Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Tag, You're It...

My friend Carrie Beth "tagged" me in her blog, and now I am supposed to post 7 things about myself you might not know or realize. So, here are my 7 things...


1. I love to oil paint. I took oil painting classes with my dad on Wednesday nights for about two years, up until I got pregnant and stopped because of fear of turpentine hurting the baby. I painted a very close-up picture of a red flower as well as a large picture of my parents' house that's hanging over their fireplace. I am actually a pretty good artist- I was Art Student of the Year in high school. My parents gave me some painting supplies last year for Christmas so I can paint at home, and when we finish the craft/playroom in the basement, I will have a permanent oil painting station!



2. I am horrible at sports. Totally, totally horrible. I have tried everything... teeball, baseball, softball, soccer, cross country, cheerleading, tennis, gymnastics, ballet. I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can come up with off the top of my head. God bless my parents, they paid for every type of lesson or team I could join and drove me to every single practice and coached me in the backyard, but I was just no good. I was an okay soccer goalie and did play on the varsity team in high school, but I just think I got that position because I was one of the tallest, had the biggest hands, and there was no one else interested in that position. I did give it my best shot, though! I hope our kids get Saunders's athletic abilities!

3. I love all crafts. I'm sure this is not a huge surprise as I've blogged about my sewing and scrapbooking loves, but I also knit, make jewelry, make soap, cross stitch, make home decor (like wreaths- still have the first wreath I made in high school that contains only flowers that Saunders gave me), etc. My mom and I took knitting classes at a local fabric store, and I really love to knit. It really calms my nerves... I knitted about 5 scarves when I was pregnant! I have LOADS of craft supplies in my house... hence my need to share the playroom with my kids and make it a craft/playroom. When I was little, I even had my own wood and leather embossing tool- that's a serious crafting child. If I see a craft, I want to try it!


4. I love school supplies. Freshly sharpened pencils, unused crayons, shiny new scissors, the smell of new markers... ahh, love it all. I could spend hours in the school supply aisle at the store. I love to organize school supplies, too. I love to open my supply closet at school and see all the tupperware containers stacked high, filled with pompoms, glue sticks, tongue depressors, cotton balls, and think, "Just what could I make with all of this?" I even have a little supply table for my first graders, fully stocked with little buckets of crayons all sorted into their color groups, little boxes and bins of scissors, glue, and eraser tops, a stack of drawing paper... I think this might be a major reason I became a teacher!

5. I have a "mans" taste in movies and shows. I do not really like romantic comedies or shows that most girls like. I hate Friends, Sex and the City, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives. I love The Sopranos, Dirty Jobs, How Its Made, Deadliest Catch. Sure, I love reality tv (hello, Project Runway is not manly) and some girlie movies (Gone With The Wind? Not a man's movie), but when in doubt of which movie or show I would like, you can probably bet I'd pick the one a guy would pick.

6. Although I do not really believe in global warming, I try to be a "green" person. I do want to do my part to reduce the amount of trash I am responsible for, and I know there's a lot more ways I could reduce the waste even further. However, this is what we do. We recycle plastic, aluminum cans, cardboard, and paper/magazines. I have the green bags from Publix, and I do not use plastic shopping bags anymore. We do not use paper plates or plastic cups, even though I'm sure Saunders would enjoy loading/unloading the dishwasher less! (That's his job.) I try to reuse as much as I can. I cut up all the soda can rings, rings off milk jugs, and anything else I think might choke a bird or fish.

7. I have some strange fears and phobias. I am afraid of clowns, bees/wasps, and my house burning down. The official names for these phobias are:
Apiphobia- the fear of bees
Pyrophobia- fear of fires
Coulrophobia- Fear of clowns
What is Katie Anne's Halloween costume this year? Yes, it is a clown, but I considered letting her be a bee last year, too. I am not mortally terrified of clowns- they just freak me out and I try not to look at them. (And no- because I can already anticipate someone... aka Doc... asking this- I will not avoid looking at Katie Anne on Halloween... she looks very cute in her clown suit and she does not scare me.) I do worry a lot about my house burning down (always have since I was little). Bees... that's a whole other story. I am scared OUT OF MY MIND of bees, yellow jackets, wasps, hornets, dirt dobbers... even things that sound/remind me of bees, like junebugs or dragonflies. I have been known to lock myself in a bee-free room and wait for up to two hours for my dad/my mom/Greg/Saunders to get home and kill the wasp that's flying in the house. I can hear a flying thing in the house even when no one else can... it is like a sixth sense. The weird thing is that I'm not afraid of other bugs... I'll kill spiders (although I try to set them free because they KILL BEES), stomp roaches, or otherwise anihilate bugs that creep most people out. Just don't ask me to kill a yellow jacket!

Now I have to "tag" 7 other people to do the same thing on their blog.

