Halloween Treat

One of the reasons I love Halloween so much is that there are so many yummy treats to enjoy! From roasting hotdogs and marshmallows and the seasonal supply of candy corn, I love it all! Below is one of my favorite treats that I call "Addictive Awesomeness!" It's easy to make and even easier to eat. The only problem is making myself STOP eating!




To make: Combine 1 bag of candy corn, 1 bag of M&M's and 1 jar of roasted peanuts.

My friend Amanda is having a giveaway on her blog! Check it out at: www.everythingelsewastakensoichosethis.blogspot.com

Snow Day!

Yay, it snowed! I know it's been a few days since, but I've finally got some time to post them. We had a fun morning playing with the puppies then I went over to Jody's house and played with her and her boys, my parents and some church friends. Wow, four-year-olds like to have snowball fights!

The view from my front porch.


Yup, he pelted me just after I took the picture.


One of my flowers in the backyard.


My sweet puppies. The only reason I got this shot is because Thelma Lou REFUSED to move when Michael had the audacity to put her down on the cold, wet ground!


The Brasher Girls


Sam making a snow angel.


Looks like trouble!


My neighbor's back fence.


Hope you enjoyed the pictures and the snow!

Read Anything Good Lately?

As my friends and family know, I am an avid reader. I read so much and get so into books that my wonderful husband threatens to burn all of my books! This could have something to do with the fact that I can stay up 'till 3 am reading when I have to go to work the next day. To you non-readers, this sounds crazy, to those who love to read, like me, know that it really "just happens", and you're usually not aware of the passage of time when you're into a story. Anyway, I went to see High School Musical 3 with some of my friends this weekend, and we had literary discussions. They're readers, like me, so it was a lot of fun! From this discussion comes the following list of books I have read, some recently, some not so recently, that I'd love to share.

All Time Favorites:

Gone With The Wind - movie is ok, book is WAY better!
Little Women
Pride and Predjudice
Braveheart
Harry Potter Series

I know these are all movies, too, but I read 3/4 of them before seeing the movie(s). The books are ALL better than the movies!

Recent Favorites:

The Twilight series. I know, to some of you they seem creepy, juvenile, etc. Don't hate 'till you've read them! If you have only seen the movie, please do not judge the book from it! I'm not the biggest fan of the movie. The movie left way too much out and did some things in the wrong order or in the wrong place, etc. These are some of the most well-written books I've ever read! Stephenie Meyer has a way of writing that pulls your emotions into those of the character and you just have to read more, right then! The leading man, Edward, is like a modern day Mr. Darcy w/ a twist!

Luxe - This is a great story set in the early 1900's that follows the life of a New York Debutant who struggles with following the expectations of her "class" instead of her own heart. Pretty easy read, and very descriptive. There are two subsequent novels to come out this month.

Meteor's Tale - This is the story of a dog's life with his family told through the eyes of the dog. Very sweet! I read it in one night.

The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes - This story is about a young girl in need of love and acceptance makes choices that alters her entire life, and the lives of those she loves. This is a good read, but there is some language that I didn't really enjoy.

Falling Leaves: The True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter - This book is a lot more serious than the others on my list. I am fascinated with Chinese culture, and this book follows the life of a girl who was deemed unlucky at birth and who was mistreated by her family. If you read it, get ready. It's gonna get tough at times.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - This is another novel set in China. This is the story of two girls who are brought together by the "matchmaker". One is poor with "perfect" feet (remember, they bound the feet of young girls to make them small?) the other is from a great family, but in need of something the poor girl can give her. Mom couldn't finish the book b/c she had dreams about the foot binding. It is pretty disturbing, but if you can get past it, it's good read! This book teaches a lot about the culture.

Mr. Darcy's Daughters - This is the story of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy's 5 daughters 20 years after the couple's marriage. Each daughter has their own very unique story line. It is a great book, even for those poor souls who have not had the pleasure of reading Pride and Prejudice. For us lucky ones who have read Pride and Prejudice, it is a fantastic sequel! I believe there are about 2 more in this series, but I haven't read them yet.

Reads for the future:

Marley and Me - Mom loaned me her copy of this book before the movie was even planned, and I've dragged my feet. I vow to read it before I see the movie!

