Had To Share This One

My friend Jennifer posted this one on her Facebook page and I had to share it.
This is so hilarious!

Na Na Na Na... So You Think You Can Dance?

I foresee our children dancing in Vegas.... at least in our little town that we call "K Vegas" (our little town is pretty hoppin'. Known for it's fast paced night life. Can you hear the sarcasm in my typing?)
One of my favorite shows is "So You Think You Can Dance"

and I subject my children to it all of the time. Both love trying to imitate what's going on on the screen. It's hilarious to watch Drew spin around and in my attempt to be Adam Shankman, I yell at him (good heartedly of course, not harshly) to "point your toes, extend your arms, feel the music." We laugh and laugh until he falls down. But not before he attempts to do what I've told him.

Drew had no choice but to have a great sense of humor in order to fit into this family. Look at that form! haha (Emma is obviously not into it at the moment)

Look at those pointed toes. He's "extending his lines" ...hahaha (and Emma is still not into it in this moment either)

Then I jumped up and kiss him when he said, "Mommy, it's you!" and pointed to the tv when Cat Deeley was on.

Not a chance. Maybe I should have his eyes checked.

Anyhoo, we had a great time watching. Can't wait to tune in again and watch my little stars shine. If I get pictures of Emma dancing along (the co- sweetest sight in the world) I'll post them.

Super Why, Thank You!

Drew has really been into the the show Super Why lately. You may be seeing him as Whyatt at Halloween if this keeps up.

He calls for "all super readers! To the book club!" all of the time. You'd think that we have "super big problems" going on constantly if you asked him.

Another little "nugget" that he's picked up from Super Why is looking for Super Letters. He's always looking around for letters. I love it!

This morning for breakfast, Drew was eating his jelly toast and out of the blue he said "Mommy, it's an E!" I looked and sure enough, it was.

I love to see how he sees things. I was just so impressed because I truly did not even prompt him. He just came up with it all by himself. But I must give credit where credit is due: so to Super Why, I say thank you! You've got Drew thinking about reading and that makes for one happy mama!

Can't you just see this cutie as Whyatt? (minus the jelly all over his mouth)

Some Of My "Go - To's" In The Blogging World

So have I told you lately how appreciative I am of all of the creative bloggers out there!?! You make my life so much more beautiful (and much tastier too!).

I spend a bit of time searching for recipes, cute decorations, sewing ideas, or just domestic "stuff" and I find all kinds of fun ideas to keep things running smoothly and organized around the house.

This week cooking has been my focus. I've tried to keep things going so that I have the fridge and freezer stocked with homemade yummies at any given time. Right now, I've got a pineapple casserole baking that I found from Melissa Lester over at A Little Loveliness. I've had it at home-cookin'-style catered lunches before, but I've never made it. Now I'll have it for the left-overs from this easy summer supper that I fixed the other night for Colin's mom and me when the boys went out to look at motorcycles. It's super easy and I think the kids will love it and I will love having it right at my fingertips when I need it.

This is a picture from A Little Loveliness. You can see that her blog is very appropriately named! Isn't it just beautiful!

Last night we had a wonderful lemon pasta with bacon, feta, and asparagus from The Entertaining Kitchen. It is one of Colin's new favorites! I used bow tie pasta in mine because that's what we had and it was great!

We've also had home baked goodies for breakfast all this week. I've been baking away when I have the chance and just putting everything in the freezer. In the morning I just pop it into a 200〫oven and presto! I get the best of both worlds: I sleep in a bit and have homemade baked goods. We've had raisin cake, strawberry citrus muffins (I used strawberries because again, that's what we had), and tomorrow morning we'll have peach blueberry bread. I love it!

Colin's mom thought I was "up on the Red Bull" the other night when I was baking after the kids went to bed, but I was just so excited! I'm not sure I would have been so inspired to do these things without reading about the creativity of the other moms.

It's addictive, so I'll warn you: if you're anything like me, once you start clicking around, you'll find that you can't stop. There's a whole world of great ideas out there.

