How we spend our Sunday mornings

So it dawned on me that we've been teaching the 3/4 year old Sunday School class at church since last August and I haven't once posted about the cutie patootie kiddos we get to hang out with every Sunday morning. A few weeks back I was able to snap some pictures of our class. We have 10 super fun, super smart kids when everyone shows up. That's quite the handful, but luckily at this age everyone can take themselves to the bathroom (with only minimal assistance required on occassion), can tell us what they think, and have awesome imaginations and listening skills when they try really hard. Seriously, we love this class and have been privileged to see God work in their hearts through the faithful, goldly parenting of their moms and dads. It's amazing to hear a room full of four year olds recite eight catechism questions in a row that we've been memorizing all year or repeat back to you the bible lessons we've been learning. Here's some general pics during our play time. We do lots of cooking, dancing, block building, digging through the toy chest, and, in general, acting like silly willies. The best part is the big hugs we receive every morning when they walk in.






It's always lots of fun trying to get a group pic with everyone looking at the camera. This is pretty close to perfect given the circumstances.

And now the outtakes...

Bama Basketball

Last Saturday we headed down to T-town with my brother Kyle, his girlfriend Allison, my brother David, and his girlfriend Shelby for the Alabama/Auburn men's basketball game. I finally saw the national championship trophy in the window of the athletic office. Gotta love all that crystal. We've struggled in basketball this year, so it was nice to pull out a win instead of blowing a huge victory in the last 10 minutes of the game like we've been doing all season. It was really great to hang out with the brothers and their significant others. We topped off the night with dinner at Surin - always a treat. Now I've got to start working on my March Madness bracket. Hopefully I'll do better than I did on my bachelor bracket.

Adventures in Babysitting

So, parents we are not. And even our minimal experience overseeing children still leaves us far closer to the amateur side of things than the pros. Doubt me? Just ask the nine very honest three- and four-year-old kiddos we teach each week in Sunday School. On second thought. Don't ask. They'll tell.

But, a few weeks ago we got a crash course. The title of this course was: how to take two kids under age three out to dinner and entertained for three hours. Poor Anna Beth and Chap Chapman were our trial run. Their sweet mommy asked us to fill in on a Friday night while she and their dad hosted a surprise birthday party for her brother.

Armed with great instructions from mom and all the "stuff" we would need to pull this off ... we set out - in the Chapman family's SUV with two car seats (with kids in them!) in the back. Chick-fil-a was a big hit with all. Anna Beth was such a good girl. She ate all her dinner and then enjoyed her ice cream.

Robert and her were good buddies - taking on the indoor play area after dinner.

Chap was a sweet boy too. And goodness does he eat! I was warned but had no idea he would be that into his food. Robert and I both had to keep him from consuming every piece of dinner all in one big handful.

Overall it was such a fun night, and both the kids were so well behaved and fun to be with. There were some crazy moments of fussiness and flying bits of hot dog and looks from middle-aged parents. I just knew they knew we had no idea what we were doing. But there were mostly the sweet looks from older couples and teenage girls and others who thought Anna Beth and Chap were just the cutest things - and stopped to chat and tell them so.

And then someone in the process of saying "oh, how cute," and "hey there buddy" and "isn't she just precious" called me "mom." I big loud siren went off in my head. That just didn't sound right. I opened my mouth to set things straight but decided not to correct them, figuring a blundering, "Oh, I'm not their mom. I'm just the babysitter filling in...We don't have kids yet. In fact, we've never done this before. Oh, did that hot dog just hit your face, sorry about that..." would somehow come over more alarming. They might actually act on their gut feeling and report us then.

I still have no idea how a mom does this by herself. We played man to man and it was a tight game. I have a new respect for the mothers in restaurants with their children. It's not as easy as it looks.

We had plans to AB and Chap to the Galleria for a ride on the merry-go-round in the last half hour, but both kids had knocked out by the time we drove over there. We had enough wisdom to know a few more drives around the mall would suffice until it was time to return our little buddies to their mom and dad. They sure do look cute when they're asleep.