Blue Bloods - My book friends assured me I would enjoy this series. It is another vampire series, so I'm gonna give it a shot!

Tess of the D'Urbervilles - I saw the first part of this on APT's Masterpiece Theater, and I'm intrigued! I have not watched the rest of this series, and I vow to read the book before I do!

So, there's my list of reads. I hope that if you haven't read some of these, that you will, and let me know what you think. If you already have read some of these, let me know what you think! If you have any suggestions of books you love, please, suggest away! Hope to hear from you all soon!

Busy Weekend Part II

Ok, so I only got as far as Friday night in my last post. Now for the rest of the weekend...

Saturday morning, we got up early (well, early if you didn't go to bed until around 2am the night before) and began preparations for Michael's Dad's family's Thanksgiving/Christmas get-together. I got up and made cornbread to go with the soups and chilis that the rest of the women folk were preparing. I also made sure to have a box of mini saltines (if you haven't seen these yet, you're missing out!), cheese and drinks to add to the meal. After a filling and yummy meal and a round of "Dirty Santa" in which I received a hot chocolate kit, complete with snowman mugs and Michael received a cool multi-head screwdriver set, it was back home and clean up for my staff Christmas party that night. After a yummy dinner at Trigger's Hideout (owned by one of my co-teachers!)we played yet another round of "Dirty Santa", but played as couples. We took home a Dwarf figurine (We think it's Happy) holding a basket. We then played a game of Taboo, which was so much fun!

Sunday morning, we got up and went to church. Directly after church, we went home, changed, picked up Thelma-Lou and headed to Mom and Dad's house to go to the Christmas Tree Farm! Each year our entire family trekks to the farm together to get our trees. By the time we head home we have 7 grown ups, 4 dogs, 3 trees and 2 kids. Pretty full day, huh? We went to Old Baker's Farm and had a great time. Their trees are all beautiful this year! We chose our tree pretty quickly, which is surprising, if you know me. After scoring the most beautiful tree on the farm, calamity struck. Since we didn't have any sharpie's to mark our trees, I requested Michael carve a K into the end of thee tree. I don't know what I was thinking!! My husband, who is a wonderful provider and (0bviously) a very patitent man, doesn't have the best track record with knives... Do you see where this is goiong? Well, he came back to us holding his thumb at the very bottom knuckle with blood steadlily streaming from it. Now we had no need for a sharpie! Yes, he just stuck his bloody hand on the end of the tree to mark it as ours. Very clever, huh? I had a pack of tissues in my pocket, so we used them to try and stop the blood as we headed to Ryan (my wonderful paramedic brother-in-law!) and Jody's truck to bandage him. We went back to Mom and Dad's and Dad bandaged him up with better tools (Ryan had gauze and camoflage duct tape!) and we ate a yummy dinner with them. When we got home, Michael put up the tree and we went to bed. My poor tree stood naked until this past Friday! More on the reasons for that in my next post... I had another busy week! Enjoy the (few) pictures from the tree farm below!

Hey, can I help?


Cool! I can handle this!


Success!


Sam begged to take a picture. Not bad for a 4 year old! :)


Smooch!


Who authorized Uncle Michael to use a knife?!?


The first bandage.


More to come soon!

Busy Weekend

Ok, I know it's been FOREVER since I've posted anything, but now I finally have something to post! Since I don't have any children of my own or an exciting life, I rarely have noteworthy occurances in my life. I know, it's sad!

Anyway, this weekend was the first of MANY busy ones this season. It started out with my first trip to Sips 'N Strokes on Friday night. I went with my sister, Jody, my two cousins, Brandy and Stacey and our "adopted cousin", Carrie. We met for dinner beforehand and then headed to Sips 'N Strokes. Our picture was a snowman in a snowy field and they all turned out well! Since it is the Christmas season, the owner is doing like Oprah and giving away some of her favorite things until New Year's Eve, when she will be giving away a trip to Hawaii!! Each day she is giving away other prizes at each location. I was the only lucky one of our group that won anything. I received a $25 off certificate for my next visit!! I can't wait to go back! Below are some pictures from our experience.

This is the original picture that we were trying to paint.