I just bought a couple of sewing patterns from Whimsy Couture. So watch out! Since my fridge and freezer will be stocked up next week, I'll be focusing on sewing! This ought to be interesting! haha. Remember my pillow case dress? That one was another from A Little Loveliness.

Now I just need to find some favorite go-to blogs for gardening!!!! That's where I need to learn a thing or two for sure!

A note from Mr. Southernmamalogue,

I wanted to steal away the keyboard for a moment and provide readers with an alternative point of view today. The “mama” in southernmamalogue is truly someone quite content to place her family on a pedestal, never taking credit for accomplishments that are truly hers. Well not today sweetheart…as I write this you are out and about preparing for a garden experiment that will surely involve the children.
This post is for those followers that read and enjoy the trials and tribulations of this family of ours…..but also wonder at times what makes this girl tick. What kind of woman is she? Is she as great a wife as she is a mother? Is she human or is she truly a superhero?
“Mama” is very human =). She is my best friend and truly the wife I had dreamed of marrying my whole life. Her morals and sense of self are some of her strongest traits. She leads by example for our small family showing that true happiness only comes when you do not compromise on core values. I am so grateful that these are the values being engrained into my young children. Her sweet eyes, gentle touch and voice seem to be able to solve any problem that our young children encounter…she is the best, “mama”. Yes she is beautiful…but I’m the one that needs to point it out when she turns guys heads…she is oblivious.
As for the blog…..”mama” started this as a way to archive our journey with the children. But now that she receives notes and encouragement on her writing from readers we have never met all over the world it has become a quiet place to unwind at day’s end and share the events of the day with both friends we know and friends we don’t know =). Even after having this blog up for a few years “mama” still thinks it sweet when she hears from strangers….pulling me over to her computer…,”read this dear….isn’t that just sweet!?!”
So yeah…I’ve got it pretty good. A gorgeous family enjoying all the south has to offer with me. “Mama” supports me in the most bizarre adventures….some you will read about….many you will not. But I know without question she is not behind me….she is beside me every step of the way.
I love you girl =)
Mr. Southernmamalogue

"Well Just Paint My Door Red....."

"and call me Elizabeth Arden!" as Truvy said in Steele Magnolias.
I'm at "the beauty shop" getting my natural blond spruced up a bit ;)
I love getting away from the day-to-day stuff and sitting, talking about a bunch of nothing, catching up on the last six weeks. It's great.
I'm actually blogging today from my phone. This is a first for me so please be patient. I even have a picture to post to prove it (Stephanie is going to think I'm crazy) but I'm going to have to figure out how to upload it from my phone. Hmm, maybe that will be my first "tutorial" Haha.
Well, I think my natural blond has now "set" and I'm going to have to get out from under this dryer, so off I go.
Next some "playing with style" so I can learn some new things and look
good for my "girl's" lunch. I'll post pictures when I figure this out

Happy Daddy's Day

Having two generations of fathers here makes for a very special Father's Day.
Daddies are put on a pedestal, as they should be. After all, Daddy is the ideal man to carry a baby girl up to bed, the perfect twirling partner, and the perfect shoulder to cry on. For me, it wasn't until later in life that I found out that my dad was the perfect man to talk to as well.
Emma and Drew adore their daddy, so we celebrated him in a big way this year.

He's so modest, isn't he!
Yes, he got his dream bike. It's not here yet, but it's coming and it's his. He's as happy as a lark.
This year Colin was not only spoiled with his gift, but Colin and his father were both spoiled with this year's theme: "Yummies For Their Tummies."

We started Father's Day Weekend with a ring at the doorbell. The delivery man brought Colin a dozen Shari's Berries while we were eating Colin's favorite, homemade Cream Cheese and Strawberry French Toast.

They are the size of small apples.... really!!! Take a look!

Then, more tummy spoiling went on at yet another crawfish boil. I do believe Michael, Melinda, and I are converting our friends up here to our Louisiana ways. Two crawfish boils in 4 weeks!!!!! We've found that it's quite perfect to have them shipped up here from Natchitoches, Louisiana.

