So Much Fun!

We're having a fun time with family before the holidays, and can't wait to see more family this coming week.  In the meantime, I thought I'd share a few pictures of the Wild Man playing at a children's museum.  Sweet Lindsey came and meet up with Knox, my brother and myself.  We missed Keith being there, and can't wait until he can join us this week!  Knox had a BALL, and did NOT want to leave!

You can't see how cool the tree is behind them.

Tu-tu and Lu-lu watching Knox play

Uncle Tu-tu had as much fun playing as Knox!

See what I mean?  :)

Knox LOVED the shopping cart and play groceries.

Of course, a playtime wouldn't be complete without splashing around.

His shirt is totally laughable.  :)

This was hilarious--Knox unloaded groceries on the counter, had play money that he handed to the little boy behind the counter, who then put the money in the register.  TOO CUTE!

He kept trying to hit plastic eggs with the kiddie shovel, saying "ba-ball" every time.  Hehe!

You can tell he was thrilled to be on the back of the cow!

A Belated Weekend Recap

I meant to do this on Monday, but Wild Man was still ill and stayed home from school--resulting in a near mommy melt-down from day-long whining. :)

We were blessed with a visit from Grammy and Grandaddy over the weekend, and had an amazing time as usual. We went to Stone Mountain State Park, and mainly drove around. We ended up at the covered bridge and took a short "hike" through the woods there. Knox was thrilled to see ducks on the water, but our (my) fun was slightly dampened by the dead (?) baby snake Knox and Grammy tried to play with when they thought it was a night crawler. Eeee! I get the eeby-jeebies just thinking about it. We got some great shots of three generations of Rogers men in the end, though!

Our next stop was at the Yellow River Game Ranch just about 5 minutes from Stone Mountain. Knox was in heaven--outside with tons of animals you could just tell he wanted to go squeeze. We were "those" people saying the name of EVERY animal we saw, quickly followed by the appropriate animal noise. Funny, we were never around the same people for an extended period of time. Haha! :) Knox was so worn out by all the excitement, he fell asleep mid-motion in the car on the way home. He has NEVER done that, but he was also diagnosed with this third ear infection of the year on Friday, so he wasn't quite up to par and that could have had something to do with it (on top of the fact that he STILL has a cold).

Anywho, a great weekend was had (Saturday was topped off with a super yummy dinner at the Japanese steakhouse!!!) We love having company, and when company is family, it is just that much sweeter. :) :) :) Thanks for the great weekend, Grammy & Grandaddy!

Desperately wanting to throw rocks.

All I have to say is, "AW!" :)

Aw! Again

And say it with me now, "AW!"

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture--Grammy, I will get you the hi-res version. :)

These next set of pics I like to call "Wild Game--Up Close & Personal." I used the GIGANTIC lens Keith loves to use (me, not so much) so it was hard to scoot back far enough, but then again I love those up close and personal pics anyway.

This silly billy goat had his head stuck through the door of this feed shoot (?)

Grandaddy, Knox and the silly billy goats

He's sticking his tongue out at me! :)

Oink, Oink, Oink!

Look into my eyes...this was a Knox-sized pony

Whatcha lookin' at gurl?

I LOVE peacocks, but never got a decent shot. :(

Raccoon running his wheel

This chipmunk/squirrel just cracked me up with his scrunched up face!

A for Effort in Health & Fitness

At the beginning of this year, I was "gazelle intense" with a workout regime, though Knox made it a wee bit difficult most days with crying a decent amount in Kidz Klub. So as I always do, health and fitness got pushed to a back burner--sadly. Now that we are wanting to expand our family someday in the near future, I think it's important I get back in gear.

I'd like to report that I have started to get it in gear again as of Monday. The pups and I have walked each morning for about 35 minutes. Lately, Knox has become infatuated with the Wii which is a blessing and a curse. Blessing because it entertains him and we are up getting some exercise, and curse because he throws a horrid fit when we turn it off no matter how long we've been playing. Yesterday I unlocked a new item on the Wii Fit called Free Run. I'm basically running in place and my little Wii character is just running on the screen with other little Wii people, but I know I'm trying to beat my previous score. That competitiveness in me gets me going. I throw on my iPod for some musical encouragement for a few extra 10 minute segments, and before I know it have had an hour of cardio for the day broken into two sessions. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I got a side stitch yesterday while doing my Free Run! Ha! Guess that's how out of shape I am!