Brandy had a little bit of trouble getting into her "sips"!


There we go! (Jody was NOT sipping!)


The Family getting ready to paint.


This is my painting at the first break.


Sisterly Love!


The "Painter Sisters"


Break #2


Havin' fun at the break!


My finished product!



Stacey, the seasoned pro, put us all to shame!


Ok, so this has turned into a longer blog than expected. Stay tuned for the rest of the weekend!

The Results are In

So, this past week was homecoming at Shelby Academy. In addition to the required dress up days, the elementary classes participated in a pumpkin contest, made floats and decorated banners. Although my class didn't win, we still had fun participating! I also slept REALLY well all week 'cause I was worn out every day! Below are some picures of the festivities.

This is a picture of my class with our float. Stomp 'em, Raiders!


This is my class with my aide, Miss Darcey. We LOVE her!


This is our beautiful peacock pumpkin. Pretty creative, huh?


Last, but not least, here are my "Rocker Boys" who went all out on spirit day!


Have a great week!

I'm Ba-ack!

Ok, so it's been a REALLY long time since I last posted. To all of my adoring fans (Anita and Ms. Patricia :) ) I apologize profusely! There's been a lot happening, but nothing much happening since my last post. I know, very contradictory, but true! So, since my last post, which is shamefully from three months ago, I've started another school year at Shelby Academy, come one year closer to reaching the big 3 - 0 and a beautiful little girl has made her much awaited appearance!

Now, let's break that down some. First, I started the school year at the beginning of August with 14 four year olds and no afterschool care worker. I already take care of early care, which is from 6:30 - 7:30 every morning. Yes, that's right, I get to school between 6:15 and 6:30 EVERY DAY! Added to this crime against nature (my philosophy is that if the sun isn't up, I shouldn't be up, either!) I've been swapping out days staying until 6:00 in the evening for afterschool care with one other teacher. That schedule really doesn't leave much room for anything besides coming home, eating and sleeping, then doing it all over again. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kids and my job, but the long days were getting to me! Thankfully, we have a wonderful young lady whom I've known for a few years that has taken over the position so that I can leave at 3:30! Yay!

Next, on September 8 of this year I turned 29! Yes, that is correct, I'm in the last year of my 20's. It's funny, I always thought of 29 as being pretty old, until a few years ago when my sister turned 29 and I realized my turn was coming soon! We celebrated at mom's with one of my favorite dinners. Mom always cooks whatever meal the birthday person requests for their birthday celebration. A tradition that I enjoy every year! My problem is that I love most foods, so I decided to get some help on deciding my menu for the night. I narrowed down the choices to two: Mom's homemade lasagna or porkchops, black eyed peas, corn, macaroni and cheese and cornbread, then had my students vote on what I should have. The porkchop meal won! It was very delicious! Here are a few pics from that night.

Sam had as much (if not more!) fun as me opening up the presents!


The candle Matthew gave me smelled really good!


Something that I counted on for my birthday came a day later than we'd hoped: One of my oldest and dearest friends, Teale, gave birth to her beautiful and much prayed for baby girl, Harper Faith, on September 9. She is such a cutie and already a blessing to her proud mommy and daddy! If you follow the link you're sure to find some pictures of this bundle of joy!

So, I guess that about covers what's been going on lately. Like a said, a lot has been happening, but nothing has been happening. But do be sure to stay tuned. This week is homecoming week at our school and there's another pumpkin contest! Last year my class won with our "Purple People Eater," which you can find in an older post. This year we're gonna be even bigger and better. I'll post pictures as soon as the masterpiece is complete! Have a great week!

Creative Juices...

... were really flowing for my friend Teale and I two weeks ago. We went to Ceramic Creations in Hoover and were able to paint our choice of pottery. Teale mad a cute birthday cake (which I still haven't seen completed, hint,hint, Teale) and I chose to paint a cross to match my living room. We learned two important lessons about painting ceramics:
1. When they say a little bit of paint, they mean a little bit of paint.
2. When making small dots, one must make them larger than they think they want in order for them to show up after glazing.
3. For bright colors, lay on the paint!

Below is my finished product, minus the ribbon I haven't purchased yet to hang it.


