Fun, Hot, Rain, and Sweat

We attended the Stihl Timberland Sport competition today. It was a lot of fun but VERY, and I mean VERY hot. The covered seats in the stadium were restricted to certain pass holders. So we were in the direct sun for an hour or two. When we go up to go see another event, I looked like I had peed my pants, my shorts were soaked with sweat right around my butt! I was so embarrassed, Carol walked right behind me so people wouldn't see it so much, but I know they did. And, it helped knowing that everyone had a wet butt, but I had on dark kacki shorts so it showed up more! From the stadium we went to the Monkey Joe area. They brought all of their inflatable slides and bounce houses out to one of the fields. But, hot plastic and wet shorts do not make for a fun slide. I just stuck to it, so instead of sliding down, we bounced down the slide. I found a big fan there and it helped to dry out my shorts. Then we were headed to the dog dock jump when it started raining - so we jumped into the Best Buy tent and had a camera lesson while we waited out the rain. It only lasted about 5 minutes. But rain in GA is not a good thing - it doesn't lower the temperature, it raises the humidity! We almost headed home but decided to check out the dog relay first. I'm glad we did because Annagrace really enjoyed watching all of the dogs run around poles and through the tunnels.
We were so hot we headed to Regina's and jumped in the pool!

Buck-Tooth Cousin

I would like to introduce you to Annagrace's buck-tooth cousin from UTAH, Christopher. Christoper and Sarah flew in with my brother, Chuck, last week. They are staying with Grandmother and Granddaddy for a few weeks. But, who ever thought Annagrace's hillbilly cousin would come from Utah?? (But, I'm sure she has a couple of hillbilly realatives here in GA too!)

On a Roll

So ... I think I'm getting addicted to this canning thing. I love walking into my pantry/laundry room and seeing all of my lovely jars in perfect little rows. Today I got a box of tomatoes, put Annagrace down for a nap and got busy. I decided to do all crushed tomatoes. I can then make them into spaghetti sauce, salsa, soups, etc. I didn't want to commit my jars to just one thing like spaghetti sauce. I wanted the flexibility. All-in-all it took me about 3 hours to do them. (No, Annagrace didn't sleep the whole time. My sister came in about the time she woke up, so she entertained her for me.)

I scream, You scream, We all scream for ICE CREAM!

For our last activity of Nana and Papa's visit we went to dinner and then to the Marble Slab Creamery for ice cream. We had to force the first taste into Annagrace's mouth and then she suddenly realized - she loves ice cream! And she used both spoons to shovel it into her mouth.

Family Reunion

We had a family reunion on Sunday and the Chapman's house. It was a pretty good turnout. We were surrounded by good food, good people, and just a good 'ol time!

Peaches, Peaches, Peaches

So, we didn't make it to a peach orchard and pick peaches. We cheated and just went to the local farmer's market (that's more like a grocery store than a real farmer's market) and bought a 25lb box of peaches. But ... they came from the same farm that I wanted to go pick from. We gave them a couple of days to soften up and got to canning. These Georgia Peaches were so good!! I think I ate one slice for every three I put in the jars. But, I really enjoyed the whole canning process. I think I am going to continue with more items. I think my next thing will be Welch's Georgia Peach Jam. (They will make good grandma presents!)

Fish and Coke - A Great Combo!

The Georgia Aquarium is amazing! They have a tunnel that runs through the main tank. So there were whale sharks, 600 lb groupers, a hammerhead shark, and thousands of fish swimming all around us. Annagrace really enjoyed the sea lions. She didn't know what was in the tank and was right at the glass, searching for a fish in the tank when a big sea lion came swimming right up and by the glass. She shrieked and turned to run the other direction. (We have a video, I'll have to post later.) She didn't understand that the fish LIVE in the water though. Every time she saw a big fish she would say "take a bath." She thought all of these fish were taking a bath when we came to visit them.

We got a combo pass and went to the new World of Coke afterwards. The 4D movie was the best. Annagrace didn't like it so much. B/c it is 4D there are big puffs of air, squirts of water, and chair shaking. Annagrace started out in Tyler's lap but moved to mine halfway through. But, at the end the chair shaking was at it's max when Annagrace turned to Papa, shaking her finger at him, and said "Bad, bad ... Bad, bad!" LOL, she thought the Papa was shaking her chair and she didn't like it! Not one bit! She gave him dirty looks the rest of the day!

(She's such a mess!)

Naval, I mean Infantry, I mean Plains, GA

We headed out to visit the Naval Museum in South Columbus today but when we pulled up we saw the cost to enter and decided to just skip it and head to the Infantry Museum on Ft. Benning. We got to the gate and Tyler went in to get a pass and they told him that the Museum is closed for the next three months until the new one is complete. WHAT TO DO???? Ummm .... go to Plains, GA - the home of President Jimmy Carter. They have his childhood home/farm open for visitors and they converted the old High School into a museum. It was a lot of fun and Annagrace really enjoyed running around the farm and seeing the farm animals.

