Bloggin from the beach

So, I'm bloggin from the beach...okay, I'm not literally on the beach right this moment (sand and a laptop probably don't mix...especially when it's not your laptop!), but I can see the ocean from where I'm sitting. We're here at Amelia Island in North Florida for the big Georgia/Florida showdown. Some old friends of ours have joined us and we've got a big condo on the Plantation. Jack's napping and everyone is getting ready to head downtown for some shopping.

Last night we enjoyed some great food at Barbara Jean's. If you've never heard of it...they have them in a couple of places down here. They have fabulous crabcakes! We ate at the one at St. Simons earlier this summer. It was delicious. We're all looking forward to halloween festivities here tomorrow. The kids have costumes and we hear there is a hayride. I hope to have some great photos to share once we return on Sunday.

In the meantime, Go Dawgs!

Martha Stewart Moment

So, today Jack and I went to a Halloween party, which was a lot of fun. It was a trial run of his cute little monkey costume. I think it went pretty well. He kept it on for at least an hour. All the kids had really cute costumes, and we even got a group picture (well, sort of). My friend, Carolyn, was our gracious host and even had crafts and halloween-themed projects for the kids to do. Thanks, Carolyn. We had a blast!

Since they are far and few between I have to share my Martha Stewart moment with you. Here's a photo of the dessert I took to today's Halloween party. I'm guessing the recipe has way too much trans fat and is not organic enough for Martha Stewart (probably a little more up Paula Deen's alley...it has a stick of butter in it!), but I think the artistic touches were something to write home about or at least blog, but it wasn't without drama...

After covering some of my nutter butters with melted white chocolate, I realized I couldn't locate the tube of black icing I bought to pipe on ghostly features and to decorate my tombstones. I panicked! Enter Prince Charming from stage left. Seeing my obvious distress that the picture perfect dessert I had designed in my head would now seem pitiful, Josh stepped in. He quickly headed to the pantry and found some chocolate chips to melt. A few moments later, I turned around to find these festive ghost faces! Awesome, right? A little while later he returned to the kitchen to find me having had assembled what I deemed to be my perfectly festive dessert.

Josh: You're going to take a picture of that aren't you?
Me: Heck yes I am!
Josh: You're probably going to put it on the blog aren't you?
Me: Uh, yes...aren't you proud of it?
Josh: Well, I guess I'm proud of my part.

So, thanks Josh for saving the day!

On a Ride...

We had our third MOPS meeting on Friday and I happened to catch a glimpse of what Jack and his fellow Giraffes (that's the name of his class) were doing to pass the time without their moms.

I think they make Jack ride alone because he pulls the other kids' hair. What a bully. He must get that from his daddy. I condone no such behavior.

Wedding Weekend

Our weekend included UGA Homecoming game, a wedding and a birthday party. Here are some photos from all the fun.

One of my bestest and oldest friends (old as in I've known a long time, not old as in years...although it's been more of those then we'd probably like to admit) got married on Saturday evening. Jack was very cute in his dress shirt, slacks and sweater. He was also very well behaved during the ceremony. He enjoyed a little dancing with me and Josh.

Here I am with the beautiful bride. Terri looked fabulous and oh so happy, especially when dancing their first dance. I was so very happy to help celebrate such a special day in her life...I was also very happy to taste all the yummy cake. Her cake had 3 different varieties, then if you throw in the groom's cake, it's a miracle I only ate 3 pieces! I tried the layer with strawberry filling, the lemon layer and the groom's chocolate on chocolate. The only one I bypassed was the apple spice...I had to say no at a certain point. I don't think it makes it any more excusable, but I didn't eat lunch. Just a late breakfast and little snack b/f the 12:30 kickoff of the game...which by the way was perfect weather.

Jack made it up until about an hour past bedtime then he gave up. He enjoyed resting his head on his sweet Aunt Emily. Later he woke up to help wave goodbye to the new bride and groom. After changing into his pajamas he slept most of the hour ride home.

On Sunday afternoon, we headed to the park for Drew's 5th birthday party. It was a chilly afternoon, but as you can see Jack loved the swings as usual. In the words of a sweet kid I know: "It was the best party ever!"

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Just got in from Terri's wild and crazy bachelorette party down in A-town. Okay, so it wasn't that wild and crazy, but it was a ton of fun. In fact, I can't remember when I have laughed that hard. Most of the old crew from high school/WFBC was there. Stacie and Cassidy organized it and kept it a secret. She just thought she was having dinner with them, but we were all waiting on her...with some fantastic accessories.

We all got a kick out of the gifts she received, which I won't share here...tee hee hee. Anyway, it was a fun time and the wedding should be the same. Looking forward to Saturday night.

Hazards Ahead

Well I guess there are definitely hazards related to learning to cruise. Jack took his first big tumble yesterday after trying to bravely get from the support of his pack n play to the support of a toy. Needless to say, his bravery is higher than his skill level at this point. Also evidenced by the fact that he keeps trying to climb the stairs. Anyway, a pretty dramatic crying spell followed the spill and he has a small bruise/carpet burn to show from it (just beside his left eye).

But as you can see, the tears didn't last long. He was soon back to his adventurous and playful self. What a fun time to be around as he is learning so much everyday.

Visitors

Thursday morning found Jack and I welcoming visitors again. This time in the way of his Grandmommy and cousin Sean, who were out of school for fall break. They arrived just before lunch and we all had some time to play before meeting Josh for lunch. Sean really enjoyed feeding Jack. Although it usually ended up being a little messy, the two seemed to be having a great time.

