Red Velvet Yogurt = Delish!

This post needs not further explanation except that we finally wrapped our mouths around red velvet frozen yogurt! It was an early birthday treat for me, but we all enjoyed it!

Lollipop, Lollipop, Ohhhh Sollipop!

Gus has found a new love.....lollipops or as he calls them - SOLLI-POPS! He knows that when we go to the bank they give out "sollipops". We went today after hours and he was a little bothered that he did not get one. Thankfully Walgreens is right next door so we headed over to get a lollipop since he had been a good boy! You would know that as soon as we walked in there was a lollipop display....not quite as elaborate as this picture, but in his eyes I am sure it was! He chose the BIGGEST, REDDEST lollipop! There was no changing his mind on this matter. So we checked out and headed home with the world's larger than any 2 year old's mouth sollipop. I do believe it will take him several months if not years to get to the stick of this thing...if it doesn't make it to the trash before then!!

Mom and Daughter Date

Mom and I had a date. We went to lunch at Pei Wei and headed downtown to the Frist to see the exhibit, "The Golden Age of Couture". We were in awe seeing some of the pieces from that era. So much detail and just beautiful pieces all done by hand and most made for particular women. I so wish I would have lived during that time. All of the pieces, well most of them had my name all over them! We were not allowed to take pictures in the museum so I kept my guidebook as a future reference! After our tour we headed over to the Pied Piper Creamery and had some ice cream! I had red velvet Elvis which was to die for and mom had Little Debbie does ice cream which she said was to die for. We will certainly be going back for more!! Thanks for such a fun day mom! I really enjoyed my time with you and thank you Jake for keeping Gus so mom and I could have a day together! I love both of you so very much!

Grayton Beach ~ day 5

Not a whole heck of a lot happened today...RAIN, RAIN and more RAIN! The good news is we have been enjoying being able to spend so much down time together as a family. The fact that we have know where to be and nothing to do is awesome and we are loving every minute of it!

Started the day off checking email and playing some word games!
Like Father, Like Son!

Went for a nice drive to Panama City. I had never been so Jake wanted to show me how parts look like they are still in the 50's and 60's and then we came upon this whole new area which was like WOW! The highlight of the day, are you ready for it? We were starving and figured as soon as the rain slacked we would stop and eat. Do you know when it slacked? When we were in front of Hooter's. Do you want to take one guess at where we ate? Hooter's! I was out numbered and it just seemed fitting to eat there, I guess! The food was good, but the company was better :-)

And on our way back to Grayton, we pulled over to get a better look at this place!

Except Gus didn't get to see it.....I guess Hooter's fries were too much!

Grayton Beach ~ day 4...part 2

After a movie and a nice nap during the thunderstorms we were able to enjoy the beach in the evening followed by an amazing Cajun dinner....gumbo and jambalaya!! Though a little windy, still a lot of fun!!

Gus holding his prize possession....a lime!!

Me, Gusley and Vivian!

Evan and his new spectacles!!

Sweet baby girl!

Cloudy with a chance of Cheese-its!

Happy Father's Day!

I know Father's Day is to honor the daddy's out there, but I sure do enjoy the good food that comes along with it!! We had a nice relaxing day. We slept late, had a good breakfast, swam, took a nice nap, swam some more and had yummy steaks for dinner! It was truly a great day.

You can just see the pure happiness on Gus' little face. I am so glad that he loves the water, however; he does not have very much fear. Please excuse the potty in the background.....potty training and that comes with the territory!

Lending a helping hand to Pops!

Salsa Sunchips are the bomb!!

And so is Pinki's homemade Guacamole! Down to the last bite!

Happy Father's Day, Jake! We love you and hope you had a great day! Thank you for all that you do for us to make our lives comfortable, fun, enjoyable and entertaining! You kick ass!!

A little entertainment by Gusley....he loves to wear "goooo-gles"!

Buttercup not very thrilled to be in Gus' pajama shirt, but I thought it was cute! The shirt says, "Can't Catch Me", which is very fitting for her!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday POPS!!

Dad, Happy Birthday! Hope you have a wonderful day!

From the pictures above, you can see that Gus had a great time making your cake!! (and eating the sprinkles too!)

Oh What a Night!

Danny and Bridgette and their children came to visit over Easter holidays. We had a wonderful visit with them and did not want to see them go home! Their one request was that we had to eat at the old spaghetti factory. We figured Good Friday would be the best day. Jake and I got off around 2 or 3pm and we met D & B in downtown Nashville. We were a little early so we took Gus to the playground at Centennial Park. He had a blast! Once they got there, we parked and all walked around the pond to the Parthenon. Everyone was very impressed and we had worked up an appetite so we agreed to have an early dinner.

