picture of the week

I call it: Class of 2019


Whew I made it, 4 days down, 176 more to go!! I was a great week barring the tornados, the fire drill, the bloody nose, the ripped puzzle piece, getting Kathryn, Katherine and Kathy mixed up. All in all I'll check this one off as a success, I think it's gonna be a fun year! Happy Labor Day weekend, people!

Summer's last dance???

It's rained like cats and dogs here the past few days, don't get me wrong we needed it, but man did it rain! Ollie was so excited to get to go outside in the back yard this afternoon. He found a "present" by his slide, his toy tub was filled to the brim with water, dirty, yucky water. While he was checking it out (for about 2.5 seconds) you might be wondering what I was thinking: "no Ollie, that's dirty, or perhaps yikes ringworms, maybe even no you have on your brand new tennis shoes, " no I was thinking go get the camera!!! What a fun time Olls had as he splashed and splashed in his make shift pool. Summer is coming to a close, now we just have to learn the word pumpkin.

Cheese!!

Today Ollie officially turns 1 and 1/2, 18 months in baby talk, but don't be deceived he's no baby!!! I had so much fun at home with him this summer, he learned so much. Here are a few highlights of what our 1.5 year old can do...

Say cheese, when you are holding a camera, near a camera or when he is holding a camera. Do you think he gets his pictured snapped a lot??? Actually we (mostly I) took over 400 pictures just this summer.

Sing the A,B,C's: I drilled those with him this summer, he dances and chimes in on the letters B, G, H, O,P and then says the word Now at the end, cool huh?! We visited a really cool site this summer www.starfall.com and learned about our letters pretty much each morning.

He can call a lot of things by name, I mentioned some a few weeks ago, but the cutest words he says most recently are "patch" for his paci, Froggy for well his froggy lovey, water when he wants water, "muk" when he wants milk to drink. When he's hungry he says, "eat, eat, hungy."

He can ask for help, it the cutest thing, and it has really cut down on his frustration level, "Hep Me" he'll say, and you just have to help.

He just started to grasp the concept of the word back, if he's finished with something, like a toy he'll say "back" and put it back.

As far as motor skills go, he's still climbing everything, but he has started to go down and up stairs without holding on to someone or something.

And he's just starting to really listen to directions, tonight he had a paper lunch bag and we said Ollie why don't you put a car in your bag. He went into the living room and came back with something in his bag...when asked what's in your bag, he said "car" and pulled out a little green car.

He's getting good with names too, he knows most of he kids in his class and his teacher, Lorraine or "Rain Rain" he calls her and Matt has officially become Daddy not Da Da. And I'm still Momma, which I love. It's fun being Ollie's parent, happy 1.5 little man!!

My Hobbs

"On behalf of the president of the United States of America, I present this to you with great condolensces. "

I was the first grand child born in my family, I got to name all the older people and my Uncle Marvin ( my Pa Pa's brother) was chosen to be Uncle Hobbie. Today we celebrated his life. I didn't get asked to speak at his funeral but if I had been asked, this is what I would say. Hobbs was everyone's friend and everyone wanted to be his. He always had advice to give whether it was on building something with wood, canning a vegetable or going to college. He was handy and practical, a trait I claim a lot, and maybe, just maybe I got it from him. He was fearless or at least that's how it always seemed. But behind those rough garden working arms and hands was always this big strong bear hug. He was creative and passionate about fishing, plaid shirts, and his hair. He served in World War II and could tell stories of such with the best of them. He had a mechanical valve to keep his heart running and the first time he met Matt some 9 years ago, he almost immediately put Matt's head right up to his heart so he could hear it ticking. I knew then that if my Hobbs could embrace Matt that way, then surely I'd found the right one. He loved well, he loved my Aunt Marilyn, my mom and my mom's sister as if they were his own daughters and loved all of us nieces and nephews as if we were his grandkids and the few times he was around Ollie he seemed to think he was the coolest kid on the block, too. Tonight, I am so thankful that I got a chance to know him but man, am I gonna miss that guy. Uncle Hobbs we all carry a little bit of you in us...thank you for teaching us so many things, mainly how to be a family.

picture of the week

I call it: YUM!

