Photos From Fall

Lots of water has passed under the bridge since the last post. The munchkin is in 4th grade now, and our schedule is busier than ever! Here are a few photo highlights.

First day of 4th grade!

We had a sleepover for the munchkin's 10th birthday party. Here they are painting fingernails.

We had a mystery-themed party, and used the Slumber Party kit from Dramatic Fanatic. I highly recommend these party kits! The directions were very easy to follow and the girls had a great time. Check out the cute cake my friend made to go with the theme!

For Halloween, we decided to continue the mystery theme. The munchkin was Shirley Holmes, girl detective, and our beagle played the role of her trusty sidekick, Watsonya. I found the pattern for the costume at the Martha Stewart site, and I found a huge cut of houndstooth polyester for less than $3 at Goodwill! Can't beat that!

 

One of the biggest highlights of recent days was Mary Beth's tennis tournament win. First place in girls 10 and under at a USTA Satellite tournament!

She won 4 matches to win the trophy. In two of the matches, she lost the first set then came back to win the second set and ultimately a tie-breaker to win the match. I suspect that it was her "never give up" attitude that won the first place price. Later, I asked her about it. "Well," she said, "some kids get all frustrated when they're losing, and it makes them not play as well. I decided that I would not let it bother me, and I wouldn't get lazy. I should just keep trying my best."

Wish I could bottle that.

Spring Highlights

I've been delinquent in my posting, but here's a long catch-up post.

The photo above was taken at Callaway Gardens. We had a lovely weekend there in April, and we'll definitely be making return trips. The Butterfly Center was a big hit with the munchkin (and the grownups, too), and I'm hoping we can return in September for "Blue Morpho Month."

The munchkin is turning out to be a little tennis powerhouse! She entered her second USTA tournament in May and won second place - her second second-place win! While we were tickled with her playing, what I was most proud of was that she played through brutal heat and blisters on her hand with no complaining and was gracious to her opponents.

     I've been doing some experimental gardening.

Bell pepper

 Lessons learned:  spring vegetables don't stand much of a chance in the Georgia heat. The truth is, we only have two seasons here - summer and not-summer. My lettuce went limp, it was too hot too quickly for the radishes and carrots, and while the spinach gave us a few salads, it bolted by late April. I might try again in fall, but I won't fool with those vegetables in the spring again. So far, the peppers are coming along nicely, and the pole beans are blossoming. We got a few zucchini from our two plants, but one of the plants has succumbed to what I think is squash vine borer, and the other one isn't looking good. Lesson learned:  pest control is a daily task, especially if you're trying to do it organically.

And finally, we said goodbye recently to our sweet kitty, Sebastian. I miss the little warm bundle of fur that snuggled next to me all night long. But he was sick, and the price of loving an animal is not allowing it to suffer when nothing can be done.

As for snuggling, we have no shortage of warm furry bodies. Our big dog Bella is always good for a cuddle, and the new beagle, Mollie, would be a lap dog if we let her.

incorrigible

First Tennis Tournament

It's been one LONG day, but it ended with the munchkin (on the left) bringing home a 2nd place trophy from her first USTA-sanctioned tournament. She played 4 back-to-back matches, beat the no. 2 seeded player, and won four out of 12 games against the no. 1 seed. Not bad for her first time out!

Battling it out for 1st place in her fourth match of the day.

More Scenes From Christmas

We spent Christmas eve and day in Florida at my husband's brother's house with them and with their parents. We always enjoy Christmas on the farm with our family and all of the animals. Our dog Bella considers it a Lowe dog family reunion! Some of these photos have already appeared here, and some are new.

Scenes from Christmas

It isn't Christmas 'til I decorate sugar cookies.

Santa brought a bulky gift early!

The reindeer are out.

Childhood flies away...

Elf Mayhem

The elves are here. Yep, I said elves. This year, we have not one, but two elves on our shelves. Ironically, this was the year when I thought maybe, just maybe, there'd be no elf.

"Mama, is Zippy real?" my 9-year-old munchkin asked just before Thanksgiving. "Suzie's mom told her that she was too old for an elf, and elves come from a store anyway."

I thought fast. "Honey, you've seen the Elf on the Shelf display at the bookstore, right? So, you already knew that you could get elves at the store."

"Yeah..."

