It's a little Fallish around here.

If you've been surfing around in blogland, you've obviously seen everybody's beautifully decorated "Fall Homes".
I love browsing and getting tons of new ideas (that I don't have time to implement in our home). Let's face it - if I tried everything I've seen that I just love, I might have my fall projects completed by Christmas.  So, while I don't have any major projects that I've done or any outstanding decorations, it is finally looking & feeling a little like Fall around here now. 

As long as our home is warm and inviting, I'm a happy girl.

It's even starting to look a little like Fall outside - do you see those few leaves on the ground?

I've still got to get my mums and pumpkins for the front porch but the mums I planted last year are blooming.

So pretty - I love the color.

Hope you're having a good week & not getting washed away in all of the rain that's been around lately.

I've been baking

When the cooler weather starts to blow in, I get this urge to head to the kitchen.  I just love cooking and baking and Fall is one of my favorite seasons to do it.


The other day I found myself at home long enough to whip up a delicious peach cobbler.  I used a recipe I found from Paula Deen (I just love her) and it turned out great. 

Yum!  It was so good.

We've also been doing a lot of this:



Baseball.....it's as American as apple pie peach cobbler!

Misc. Friday Ramblings

Hope this post finds you and your family doing well.


We're good and busy - but isn't everyone.  Every weekend on our calendar is booked up through the first part of October.  I get tired just thinking about it but it's full of fun stuff so I guess it's worth it.

The temperatures have started to fall a little bit here in the Upstate of SC.  The mornings and nights are cooler and I'm loving it.  It does still warm up during the daytime but at least the humidity is at a bearable level now.  I've actually been able to bring out a couple of my Fall items to get me more in the mood.
My throw for the porch and a couple of scented candles. 

I need the blanket when I'm out on the porch looking at this:

so beautiful.

The apple orchards up in the mountains of NC are open now and are getting pretty busy.  We haven't been able to drive up to pick yet but I did stop by the fruit stand down the street and get some already picked.  Can't wait to start baking.

I picked up a few of these beauties too.

That's about all from around here.  Hope you have a great weekend - we're spending most of ours at baseball tournaments.  Leave me a note & let us know your weekend plans.

Sports Photography

If you know me in the real world, you're probably used to seeing me with a camera around my neck.  I just love capturing our lives in a permanent way.  I see everything as a possible picture. It's just a hobby for me - I guess that way I don't disappoint anyone if the pictures don't turn out the way I envisioned them.

Well, our kids are very active in their respective sports.  B plays baseball (a lot).  He's currently on two teams - a travel team and a rec team.  G is also a very busy girl preparing for her gymnastics competition season that begins in October.

While spending time at all of these sporting events, somehow I have become the "official" photographer for our travel baseball team the Carolina Scorpions.  Everyone always looks forward to the picture posts on FB that come soon after we play a tournament.  I must admit that sports photography is a lot different than posed photography.  I find myself thinking ahead in the game (kind of like the boys do when playing).  You have to know where the action's going to be & what's coming next in order to prepare for it when it happens.
I'm having a lot of fun with it - who knew?

Here are some of my favorites so far:

She's one of our #1 fans - isn't she adorable?

That's just a few - I could bore you with these all day.  I've got so many that I just love.  It  probably helps that I know the boys behind the shots and that's why they're so special. We see how hard they work and sweat and play. 

I've still got lots of learning and practicing to do.  Good thing we've got lots of games coming up, huh?  One thing I have learned is that it's really hard to get good pictures through those little fence holes.

Hope you're having a good week - I'll be stopping by soon.

A Very Special Birthday

This weekend we headed back up to North Carolina for a very special celebration.  It was hubby's grandfather's (a.k.a Big Daddy) 90th birthday.

He is such a wonderful man - so laid back and quiet.  Always tinkering around with something & always tries to plant a garden in the spring and share with neighbors all summer.

I'm glad we got to make the trip to help him celebrate.

Here are some pictures from the festivities.  The party was held at their daughter (Aunt Dale's ) house - I just love her pond in the backyard.  Come along for the party.

Two beautiful & sweet girls - Katie & Gracie.

Katie is Rob's sister's daughter.

Here are Big Daddy & Big Mama with all of their grand-kids & great grand-kids.

What a blessing - wish my grand-parents were still here.

Four generations of Edwards men.

And now for the Edwards ladies.

Everybody had such a great time visiting and seeing each other.  We aren't all able to get together but maybe once a year so it was extra special to celebrate with Big Daddy.

Thanks for coming along and if your grand-parents are still with you - go give them a big hug.

School's Back Bash

I wanted to call this little virtual cook-out an End of Summer Bash, but it's really not the end of summer at all.

My thermostat makes sure I'm aware of that fact, so I decided to call it a School's Back Bash.  Not as catchy I know, but it's early and I've only had one cup of coffee.

Every now and then I like to peruse the pages of my favorite magazine, Southern Living, and their website to come up with virtual party ideas.

So, if we were all meeting up this weekend for a get-together, let's see what would be on the menu, shall we....

The main theme of this party is a Low Country Boil - makes my mouth water just looking at it.

We would also have some yummy grilled tomatoes with basil.

Some watermelon salad.

 We'd have a little grilled pound cake for dessert.

Some cool refreshing lemonade iced tea.

Where would all of this take place, you ask?

What about dining by this beautiful waterfall?

And, afterwards (or during) all of the kids could go down & play in the lake.

Sounds like the perfect weekend cook-out to me.

Wouldn't it be fun if we could actually do it?

Thanks for playing along & enjoy your weekend.

(All photos courtesy of Southern Living.com)

It's a new year

Monday was an important day at our house.

It was the first day of school (cheers, whoops, & hollers).  They weren't really cheering, whooping & hollering.  It must have just been my imagination.

We homeschool our kids and I decided that since we had a break at gymnastics this week, that it would be a good week to start our new school year.

I still do the "first day of school" pictures.  This is my son's favorite part - not really.

Take a look at my 7th and 4th grader - they're growing up so fast.

Yes, my kids go to school barefoot - it's one of my favorite things about home education.

B is doing an online academy this year & somehow I got more books than he did.

It's break time.

It's homework time (yes, his teachers actually give out homework - he's thrilled). Not really.

Thanks for tagging along & checking out our first day of school.

Hope your kids have a great first day & productive year as well.

Summer Memories

It's funny to me to title a post "Summer Memories" when there is still so much summertime left on the calendar, however, it is the last week of summer vacation for the kiddos so let the summer memories of 2010 begin.

That's just a few of some wonderful summertime memories. 

Next week, we begin a new level of learning.

G will be starting 4th grade and B is starting 7th.

Unbelieveable to me that time is passing so quickly.

Hope you are enjoying the last days/weeks of summertime.

I'm off to finish up school preparations.