1. Jillian G.
2. Greg G.
3. Vanessa M.
4. Kristin W.
5. Erin J. (she can get a two-for-one since Carrie Beth also tagged her)
6. Sharon G.
7. Kelly M.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Carving Our Pumpkins

We carved the pumpkins that we'd chosen from Pettit Creek Farms, and Katie Anne had a blast doing it! We made two pumpkins... one for the decorating contest at Katie Anne's school, and one for our front porch. I took the lead on the contest entry since I'd come up with the "turkey pumpkin" idea, and Saunders took the lead on the one for the front porch- the more traditional one. Katie Anne helped with both... and yes, she really helped! She helped me choose which feathers to put in which hole, and she tried to help with the pumpkin goo removal from Saunders's pumpkin. All in all, it took us about an hour to make both pumpkins, and it was a fun family project! I will let you know if Katie Anne's turkey pumpkin wins a prize... last year, her baby pumpkin got third place!

Katie Anne loves pumpkins! She can't stop kissing them.









Katie Anne says, "Heb-bee!" aka "Heavy!"










Saunders and Katie Anne after they caught the runaway plastic bag.









Saunders concen-trates on the pumpkin carving.









Katie Anne checks out the goo.










Katie Anne assists with goo removal.









Katie Anne tasted the goo but didn't like it.









Dad the pumpkin carver.










Mom the faux turkey maker.










Katie Anne checks out the turkey pumpkin.










Katie Anne decides the turkey pumpkin looks like a great backrest! We lost an eye after this one... nothing a little more Gorilla Glue couldn't fix.



KA on the porch with Dad's pumpkin.







Saunders's spooky pumpkin at night!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Pumpkin Pickin'

Enjoy this scrapbook of our trip to the Pumpkin Patch today!

Click to play Katie Anne at the Pumpkin Patch
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Saturday, October 25, 2008

New Fall Decorations

Well, in con- sideration of the current economic times, I'm not going wild with decorating for fall this year. We're not planning on entertaining or anything, so I know there's really no need to put out my normal mums on the porch, pumpkins on the dining room table and buffet, new wreath on the door, etc. There's just no reason to spend the money.

But, I've been a little disappointed that there's just nothing in my house that says "fall". So, while KA and I were at Hobby Lobby today, I saw that they had their fall garlands on sale for 50% off. Since I had two pumpkins from Greg and Jillian's wedding, I got two long fall garlands and two burnt orange candles.

Tonight, after I put KA to bed, I rearranged the mantle to make it a little more fall. I used my big yellow olive jar, the Southern Living Barley Twist pedestal that I love but never seem to have a place that looks right for it, the centerpieces from Greg and Jillian's wedding, and the new candles and garland. So, it is almost all recycled material that I already had. I like it! I'm glad there's at least one place in the house that looks seasonal, and I'm glad that the whole look cost me less than $20!

Football with the McWhorters

Josh and Vanessa had us over tonight for football, BBQ, and fun! Actually, as I write this, Saunders is still over there hanging out and watching Alabama! We went over this afternoon and watched the Georgia-LSU game (Go Dawgs!) with the McWhorters and a few other friends. Vanessa and I had fun hanging out and chatting. We walked Katie Anne and Lily to a Halloween festival at Dellinger Park, but it was a little over their level... the games were a little too hard for them. The guys were stressed out during the Georgia game, but the Dawgs pulled out a big victory in the end. Josh made a delicious slow cooked pork butt. The kids had a great time playing together and got along really well!


Katie Anne and Lily cook up something in the kitchen.


Katie Anne reads a book.

Brodie had a good time playing with his cousins and Katie Anne!

Lily reclines with her cookie.

Bear dumps out some toys in the foyer.

Katie Anne and Lily check out one of the carved pumpkins at the Halloween Festival...

And then Katie Anne thought she'd kiss it!

New Pigtails

Katie Anne's hair is long enough for a new style, so she's rocking the little pigtails now. We think it looks super cute, and it keeps us from having to constantly tuck that one side of hair behind her ear.




Of Course...

She'll wear the crown today, the day after Fairytale Day! Now, she's loving it. :)



Friday, October 24, 2008

Professional Wedding Photos

The professional wedding pictures came online today! There are literally tons of great ones... it will be so hard for Greg and Jillian to choose which ones to get. Here are some of my favorites!

Photos taken by The Victorian Rose Photography
www.victorianroseweb.com

Fairytale Day!

Today was Fairytale Day at Katie Anne's school. They've been studying different fairytales this month, and the kids could dress up as their favorite character for school today.

Katie Anne's teacher, Miss Amanda, is great. She really gets into all of their projects. For instance, this week the class has studied Cinderella. They've read the story every day, made glittery magic wands and pumpkin mosaics, and danced to the Disney Cinderella music. So, Katie Anne dressed up as The Fairy Godmother today! She loves The Fairy Godmother, and she loves to flip through her Cinderella book and look for her on each page.

Here are some pictures of her in her costume this morning.

The happy Fairy Godmother.

Come out, come out, Abby...

Katie Anne zaps Abby with a spell under the dining room table.

Then, she casts a spell on Ginger!

Here are some pictures of Katie Anne with her friends at school. As you can see, not too many kids dressed up, but Katie Anne likes to stand out, so she was fine with that.


Katie Anne and her friend Brodie.

Katie Anne's good friend Regina, or as she says "G-Nina".
Katie Anne's friend Jayden with her morning teacher, Carrie. We love Ms. Carrie, too!