Tuesday, March 31, 2009

GoGirl on YouTube

This video allows you to see the GoGirl in action. Intrigued? I would say so...Thanks MommyfromtheMidwest!

Monday, March 30, 2009

You GoGirl

Since potty training Lucy, Matt and I have had some *ahem* interesting conversations about women and using the bathroom. It went something like this...

"Ugh. When is this GIRL gonna learn how to not make such a mess when she pees?"
"Sweetheart. That's how women pee."
"It goes all over the place like that? She can't just pee like; in a stream?"

"Nope. That's called GIRL PARTS."

It has been aggravating to go from training a boy child to a girl child because you do actually have to go find a bathroom rather than advising them to find a tree and drop trou...

But then I just saw this:

I don't think I need to go into an anatomy lesson to teach you how it works. But it is designed so that women don't HAVE to sit to pee. They are pitching it as a device to make it more sanitary, like you don't have to sit on that NASTY toilet in the bathroom in the gas station in Skanksville USA. Just whip this baby out, stand up like a man and sweet, sweet relief is yours.

And I have to be honest. I thought about/am thinking about it. It is totally ridiculous. But that child has to pee about every six and half minutes. Plus, it might come in handy sometime. It is a COMPLETELY ridiculous product. But is it? I think I would use it. I hate dirty bathrooms. And I have some special peeing issues myself. Dangit, now I AM thinking about it. I mean, you can pee. Anywhere? Go check it out yourself:

GoGirl Their tagline is "Because life's greatest adventure shouldn't be finding a bathroom." Good advertising at least.

Incredible

It is amazing but Baby Jonah has made it through a month of his life and has now made it HOME! It is so exciting and scary for his parents. Thanks for praying and thinking about him and them. Please keep them in mind. They have a long road ahead of them, but it is really cool how LITERALLY her blog saved his life.

Within hours of his birth, other parents of EB kids got on her blog and commented about his bandaging and the care that his physicians needed to be providing him. Thankfully, the doctors took the advice and they managed to avoid major infections and got the care he needed to make it this far.

The internet is amazing when it is used for good! Thanks for praying!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Life is Too Short

To avoid sharing this with all of you...


By the way...this song is AWESOME to run to. Especially if you think about this guy the whole time. Or Beyonce's legs. Either way.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Take On Me

Just watch this.

Yep. You can thank me later.

This is how I spend my Friday nights.

The Sex Talk

I was catching up on all of the television that we "missed" while we were at the beach and I was watching Friday Night Lights. Matt walked in the room and sat down about 30 minutes into the episode and I caught him up on what had happened and well...he didn't really care.

Then this scene came on and I found myself in a puddle of tears. I mean crying to the point of a migraine later on in the night. Why? Because NO ONE has this conversation with their kids. I was so sad. Sad for my high school friends. Sad for my grown-up friends. Sad for my own past. Sad for the hurts to come in my own kids lives.

You can't avoid it. But, I hope that I have the guts to have the hard conversations with my kids and to love them enough to tell them about how Jesus came to heal the hurt. That you don't have to go through these things alone.

I love this show. Mostly because I think that it is the ONLY thing on television that is really showing what parents are up against with high school kids today. My friends live like I did when I was in college. But they are in high school. They are 14 and 15 years old.

They are ill-equipped to deal with anything but their parents are ill-equipped to have hard conversations and are too afraid to be uncomfortable. Judgemental? Yes. Realistic? More than likely the truth? Unfortunately yes.
I feel badly for the parents that do try to stay involved because they are ostracized as being the "crazy" parents now rather than being the loving parents that people used to look up to. It is a MINEFIELD now.

Anyway. I cried. Hard. Take a look. Draw your own conclusions on what you would have done.
Their 17 year-old daughter was caught having sex with her boyfriend when her dad was sent to pick her up. The punishment for having gotten caught is "having to talk about it."