I hope we get the chance to hang with AB and Chap again and am glad Lizbeth and Ben trusted us to care for their most prized possession. So, how did we measure up? Pass or fail? You'll have to ask Anna Beth. On second thought....don't.

V-day 2010

Our Valentine's Day was a little different than in previous years. It all started with these delicious "I Love You" cookies I picked up from Icing on the Cookie on Friday, the same day my sweet husband had flowers delivered to my office - while he was in Houston for work! He not only arranged this while he was traveling and completely out of pocket, but he also had them delivered early (Friday) so I'd get them at the office and have the thrill of flowers delivered to me since Valentine' s fell on a Sunday this year. He knows how much I love to receive flowers, and they honestly couldn't have come on a better day since that Friday was our snow day and we had a major donor event canceled at the 11th hour. It was a crazy day at the office - that my beautiful flowers made so much better. So, I got him cookies, and a miniature Wally.

Robert loves this movie....and robots. This gift was actually a pretty big hit - once I remembered to give it too him. He found it weeks before Valentine's so I had to re-hide the present and then completely forgot about it. He had to remind me to give it to him! How sad is that?

We babysat for a preciously family at church on Valentine's. See the cute pic (courtesy of Amy Henry's photography website) above of Lilian and her brother Griffin. They also have a precious baby sister Palmer. We love keeping these fun and energetic kiddos. They keep us on our toes! Griffin is a whiz, and I love Lilian because she hangs right in there with her brother. I can't wait for the next time we get to hang out with these kids. So fun!

Because we babysat on Valentine's, we celebrated ourselves the following Wednesday. Normally, we enjoy picking a unique-to-Birmingham restaurant and going out for a nice meal, the kind you only make the time (and have the budget) to do a few times every year. This year I wanted to do something different. It involved using my fine china for the first time...(ahhmm...)...ever! Yes, we have been married three+ years and I had yet to use our china. Trust me, I know how sad that is. I actually had fun setting the formal table (we NEVER eat at the table) for our special dinner - after I pulled the stickers off the bottom of the plates and other pieces!

The flowers Robert sent me were our centerpiece. I cooked one of his favorite meals - mostly made of some of his mom's best dishes that he especially loves: friend shrimp, brown rice, mac and cheese (yes, I know that's two starches, but he loves them!), bread sticks (because I have yet to gather the courage to attempt his mom's yeast rolls), and steamed broccoli.

For dessert? The cookies. (I had already eaten the "I" at this point, but don't they look great on my china?)

We actually only ate about a bite each because yours truly left them out in their box instead of storing them properly in an airtight container, and by Wednesday even these delicious cookies were dry. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

Gettin' Crafty

Don't let the title of this blog post fool you. I'm not especially crafty or domestic. It's not that I don't appreciate those skills, I just don't find as much joy in doing those activities as others. I don't sew other than out of practicality, i.e., the occasional pair of pants that need hemming, and even then would be prone to ask my mother or mother-in-law first, or even go to the alterations place, before picking up a needle. Buttons I do - but that's about it. Fortunately, I have a wonderfully talented and generous mother-in-law who has made almost all the drapes and most of the pillow in my house. I get compliments on them frequently, and its' all because of her. I am most grateful.

What I do love is making something old into something new. I'm a big fan of thrift stores and craigslist and yard sales. I love to find a piece of furniture that someone else has given up on entirely and give it new life. Paint is my friend - primarily because it brings me near-instant gratification. I lose interest in long-term projects, but those only-gonna-take-me-a-few-hours projects are my best friends.

So, after recently amassing a ridiculous number (pretty much tripled my collection) of cute, dangling earrings (for less than $2.00 each at - of all places - SteinMart!), I realized I needed one of those fun picture frame earring holders. I found some online that were custom made for $50+! Yikes!

Then I found these easy how-to instructions and decided to take a stab at it. As you can see from the pic, it didn't turn out to shabby.

