Mommy Homework

Someone received a bad conduct report at school yesterday, so I came home and pulled out my arsenal...

I'm not naming any names, but I think my next book purchase needs to be Bringing Up Boys!

Books (in order top to bottom)
1. Praying the Scriptures for Your Children, Jodie Berndt
2. Don't Make Me Count to Three, Ginger Plowman
3. The New Strong Willed Child, James Dobson
4. Parenting: A Heir Raising Experience, Mary Glynn Peeples
5. Creative Correction, Lisa Whelchel (aka Blair:)
6. Parenting by The Book, John Rosemond

Yummy To My Tummy

Some of you may have noticed that I FINALLY catalogued all of my recipes on the right hand side of the blog. I laughed as I went back through all of my posts looking for recipes (what was I thinking!!) because all of my recipes have one common theme...very few ingredients! Well, that, and the fact that most of them are desserts:)

So, if you like to cook with very few ingredients (usually things you already have around the house)and you like sweets, you need to check them out!

In celebration of my favorite time of the year, here's another recipe to add to the collection. And yes, it only has 4 ingredients and it's a sweet (well, it's salty too, but you can see the pattern!). Here's one of the ingredients...

Happy Fall Ya'll Trail Mix
Candy Corn
Salted peanuts
Golden raisins
Reese's Pieces

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy!

You can find this mix already made up at Fresh Market (they call it Harvest Delight). The ingredients are so easy to find and even easier to put together, I think I'm going to make my own next time!

As a side note, Fresh Market also has Alabama and Auburn goodies this time of year. White chocolate covered pretzels with game day colors as well as trail mix with the appropriate orange and blue or red and white M&M's. Be sure and check them out(or make your own). I especially like theirs because instead of the usual salted peaunts, they use honey roated. YUM!!

A Birthday Celebration

One of the best things about being back "home" is getting to be a part of all of the family celebrations. This past Wednesday was my Grandmother's birthday, and I was thrilled that the family was willing to celebrate at our house!

A quick picture of the lovely cake before everyone devoured it. It was yummy!

A picture of Grandmother and her girls...

Grandmother with her grand and greats (see what I mean about trying to get a good picture of all three!!!)...

We love our Grandmother, and we considered it a privilege to celebrate her special day with her!

At Least I Gave It A Shot!

Trying to take a picture of three wiggly little ones, that is!

The reason for the picture (other than not having one of all three of them yet) was they were all wearing their "sibling" t-shirts. Walker, the big brother, Kathryn, the big sister , and Frances the little sister! At least Kathryn and Walker were cooperating...kind of!


Enough with the serious shots...let's be silly!!!



And last but not least, the sisters! Frances decided to fill her diaper up during the shoot, and her brother kept telling me she needed a bath (i.e. she smells!!) :) Needless to say, he wasn't willing to hang around!I'm going to have to get a lot more practice in before Christmas card season rolls around! Any suggestion on how to capture three at once???

Midnight Fisherman

Last time we were at Dauphin Island Pops sent Walker home with this...


Pops uses it for night time fishing; Walker uses it for staying up and playing once we've turned the lights out!

While I was in his room taking pictures, several hours after bedtime I might add, I heard a little voice asking me what I was doing. This is what I found in the next room...

This girl needs a California king to store all of her "babies." I don't know how she fits on this twin bed with them!

Making A House A Home

Whether you've been in your house 7 years or 7 weeks, like I have, one of the easiest ways to make a house a home is a candle! And if you've ever had a really good one (read really expensive one), you know there's no going back!

I've compiled a list of some of my favorites, ending with my most favorite....

5. Amy's Country Candles--Gardenia

I'm not usually a floral fan, as you'll see in the rest of my choices, but I will make an exception for this candle. Although the packaging is rather homely, the fragrance more than makes up for it. Matt and I spent a night at the Ritz Carlton in New Orleans last summer, and they burn these candles throughout the hotel. All I can say is the frangrance is intoxicating. It doesn't hurt that gardenias are one of my all time favorite flowers!

4. Aspen Bay Gold Leaf Candles

I've not had one of these candles in forever. My Mom used to have them throughout the house, and we always loved their fragrances. It's been so long, I'm having a hard time remembering which we liked best, but I believe it was either Dining Room or Master Bedroom or maybe both!


3. Seda France Candles--Japanese Quince

If the fragrance isn't enough, the adorable packaging will definitely sell you on this candle!

3. Tyler Candles--Limelight and Panache

I can't believe I forgot these candles my first attempt at this post. I knew if I started listing things I like I would just have a forever list. But these really do rank right up there with the Seda candles. Like the Seda candles, they have adorable packaging too!

They also have two of my favorite Christmas scents: A Christmas Tradition and, of course, Egg Nog!
2. Votivo--Red Currant

I think this is probably EVERYONE's favorite candle, but that's because it smells so good! It makes anybody's home smell luxurious! Trust me, you can't go wrong with this one.



1. Low Country Luxe--New Orleans

Don't let the price deter you. TRUST ME, it's worth the splurge. I can't even describe how much better it is than any other candle. You'll just have to try it for yourself!

Anybody else out there got a favorite candle??? I'm always up for a new fragrance!

I almost forgot...

This chunky monkey turned two months today!

We went for her two month check up, and she weighed in at a hefty 13 pounds, 9 ounces! You'd think her momma would be losing some weight with all the weight she's gaining! But I'm sad to say, it just ain't so:)