I'm just jumping on the bandwagon...

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Thanks, Becky & Steph. I just can't quit laughing.

8 Months Old

She started scooting across the carpet today!

NINE Chicken Pot Pies! (??) Wait a second...

Shin came over last week for some marathon cooking. On Wednesday we went to SAMS and bought 10 rotisserie chickens. That's right. TEN. After lunch, we pulled all the meat off the bones (while babies were sleeping.) It took us about an hour and a half. Not too bad.

We took 24 cups of that chicken and froze it in bags (4 cups per bag.) Each of us now has 3 bags of frozen, cooked chicken ready for soup or chicken salad or casseroles or whatever.

With the remainder of the chicken (I have no idea how much it was...) we made chicken pot pies! I got this great book last fall called, Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer! and I've LOVED it. I use the cookbook all the time--the recipes are so good and everything has been tested over and over for freezing. So, the idea is you cook one day a week and whatever it is you are making, you should at least double it so you can freeze an additional meal for later. Now, for those of you who knew me in my previous life (before children), you probably remember I did that Once A Month cooking thing. Not anymore. This is way more efficient for my lifestyle.

So, we followed the Chicken Pot Pie recipe to a tee. We actually made it X9 so that I would have 4 pies, she would have 4 pies and we'd have one to give away. We knew something was terribly wrong when we had to bust out the COOLER to hold the chicken pot pie filling--we had so much I didn't have a pot big enough!! When we looked more carefully at the recipe, we noticed a key phrase...

"Each recipe makes enough for two pies."

HA. We just started laughing and bagging our 18 chicken pot pies. I guess we won't need to make this recipe any time soon. :)

Pie, anyone??

Happy Birthday, G Money!

Do you ever have a day that you just don't want to end? I realized last night as I was washing dishes that yesterday was one of those days. My boy turned FOUR. I used to think that sounded so old, but he still just seems like my little man. He is so proud of being four, though. The day before his birthday he kept saying, "I just can't believe I'm going to be FOUR tomorrow!" I love that serious side of him.

So, back to the dishes. I was cleaning up from the aftermath of the party and listening to G-Money and his Daddy building a model airplane (thanks, Shinny!) and just thought, I don't want to put him to bed yet. I don't want this day to end. It was such a fun day and he was so happy all day long. I didn't realize until Pops called to chat just how exhausted he was. He could hardly carry on a conversation and just kept drifting off into Garrison land. So...he and D-struction went off to bed. It was a big day for both of them.

My sweet friend gave ME a present for G's birthday. I think she likes to make me cry. I can't believe she has that many pictures of my boy. Crazy. You should check it out. It's a precious, precious gift for me. (G liked it, too.)

I'll try to post some pictures of the ROCKET SHIP BIRTHDAY PARTY!! Aunt Shinny has more on her camera, so you may have to wait on some of them. Here's one of the four friends eating their pizza together.

Don't be fooled by the picture. These kids all brought their younger siblings, so we had about 11 kids there. After pizza we ate rocket-ship cake and then played a rousing game of "Rocket, Rocket, BLAST OFF!" (which is duck, duck, goose...modified. :) everyone had to BLAST OFF at the same time, so that was fun.)

G opening his present from Daniel and Caroline.


They just grow way too fast. Everyone tells me that. I feel like I'm watching it happen right before my eyes.

G and I had a conversation a few weeks ago that went like this:
"I think I'm going to put a brick on your head."
"What? Why, Mommy?"
"Because I want you to stop growing and stay just the way you are."
"No, Mommy. You can't do that. I want to grow up to be a man just like Daddy."

I really want that, too, G. Grow up to be just like your Daddy. He's a great man.
We LOVE you, G. Happy Birthday!!

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Nothing funnier than babies in speedos.

Just thought I'd share

Things I'm looking forward to this week:

1. Church tomorrow. (I'm not just saying that. I'm really looking forward to it.)
2. Sunday night television. A quiet night with my husband and Jane Austen. And lots of popcorn.
3. Monday's child swap. A friend of mine in town (who also has 3 under 3) and I watch each other's children each Monday so we can have time to grocery shop ALONE. It's a sweet deal all around. We're having some fun friends over for dinner Monday night, too. That'll be fun. Wonder what to cook...?
4. MOPS on Tuesday. Lunch with a friend afterwards.
5. We have our staff wives lunch on Wednesday. I like that time. It's very refreshing for me. Also...Wednesday night supper at church--I don't have to cook.
6. Thursday morning Bible Study. Emily and I actually said we would memorize Colossians. Anyone else up for the challenge? So far, I've got 1:1-2 down. :)
7. Friday is Hubby's day off. Always nice to have him home. I get my hair cut. Ummmmm...that's relaxing.
8. lia sophia show on Saturday. I love my new job. I always said I'd "NEVER be one of those direct sales people." Now I am. And I unashamedly LOVE it. It's a great outlet for me.
9. Listening to D-Struction sing "jingle bells" and "Joy to the world" before bed. (this happens nightly.)
10. Listening to G Money sing "Rudolph" AND hearing D-Struction chime in from the bottom bunk.
11. Snuggling this baby. She's growing up too fast.

(Yes, she is sitting in a laundry basket. It is full of her toys and she is protected on all sides from her brothers and the exuberant "mama" dog. She is so happy. She sits in her basket most of her awake time happily chewing on her things.)

