Friday Five

1. I've been terrorized lately by those nasty little green frogs. Because my Fall bins were in the garage, I had to park outside for several days, which is where on three different occasions, one of those little suckers jumped ON ME while I was trying to get in my car.

One other morning, one made a dive into my car and I chased it around my dashboard for TWENTY minutes. I think it goes without saying I got all the Fall bins put away so I could park inside...and I'm totally researching how to eradicate these frogs who've taken over our outdoors!!!

2. Tony's clam chowder from Cedar Key is so good. I was beyond excited when I saw it in a can at Publix a month ago.

I couldn't wait to try it. You add butter and half & half to it, so I had a really good feeling about it. 

Its fantastic!! This paired with the Red Lobster cheddar bay biscuit mix from Sam's is going to be a Fall/Winter staple in our pantry! Get some next time you're in Publix, you'll thank me. :)

3. We are slowly finding our routine where the school schedule is concerned. AB still isn't a fan of getting up early, although I have plenty of friends who laugh when I say 7:00 is early. ;) 

She has a daily folder with her behavior chart in it and so far she's had all green (great) & purple (awesome) days. On Friday if she's gotten purple & green all week, she gets to pick either a Happy Meal or an icee after school. 

She also has a weekly take home folder and I'm well on my way to being a hoarder and school has only been in for a month.

I'm trying really hard not to save everything. :)

4. While AB is at school, Mamie loves having the house (or more importantly the playroom) all to herself. She's at the age where her favorite activity is pulling (& emptying) every bin off the shelves. She rarely stops long enough to really "play" with anything, and when she does it's so stinking cute to me! :) 

5. I was driving down the road this morning when I passed a yard sale. I saw a puppet theatre from the road and told myself if it was still there when I came back by, I'd stop to see it up close and to see how much they were asking for it. Three hours later, I stopped and almost choked when the guy told me he wanted $3.00 for it, especially considering it was practically brand new.  

I'd seen these online before and knew they ran between $75 and $100.00. I gave the man a $5.00 bill and still feel like I stole it from him. :) AB, who loves to hide behind our sofa and do puppet shows is already planning tonight's show! I knew she'd love it! :) 

Happy Friday! 

~Annie~ 

Goodbye, Summer 2013…

I’m always a little sad to see Summer end, but we bid it farewell the best way we knew how… at the beach. :)DW, the girls and I spent Labor Day weekend soaking up the sun and surf for the last time of the 2013 Beach season.  

It was a fantastic end to a wonderful summer.

AB worked on her boogy-boarding skills and Mamie, as usual, didn’t stop. She ran up and down the beach the entire time. Airplanes have been her current obsession, and the beach is a guaranteed spot to see some. She chased every “air-PANE”, bird, and wave on the beach that weekend. :)We were all glad to see naptime come each day. :)

The following weekend, we decided maybe we weren’t quite ready for the summer to end. Since the Gators played away, we decided to spend the weekend at the river. We had another fun weekend swimming and sunning. I was a terrible picture taker that weekend, but I do love this one of the girls watching “Barbo” (Barbie) on Saturday evening…

We did all the usual Blue Run stuff… swam, took boat rides, ate Sonic, had Mexican, and even played a new game with the crew. Nen downloaded “Head Bands” (I think that was the name of the App) on her Iphone and we laughed our heads off. Such a fun game. We even made a new friend… (on a side note, I am so proud of AB, who still swims in the Run even after seeing all the fish and turtles who swim with her.) She also made her first swim across the river (on her Daddy’s back, of course, but still it’s noteworthy). It was a great weekend, and the sunshine made up for all the rain we had during our week in July.

Our pumpkins and “fall” have been out since the last week of August, and I think we’re officially ready for it. All that’s left to put out is my scarecrows down by the road, and since there’s no cows in our field, I think I’ll do that this weekend. At least they’ll have a few weeks to keep their “limbs” before a new herd arrives. :)

~amw~

Football 2013

The man of our house couldn’t be happier that football season has started!

We’ve been getting ready for it… the guys all hit an open practice a few weeks ago, they’ve been discussing players, coaches, newspaper articles and everything else Florida football for weeks. Their new hats and/or shirts for the 2013 season have been purchased and waiting on the big game, too.

- DW spent last Thursday night with his brother, Adam, surrounded by all kinds of man-food (thanks to our SIL, Lauren) watching the first college game of the season. I don’t really get watching a game that your team isn’t playing in, but the guys get so excited for that first game every year. :)

- We took the girls one night last week to take our yearly pictures at the stadium…

9 pictures out of 10 turn out with the “fake” smiles… one day, little girls, you will regret it. :)

this one of Mamie hunched over and looking so unimpressed makes me laugh. She’s too much and this is SUCH a Mamie picture… :)  My momma sent this to some of her friends, and one of them replied back, “Maybe Mamie wants to be a seminole” – That’s not EVEN funny… but really it is. :)

Her signature nose-crinkle slays me.

The girls loved that their Aunt Kels came, too…

Then, finally, Saturday was game day!!!- the crew headed off to the Swamp early that morning. I wished them well, and couldn’t have been happier in my decision to stay home in the A/C. :)

My niece, Taylor stayed with us, too, so we had a girls’ lunch at Piesanos and then did some cooking and setting up for a post-game tailgate.

One of DW’s college-roommates and his wife, came to town for the game, so we all got together afterward, to do what else, but watch more football! :) Can I just say Clemson’s pre-game hype was amazing. Bussing the players around the stadium to come down “the hill” to rub that giant rock, balloons, AND fireworks… I was seriously impressed. I am all about a “big deal” – and I think the outcome of that game (sorry, Georgia fan family) just shows the importance of “big deals.” How could Clemson not be pumped and ready to fight for a win after all of their pre-game rituals? After seeing it, it was hard to not root for them.

I didn’t take one picture at the lodge… and I should have because we had some great food, I’d decked it all out in orange and blue AND Nen made the most beautiful cookies I’ve ever seen. They were seriously perfect… She’s got me wanting to try baking with…MARGARINE!!! I can’t believe my butter-loving self just said that! :)

It was a great kick-off to DW’s favorite season. I love it, too, but mainly just because he does. :)

~amw~