Mike's Texas Trip

Mike enjoyed some much deserved time at Fred's place in May. Each year he goes to Texas hunting during turkey season. Although he didn't get a turkey, he enjoyed relaxing, helping out on the ranch/farm and spending time with Fred & Judy. I thought I would share some of the pictures Judy took while he was there.


My handsome husband helping with the new colt


Mommy & Baby


What a beautiful Colt!

Broccolli Bread ... Yum!

Want a sure-fire way to get your family to eat broccolli?

Try this wonderful "Broccolli Bread" recipe.
My mother-in-law shared it with me years ago.
It's still a favorite!

Brocolli Bread Recipe:

- 1 Package Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
- 1 Stick Softened Butter
- 1 Box Frozen Chopped Broccolli - thawed and squeeze water out
- 3/4 cup cottage cheese (you can substitute sour cream)
- 4 eggs

Mix all ingredients together
Pour into buttered (or Pam'd) 9 x 9 baking dish
Bake 25-30 minutes at 400 degrees (until golden brown on top)

Also ... here's a tip to get all of the water out of the frozen broccolli. After it's thawed out, dump it into a clean dish towel and then squeeze the excess water out. It gets all of the water out, and it's easy!

Let me know if you make this recipe and what your family thinks.

Elmo

Honestly ... I never really got the whole Elmo thing.

Well ... that was before baby. Now, I totally, completely, without a doubt get it.



Griffin loves Elmo.

I don't care where he is in the house ... if he hears Elmo talking, he comes running. I will never again question this wonderful, sweet, kind, funny, friendly, red furry creature. Anything that will keep Griffin focused for 5 minutes is my kind of little red guy.

Recuperating ... Mommy Overload

Sunday was rough ... I'm still trying to recuperate.

Griffin was a holy terror yesterday. He was sick, didn't feel good ... he did not take a nap all day ... he wouldn't leave Wyatt alone ... and he was in to EVERYTHING ... and I mean EVERYTHING. I believe the only words out of my mouth yesterday were "no" and "hand off". What a day!



But really ... could you get mad at this face?

Of course not.

We are going to have a much better day today.

Quarks

Quarks ... we all have them .... by the way ... is that even how you spell it?

What I'm trying to say is kw-erks ... you know, the funny little things about ourselves, that make "us us".

Thought I would share some of mine so you can know exactly the nutty person I am.

I eat my sandwich from the bottom to the crust. The crust is my favorite part of the sandwich and I always save that for last.

I only eat white cheese ... mozerrella, provolone, monterey jack. I do not like orange cheese.

Also ... I do not like cheese on my sandwich or my hamburger. Here's a little side note on this one ... for those of you that do like cheese on your hamburger ... order yours "without cheese". They charge you for a hamburger, but 9 times out of 10 they put cheese on it anyway.

Loading the dishwasher ... I have a very specific way to load the dishwasher. All the same size plates go together, cups, bowls, pans, sippy cups ... they all have a "home" in my dishwasher. I know exactly how to place everything in, and get it all to fit. While I do love having help cleaning the kitchen, if someone else loads my dishwasher ... when they have left the kitchen, I reorganize it. Shhhh ... don't tell!

The Tide bottle ... ugghh ... can't handle having drips on the Tide bottle. It's cleaned after each use.

Towels ... they have to be placed in the linen closet according to color. All the lavendars together, dark greens together, yellows together ...

So there you go ... just a few of my quarks ... why not share some of yours?

I got my hair cut!

I can hardly believe I did it! My hair has been long for as long as I can remember. I've been wanting to get it cut. So yesterday after Griffin and I picked Mike up at the airport we stopped and got my hair cut. Everytime I go to the salon, I've asked for lots of layers. I have really long, thick hair and they just never do what I ask for. Usually you can't even tell I've gotten my hair cut.

But no more ... even though these are not the greatest pictures of me (no makeup, no lipstick) ... I wanted to share my sassy new do.

Griffin's First Sleep Over

Last weekend Griffin had his first sleepover.