We got to the restaurant, waited about 10 minutes and we were at our table. Here is where the fun began. These will be short concise sentences. The waiter was AWFUL. He talked to himself. It was HOT as Haiti in the restaurant. I was sweating, Gus was sweating, Jake was sweating. Gus was a wiggle worm. He did not want anything to eat. Somehow the waiter got the orders almost completely right. He withheld giving us seconds, thirds, etc of the yummy bread. I ordered Gus milk. When the milk didn't work, I asked for his scoop of spumoni ice cream. Bad move, very bad move. Jake inhaled his food. I got mine to-go. D & B's kids ate everything on their plates. Bridgette was in heaven with the mizithra cheese. So was I. I think we all were!! Jake takes Gus for a walk outside while waiting for our check. They come back with a flower for me. As soon as Jake's butt hits the chair Gus begins to spew. The entire place is looking at us like we have 17 heads and like they have never seen a little person vomit. Funtimes. My poor child looked so pitiful. Jake takes him back outside with Evan and Lucas (who starts to gag!). I clean the vomit as the bus boy proceeds to tell me how he watched it all go down and how gross it was. I KNOW it is gross. Shut up and get me more towels, pronto. Who in their right mind thinks there is anything great about vomit, I do not know. Gus sleeps the entire ride home. Enjoys a bath and little down time with his cousins and he is off to dream land. This my friends, is by far the worst restaurant experience we have had as parents.

Gus had a runny nose a few days before and I should have known that vomit was on the horizon. The mucus just gets the best of him and he has to get it out. That dear readers, was how our Good Friday went down!

Daddy and Gus on the steps of the Parthenon!

Danny, Bridgette, Evan, Lucas and Vivian ready to eat mizithra cheese. Pre-vomit!

Spumoni.....not a good idea. Nope, not at all!

Tent & Toddler - Day 3

And on the third day...it began to rain! We knew it was going to rain so we had everything packed up and ready to go except the essentials and a change of cloths for each of us. It had rained on and off during the night, but we stayed high and dry in our tent. Gus was a trooper while we broke down the tent (thank goodness for iPhone apps because I forgot the charger to the laptop so....). After the car was packed we headed to the bath house for a quick rinse and we were off to over favorite little secret in Grand Rivers, Kentucky...Patty's 1880 Settlement Restaurant! The rain did not stop us from milling around the grounds and chasing the ducks!

We were greeted by this turkey!

The two ducks that got a run for their money as soon as Gus' feet hit the ground!

Driving that train, driving that train.....

Daddy's boy!

Mommy thought he would like it if the horse moved, so she put a quarter in....BAD, BAD MOVE!





I don't think the horse incident scarred him - this smile was shortly thereafter!

Headed to smell the daffodils!

Ahh, the sweet smell of a flower!

None of us could resist the home fried potato skin nachos, not even little mister picky eater!!

Or the homemade WARM bread in a flower pot!

Mr. Big Stuff drinking out of an adult glass!

Mile High Meringue Pie - Pinki and Pops' thank you for dog sitting. The stipulation was that we had to try a piece!! ;-)

What a great trip we had! We are looking forward to the next time we go. Always a nice laid back experience and lots of good food and tons of laughter!!

An Apple a Day.....

Keeps the Doctor away!! I sure hope there is some truth to that! Gus has been loving all things apple! His favorite past time is biting into an apple! He bites all the skin off (and puts it on the floor for the dog) then begins to eat the inside of the apple!! Cute, yes!! A mess, yes!! Do I care about the mess? NO!!

He is telling me this is his AAA-PULLL!

Seeing stars

So here is my vision of cooking.........................cute kitchen, precious apron (and a very narrow waistline), GREEN plants, freshly baked muffins, nice spring colors and a cute kitty!


However, I had this vision today..........................................black eye, seeing stars and saying to many choice words in under a minute....read on!

On the menu was corn on the cob, so I was in the pantry getting the big stock pot down to boil the corn in. As I was getting the pot down I did not see that it was pushing the cheese sandwich griddle pan off of its hook until it came crashing down on my left eye.......OUCH and a few other choice words came flying out of my mouth. I have a nice bulge and bruise on my left upper eye and it hurts pretty stinkin' bad. I feel a lot of pressure if I bend down or look to my left. Yes, the corn did get boiled and Jake baked some really awesome Tilapia! Thanks for making a house call, Pinki! You are the best...love you!!

Cake Balls-attempt number 1

They did taste better than they looked!!! Strawberry balls dipped in chocolate! Any suggestions on getting an even dip would be greatly appreciated....see below!!!