Amy wins the best friend forever and I mean it award. She really bought me the "Cooking with the Young and Restless" cookbook. What a thoughful gift. I can't wait to make Phyllis's Ginger She-Crab soup real soon. Thanks, Amy!

I promise next week I'll post some pics of Ollie!

The week in review...

So, I've been back at work this week, sorry for the slack in blogging, I barely felt like I had time to breathe let alone blog, but please know that I missed it a ton (blogging became quiet a hobby for me this summer, :) I have to say that it ( being back at work) really did make feel even more thankful for my time at home and at Bravo Signs this summer. I missed my little Ollie like crazy but had fun getting my room ready for my 17 new kids that will walk in my "cottage" next Tuesday. A lot has been going on otherwise in our family so here's a little recap:

Friday- Sunday we headed down to Charleston to be with my family. We found out last week that my great uncle Marvin (Uncle Hobbie, as I named him some 29 years ago) had a massive stroke and was in the ICU at the Medical Univ. We went down to be with him and my family. He suffered a very significant brain bleed as a result of a fall right after the stroke, he was on a ventilator by the time we left on Sunday. We did have a few minutes of family time on Saturday...this is a picture of my little bro, Wes and his super sweet girlfriend, Sabra.

Monday-Friday I spent all day with these 4 ladies. This is the 2nd grade team at Hunter Elementary, the best team I might add. They are from L-R, Stephanie, Jennifer, Me, Ericka and Kara. We went out to lunch every day just because we could, fun times.

Thursday morning I snapped this picture right outside my classroom. I found out later that afternoon that my family had decided to take my uncle off the ventilator and went on to be with Jesus within a few hours, my mom was singing "Jesus loves me" to him when he left this world and went on to Glory. This butterfly is a symbol of hope, of love, of transformation which Christ can bring. We're headed back to Charleston tomorrow to be with my family for the visitation and funeral, but I am reminded tonight of one of my favorite verses:

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone, my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken." Psalm 62:5 and 6

picture of the week

I call it: my little shadow

This past week Ollie and I have started going on "walks" not with strollers you see, he wants to really walk out on the street. He'll point to the door and say "walk." We'll head out the driveway and on the way there, his little hand reaches up to grab mine and off we go to circle the block (which is probably about 3 miles in Ollie steps.) As we walk we look at everything we see and say the words he points out: car, tractor (any truck, van or SUV is a tractor), birds, dog, cat, trash,if we see any, stick, rock, baby, if we see one of those and sometimes he'll just look up at me and smile and say Momma, and then I say Ollie (it's this little thing we do.) It never fails on our little walks that we make up almost to the house and he'll stop and put his arms up and say "up" for me to carry him the rest of the way. As we were walking today I was just reminded of Christ's love for me and how He walks with me and when I need to be carried, He's there to pick me up.

Jesus, thank you for carrying me, I've needed it this week. Ollie, thank you for wanting me to pick you up and carry you, it brings joy to my heart in ways you'll never know, sweet one.

" He tends his flock like a sheperd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." Isaiah 40:11

Happy Birthday Grandaddy!

Ollie here, today is my grandaddy's birthday, he is fun to take naps with, I hope you eat some cake for me!

What we've been up to...

...cramming in the last little bit of fun into summer 2008! We've been going to the park, we finally made it to Cascade park with friends, it has the coolest sand box in all of Greensboro! Check out Ollie's hair, it's electrified. We've been trimming trees and painting the eves (sp?) with the Bravo bucket van, we all deserved a popsicle after that one. We've been doing some fun crafts with finger paint, I might show the end result (it didn't turn out as cute as I wanted it too, but he's only one remember.)

