Recent iPhone Pictures

Jack is has gotten so big!  He can finally reach the pedals and pedal pretty good on his tricycle.  Just gotta work on that steering now. 

I thought these were such sweet pictures.  Jack sat there the whole time Ran was mowing the back yard.

He always loves to watch Daddy mow and will run from window to window to see what all he is doing.  Jack has become quite the little mower with his lawn mowers too!

Eating at Chick-fil-A one day and Jack found the perfect "hat".

In my effort to start healthy habits with Jack, I thought I'd buy plain 'ole oats instant of the sugar filled instant packs and to my surprise, he actually liked them.  He was even eating them dry.  I did add a little cinnamon/sugar mixture and dried apples, but I know it has to be better than the packaged ones I've been giving him for so long.

Pretending to be sleeping in the kitchen (he brought the rug in there), but he was really waiting for Daddy to finish working.

No stroller at the mall will wear a little boy OUT!  He needed to rest at Stride Rite after getting some new tennis shoes.  How does a child's foot not grow for months, then 2 months after you buy a lot of new shoes, it grows a whole size?  Jack's now wearing a 10.5 in shoes.  I'm not sure how tall he is, but he weighs about 36 pounds.  I'll do a full Jack update when he turns 3 in a few short weeks!  I can't believe it!

Planting Our Roots

Ran and I have talked about planting a tree for a while, so the day after Memorial Day, we finally did it!  

We stopped at Home Depot on our way home from the lake and bought a Live Oak tree and I love it (and our pretty new grass)!

We were trying to get Jack to pose in front of our new tree so we can watch both the tree and Jack grow through the years, but he was in a silly mood that day and acting all crazy!

And, just for the record (and so I don't forget), as much as I would love to live in this house forever and watch this tree and Jack grow big and tall, I DO NOT want to live in this town forever...

While our neighborhood is nice and I love living and working in the same town, I have my sights set on a nice, very small neighboring town about 5 miles away...

So, if that little dream of mine does someday come true, we can plant another Live Oak tree in our backyard and watch it grow big and tall!

But until then, I'll be happy and content watching this little boy and this tree grow up right before my eyes in this happy home!

Easter at the Lake

I have no idea who this other little boy is, but he was cute!

My parent's neighbors host an Easter egg hunt for the kids every year.  This was our first time to go and I think Jack had a good time, even though we missed the egg hunt.  I guess they are very punctual, because we were only a few minutes late.  HA!

Wipe out!

motor boatin' after the neighborhood get together.

Jack and Aunt Linzi

I hate that this picture is blurry, because it is my favorite one!  I love the look on both of their faces.  Jack loves his Aunt Linzi!

Hunting Easter eggs after church.

Catching Up - Part 2 (Thanksgiving)

Life is just too crazy, busy these days and before I know it months have passed since my last post.  I have a little time tonight, so I thought I'd post a few pictures from Thanksgiving... better late than never, right?

Grandad, Grandy, Jeff, Mama, Memaw and Grandad

We celebrated Thanksgiving at the lake this year.  This was the first year we had celebrated with two sides of my family (usually we celebrate with only my mom's side and this year we added my step-dad's side) and it was so much fun!  

The boys fried two delicious turkeys...

Jack helped peel boiled eggs and snap green beans.  I tell you that boy is one good helper!  He loves to help Grammy wash dishes, help me do laundry and clean up messes.  He is also VERY good at making messes these days!!

He played football with Uncle Zack and learned the Heisman pose.  He's practicing for when he wins the real thing one day!  ;)

The weather was absolutely perfect hanging out outside and fishing.  He is good at catching red "perch"!  I think he must have caught a million of them since he got his fishing pole.  HA!

The little boys were pooped after eating turkey and visiting with family.

We do have so much to be thankful for!

Thanks for sticking around, even though my posts are few and far between.  One of these days I will get it all together and be back to regular blogging.  I have been in party planning and throwing mode for the past month, so I hope to get my pictures edited and blog about all the fun that's been going on soon!

It's a Party!

All of the directors in my region were challenged to host an Associate Appreciation Party which would be judged by regional directors based on certain criteria.  The 1st Place winner would win $1000!  Woohooo!  That, plus a little Pinterest and inspiration from the cookbook Bite by Bite, was all it took to get me motivated!