Well, I have to share what happened at lunch. Annagrace has been sick for the past two days - a vomit/diarrhea virus traveling around. She was feeling much better this morning so we thought we were safe to venture out. The farm was great and we headed to lunch at the cafe on the "business strip." I strapped her into the high chair and everything was going smoothly until ... I heard a squirt (you know ... the diarrhea squirt). THEN a second one! I didn't even want to look! I lifted her shirt and there was a whole puddle of poop sitting at the very tip top edge of her diaper. I didn't know what to do?? I didn't want to pick her up the wrong way and it go everywhere. But, before I could decide Annagrace wiggled around a little and it spilled over the top, down her pants, onto the highchair, and DRIPPING to the FLOOR!! Tyler pulled her out as I tried to contain it, but in the process her foot went through the poop and therefore left a footprint of poop on the table top where he stood her waiting for me to take her to the bathroom. I was so freaked out about the poop being on the table, I leaned against Annagrace trying to wipe it off - landing me with a huge poop circle right on my shirt. All I could do was laugh. Luckily we were one of only two "parties" in the little cafe and the other family had two small children. We finally got her into the bathroom, cleaned up, and changed. I unfortunately did not have another shirt, I tried to rinse the spot out as best as I could, but I spent the rest of the day in a poop shirt. We headed to the museum/high school after lunch and sat down to watch a video when I heard the squirt again. Tyler yanked her out of her stroller and I pulled her clothes off so fast, she didn't even know what had happened to her. I didn't have another change of clothes for her, so I didn't want these messed up. We let her wander around the empty auditorium which helped with the poop situation - the diaper had time to soak up the gush instead of it getting pushed up her back. Luckily, we made it home without any other incident! We are heading to Atlanta tomorrow for the GA Aquarium, I will be packing 4 outfits for Annagrace and an extra shirt for myself!

A girl after my own heart

No, don't worry, it's not open. But, she wanted to be a big girl like Mama and Nana and carry around a Diet Coke. I guess I should take this as a reality check - I drink too much Diet Coke!! But, honestly I don't see myself changing any time soon.

Nana's favorite

Nana absolutely loves Warm Springs, GA and says she would move there in a heartbeat if she could. There is just something about the little town, the atmosphere, the people. So we took a girls trip there today: Me, Annagrace, Nana, Grandmother, and GG. We had a YUMMY lunch at the Bulloch House.Their fried green tomatoes, biscuits, and Carmel cake are to-die-for!!Aunt Brenda, Uncle James, Tristan and Jordan met us for lunch as well.

After eating we had to visit all of the adorable little shops around town!

We had a wonderful, tiring day! Papa stayed home and watched the US Open.

Happy Father's Day

We went to church then spent the afternoon at my parents house so we could all celebrate Father's day together. It was just a nice lazy afternoon.

Nana and Papa

Well, we picked up Nana and Papa from the airport Thursday afternoon. Annagrace warmed up to them within 2 minutes and was being carried around the airport by Nana. We picked up Tyler and went to dinner at Country's Barbecue. When we came back home, we played until Annagrace crashed. Friday we just hung around the house half of the day then ventured out to an antique mall and a resale shop.

Saturday Annagrace went to Grandmother's house while the rest of us went to Atlanta. We had a very sweet and special morning at the Temple. We haven't gone to the temple together since our wedding (7 years ago!!). (I know, we don't look very happy in the picture - but I promise we were!)

Afterwards we went to the ...

I have always wanted to go, but just never made it. Nana has a love of antiques too so we just had to go! Well, as soon as we got there the bottom dropped out and poured which then made the power go out! And little did we know that the place had REAL antiques with REAL big prices too. We are used to finding our own antiques and vintage items in junk shops and yard sales for little to nothing! The pieces were beautiful, but way out of our price ranges. Maybe some day when we are rich and in need of a dining room buffet we will go up there again and pick one out. But, until then .... I'll stick to my junk shops. We were so disappointed in the lack of purchases that we went to ...

Where you can ALWAYS find something you can afford! They have little stuffed animals for ONE CENT!

Finally

Nana and Papa are here!

Stay tuned for a fun filled week!

!!WARNING!! Not about Annagrace!!