Food's a little more difficult when eating on a budget, but definitely do-able. I'm also logging my food intake by using this great website tool. Perfect for me since I'm at my computer a lot during the day. My current favorite breakfast has been a Kashi Go-Lean 7 Grain Waffle (on sale with coupons) with reduced-fat PB (on sale) and half a banana (Aldi for 49¢/lb.) smeared on top of the waffle. Like a PB and 'nana sandwich, just with waffle instead of bread. YUMMMMM-O! AND I guess the added protein of the PB and whole grains of the waffle have me filling much more full through out the AM. Plus I've been downing some H2O, so I know that helps.

Last night's dinner was a complete success in terms of yumminess, healthfulness and family satisfaction. I was in the mood for some southern cooking, but obviously wanted it healthy. Yeah, right? Well, this is what I did. I had dried pinto beans (SO CHEAP!) and did the quick soak method on the package (I had Publix brand, but any brand works). To finish cooking the beans (according to the directions) I used the chicken stock I made last week--and nothing else besides salt! And they were DELISH! I only made a half bag thinking we'd have leftovers, but they were completely gone by the end of the night! Knox devoured a cup or more, I had a cup (I actually measured for once!) and Keith had the rest in two sittings! The only fat was from the chicken stock, and beans are so great for you--tons of protein and fiber!

In my world, if you have beans you have to have cornbread. It's a must. An unwritten law. I had some self-rising cornmeal and randomly looked up recipes. I found one on cooks.com and altered it a bit. This is all it read, but my alterations are in parenthesis:

Corn Bread

1 c. self rising cornmeal (cheap to begin with!)

1/2 c. vegetable oil (I used 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup No Sugar Added Applesauce)

2 eggs (I did use real eggs--79¢ at Aldi, but it could easily be subbed with Eggbeaters)

1 c. cream style corn (I didn't have creamed corn, but did have TONS of cans of regular corn--on sale with coupons.)

1/2 c. sour cream (I used reduced fat--on sale with coupons)

(I added 1 T. Splenda--on sale with coupons--and one large pinch of salt)

Mix and bake at 350 degrees until browned. (I tried that for 25 minutes but wasn't set up in the middle. Package read 375 degrees, so I upped the temp and backed for probably 10-15 more minutes. I would probably start temp at 375 next time.)

It was one of the most yummy and moist piece(s) of cornbread I've ever had! Don't be scared of the applesauce, you don't taste it AT ALL! A great way to cut down oil in most any baked good, but be sure to use some oil. For the corn, I used my hand emersion (sp?) blender right in the can after I drained almost all of the liquid out. Plus you get the added benefit of the regular corn, so you get a few more veggies in without knowing it!

I added a salad to all this yumminess for a complete healthy, vegetarian meal! Plus Hubs and Wild Man were full and satisfied! YAY!

Good Things in Small Packages

Just a few things I wanted to share. One is understandably fab, and the other two are somewhat menial but fab in my little world.

First, and most importantly, I am now an AUNTIE to a beautiful...cocker spaniel!!! My brother and his girlfriend, Lindsey, got a puppy over the weekend. Griffin is absolutely adorable, and I hope we get to meet him SOON! Lula and Chloe now have a dog cousin to play with when we're all at Big Daddy & Ma Jack's house! I know Knox will love him just as much as he does his sisters. :)

Secondly, and not quite as important, are my savings from yesterday and today! I haven't mentioned my couponing in awhile, because I have been quite slack in that department. I'm slowly but surely getting them all organized in a manner that I think will be the most accessible, therefore allowing maximum savings. Gosh, I sound goober-ish, but saving money is a serious matter in this household. We're doing the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace, and loving it, as I have mentioned previously. We have paid off 2 lines of credit card debit and my student loan in 6 months.

Yesterday, I hit Staples and CVS. Staples had several school supplies on sale, as well as copy paper. I know no one in our household attends school yet, but my BFF, Jill, is graciously asking for school supplies to be donated to her church as gifts for her 30th birthday! How fantastic is that?! Anywho, I had an $18 Staples rebate check for recycling ink cartridges (you can recycle up to 10 per month and receive $3 for each--up to $30 per month!) I also had a $5 off any $20 purchase from the store circular. I purchased two reams of paper, two packs of #2 pencils, two packs of scissors (two in each pack), two pencil boxes AND an ink cartridge for my printer for $1.49!!! Plus the packs of paper have rebates on them for a total of $7 AND I recycled 7 used ink cartridges. So, in theory and not counting the recycled ink cartridges, I "made" $5.50--and at Staples of all places!