Thursday, March 26, 2009

Panama City-Wooh!

Lucy decided to get our Spring Break trip to Panama City off on the right foot by promptly stripping down to the buff and getting into the freezing cold water. This was seriously after a 9-hour drive to the beach. The kids did great and we had an amazing week. Click on any of the pictures to see them in bigger form.

Her puritantical parents decided underwear might save us from getting reported or arrested on the spot. She didn't seem to mind the cover-up action.

Later on in the week, she had other opinions about something else. One of her many talents.

I know that many people think that Lucy looks just like Matt and Asher. But I have a picture of me as a child that I look EXACTLY like this. It is odd how much I can see myself in her everyday. And frightening.



Spring Break '09! Baby Pool Pitcher! Woohoo!






Everyone say it together...awwwwwww.


FYI: This is what you look like when you get the flu at the beach. And you are three and a half.
Seriously, you have to click on this picture to get the detail that is there in his eyes. It is awesome.

So we are back and Asher has the flu. Apparently, he had the flu pretty much the whole time we were there. Which made things "special" while we were there.
But you can tell from the pictures, we still had a pretty good time!
Glad to be home. But I am READY to see 75 degree days in MY full-time forecast.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Oh Lawd, She's Baking Again

It's the Big Man's birthday again.
I mean it only happens once a year. So it's exciting!

When we first got married, I asked him what he wanted and here's what he told me:
"Can you call my Nana and ask her how to make Lemon Glazed Pound Cake?"

Sure thing. We've only been married nine months. I can make a CAKE.
She gladly passed this dadgum recipe on to me because it was breaking her back for years to make this cake for my husband every year on his birthday.

She told me things that you don't hear anymore like,
"leave the butter and eggs out all day until they get to room temperature."
and
"add the eggs one at a time and then BEAT THEM TO DEATH."
and my favorite
"I like to use a little bit of nearly ALMOST spoiled sour cream, it gives it a bit of extra flavor"

Now the torch has been passed to me.
I would love to give you the recipe, but the Internet doesn't have the ability to capture the hole that his family would throw me into for sharing such a secret. But, if you come near our house on your birthday, I might THINK about making it for you. And wouldn't that be a treat?

A little tip before we dive into the pictures...don't-I REPEAT DON'T EAT THE BATTER. This stuff is so rich that it will ruin your appetite for the final product and you will WANT the final product.
Here is the cake BEFORE glazing.

It's just a ring of goodness waiting to be glazed.


You see the difference a glaze makes? This glaze? The juice of two lemons and 2 cups of powdered sugar. That's all.
BTW: don't look for this recipe in Cooking Light.

You don't even have to glaze the bottom, it just runs right down there and seals the cake to the plate. The plate is a piece of honor too. Matt's grandmother gave it to me. It's the only one that fits under my display cake plate.
You can't buy these things people. They are handed down from generation to generation!


Oh look who wandered into the kitchen to eat the pieces that I cut off so that the cake would lay flat on the plate?
Good timing or a child after her mother's own heart?
It's tastes so good it hurts.


These are the cut-off pieces. Note to the readers, this is how you keep a cake whole.
Let the children eat the little pieces. Also, I had leftover batter and so I baked a little poundcake just for me and Matt to enjoy while it was still warm. Mmmhmm.

Oh, I was just wandering by and ummmm....I thought I would get a little taste...

Here is what I call the "tri-fecta of goodness." A glazed cake, cake cast-offs, the glaze ready to be dipped in. Yum-ola.
The final product. Four hours later. Dishes a plent. My kitchen destroyed. The oven has been on forever. But it is all worth it. Be sure of this, you are not going to find this in a Rachel Ray cookbook and this sure as crap ain't no Betty Crocker cake.
But I am going on vacation tomorrow and the cake is coming with us!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Program at Windy Gap

We just got back last night from Windy Gap where Matt, Ben and Todd did program for Augusta Young Life's Family Camp.