Even though we picked him up that evening and brought him home, we are still considering it his "first" sleepover because he fell asleep without Mommy & Daddy.

My friend Cyndi took these adorable pictures and I just had to share them!


Peek-A-Boo ... where's Griffin?


The boys climbing the stairs to night-night time


He made it ... now it's night-night time

Griffin ... Our Sweet Little Artist

This morning Griffin and I sat down to do his first art project


He wanted to draw something really pretty


mmmmmmm .... let me think about what I want to draw


Taaaa daaaa .... my completed project!


This is Griffin's first masterpiece ...


Do you like it??????

My Mother-In-Law ... Bett

I am very fortunate to have the best mother-in-law in the world.

I was on the floor playing with Griffin a little while ago and a strong sense of love for her just overwhelmed me. I think that may be God's way of reminding me how fortunate I am ... and I want to let everyone know how wonderful, kind, sweet, loyal and amazing she is.

This is a picture of Bett, Griffin & me taken at Thanksgiving 2005



You know ... I really do think of Bett as my "Mom". My mother died when I was very young and I really was fortunate to have a sister that was there for me. I was 8 when our mother died and my sister, Joy was 16. Can you imagine becoming the mother figured of a child when you are only a 16 year old child yourself? (I Love You Joy!) ... anyway ... back to Bett.

Bett has been there for me through so much ... I can't even imagine trying to list all of the things she has done for me and helped me through ... that would be a never-ending list.

I would like to share some of my very favorite things about Bett:

She is an amazing cook ... her green beans taste like dessert

When she comes to visit us, she goes by our favorite Florida BBQ restaurant (Peebles) ... buys pulled pork ... freezes it ... and brings it to us in her suitcase

She recently discovered garage sales and thrift stores. I love that she calls me when she finds a bargain ... say for instance ... an Aigner purse for $2.00!

She goes out of her way to do kind things for other people ... all the time

She is blunt & direct ... but always with a loving heart

She keeps a small "Brag Book" with Griffin's pictures in her purse ... so she can share his pictures with friends and folks she happens upon

She is creative and imaginative

She is beautiful ... on the inside and out

She organizes a huge Thanksgiving get-together every year ... practically all of Central Florida is there!

When we visit her in Florida, she always asks for our grocery shopping list so she can be sure we have the things we want/need while we are there

She keeps a Snickers stash ... for when we really need one ... whooops ... that was our little secret!

She sends us care packages in the mail ... there's always something for everyone, including our dog Wyatt

She really cares about people, and want to see them happy

I know how fortunate I am to have Bett for a mother-in-law ... and I'm even more fortunate to be able to call her "Mom".

Random Thoughts For Today

- I've been up since 3:45 a.m.

- Griffin had pediatrician appt. today ... he has strep throat

- Went to the scrapbook store today ... found lots of fun stuff

- Griffin & I shared a nice chicken burrito today at lunch

- Griffin is currently napping (4:00 pm, and I can't make myself nap

- My son looks like an angel when he's sleeping

- Wyatt (our dog) has cut his foot and he's hobbling around

- I'm sleepy ...

The Birds ...

The birds woke me up this morning at 5:20. It really was a joy waking up to the birds singing outside ... but do they really have to start so early? I absolutely could not go back to sleep, so I decided to get up and start my day. I do try to wake up before Griffin does anyway (he's an early riser) ... but really, I would have like to sleep in a little bit longer.

I thought I would share a few new items I've created recently. The Creative Bug has definately paid me a visit ... I'm having alot of fun making Tear Bears.

Thank God For Watermelon Summers

Thank God for watermelon summers ...

That's always been one of my very favorite sayings. With that in mind, I'd like to share a little something I created last night while my husband was watching Master & Commander.

I Wore Gold Hoop Earrings

Last night I wore my huge gold hoop earrings. It's been 15 months since I've worn them. I used to wear them all the time ... that was BEFORE baby. These days I'm lucky to take a shower and comb my hair. But last night ... I was a girl!! I dressed up, wore makeup, fixed my hair ... and wore my huge gold hoop earrings again.