CVS was even better! They had tons of school supplies FREE after ECB (Extra Care Bucks), FREE razor, FREE glucose monitoring systems that produced overage (to be donated!), and almost free Tylenol. Including my coupons, and the 9 ECBs I received from Spring quarter (I slacked the past few months) I MADE $25 in ECBs and only paid $6 OOP (out of pocket)! I know some peeps do much better than that on a weekly basis, but that is the first time I've "made" overages pay like that!

Today wasn't as phenomenal with savings, but I still did well. Went to Kroger and bought tons of meat and snacky stuff--I spent $55 but saved $77!!! YAY! Probably good, since this current week of sales at Publix isn't the goldmine it normally is, or at least that's what I think.

All in all, it's been a fab few days. Hope your week is off to a great start too!

UPDATE: We just received Knox's very first brand-new Veggie Tales in the mail, for which was FREE and I only paid $2.99 for shipping! :)

Happy Birthday USA & ETSY.com!

I know, I know. It's been another long break in my personal blogging, but we have so much fun while I was away! We made yet another extended stay back home with both sets of grandparents to celebrate the hubs birthday and the birthday of our country.

While home we were treated with fabulous food and fabulous weather. A wonderful, almost humidity free summer night made eating fresh veggies from Grandmother's garden even more amazing on hubby's birthday, topped off with homemade peach ice cream. The rain, rain stayed away long enough for us to get some serious play time in water.

One time was Knox's first romp in a creek, complete with "skipping" rocks. He has a mean wind-up, you know! :) The water was clean and crisp, with the location being perfect. The creek rolls over a "floating bridge," I believe that is what Keith called it. Shallow enough for wild man to dig out rocks perfect for throwing, and just deep enough to keep cool. He got a little distracted once some others showed up on four-wheelers. This little country boy is already obsessed with all things country--four wheelers, tractors, horses, and cows. Definitely related to his Daddy, Grandaddy and Grammy! :)

The other water play was in a pool with my parents. Knox hasn't had the opportunity to get in a big pool this summer, so he was a little unsure of not being able to touch solid ground. The longer stayed, the more brave he got. He had enough floatation devices on to almost rocket him out of the water--life preserver swimsuit and arm swimmies at all times! All of that swimming worked up quite the appetite for BBQ, burgers and chicken that were scrumptious! Big Daddy and Ma Jack loaded up on "quite but pretty" fireworks, or at least that's what the guy at the fireworks stand thought. Knox would have begged to differ. His interest was piqued, but once something got louder than comfortable he bee-lined for the safety of Momma's arms. I think he would have just been happy with a bubble show!

We're now all somewhat adjusted to everyday life, though I think Knox is going to take a bit longer since he was away from home for a little over a week. I was up late last night completing my first round of listed items on my Etsy.com store front. Check it out, and let me know what you think. More info is over on the creative blog or go directly to my store front!

Have a fabulous Tuesday, y'all!

"Skipping" rocks

Digging for rocks to skip. I think this pick looks like he's floating on top of water!

He spies the four-wheeler and wonders why he's not on it.

Getting sleepy

Not so sure about all the loud noises fireworks make. Definitely related to his Momma.

His Tutu telling him it's okay.

My father the weekend's Pyromaniac! Haha!

Big Daddy & Knox playing with something more Wild Man's speed--bubbles!

Mucho Fabuloso

So here's a few random fabulous things that are happening and will happen over the weekend...

First thing's first.  Knox had his 18 month check up yesterday, and is healthy as a horse.  A whopping 29 1/2 pounds heavy, and a tall 33 3/4 inches long.  As of yesterday, he still hasn't said his first word yet.  Michelle, his NP, still isn't too concerned since Knox is able to communicate without using words.  (Turns his hands up like he's

 asking a question when I ask him where something is, etc.)  Well last night I SWORE he quacked at his duck when I asked him to find it in the tub, which he always picks right up.  This morning when he was eating his applesauce, I asked if he wanted some cheese, he looked at me and said clear as a bell "cheese?"  So I think it was clear as a bell, but he wouldn't say it again.  30 minutes later I asked him if he wanted to watch Jay Jay The Airplane, and again so clear he said "Jay Jay" and has said something similar to "Jay Jay" three other times I've said it.  Of course, I called my parents crazy when, over a month ago, they SWORE Knox said about 3 different words with them.  We'll see if he continues to do this, what I think is talking!