It's going to be a good week. God is good to give me so many things to look forward to.

D-Struction's Birthday

My boy's "Dump Trunk" cake. He didn't eat too much of it...

G Money wanted to take a bite right out of it. I think he did.

Still not feeling so well. He puked the cake up in his bed later that evening. But don't worry, he didn't let go of those balloons. :)

So, what do you do with those boxes that Christmas gifts come in? We made cars...complete with doors and windows. It was a beautiful afternoon for momma. Next year, y'all can just send us empty boxes. ;) They are so FUN.

We've had this snow in our backyard for weeks. It's been too cold to go out, so when we had a semi-warm day earlier this month, we went out to dig. D-Struction loves his hat so much he sleeps in it sometimes. By the way, he is now sleeping in the bottom bunk--he loves his "big boy bed."

This retro hat belonged to his Daddy once upon a time...he loves it!

Christmas Morning

Look at these kiddos! They are wearing the same Christmas pjs as last year! I'm so glad we got to use them again.

This little monkey was with us for Christmas Eve. He loves being at our house with his cousins. (Shin's little boy for those of you who haven't seen him in a while...)

Nana found a pair of Christmas Jammies for Miss Priss as well--complete with the headband that we both "love." This one's for you, Nana.

And, guess who decided to perfect sitting up on Christmas Day?? What a great gift for mommy, Caroline. Thank you! :)

Some of my favorites...

I thought I'd post some of my favorite Christmas decorations. I don't really think any of you care, I'm really just posting them so I can look back and remember. You know, for posterity's sake (or whatever...)

I found the "red church" at a garage sale last spring for $3!! It is one of my favorite Dicken's Village pieces and I was so glad to get it at such a steal. I'm sure the person who put it at the MOPS garage sale had no idea what it was really worth. Bummer for them.

Mary was pregnant at our house until Christmas morning. :) Shout out to Oma for that idea...great visual lesson for G Money.

Speaking of Oma, these are the stockings she made for the kids last year. I love them. I also love our downstairs room this time of year. the lighted garland against that red wall is so festive. You'd think I planned that.

Just Catching up from the last 2 months...

He was in heaven--he loved the open space and the chance to run free and get dirty. He liked the ocean until he fell over in it. A little healthy fear is good for this one.

Speaking of healthy...did I tell you she hit 18 lbs. at 4 months? She has leveled off and is getting taller now. I love this swim suit on her. It shows off her dimples.

I just liked this one.

And this one...

I'm about to post a bunch of oldies that I never got around to...I think I slipped into some sort of time warp.

Baker Laker

We girls gotta stick together with all these boy cousins around. They loved the Bumbo seats...they had a great view of the madness.

Three of the five boys...not sure where JG is. And RED?? Probably eating...right, Danni??

Sister time. We spent some SERIOUS time in the kitchen. We cooked dinner each night for 17--is that right?? Someone out there help me...I lost count. Not sure where Shinny is. And Danni?? Probably feeding...

Here they are!!! This one's for you OMA!! Love the Santa hats. We seriously had to line up the high chairs and throw food at them. It was amazing how quickly they consumed it and how quickly we mastered feeding the masses. I guess the bottom three don't count, except in hours of nursing required. Someone else can tally that. It makes me tired thinking about it. :)

His first game!!

While we were home we took G Money to his very first Carolina game. HE LOVED IT. He lasted the entire game. It was priceless. Thank you Nana and Caudy for watching D-struction and Sweet C so I could go and take pictures and cry during 2001. (I'm SUCH a sap. I just get all choked up when I see that Carolina flag run around the field. I think it's worse now that I live far away.)

Anyway...it was such a fun game, and the Gamecocks beat MSU (we were still winning at that point in the season) and Uncle Thomas even came up to our seats to see us.

Even if G Money doesn't bank this in his long-term memory, I will. And, I know his Daddy and Papa will too.

Halloween and ???

YES. We let him Trick-or-Treat. (gasp.) They both loved it. :)
Anyone got a 1976 Winnebego I can borrow??

G Money is getting pretty good at writing. He is fascinated by letters and how they fit together to make words. The other day we were riding down the road and he said, "Look Mommy! There's G-O. That spells GO!!" I don't know where he learned that from. Really. He's just a little sponge.

Can I just say for the record, that G didn't want to put the Batman costume on until he knew that it would help him fly. Then he was all over it--and all over the place. He totally transformed into another little person inside that thing. Story goes his Daddy was Batman one year for Halloween and did the exact same thing---except I think he may have really jumped off the 2nd story landing--or did he just attempt it?

This one is such a ham. Not sure what this face means, but I liked it. He is FUN, FUN, FUN.

Life is Passin Me By...

Do you ever feel like you blink and you've lost about a month? Probably not...I'm just in the time warp of having three babies in my house. (G Money is really turning into quite a big boy, but he is still 3. I have to remind myself of that sometimes.)

So, the house is quiet, Hubby is out, and the computer is fixed, so I'm finally blogging. There is a pile of ironing that needs to be done, but I'm ignoring it. It's time for me to catch up and post some fun pictures. Enjoy!!



While we were in SC we were able to sneak away for two nights with our dear friends and Sweet C. We hung out at an old friend's mountain house and just enjoyed being together. We're hoping to make this a yearly (or so) event. We needed time with them!!

She is delicious. I love her.