I decided to skip the step of painting an old frame and purchased a new one on sale instead. Then I had to track down some screen netting like what you would find in a screen door. Apparently, you have to buy this is large quantities, so if you're in the market see me. I spent $7 at Lowe's for a large role, and have a ton left over. I originally planned to staple the screen to the frame, but our staples were two large and would have pierced through the front of the frame. Instead, I opted for the hot glue route, which worked fine. I attached some black fabric to the back, again using hot glue, and ta-da. A finished product. I would have preferred to somehow made it so I could have inserted the original frame back to stand it up like you would a stand-alone frame, but it wasn't going to work that way. However, it looks great just propped against the mirror on my dresser.

Super fun project, and didn't take long at all. For more like it, or just for inspiration, check out one of my favorite blogs - DesignSponge. It's also listed among my favorite blogs links. You can also follow Grace Bonney, the blog writer/creater, on Twitter - @designsponge.

I especially love Wednesday when she posts reader-submitted DIYs and Thursday when she features reader-submitted before and afters. Good stuff and great inspiration.

Snow Boots and Snowmen

Last Friday UAB officially closed at 2 p.m. due to the inclement weather. When I got home in the early afternoon, the yard was already covered in snow. I had to run a few errands, and after changing from my business suit to jeans realized - with pure joy - that I could whip out my show boots which I hadn't worn in almost 2 years! I love being able to use those items in my closet that rarely see the light of day because they are entirely impractical for our Southern climate.

We had our Sunday School class over Friday night for a Winter Olympics 2010 Kick-Off Party (cheesy, I know, but turned out to be super fun - here's the evite pic), and I ended up spending all night at the party in my snow boots becase I never got around to changing (figured they actually went fairly well with the party theme).

I used them again on Saturday morning when I took a nice walk through our neighborhood.

Though everything else was covered in snow, the roads were completely clear, and since I never once ventured off of them, my legs were exhausted from my half hour walk in heavy boots when tennis shoes would have entirely sufficed. Needless to say, they were quickly retired back to the closet (all the novelty long gone) after I finally made it back home at a much slower pace than when I first started. (Definitely got my calf workout in for the day.)

Long intro to get to the main part of this blog post - snowmen. On my walk, I quickly realized people in Homewood love to build snowmen. They were everywhere. And some of them were beyond creative. Others were hilarious in their various states of form. Let's just say in Alabama, the life expectancy of a snowman is short. I snapped pics of the ones I was brave enough to take a picture of without looking like a creepy person w ith a camera stalking everyone's yards. These are some of my favorites - with the cheesy names I've given them.

"True Fan" - you all know why. RTR.

"Valley Forge" - doesn't he look just like George Washington?

"Feeling the Spirit" - something about that second one just makes me think of a north Alabama spiritual revival where everyone is full of the spirit and falling out on the floor - or a robbery.

"Old Green Eyes" - sorry, I know I'm streaching, but I figured a slightly revised Frank Sinatra reference couldn't hurt. What are those? Easter eggs?

"Mount Wannahackaloogie" - I don't know why this one makes me think of that scene in Finding Nemo, but does. And Lost, and any other surviver-like, tribal movie. Yes, that's a dead mum in his head. You can't tell it but this one was huge. Probably as tall as me. Very impressive.

"Camellia" - props for using the state flower.

"Morrie" - becuase for some reason this one reminds me of what Morrie would look like from Tuesdays with Morrie. Actually never read the book, so I could be completely bombing this one.

"Morning After" - this guy was done in either by the rising temps, the ball, or the all-night neighborhood snowman party. Note the Coors Light beer can in the middle forefront. Hilarious.

"There's a Snake in my Boots" - everyone loves a cowboy...and Toy Story.

"Short and Stumpy" - because we're all special, regardless of body type. This is coming from a girl who has to buy petite jeans and can never find them in the perfect length.

What's That Fuzzy White Stuff?

That's right. It's SNOW. The stuff we never ever get in Alabama but somehow have gotten not once but twice in the last four days. It actually snowed some this evening too - just enough to give us a light dusting. It wasn't near the 2 inches we got last Friday though. Saturday morning it was still pretty until later in the day when the temps rose and it all finally melted. I was able to snap some pics of our house and the neighborhood while it was still covered Saturday morning. I have to say, Birmingham sure does look good in winter white!