel was having a contest for a free photo session.

And what's even better is that she's local to our new town. Double Yay.

We'll probably be getting together sometime in October to do the photos (of the kids of course) so I'll keep you posted on how that turns out and in the meantime.....go over & check out her beautiful photography.

Hope everyone's week gets off to a good start and remember....we're all winners. (hehe)

Need Some Ideas

Ok all of you creative ladies out there. I need to pick your brains.

It's a sofa wall problem....not just one wall but two.

Here's the dilemma:





In this new family room the sofa has to fit into a corner and we just got a sectional (so we can all sit together) and now I have 2 blank walls staring me right in the face.

As you can see the stairs are to the right & there is a lovely thermostat on the wall. Now I love The Nester's idea for hiding that, however I don't know what to do with the rest of the space. (Ok - after browsing thru every single one of her posts to find this reference.....I totally need to visit every fabric store & yard sale for the next 5 years to catch up with her lovely style.)

But I digress....

A rug is on the agenda (as soon as I can get DH to agree - which he will eventually) and I'd like to get another table for that empty side of the sofa but for right now - it's the wall that's the problem.

Please help me figure out what to do with those two walls that will co-ordinate with each other and keep in mind.....I want to be frugal.

I'm officially stumped and desperately need your help.
Nester....you up for a little roadtrip to the Upstate of SC??

Gymnastics Begins

As many of you know, my little princess just absolutely flips for gymnastics. (Pardon the pun.)

Since we've been in the new location she's had to do without her weekly fix of jumping, twirling, and bouncing. We went to visit one gym and she was going to be evaluated but then she had her biking accident and wanted to postpone it. So, we did.

Well, since she's all healed, we decided to take a look at our other gym option and they are the only one who actually offered to let her workout with their team. We put her on the schedule and got to go yesterday. She was so excited.

Just to give you a little background...she had made it onto the competition team (level 3) at our old gym but never got the chance to compete. Now, at this new gym, they start their students out competing at level 2 and let me tell you they are some strong little five year olds.

The whole atmosphere was a little different. Just watching the girls out there practicing - they are a lot more strict here and a little bit further along than what we were used to. The girls are expected to walk the "competition walk" even to get water. Their form is expected to be correct all the time - even just warming up (which she wasn't used to). Did I mention that the owners of this new gym are from Russia and actually coached an Olympic athlete?? I may have left that part out.

After the class I spoke with the coach (not the Russian lady) & asked her about G. She goes..."um, yea I guess I can work with her. Level 3 will be ok but she may need a private lesson or two to get the routine down but I can work with her."

Umm....gee, ya think? Don't put yourself out or nothin'.

I personally thought G was pretty good at gymnastics (and she is) but she just hasn't been instructed on all of the things that they've already had. So....I guess her work has begun because she has to go 3 days a week for two hour sessions.

Man, B and I are really gonna hate that.

A Few Fall Touches

With everyone else doing their fall posts, I was beginning to feel a little left out.

It's bad enough that I have to look at all of your beautiful houses while I'm walking around here still trying to unpack boxes and try to figure out where to hang pictures while attempting to keep up with everyone's laundry. Now, I feel completely behind in the fall fufu process.

So....I managed to pull a little of it together. Just enough for one post and to be able to hook up to The Inspired Room's Mr. Linky.

I feel better now.

Here is a glimpse of fall in our home (even though it's still 90 degrees outside).

This little display is in the kitchen. I just love the cream pumpkin.

This is in the dining room.

I just love using shelled nuts in fall displays. (I didn't notice the stamps on the walnuts until I looked at the picture - oh well.)

The china belonged to my husband's mother. He inherited it when she past away. He was 16 at the time and it was 21 years ago yesterday so it's very special to us.

That's about it for the fall decor but I will give you a sneak peek at my new "toys" that arrived the other day. Can't show you the whole room until I figure a few more things out.

That's all for now. I'm off for more unpacking, arranging and re-arranging.

New Wheels

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Labor Day.

We didn't do too much and since we're still getting settled, there was plenty of work to do around the homestead.

A couple of things we did do was to get 3 out of the 4 people who live here new wheels.

Check 'em out:

My two little weeds had outgrown their other bikes & that's something that we had promised them they could get once we moved....new bikes. (The kids look so grown up - ugh.)

Disclaimer: They do normally wear their safety helmets however they just didn't want to for the picture. No nasty comments please.

This is Daddy's new toy.
He needed his new wheels to cut all of that lovely grass you see in the background.


There you have it. Everyone got new toys except Mom.....oh wait. My new toys should be delivered later today. Mine doesn't have wheels but they are very comfy.

Weather Woes

What a wild world we live in!

These storms out in the Atlantic just give us a small view of how powerful God truly is.

I pray that everyone in the path of Gustav has found a safe place to ride out the storm and when they return to their homes, they find little damage.

With that being said....is anyone paying attention to Hannah?

She's still out there just churning away and based on this graphic I just downloaded from the National Hurricane Center.....headed straight for the southeast. (Wait....that's us!)

I hope we'll hear more as it gets closer and I also pray that all of those other areas I see further out don't actually turn into hurricanes.

Happy Labor Day everyone.

Update: As of today's forecast, 9/3/08, Tropical Storm Hannah may only brush the coast of SC. We will pray that the storm doesn't strengthen anymore and that the ones who are in her path don't have too much damage.