Surviving

   So, we've survived the Christmas season.  My son seems to have hit the terrible 2's at the ripe age of 3.  The screaming, yelling, and running around seems endless.  I really have no idea where the energy comes from.  Especially after fighting a sinus infection.  He seemed even more wild while he was sick.  After all that, we still had a great Christmas with family and friends. 


   We had a Craft and Baking Day last Tuesday and my house looked like a bomb had gone off in my kitchen.  Sugar, glitter and beads were everywhere.  The girls and Alex made cookies, magic bars, and glittery ornaments while listening to Christmas music. 


   Christmas Eve was spent with Brian's family exchanging gifts and eating finger foods.  It was good to see some of the Fam that we haven't seen in a while.


Christmas morning we got up with Alex to see what Santa had brought.  Alex got a new Mickey Mouse Scooter and a DageDar Race Track.  I got a new Nikon Coolpix Camera and case.  Maybe I won't break this one.  Brian got a lot of Clemson paraphernalia and a College Football Encyclopedia.  All in all we had a wonderful Christmas.  I hope yours was just as wonderful.  I"ll have pictures later.  Right now, Alex and I are just lounging and relaxing.


By the way, Brian has a sports blog and will have a 5 minute segment on a radio show on Fridays. Here's the blog link.  If you want to listen live here's the link to the radio show.  I'll post some times that he will be on.


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Story Time

Monday night, as I was reading  "No More Diapers for Ducky!" to Alex, I was taken back to when I was a little girl.  My middle sister, Noel, and I would get Momma to read a book to us almost every night.  We had our favorites.  "Cinderella", "Cat in the Hat", "The Spooky Old Tree"... and the list goes on.  Like my son, we had our favorite of the week (month).  Momma would read the same book every night for god knows how long.  She never really complained.  Her reading was AWESOME!!!  She always, always, did the voices of each character.  Momma was the Queen of making a the characters truly come alive.  Especially Gus Gus, the mouse, in "Cinderella".  She'd even sing some of the songs from the movie.  She came over to my house a few weeks ago and I got her to read a book to Alex.  Watching and listening to her read to Alex was one of those wonderful memories that I will always treasure.  Love you, Momma!!!

Fall is Here

This past weekend we were in the mood for fall.  We spent Sunday morning in the yard playing and cleaning up.  Later that day, I got Brian to get the Fall/Halloween decorations out of the attic. 

Alex and I had the best time going through all the decorations.  He was so excited about the ones that light up.  Every day since then, he asks me to turn the lights on.

Then there's the cute little tiger twins that grace the table by the front door.  Alex decided that they needed to stand side by side.  It can be a little disturbing when you walk by.  They're looking at you...

See, just a little creepy.  Anyway, our house is looking ready for Halloween.  Just in time for the first day of fall.  I love this season!!

Gardening Family

I was out in the yard with Alex yesterday afternoon. We started out playing baseball in the driveway and ended up digging up evil plants and small trees in my yard. My little man is so active. He'll do anything as long as he's outside. We played ball for about 45 minutes. Me pitching (big laugh) and Alex hitting it back. We played until Daddy went Bowling. Then we started playing in the garden.

I borrowed a shovel from my mom a few weeks ago. I started digging up those pesky little oaks that keep popping up and some other thing that seems to like to pop up all over the yard. Not sure what that is but, I don't like them. Anyway, Alex ran into the garage looking for his little shovel. After finding it, he came to help Mommy dig holes. I spent most of the time telling him not to dig up my good plants. It was a blast! This reminds me of gardening with my Daddy and much later my Father-In-Law.

When my family still lived in Bishopville, my Daddy turned the whole back yard into a garden. I thought that was the coolest thing. We had corn, watermelon, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, and a few other things I can't quite recall. I never ate the radishes but, I liked to help pick them. I remember one day in particular. Daddy and I had gone out to look at the veggies. He pulled off a ripe tomato, handed it to me, and said try it. I looked at him a little funny and thought "I can't eat a tomato right off the vine". Well, I tried it. Let me tell you, that was the best tomato that I had ever eaten up until that point. I already liked tomatoes. This started my love affair with that wonderful fruit! That leads me to my Father-In-Law, Dean.

After piddling with tomato plants over the past couple of years with no success. This year, I went with Dean to the Farmers Market and picked out 4 different tomato plants and a couple of cucumber plants. I was very ambitious. I had the best time! Dean made a box for me to plant a few of the plants. I put 3 of the tomato plants in hanging baskets. This year, I got several tomatoes and some cucumbers. I'm already planning my garden for next year.

Many thanks to the two men who gave me these wonderful memories and helping me do something that is relaxing and rewarding! I love you both!!

New Starts

Well...I had written a whole post and hit some button and erased the whole thing.  GRRRR!


Anyway, I'm starting a few things over and trying to commit to a couple more things.  I know, I need more things to commit to.  I'm going to try to lose a little weight.  I think writing it here will boost my willpower a little.  Another new thing is this blog.  I'm going to write something at least once a week.  For now, I'm going to post some of my fondest memories of my family and friends.  People say that many memories are triggered by scents.  Most of mine are triggered by sounds.  A particular song that comes on the radio or a movie that my son is watching in his room.  The sound of heels clacking down the hall make me think of playing with my Nannie's ballroom shoes.  So, here goes.  My memories...


I was sitting in the living room listening to my son watching a DVD (Mickey's Christmas Carol).  As I was listening, I was remembering going to my Nannie's house during the Christmas season (my favorite season).  We, some of the grand kids, would gather in the living room and watch Mickey's Christmas Carol almost every year.  Sometimes we would watch it on Christmas Day.  This is one of my fondest memories.  I bought Mickey's Christmas Carol this past Christmas for my son in the hopes that we can start a similar tradition with him and his cousins.


I always love the holidays at the end of the year.  They always bring family together.


If you would like, leave some of your fondest memories to share.

Amy's Wedding

I went to my Cousin Amy's wedding this weekend. Mom made all the flowers except for the boutiniers. I made those. :) We had an exhausting but wonderful time. Amy was beautiful!

More on Gardening

I've been out working in the yard this evening. I've planted two cucumber plants and a tomato plant. That's about all I had time to do today. I'm hoping to plant some day lilies and snap dragons tomorrow. I have the perfect place for them.

Alex and I have been getting an average of two strawberries a day off of my plants.

I have also discovered that I have a little inhabitant in my garden. So far she hasn't been eating my strawberries. We'll see how long that lasts. I still think she's pretty though.

New Hobby

Ok. So I've been dormant for a while. Alex and I have been very busy. We have new projects. Along with the baseball practice, we have planted some strawberry plants. We worked in the yard this past Sunday. Alex helped me dig holes for our strawberries. He found 2 snails and an earthworm. He really was helpful. He did however try to dig up a couple of my plants but, Mommy stopped him just in time. He raked and swept the yard and helped me water all the plants. As of today we have 3 strawberries ready to pick. I have to wait until Alex gets home tomorrow. Here are a few pictures of our accomplishments.

This is a pic of our strawberries

Alex digging a hole. He was so cute!!!