For what you might ask ...

Mike and I went to the Nascar Cup Race last night in Richmond. We had soooooo much fun! I haven't been in a couple of years, but things just worked out and I was able to go. Our dear, sweet neighbors watched Griffin for us. Dean & Cyndi we can not thank you enough for taking care of our little munchkin!

Now on to the race ...

Let me tell you ... there is nothing more patriotic then sitting in a crowd of 110,000 people ... all standing, hands on hearts, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Oh my stars!! I was in tears.

Kevin Harvick (29) led the majority of the race. Dale Jr (8) one of my faves was pretty much in the top 5 the entire night. But, Denny Hamlin (a Richmond native in his first Cup Series Race) was everyone's favorite last night. Not only was it his first Cup Series race, he's a hometown boy and he was injured. We all of course were pulling for him to win. Dale Jr won ... yaaaaa!!! But Denny came in 2nd. We were all soooooooo proud of him.

Although I did thoroughly enjoy the race ... I had more fun people watching.

There were some seriously entertaining folks there last night.

But first ... let me tell you. I smoked 79 cigarettes last night. Get this ... I'm not even a smoker. But the four men in front of me smoked, smoked, drank beer, smoked, smoked, drank beer, drank beer, and smoked some more. Oh my gosh ... I had so much second hand smoke last night I didn't think I was going to make it. But really, I'm fine this morning. Anyway ...

One of the funniest things I saw last night was a man walking up the stairs. He had an ice cream cone in one hand, a beer in the other. I chuckled. Only at a Nascar Race would you see such a site.

It was so nice having a date with my husband last night. I will once again retire my huge gold hoop earrings to the jewelry box ... until I'm able to be a girl again.

Family Time ...

One of my very favorite things to do as a family is to go for a walk.

There's a little creek that runs through our neighborhood and we often take a walk down to the creek as a family. It's really alot of fun ... not only do we get to spend time as a family, Griffin gets to practice his walking (and running!). And it's also something Wyatt can do with us. Usually we run into neighbors and we can stop and chat with them ... which I love!

Virginia is absolutely gorgeous this time of year. Everything is turning green, the trees are blooming flowers, wild flowers are growing. The birds are singing, the bunnies are hopping about, and we catch an occassional glimpse of deer ... it's just so beautiful!

This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Mike, Griffin & Wyatt.



Daddy, Griffin & Wyatt taking a walk - Thursday - May 4th


Oh .... and I forgot ... we run upon the occassional SNAKE as well

Griffin & His Shadow

Griffin has discovered his shadow.

Honestly ... it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen him do. We were sitting on the floor last night playing and he started touching the floor around him. At first I couldn't figure out what he was doing ... but then I noticed, he was trying to touch his shadow. I then showed him how his shadow moves when he does. At that point I believe he understood a little better because he started moving around watching his shadow move.

You know ... being with your child when they discover something new is one of God's gifts.

Also ... I wanted to share a little something I created last night. I had an INSANE amount of fun creating this little paper piecing. My husband actually helped me place the pieces ... I'm sure he got tired of me saying ... "Honey, do you like the star on the hat" ... "Honey, should I put all three toys on it" ... "Honey, do you like the stars around the sides" ... anyway ... I must say ... he was a very GOOD sport about it.

So here it is .... TAAAAAAAAAAAA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH ... created by the Glave Family!

Life Is Good

Life is really good.

My husband is back home and life is back to "normal".

Yesterday was such a wonderful day.

My husband was "working" at home (after working out of town for 6 months)and things just feel right.

I don't know what is it, but when Mike is home I'm so inspired to work.

I get so much accomplished when he's home.

Yesterday I had help with Griffin ... just having someone else get down on the floor and play with him, or even just to change a diaper ... relief!

And it was nice adding extra coffee in the coffee maker ... and making more iced tea ... and actually sitting down and eating lunch ... and cooking dinner for us!

Life is back to normal.

Life is really good.