So ... I'm home ... alone ... and thinking ... about friends. Why is it so hard to find a GOOD friend?? It's pretty easy to find others with common interests that you get together with and enjoy each other's company. But, I'm talking about the spill your guts, can't get enough of, LIFE-long, love-ya-like a sister friend. I currently have ONE. Yes I said ONE. I guess I should be grateful for her and her 23 years of devoted friendship (I hit a gold mine with her, really!!) But, the reality is, she lives over 400 miles away, soon to be 928 miles away (yes I google mapped it as soon as she told me), and isn't here to do the normal everyday lunches, shopping, late night movie, and cookie dough filled conversations that we enjoyed in our teens. But, the funny thing is, we actually don't have much in common. Yep, the more I think about it, we are complete polar opposites yet we never run out of things to talk about, laugh about, cry about, and love each other for. She just gets me!

Well, I may need to back track a little here. I said one friend, but since the birth of my child, the friendship between my Mom and I has grown greater than I could have ever imagined. We have always been close, but to know and to see another person (besides my husband) love my child as much as I do is an awesome experience. She feels the same joy in each little accomplishment and new thing Annagrace does. And we have a lot of fun together. We go to lunch A LOT, and shop A LOT and talk the whole time! I find myself calling her at least twice a day. But, I'm getting a little off subject here - I love my Mom to death and she is truly a best friend.

But I still feel like I'm missing something, something I think only another young Mom could offer. Someone who is going through the same day-to-day actions and thoughts as me. Someone who is as excited to talk to me as I am to them on a daily basis (or semi-daily). Someone to go to lunch with, have a playdate with, and shop with. I thought I had found one (minus the mama part) and we were full steam ahead buddies, even the hubbies got along. But, then abruptly, without warning, without reason - it ended. The only answer as to why that I got was "we don't have much in common and there are things I don't agree with." What?? What does that mean - what do I do that she doesn't agree with. Okay, I don't mean to sound self righteous - but I'm an active, faithful, LDS woman. And she .... well she .... doesn't have the same convictions (and neither does her circle of friends.) So, all in all, I guess it was for the best. A true friend embraces and celebrates your differences - not dismiss you for them.

So, there it is - my heart on my sleeve. I need a FRIEND! If you are another lonely Mama seeking fellow Mama companionship - I am an open-minded, strong LDS mother who loves scrap booking, photography, decorating, TV (I know I should say reading - but I'm trying to be completely honest here), shopping, and playing with my babe - Please reply by commenting.

For Cute

This cap's only purpose is cuteness!

We went to Regina and Gary's house to celebrate Gary's birthday and go swimming. (We never pass up a chance to go swimming!) And Tyler was actually off work and able to go with us.Our little fish stayed so long she started turning into a raisin.

New Friends

Lori contacted me through the PICP group and invited us to come swimming at her house today. Her daughter Taia is only one week younger than Annagrace. I was so happy to meet a permanent Columbus Mom with a baby girl the same age as Annagrace. (Sorry army moms, I love you but you keep leaving me.) We also met another PICP Mom - Bonnie and her adorable 7 month old daughter, Madeline. And two of Lori's friends from the neighborhood.

We had so much fun and Annagrace, the little fish, didn't want to get out of the water. I know she would love it, but I think it's a good thing that we don't have a pool. She has no fear of the water. Today she decided to taste the water (don't worry, it's a salt water pool) and thought it tasted so good that she kept doing it over and over. She would even put her whole face in the water and then just laugh.

I'm so proud ...

I am the proud parent of a girly girl!!!

She loves her purse and bracelets!
(they are actually baby chain links)
Grandmother bought her the purse many months ago but Annagrace spotted it on the shelf today after her nap and hasn't let go of it since! She is so funny.Several hours later ... she returned home from a shopping trip with Grandmother and she still had her purse and bracelets! They picked up Tristan on their way back home. She loves playing with him and he is so sweet to her and does anything to make her laugh.

All fired up about being "Molly"

Okay, let me start by saying I like to cook ... occasionally. When I'm in the mood, I can whip up a pretty fierce meal. And as stated previously I'm not the out-doorsie gardening type. But, for the life of me, I CAN-NOT-WAIT until Mom (in-law) gets here so we can go to several "Pick-your-own" farms, buy up as much produce as I can afford, then come home and CAN it!! I'm so excited to learn how to can. I've been researching nearby farms for variety and their additional activities such as farm animals (to entertain the babe). Regina (Aunt Gina to some of my readers) generously loaned me her canning tools so all I need are the jars!

It all started when I picked up a local festivities brochure that featured a "pick-your-own" peach trail down I-75. I thought it would be a nice activity for our Idaho family members to go pick some Georgia peaches. But, then what do we do with all of the peaches??? I guess we should can them. The more I research farms the more and more excited I get and the more items I want to can. I'm planning on doing peaches, tomatoes, strawberries/jam, apples/applesauce, peas or green beans, and squash. Some will be frozen instead of canned and I want to do some cobblers and other premade desserts to have in the freezer as well. I think that'll keep us busy!

Here is an awesome website that lists "pick-your-own" farms by counties: http://www.pickyourown.org/index.htm