I knew I wanted the theme to be Sweet & Treats and I wanted it to be very colorful... so this is what I came up with...

I designed sweet lolipop invitations with party details on the back.

Then I made cute labels with each associates name on them and handed them out at our monthly staff meeting.  Everyone started getting so excited and wanted to know what all we were having to eat and what we were going to do, etc.  My chef and I did our best to not tell them too much information.  We wanted it to be a surprise!

I came up with the menu and my chef made my vision a reality!  I could not be more pleased with the way everything turned out and shocked my staff was that we would take the time to do all of this for them!

7-Layer Dip 

(I actually made these.) 

Caprese Salad Skewers

Chicken Parmesan Bites

Ceviche Martini

Asian Meatballs

Southwest Sliders with Caramalized Onions and Chipotle Ranch

"Milk" and Cookies

S' Mores 

(these were my favorite for presentation)

Strawberry Shortcake

Water Bottle Labels to show my appreciation!

Me and my chef!  

I could not have done it without him!  And, remember that contest I mentioned? 

Yep, WE WON!  

Catching Up - Part 1 (Potty Training)

I am going to try to catch up the blog and get all some of my pictures and memories posted, so someday when Jack isn't so small I can look back and remember when he was.

I'll start with potty training...

I had put off potty training for long enough (my goal was for Jack to be potty trained by 2).  I wasn't feeling well the weekend of December 10 and I knew we wouldn't be going anywhere, so I decided to put Jack in underwear.  I was still not ready to potty train, but I figured it was worth a try and we'd just see how it went.  Well, that Saturday was HARD!  I think Jack must have gone through at least 5-6 pairs of pants and underwear that day and I thought for sure we were not going to make it through this!  (Thank goodness for tile floors!)

Sunday was MUCH better!  I think he only had one accident that entire day and we were now full blown potty training!  I sent him to school that Monday in underwear and we haven't looked back.  I was so worried that first day that he would have a lot of accidents.  I think I must have packed 3 or 4 changes of clothes, just in case, but I don't think he had an accident at all that first day in undies at school.  (I had sent him to school in underwear a few times before when I was toying with the idea of potty training, but I just wasn't ready to commit to it.)

If you have ever potty trained a child, then you know how hard it is and how much commitment it takes from everyone involved and how much time a day you spend in the bathroom!  I think we must have spent half our time in the bathroom that first week!  And, he went through a short phase where he refused to poop in the pot.  It was so frustrating for me, because I knew he could feel it coming, but just would not go sit on the potty.  Luckily that little phase didn't last long or we would have been buying a whole lot of new underwear! And speaking of undies, the ones from Gymboree are my absolute favorites!  They are thicker than the cartoony ones and have such cute little designs on them.  Some of them even come in boxer briefs.  Adorable!  

Our first true test of the potty training didn't come until the Wednesday evening after we started.  You see, Jack and I have date night every Wednesday where we go eat at our favorite Mexican place and then go shopping.  I took 2 changes of clothes on this little trip, because it was the first time we'd be out in public without a diaper.  Mind you, this is only 3 days before we were having family Christmas at the lake and I had A LOT of shopping left to do.  We made it through dinner fine - I think we took at least 2 trips to the potty - then it was off to Target.  We went to the potty at Target before starting our shopping and I thought things were going well until I was in the middle of my shopping trip (shopping as fast as possible because I had a 2 year old without a diaper with me and I had a lot of shopping left to do after leaving target) and Jack said he needed to go potty.  We made a beeline for the bathroom, sat on the potty and nothing happened... So back to shopping.  Again, Jack said he needed to potty, so back to the bathroom we went and that's when I gave up and put a pull-up on him.  I don't believe pull-ups play any beneficial role in potty training, but they sure did allow me to get my shopping finished without visiting anymore bathrooms around town!

It has now been 6 weeks since we started potty training and I'd say he's doing really, really well!  He only wears a pull-up to bed at night and sometimes wakes up in the morning dry.  He takes naps in underwear and very seldom has an accident during nap time and almost never during the day.  I think when the pull-ups run out, I'm going to test him through the night.  I didn't get him potty trained by 2, but he is potty trained before 2 and a half, and I'm happy with that!

If you have a potty training toddler or small child, check out this potty seat.  I don't believe in using the kid sized potty that you have to dump out, so this little seat has been a life saver and Jack can even get on the regular potty all by himself now!