Teale and I had a really great time being creative and catching up with each other. I hope Harper is an easy baby so that we can have these playdates more often!

Good Old Summertime

Ok, I know it's been FOREVER since I posted anything, and I do apologize to my adoring fans for the lack of information. This summer has just flown by with not much happening. I found a summer job - in the office of my school (Shelby Academy) and I am LOVING being the secretary for the month of July. Imagine that, me enjoying a job that requires talking on the phone... :)

Other than the job, I did make a really yummy chocolate Mocha cake that was pretty AND tasty. Doesn't it look yummy? Marie, please, don't judge! :)







Mom and Dad have recently added a new member to the family: A sweet and handsome Jack Russell Terrier puppy who finally has a name. They decided that his registered name will be IM UR Huckleberry, and call him Huck for short. Can you tell we're fans of Tombstone? Of course, pictures of him will follow shortly!

The only other news (besides the sleepover at my house that will require an entire post) is Mom and Dad's honey. You see, they have 8 beehives and have collected the honey from them this summer. They have so much honey that we've not gotten any in jars. Michael brought 1 liter bottles to put it in!! They have honey in coolers, bottles, stock pots, etc. Needless to say, we won't have to buy any honey for years to come. This has really been Daddy's project and he's so excited that a good friend of mine is helping him with labels! We decided on O.D. Bee's Honey for the labels. Pretty cute, huh?

Well, that's all for now. I hope I have appeased the "Blog Police" for at least a little while. :)

Migrant Camp Report

Ok, it's official: I'm OLD! I went on a mission trip (we call it Migrant Camp) with the youth of my church to south Alabama this week. It was GREAT - I am so proud of our youth! We took around 40 teenagers and kept them in one building that is separated into guys and girls dorms by one large main room and a kitchen. There were no behavior issues, and I saw these kids really minister to each other, as well as to the migrants! I was the only girl in my group (excluding the Queen of Migrant Camp, one Mrs. Barbara Joiner!)with 4 guys (3 were teenagers and newbies, one was a one-year veteran and an adult). I had my work cut out for me! Just kidding - they all did a GREAT job! They really studied the lessons and got into the scripture to be able to give background information, just in case. These guys were awesome! I hope I'm in a group with them next year!

Now for the feeling old part - they all called me "Mam" when I asked them questions! AAAHHHHHHH! I'm not old enough to be a mam to this group, am I? Well, apparently so.

Aside from sharing the gospel with others and making or strengthening friendships between our goup there is one other thing I LOVE about Migrant Camp. On Thursdays, we have free time away from our camp. The possible excursions are to a seafood restaraunt, golfing, the beach or shopping at the Foley outlets. Guess which one I do each year?!? If you guessed shopping, you're right! Since Migrant Camp is always so close to my anniversary (June 9, if you're wondering!) I usually end up buying myself my anniversary present. Michael has no complaints - it saves him a shopping trip! This year was no different. I bought something I never thought I'd buy - I got a Coach purse from their outlet store! Even though it was 50% off of the outlet price, it was still more than I'd ever paid for a purse. However, I do believe it was worth it! I LOVE it! Hope ya'll had as good of a week as I did!

Also, if you'll look to the weight loss ticker to the left you'll see that I'm now in the 120's! Just barely, but I'm there! Yay me!

New Look!

Yay! I've finally gotten my "blog lift" and I think it is FANTABULOUS!! It's all thanks to my crafty friend Teale! She does a super job and I'm very proud of her. She makes it super easy to do, so if you're lookin' to spice up your page, just click on the "Teale's digi-disigns" button below my picture and see what she can do. I know she'll be able to cook something up for you that you'll like.

In other news, I met Patrick Dempsey... Ok,so maybe I just posed by his picture in a cardboard cutout, but at least now I've got my picture with him! Ah... McDreamy...

In other news, we went to see the new Indiana Jones movie tonight. I've been looking forward to it ALL WEEK! It was typical Indie with tongue-in-cheek lines and lots of action. If you're not a huge fan, you won't become on with this movie, but if you're already hooked, you'll like it a lot! I won't say any more in case those of you who haven't seen it want to. I'm off on a week-long mission trip on Monday, so I'm sure I'll have plenty to report when I get back. Have a great week!