This morning we woke up and had homemade Raisin Cake with our coffee and later enjoyed a family lunch spread which included homemade pimento cheese and crackers.
We've really enjoyed indulging ourselves this weekend, but after tonight's dinner I must stop or else Colin won't be very "aerodynamic" for his new Ducati!

Thomas!!!!!!!

Sunday was our trip to Tweetsie Railroad to see Thomas the Train. Drew was so excited! We had been counting down from about "5 sleeps" (he doesn't quite get the days of the week yet)

We hopped in the car to get started on our drive.

I was taking pictures of Colin in front of the car at the gas station getting ready for the drive. Here, he's showing us, in the car, what the engineer is going to do.

He's just hamming it up.

As soon as we parked the car, the Siscoe's (whom we were meeting there) pulled in diagonally from our car. I had literally just picked up my phone to call them, and there they were. It was perfect.

So we gooped on the sunscreen and headed into the park. Our ride on Thomas wasn't scheduled to happen for a couple of hours, so we just lolligagged around for a bit.

Giddy up! Sadie and Drew have the reins.

This saloon girl couldn't pass up a boy as cute as mine!

Then we took a ride on the chair lift up the mountain to see the view (I've never held Emma so tight in my life... poor girl was probably soar after that)

After going up the mountain, the kids stopped to mine for gold. The parents didn't protest since it was in the shade.

Then it was off to Deer Park, the petting zoo.

This little guy would just let himself out of the fenced area to help himself. He had it all figured out. He wasn't even all that hungry because so many people were feeding him.

Then there was one more little ride before......

heading back down the mountain on the chair lift. This is a picture of Colin and Drew on the chair in front of Emma and me. But notice how nonchalant the other parents were with their little ones on the chair. Yeah, that wasn't me AT ALL! Of course, Emma is a lot younger and more wiggly than those kids.

Then it was on to driving. Sadie and Drew (actually I think it was more like Michael and Colin) really wanted to drive the little Tweetsie Cars.

There go Colin and Drew.

Michael was foot loose and fancy free and Sadie was in control of the wheel.....

.... until Sadie ran into the side and almost gave Michael whiplash. But she had a great time!!!

Here come my boys!

And Michael and Sadie. Sadie is all smiles as usual!

Now it's time to see the main event: Thomas!!!!!!!!

We waited in line for the first car. It's what Drew asked for... so it's what we did.

Here he comes!!!!!

It's Thomas!!!!!!!!!

and the Tweetsie Train

Not particularly a good picture of us, but it's the only of the whole family.

The kids take a moment to pose for a picture with Thomas.

Then my guys went to take a ride on the ferris wheel while Sadie and the Siscoe's rode on the classic carousel (one of my favorites)

While on the ferris wheel, Drew told Daddy "my stomach is hurting!" How do you describe or prepare your child for the feeling of flutters caused by 'your tummy dropping' when you come down from so high so quickly?

Then we started heading on down to the parking lot when the sky just fell out and it poured and poured. We waited it out on the front porch of the entrance area and then we packed it up and drove home.

And that was our day at Tweetsie. It was a great time and I'm sure we'll go back next year to see Thomas again.

Blowing Rock

Blowing Rock, North Carolina's charm is unmatched. This cozy little mountain village is one of my favorite spots to visit in the North Carolina mountains.

I love to enjoy its easy pace by strolling down Main Street and perusing the shops. The scenery is beautiful, the people are friendly, and the air is refreshing (even in June).

This is, after all, the place that inspired Jan Karon's Mitford series which charmed millions of readers.

This picturesque village situated in the mountains off of Highway 321 is a definite must-see (I'm starting to sound like an advertisement).

We leisurely and aimlessly walked about town stopping with the kids to play in the park and then absorbing as much inspiration as we could from "Arts in the Park." I felt so inspired just being around such artists.

Our cottage was a perfect cozy little get away for the weekend. We got some much needed family time

I love this picture... the kids absolutely adore their daddy and they just float around him.

It was a truly lovely time. There is no other way to explain it.