"You know, some of your Santa presents come from stores, too. You knew that, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, just because something comes from a store doesn't mean that Santa isn't involved." I held my breath. I'm not sure if I was hoping she'd buy my explanation or keep asking more questions. I've been a little ambivalent about the elf from the beginning.

"Ohhhhhhh!"

Sigh.

So, why do we have two? It was Thanksgiving night, and we were staying at my parents' house. "I can't wait to see where Zippy is tomorrow morning!" said the munchkin at bedtime. Uh-oh. Zippy was still at his summer residence in back-home-closetville.

"Honey, Zippy usually doesn't come until Dec. 1."

"But, Millie said that her elf was coming the day after Thanksgiving. Why would hers come then and mine wait until December 1st? I'm 100% SURE he comes tomorrow!"

After she went to sleep, I asked my mom, "Don't you have an old little Christmas elf that was grandma's?"

"I think so."

"Can we look for it?"

"Oh, Lord, that stuff's all packed up in the storage boxes in the closet. We'd never find it."

The closet had boxes stacked to the 12-foot ceiling. The elf was in the 9th box.

There was a note from Santa the next morning. Turns out that Zippy took a kick to the head while helping Santa feed the reindeer.  He'd recover, but in the meantime, Scotty would be filling in. After a few days, Zippy and his bandaged head appeared with Scotty and they've been working together. We think Scotty might be an apprentice. He's a little less mature than Zippy and is sometimes discovered doing mischievous things like eating our chocolate chip cookies, riding on the Zhu Zhu puppies, or drinking syrup.

I'm thinking that there's just no escaping Santa's elves. There will probably be an elf in the house when she comes home from college.

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Welcome, blog hoppers!

Update: Kitchen Remodel Day 2

After Day 2 of The Great Lowe Kitchen Remodel, we've made lots of progress! The cabinets and appliances are gone, except for the refrigerator which they graciously left for the time being. There's framing for a new raised bar. The electricians have come and done their thing providing wiring for new under-cabinet lights, moving a switch, getting rid of my unsightly wall phone jack, and installing 10 new can lights. The plumbers have done their thing - our sink will move slightly to the left, and our dishwasher will be moving from the left to the right of the sink. The air conditioner vent has been rerouted so it will come out of the toe-kick under the cabinet instead of out of the soffit overhead. (Dear Original Contractor:  what were you thinking?) Best of all, the cottage cheese ceiling is gone! It actually came down much easier than I thought it would, and the mess was not as bad as I expected. The key to less mess was this fantastic tool - a ceiling texture scraper.




I'm going to get one of these puppies and scrape every ceiling in the house! You attach a bag to it, and the stuff falls into the bag - not all over the floor. You do have to go around the edges of the ceiling with a putty knife, and that does make a mess, but it's not nearly as bad as it would be without this tool.The process was simple. They sprayed water on the ceiling with a spray bottle, let it soak in good, then the stuff just scraped off very easily. A couple of swipes was all it took.

So far, we're having no real troubles with eating and cooking. It's inconvenient, but possible. The most inventive thing I've done really wasn't a big deal - scrambling eggs on a flat electric griddle in the garage. Today, a pot roast will cook in the crock pot out there. With the 100-degree heat, I could probably just put it in a pot on my driveway and get the same results!

Displaying Baby Dresses In A Shadow Box

While I was at my parents' house for the fourth of July, I took lots of pictures of their vintage and antique collections. One of the more special things is this framed display of baby dresses that belonged to my grandmother, my mother, and me. I'm an only child, and my mother is an only child. I also have an only daughter, so maybe one day, I'll reframe this with four generations of baby dresses!

My mother's booties, silver spoon, and bracelet

These were mine!

Baby dresses from 1939, 1914, and 1964. Now, you know exactly how old I am! No worries. I'm proud of every year!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

First Solo Kitchen Flight: Making Brownies

We were drying out from a trip to the neighborhood pool when the munchkin said, "Let's make brownies!"

"Why don't you make them?"

"Can I?"

"I don't know. CAN you?"

Pour in the water.

Measure the oil.

You have to hold your mouth just right to crack the eggs.

Ooops! Fish out the shell.

 

Stir.

Shh...don't tell. The eggs never did get totally mixed in...

Pour it in the pan.

Spread.

Lick the spoon!

I'd show you the finished product, but they're all gone!

Christmas House Photos

The house looked nice for Christmas. Still a few photos to come - I'm still finding them!