And for a big finale of our summer vacation we went on a field trip to the Super G Mart. I've been wanting to go there all summer. It's basically an international food grocery store right here in G-boro. Let me tell you it was a multi-cultural experience, Ollie had this look on his face pretty much the whole time. The produce was unbelievable and cheap. I saw things I never knew people ate, like shrimp flavored chips and whole pig bellies. I'm pretty sure Ollie and I were the only Americans in the whole store, which is pretty much a-typical for the small world we live in...it was fun, you should check it out. I bought some flan, some pad Thai noodles, some Chinese gummy candy and an avocado, just b/c it was $2 cheaper than Harris Teeter.

*post edit, my friend Joylynn pointed out that we were the only Caucasian Americans at the super G, thanks for keeping me straight Joy!

pictureS of the week

We went down to Oriental last weekend it was tons of HOT fun, I couldn't pick just one shot for the POTW, so you get a bonus pic!

I call it: Sailor boys

and this one: Daddy's green eyes

confession

It's time for the truth to be told. I am a 3rd generation soap opera watcher. Yes, my Nonnie (my mom's mom) watched the Y and R (Young and the Restless), my mom and her sister my Aunt Mary watched (and still watch) the Y and R growing up, my brother, Wes, and I watched it growing up with my mom, of course. And I, this summer, have been sucked back into the web of a world that Matt fondly has referred to as...my stories. Please note that the Y and R comes on CBS everyday between 12:30 and 1: 30 which is smack dab in the middle of Ollie's naptime, so he has not yet been introduced to my friends.

Summer is coming to a close, school starts in 19 days. So long Victor, so sorry about the death of your wife Sabrina. Nikki, I hate that your husband was killed, but he was a bit creepy and please stay away from the booze! Victoria and Nick oh how I hope you patch things up with your dad when he comes back from wherever that bus took him yesterday. Neil, I hope you figure out who you really are in love with. Devon...good luck with your music career. Daniel will you ever figure out that Amber is just bad news? And Paul, thanks for keeping it real and protecting all the peeps of Genoa City.

I'll see you guys in 9 months, sigh, oh wait, maybe I'll schedule a few sick days!

P.S. If anyone can score me a copy of this cookbook, you'll be my best friend forever, I mean it.

Ladies night out

As promised I am catching you up on one of my favorite events of my summer, cooking with Kendra. Here I am with (l to r) Lauren, Kate, Heather and Pam ,all friends of ours from Awaken, cute aprons, huh! And yes that is rum, one of the desserts we made had a splash of rum in it, rum = yum! If you live in or near Greensboro, you got to take one of her classes.

I was amazed at how much I learned in two hours. Let's see how to cut the right way, never take the tip of your knife off your cutting board. When breading chicken for strips, use a "wet hand" and a "dry hand." How to pick a good avacado, you want a little give. What kind of pan to use, non-stick calaphon. What a correct simmer looks like, small bubbles around the side of your pot. How to mill something (like on Rachel Ray) keep one hand on your knife handle and one hand on the tip and work your way like a see saw through your green onions. I also saw and used about 10 new kitchen tools that I must have...I mean would like to have, such as a wooden cutting board and a non stick stirring spoon.

But most of all I learned to cook 6 new things that were fun, delicious and easy and had a great time with friends old and new. I can talk recipes if you'd like, but then I'd be giving away all of Kendra's secrets. My favorite was these little darlings puff pastries with sundried tomatoes and pesto sauce. It's basically 4 indgredients and you have a yummy bite ready and waiting!

picture of the week

I call it: seven layer salutation.

I took a cooking class last night at this really cool chick Kendra's house (more on the night next week). Two words: un-believable!! I enjoy cooking but never seem to have the time to do it right. This week I was ambitious and tried out two of her recipes before the class her macaroni and cheese (which has butternut squash hidden it) and these yummy seven layer bars. The seven sinful layers are from bottom to top: butter, graham crackers, sweetened condensed milk, choc. chips, butterscotch chips, coconut and pecans, wow doesn't describe it. If YOU need inspiration, these and other recipes, or just a place to visit for a while, check out Kendra, I'm glad I did.