Another great thing is that our back porch garden is doing wonderfully.  We just picked our first zucchini and about two handfuls of green beans.  There are tons of squash, cucumbers and tomato blooms, so we'll have tons of veggies in the next month or so.  Check out the "before" and "after photos below.  Before pics were just taken on May 2nd and the after pics were taken today, just about 5 weeks later!

You can't tell how tall the tomato plants are but one is almost a foot taller than the cage.  I have one Better Boy plant and one Sweet One Hundred.  The smaller plant in the green pot is a pepper plant, but I thought it was the Sweet One Hundred.  I can tell better now that the little blooms are popping out!

Fab thing number three:  Keith is finally home from a four day out-of-town business trip.  While away, we sweetly set up a massage for my BFF Holly and I to enjoy.  We're going to have some great girl time tomorrow getting pampered at the spa, following it up with a great lunch somewhere.  The later is still to be determined!  :)

Last, but definitely not least:  Knox and I get to go meet Molly on Sunday!!!  On top of meeting/loving on Molly and getting to see her amazing parents, we also get to spend some time with Tutu and LindseyToo!  We'll be invading Lindsey's apartment, an invitation that she graciously offered, since they live only 45 minutes from Jayma & BJ.

Hope your weekend will be as equally fabulous as mine will be!

The Space Between...

is what's driving me insane! Well, not literally, but almost.

Today is only the second of four days that Keith is on a business trip. Knox, thankfully, attends "school" for four hours, four days a week. If I didn't have this time to get work done, grocery shop and just regain mental strength, I don't know what I'd do.  It's not that Knox is terrible, though he can throw a pretty mean tantrum, it's just the mental stress of being a temporary single-mom.  All you single moms out there get some major props--you are all very strong women and must have amazing support groups around you to raise a child on your own.  It's just so hard when ALL of your family is four to four and a half hours away, and your friends that live the closest are 30 minutes away, others being an hour or more away. On top of that, the only people we trust with Knox (to babysit) are our amazing next door neighbors who won't let us pay them, so we don't want to take advantage of them by asking too much from them. We've visited churches in search of a Christian community were we feel we belong, but the only one that we felt welcomed at is 30 minutes away--even 45 minutes during the weekday due to commuter traffic. It gets frustrating when you know a place of worship is were you want to be, but don't feel totally welcome when you're there. And if you don't feel welcome there, you don't feel comfortable exploring groups where you could potentially meet new friends--especially if you can't even find if and when the small groups meet...

So basically, it's just been Knox and I for almost 48 hours (he, luckily gets a reprieve from me by seeing "school" mates and teachers.) Only about 48 more to go...

Maybe Molly will come tomorrow, to at least break up my monotony. Oh! Noah Clark Moss, one of the tickers on the right hand side, made his debut today. From what I hear, he was breach at Cacey's appointment yesterday, so they scheduled a C-section for today at noon! He weighs a healthy 7lbs 10oz! Congrats to my SATL!

Great Weekend in Flo-town

We had a most fantastic weekend back in Flo-town.  The main purpose of the trip home was for me to be a part of wedding nuptials for Cook, one of my BFFs from high school.  While home for that purpose, my brother came home and his fab girlfriend, Lindsey came to visit too.  Much fun was had, and helped me overcome my previously posted disappointment.  ;)

The Groom & Bride at Rehearsal

Keith & Me at the Reception

All of the "babies"--Molly will be here within the month!

Tiff & Norah, Jayma & Molly-In-The-Belly, Knox & me

Me, Cook (The Bride, obv) & Jay before the wedding

Water-time fun at Ma Jack & Big Daddy's

This must be a time-honored tradition--Daddy used to throw me down the waterslide when I was a wee little girl.  Knox loved it so much that he would jump right up after the slide down, and RUN back to Big Daddy to do it again!

He figured out how to push the gas on the car, but doesn't know to steer.  He gases it, and looks every which way but forward.  We had to run beside him and steer it for him every so often.  He even was looking under the hood--which he's never seen anyone do!  Must me born into boys.

Brother couldn't let Knox have all the fun.  Pool was a pirate ship, hence his feeble attempt at a pirate hook with his finger with a pirate grin.