we got that boom boom pow

We're in the middle of a very festive New Year's Eve! Club Turner is getting crunk. Club Turner  is when we turn club music up very loudly and dance and eat mexican food and stay up late. It usually happens on Valentine's Day and Birthdays and New Year's Eve. All kids should be exposed to club music every now and again... right? Right. Anyway, here are some highlights of our New Year's Eve photobooth shoot...

Happy New Year's Eve! Light a sparkler.

silly christmas

FUN FACT! This is my four hundred and first blog post. Anyhoo, Christmas happened here in our little house by the lake. This Christmas was really funny for me and different... and maybe a little strange. But the kids were smiling, the movies were playing, the lights were twinkling and the True Message of Christmas was spoken loud and clear.

After church, presents, donuts, chocolate milk, and lots of hugging... I would say that Christmas 2011 was nice... and a little silly. We're traveling to Mississippi later this week so we can hug my family in Mississippi. Christmas isn't over yet... happy!

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas weekend.

christmas around our house

Sharing a few of our Christmas decorations today. I love little trees and colorful things. Hope you are busy wrapping gifts and drinking peppermint tea!

it's the most wonderful time

Our house smells like sugar cookies! I'm busy making a few last minute gifts for some special little people. We're watching Christmas movies and eating candy canes. Hooray for the holiday season!

tacky sweaters in the warm december weather

We had a little Christmas party at our house last night. It was very fun. We looked ridiculous... especially Charlie.

I made brownie cakes and marshmallow treats and cookies and dips and other fun things. We played games and laughed for a few hours. I love having people over at Christmas!

Anyone else eating a candy cane this morning?

hot chocolate is good in the afternoon

How do you make hot chocolate? I use vanilla almond milk, a scoop of pure cocoa powder, some sugar, and a pinch of salt. Sometimes I even make homemade whipped cream to go on top. We've got lots of hot chocolate going on around here! Happy Weekend!

9 years down... 100 to go

Our 9th wedding anniversary was this week. We had a very very special date last night. We ate dinner at Sal's Pizzeria on St. Simon's Island. Sal's is owned by Sal... an ex-pro boxer from New Jersey who stands in front of a brick oven all night throwing pizza dough into the air while singing christmas songs along with the loud speakers. He's the cutest. Please support local restaurants... you'll find much cooler people there. OK back to our date...

So we ate pizza and talked about which years of our married life have really been the best, most fun, etc. We laughed about the years when we thought we had everything all figured out, then we almost cried about how this past year we realized that we really don't. After dinner and deep conversation we went to the movies then home to eat ice cream and hug each other.

I love Charlie! He's handsome and smart and a true picture of how the Lord Jesus Christ can snatch up whoever He wants and use them for His good and perfect purpose. Happy heart!

attack that big mac

When it comes to food, I've been called quite a few things... picky, snobby, healthy, hippie, tribal african, rabbit, weirdo... you get the idea. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE food, just not any foods that come out of a can or a chemical factory or a fast food window. Our family eats mostly organic, fresh food, and since I have a gluten/dairy allergy we eat lots of things that are fresh and green. However, sometimes I think about a Big Mac. So here's what I did. I went to the market with a list straight out of a 1985 McDonald's commercial... 2 all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.

Since we all know the "special sauce" is nothing more than Thousand Island dressing, I picked up a small bottle with some delicious pickles.

I found some shredded iceberg lettuce and organic cheese.

I cut one all-beef patty in half and let the cheese melt in between. I slathered the Thousand Island on each bun and O MY GOSH. It was everything I've been dreaming of without all the guilt and chest pains that follow a "real" Big Mac. Empty plate!

christmas on a budget... busy wreaths

Hi! Perhaps you are trying to save a few of your dollars this holiday season. So am I. Here's a project that I finished recently (and by "recently" I mean "the first of November"). I call them BUSY WREATHS!

I call them "busy wreaths" because they are... well... a little "busy." I had these garland wreaths in the attic from years past and I added ribbon, fabric, holly berries, sticks from the backyard dipped in green paint, swirly stick thingys, ornaments, spray paint, and some $2 glitter bows. This Christmas happiness project cost me exactly four dollars.

One cannot have too much stuff sticking out of one's wreaths.