Pretty much looks like a good time doesn't it? Yes everyone, that is my baby's daddy.

Pictures of Beauty

No explanation needed.

Top of the Morning






I took these pictures about a week ago after we realized that Asher was actually sick with a little bug. We discovered he was sick when he cuddled up on the couch and fell asleep. Definitely NOT typical behavior for that kid.

For example? This morning he actually bounced off a wall when he saw me.

Also, one day I hope to look like Lucy when I wake up. This literally was the first thing in the morning when I took her picture. That is not what most people would call "bed hair".

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Nutragrain Commercial

This commercial makes little to no sense, but it made me laugh. And who doesn't love to laugh?

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Oh Wow

I don't play Fantasy Football, but this commercial has me thinking about it. And how amazing the commercial is.



Pick me-ooh pick me!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

New Find

I just signed up to run in 15k race in May and I need to up my daily mileage. Since we moved to a new part of town, I don't exactly know all the best places to go running.

I did a quick google search this morning and I found a great new tool from USA Track and Field. You can plug in an address, a zip code etc and plot a route or FIND a route to run that has already been plotted for you.


It is really easy to do and now, no more driving to find out exactly how far I ran after the run!
http://www.usatf.org/routes/map/

Brilliant

I saw this on Lifehacker.com today and it made so much sense to me.

I mean, we don't have SUPER complicated TV around these parts, but just with TV plus a cable box AND DVR and kids that like to watch DVD's...it can get a little hairy to communicate to babysitter's or just visitors to the house how to operate our little remote control system. Plus I know people (*cough* my sister Shellie *cough*) who have pretty complicated systems that altogether shutdown if you hit just one single wrong button. And we wouldn't want the Amazing Race to not get recorded would we?
Speaking of that:
Dear NBC, could you please STOP airing your "Best of" series on Sunday nights? It is sending my DVR into overdrive and bumping the Amazing Race. You are not going to win this ratings war. You might as well give up. If you really want to make it interesting? Bring back My So Called Life or The Cosby Show. But the Best of Saturday Night Live Game Show Parodies? Give me a break.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Nine-er EIGHT Years Later, it still fits!

A few weeks ago, I donned my wedding dress my friend Eva's Etsy shop. She heard that I wore my dress for YL club and asked if I could wear it again because she is selling wedding veils on Etsy.

So of course I said "Yes!"
Who doesn't want to wear their wedding dress again and again?

Eva does a great job on her Etsy shop and she can pretty much make anything you want. If you haven't spent any time on etsy, you can visit Eva here and Robin here and then you can kiss the rest of the afternoon away because you will go see everything else the site has to offer. It is amazing.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Pictures of the Week

If a tree has to fall on your car, at least you can get pretty pictures out of it right?
Please look at my doll baby twins. I mean they aren't. But they look like it don't they?
Here I am in my 31 year old glory at the French Broad Chocolate Lounge with my
French Broad's. Check out my tricep muscle popping outta my shirt.
I'm diesel. Pure diesel.

What? You've never heard of a Lemon Pepper Truffle paired with a Chardonnay? Then you have not died and gone to heaven. More please. STAT. Click on the picture and look at this thing in full sized. That little piece of chocolate truffle actual has as many flavors of an entire pizza. But doesn't taste anything like a pizza. Unbelievable.

My kids are also getting a bit sick of the camera, but I have gotten good at getting them to ham it up for me too:


Quote of the Day


"I must learn to love the fool in me--the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries. It alone protects me against that utterly self-controlled, masterful tyrant whom I also harbor and who would rob me of human aliveness, humility, and dignity but for my fool." -- Theodore I. Rubin, MD

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Just a Reminder

Please continue to pray and think of our friends Patrice and Matt Williams. You can follow their story and their son Jonah on their blog at www.patriceandmattwilliams.blogspot.com or click on this link:


Thanks friends!