They played most of the afternoon until I basically made Jack take a nap. He might have been content to skip it all together. We watched a movie while he napped and I started on dinner, which I needed to take to some friends in our Sunday School class. After Jack had dinner (with help from Sean), I set off to deliver the meal. On my way home, I got a call from Josh who was finishing up a shift at the free clinic and was ready to break away for dinner.

We met him at the clinic and then headed to El Campesino, one of Josh's mom's favorite places here. We always have such great service there and the wait staff loves Jack. They are always teasing him and making faces for him to laugh.

On Friday morning I had a MOPS meeting to attend. Grandmommy and Sean decided to stick around and play some more with Jack while I headed to the meeting. We had a great meeting and a wonderful speaker, Ivy Hall of Initials, INC, which is based here in Clarkesville. Ivy's a great speaker and a phenomenally sweet person. She is one of those people that no matter what whenever she is talking to you she makes you feel like she is truly interested in what you are saying. I feel like I probably don't always give off that same impression...something to work on.

After the meeting, Tate & Brit came home with me for the afternoon, but not before a stop at Josh's office with Andrea & Andrew. After our brief pit stop we picked up Wacky Packs and lunch for everyone at Sonic and headed home. Grandmommy, Jack & Sean were all waiting on us. We also had another visitor!

We're having the yard re-seeded in hopes for a more positive result and the guy was there tilling up the backyard. The boys couldn't wait to get outside and watch the real live tractor. Even Jack enjoyed it oohing and aahing as his hair blew in the breeze. Just after lunch our company left and it was just me and the little boys. We sure enjoyed our visit from Grandmommy & Sean.

After Derek picked up the boys, I started on dinner. Once Josh got home, the three of us enjoyed a quiet evening at home. We watched a movie after putting Jack to bed. It was one of those relaxing evenings that is the perfect ending to an active week.

Saturday morning we headed down to Athens for the UGA/UT game. We enjoyed a fun tailgate with the Carrs and a nice victory for the dawgs. We're halfway through the season and our easiest games are behind us. Here's hoping the dawgs can finish strong like they did last season.

Joined the Club

So, we have officially joined the club as of last week...the sick kids club. Jack had been a trooper with a runny nose for about a week, but really started to get down on Monday. He started to run a bit of a fever and sure enough he had ear infections on both sides. I think we caught it early because he had just started to fuss with his ears a bit. Thanks to some antibiotics, he seemed to be feeling better by Tuesday afternoon. What a blessing to have made it 10 months with no major illnesses. We are thankful for a healthy and happy boy!

It's a good thing since we had company. Miriam & Bob, some friends from South Carolina were camping nearby. They stopped by to meet Jack. We had not seen them since about this time last year when I was about 8 months pregnant. Miriam and Josh worked together in the ER in Abbeville. It was great to see them and have an opportunity to catch up.

Wednesday morning our MOPS steering team had a meeting to regroup before our second meeting. We met at Sarah's house. Jack enjoyed playing with Mallory and exploring all her toys. It was quite a rainy day. We really needed it, but it always makes for an interesting day when we get it all at once.

Time to (thow a) Party!

Friday morning Jack and I left town and headed for Athens. We had a shower to help throw for one of my best friends, Terri, back in Winterville. On the way we stopped in Commerce and met another great friend, Brooke and her 3 cute boys at Chick-fil-A for breakfast. They live in South Georgia but were up visiting family and friends for the week. Although it was a brief visit, it was great to see them and meet the newest member of the family, baby Ben. Here are a couple of pictures of these cuties!










Once Jack and I arrived in Athens we met up with my mom and did some shopping and running errands. Later we went over to Watkinsville to meet my dad for lunch. Jack wasn't a very cooperative diner until Grandpa got out the ice cream. Since we were in the neighborhood we stopped by to see one of my best friends at work, Stacie. We got a tour of her new office. Finally, we headed home for Jack to get a nap.

Friday night Stacie joined us for dinner at Rafferty's, one of my favorites. Yummy...cheese fries and soup and salad! Jack did pretty well until it got a bit too close to his bedtime. We headed home although Stacie asked about stopping by the Haunted House first...ha, ha!




On Saturday, I needed to help with party preparations so mom watched Jack while I helped get things ready. It was a bit hectic, but we pulled it off. Angie & Jill, two great friends and excellent fellow hostesses, did a great job. We had the party at a pavillion in their backyards. It was a lot of fun. Here's Jack flirting with Angie's daughter Andee Claire. Jack and AC have the same exact birthday; they were born just a few hours apart. I'm not sure she was in the mood for his antics.

Why Buy Toys?

On Wednesday, Jack's friend Andrew came over to play for a few hours. It was actually Andrew's six-month birthday. Later at church we celebrated with 1/2 a cake. These two are a lot of fun and seem to enjoy being around each other. I can't believe they are already past the 1/2 year mark and Jack is creeping pretty close to the one year mark! Here's a shot of Jack playing with Andrew's dad's facial hair and a cute one of Andrew and his mommy.












As I have previously blogged Jack is really getting around these days. He's quite an adventurous little one and seems to find new things to play with everywhere he goes. His latest favorite toy is seen here...the door stoppers. He loves them and the fun sound they make. I'm less fond of them at 6:00 in the morning, but at least he's content.

Jack continues to pull up on everything. Yes, everything. Here are a few pictures of him caught in the act.