Where we're going...

Jack can officially see where we're going...not just where we've been. This week signified the turning around of the car seat. I know he didn't grow any overnight, but he just looks so much older and more grown up sitting so upright...weird, I know! Must be one of those mom things. As you can see, he's still silly when turned around.

Wednesday night we asked the Shaws to join us at the Magical Night of Lights at Lake Lanier Islands. I'm a sucker for Christmas lights and a little eager to begin some silly holiday traditions with Jack, I guess. The lights were good...Britton (the Shaw's nearly 3 y/o) enjoyed them the most. At the end of your driving tour, there's a silly holiday carnival. Thankfully, Jack's not old enough yet to care about riding anything.

Brit took a trip on the carousel and the train, while the big boys tossed skee ball. Derek one a nice prize for all the kids. We finished our stay with a stop at the fire pits, where you can roast marshmallows. (Which they charge for by the way...as if you didn't pay enough to ride through.) Overall, it was fun and I would go back. If you do decide to go: 1. try to get as many people in your car/minivan as possible (I think 9 is the limit); 2. bring your own marshmallows and coat hangers and roast away (we even saw a family who brought their own graham crackers and hershey bars!); 3. pre-purchase your ticket online (you save $10 from the gate price) and use the coupon code 5253 when checking out to save an additional $5.

It's the season of thanksgiving and the season for a very big celebration at our house. Jack turns ONE on Friday! Wild, right? It seems like I just started this blog and now he's a year old. Here's Jack with someone I'm very thankful for, his great grandfather. It was great spending time with family today for Thanksgiving and all the great food ain't bad either. Enormous thanks to Josh's sister and her fiance who delivered a massive spread for dinner (they felt bad b/c Josh was on call and couldn't join me and Jack in Athens). We thought they were bringing by a plate, but instead brought enough to feed an army! How thankful we are for such wonderful family!

The Big Gorge

We spent Saturday afternoon at Tallulah Gorge with some friends who had come up to visit for the day. It was a very chilly day, but we bundled up and enjoyed the beautiful views. Jack enjoyed being outside and riding on Josh's shoulders. Here are a couple of photos from our hike.

Our little Picasso

We have a stainless steel fridge, so the front is not magnetic. It certainly means a clean look, but there's no place to display our little ones first piece of artwork. One day a week Jack goes to the preschool at our church for a few hours. On Thursday, he made this.


Cute, huh? I guess we have a budding artist on our hands :) I wonder if they let him choose which hand to make the turkey with. He is definitely favoring his left for most things these days. He feeds himself mostly with his left hand. Last night, we were at Cracker Barrel and Josh put a little bit of ranch dressing on his spoon and let him hold it. He knew exactly what to do. It was so much fun watching him figure out how to use it. Oh, there's a Krispy Kreme in Commerce now! So, we learned that Jack likes ranch dressing and hot doughnuts!

Today we went to Tallulah Gorge with some friends. I'll post some photos soon.

Sorry for the links to the photos. Blogger wouldn't let me add photos tonight.

Tag...I'm it

So, a friend of mine recently tagged me on her blog. I was tagged to share 7 random things about myself. I'm just now getting around to putting my mind to it.

Here goes:
1. I love college football. Specifically, Georgia football, but I'll watch just about any teams. I not really sure when the love began...maybe in the womb. I think my mom "carried me" to a bowl game and then the season following my first birthday was quite a memorable ones for the Dawgs. I like to think my parents were on cloud 9...a beautiful one-year-old girl and a national championship. What more could two people want? Oh, yeah a 4-year-old son! :)

2. I find great satisfaction in having empty clothes hampers at my house. I don't really mind doing the laundry either. I think I like it because it's a pretty mindless task.

3. I constantly think about creating a TO DO list, but never do. I think about writing things down, but never seem to get around to it. Then I forget what I need to do/buy. This drives my husband crazy! He loves lists.

4. The idea of scrapbooking is very appealing to me. I used to really enjoy doing, but can't seem to make myself dedicate the time to it these days. My excuse these days is time & space. I know pretty lame.

5. Gift wrapping is one of my favorite things to do. I love wrapping presents in pretty papers and big bows. It shows you went the extra step of getting out tape and scissors. That being said, I still take the short cut and use a bag and tissue every now and then. Mostly, because...

6. I'm incredibly frugal went it comes to some things. I cut coupons (of which only about 10% probably get used) and reuse gift bags and tissue! Ooops...telling all my secrets! I made a special trip to CVS today just to save 25% on my purchases.

7. I love correspondence. I find great joy in writing and mailing notes to friends and family. I guess because I know how happy I am after opening a handwritten note from the mailbox.

Now, I'm supposed to tag 7 of my friends, so here goes:

Brooke

Carolyn

Heather

Jessica

Kajal

Kathy

Tori

Tag, ladies...you're it!

We love you, Papa

Dearest Papa,

You're home now. You're with your lovely wife of 60-plus years. You're with your Heavenly Father. I can only imagine how peaceful it must be for you now. Your pain, frustration and confusion must surely be gone now.

I'm thankful we were able to see you last week. I'm thankful that you were able to meet your great grandson and spend most of a year getting to know him. I know he won't remember getting to know you, but we'll tell him all about you and his great grandmother. We'll make sure he knows what special people you both were.

I'm so thankful to have so many special memories of you. Some that I am able to touch on a daily basis, like my cedar hope chest. I wonder if you've already begun to craft benches, shelves, tables and such in your new home. Thanks for sharing your beautiful craftmanship with your family and friends.

I have to admit, we're shedding tears here for you. We can't help but think of how much we'll miss you, but I am comforted knowing that any tears you may shed will be ones of happiness.

We love you, Papa.



*John Blakely Giles, Sr. died Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Dancing the Day Away

Thursday night Jack got his first real haircut. Josh had previously trimmed the sides while I was out of the house, but this was an all around hair cut. I held him still while Josh did the trimming. It looks so cute and even more like a little boy and not a baby! I can't believe he'll be one in a couple of weeks!

Since I can't remember what I mention in my posts and I'm too lazy to review previous posts, I probably end up repeating myself. Anyway, Jack is beginning to show more signs of some word development. Josh and I both swear he said or tried to say "milk" a couple of weeks ago. He seems to be saying "Daa" or "Maa" when being held by one of us, but I don't know if I'm ready to chalk any up as first words. Am I just an idiot or is this first word thing really supposed to be clear cut? Despite my uncertainity for his word development, he has definitely figured out that cars, trucks, tractors, etc. make a motor sound. Whenever he is pushing a toy with wheels he makes a motor sound with his mouth. It is so cute and funny! As you can see from this photo, he also loves his blocks. He takes them out of the box and puts them back in over and over again.

Josh, Jack and I went shopping on Sunday to try and get some work done on our Christmas list. We stepped into Brookstone, where an Ipod tower was blaring music and Jack just started grooving in his stroller. I captured some of it with my camera. If you have 53 seconds with nothing else to do, check it out.

A Great Read

If you're looking for a great read, I'd like to make a recommendation: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I would say I don't have a lot of time to read, but really I don't make enough time to read as often as I'd like. But, when Josh picked this book up in Amelia Island last week and mentioned it was along the lines of Tuesdays with Morrie (one of my favorites; What? I like sappy books), I thought it sounded interesting. He'd heard about a few months back and had been wanting to pick it up. On Sunday, I thought I'd use our 6 plus hour ride home to see if this thing was any good.

Well, it is. In fact, I highly recommend it. It's an easy read and can be read in pieces easily...although I knocked it out in a few hours on Sunday. The book is a recount of a professor's observations, life lessons, etc. as he prepares and then delivers a "Last Lecture." Unlike typical last lectures, this will truly be his last lecture as he is terminally ill. Anyway, after you read the book, you can watch the lecture online. The book was written after the lecture gained national recognition.