A Day in the Life of Dada.

My husband is a great dad. He would do anything in the world for Luke and Ashley. It's a wonderful feeling to know that my children will grow up feeling loved and protected by Brent. They have such a great time with him and get so excited when he comes home from a long trip or a day at his office. Now if you know my husband, you know you can not give him a compliment. So we'll see how this goes... And if you know Brent, you'll also know what he was probably screaming in this post... There are days when he doesn't keep his cool, and this was one of them. At least this is my version. I don't think it helped that I couldn't stop laughing. So, this is a Day in the life of Dada.

It was a beautiful spring day........

"Let's go to the sandbar!" We pulled the twins out in their favorite raft. We searched for shells, jumped over the waves and built sand castles. We touched a sea urchin. Saw snails, clams and crabs. What a perfect day. Right???? WRONG.


The tide was coming in so we (Brent and I) decided to move our chairs, raft and bag to a dry spot. I had the raft tied onto my chair. I said to Brent "I'M ABOUT TO MOVE MY CHAIR, WATCH THE RAFT." he's like "sure. whatever". So I move my chair to a dry spot and start walking back to get the raft.


The next thing we know, the raft is blowing away(and I mean BLOWING!! Tossing and turning over the water in the wind). Of course I get yelled at to go get it. Even though he was closer since he was standing next to it when it started to blow away. But whatever, I will go. So I take off running. I can not possibly catch up to the raft. So I gently and politely call back to Brent, " Sweet husband, please go get the raft, because you are strong and fast..." and he loses his temper and throws his water socks, (I call them water socks because I think it's funny, they really ARE girls' shoes) In the meantime, there is a boat traveling by who sees his antics and stops to ask if he needs help. You'll have to ask Brent what he says here, because he still hasn't' told me. Knowing my husband, it wasn't pretty...anyway, at this point, the raft is gone and both kids are crying. So in his manly style in his girl shoes, he starts wading over to the raft. It finally stopped blowing and got trapped under a dock. He screams back to me "keep Jackson with you!!" I said, "I will!!"
(seriously, I tried..... but that dog has a mind of his own) Next thing I know, Jackson's gone and the twins are cheering, "Go Dada!!! Get the raft"


About 15 minutes later, he arose from the water with Jackson gasping on one side and the raft on the other. Our hero. What an awesome dad, right? You don't want to hear his version, it involves a lot of cussing...... Here are some pictures I took with my phone.


The raft blew almost to the condos. It's so far you can't see it.

Here come Brent and Jackson with the raft.

Luke and Ashley are cheering.

Brent said Jackson was so tired, he was afraid he would have to put him in the raft or carry him back. Can you imagine that sight? ha!! Poor Jackson, he just wanted to help.

Luke and Ashley patiently waiting. (however they said, to me, "Dada is slow.")

Brent made us leave the sandbar after that. I am thankful Luke and Ashley have such a wonderful Dad.

Happy Birthday, Jackson!!!

Today is Jackson's 10th birthday! The twins threw him a great birthday party. We made Red Velvet cupcakes and wrapped bones and toys for him. Jackson was so surprised! What a fun party he had. The only thing missing was Savannah.

Sticky Tape

Wrapping with Scooby Doo paper

Guess what's in Luke's?

Singing Happy Birthday, Jackson likes it.

However, Jackson doesn't like his hat, but is wearing it for Luke and Ashley

Portrait time.

This is one happy dog.

Loving his new bone. (he ate the whole thing in 5 minutes- great....)

Although I miss Savannah everyday, I am thankful to have Jackson with us. He is so loving, and we all love him so much. Happy 10th Birthday, Jackson!!!

Feels like Summer!

I know we still have a month to go until it is officially summer, but it already feels like it down here. IT IS HOT! I'm not complaining, because that summer feeling makes me happy. As a kid, I always loved summer. The excitement of being out of school and spending my days outside swimming and playing was great. There are also the lazy days in the heat that make me feel content and relaxed. I also love the food that is made in summer (I know surprise, I love food). Goodbye roasts, gumbos, heavy sauces, and soups; hello pesto, fresh vegetables, fried green tomatoes and homemade banana ice cream! My dad always made his famous banana ice cream in the summer, and it would be devoured. I've decided to make it a tradition for my family as well, and make my dad's recipe when it starts to warm up outside. Luke and Ashley helped me cut up the bananas and measure the ingredients. Then, like tradition, it was devoured!

As for the fried green tomatoes,I've also already made these. My Papa grows the best tomatoes. He gave me a bag full to fry. (the twins did not help me with this one, but when they are older, I will teach them how) They were so delicious! Makes me think of Steel Magnolias, and really miss the south. A friend asked me how I make them, so I will post the recipe here. I like them with a little bit of a kick so I add cayenne to the batter, and serve with hot sauce on the side.

First you need firm green tomatoes. The ones that are turning orange are fine too, I just prefer the really green ones like this.

Slice the tomatoes about 1/2" thick

Dip in buttermilk, then batter and fry. Definitely use a cast iron skillet if you have one.

Papa's Fried Green Tomatoes:

vegetable oil
1 cup stone-ground corn meal
1 cup flour
1 T. garlic powder
cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
salt
black pepper


Place a large cast iron skillet over medium heat and coat with vegetable oil.
In a bowl, mix cornmeal, flour, garlic powder and a few dashes of cayenne (to taste)
In a separate bowl, mix buttermilk with salt and black pepper.
Dip tomatoes in buttermilk then dredge in dry mixture, coating both sides. Shake off excess
Pan fry the tomatoes in hot oil until golden brown and crispy on both sides.
drain on paper towels and serve with your favorite hot sauce and lemon.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do! Let me know how they turn out!

I am thankful Summer comes early down here. I'm excited to pass on some of my summer traditions to my kids. It's going to be a great one!

Sleepless nights.

So.... Luke has been having a hard time sleeping lately. Brent will quickly say, he gets that from me. I spend many nights, in the dark, pondering and stressing about things that I can not control. But from what I hear, that's part of being a mom. I just pray that Luke will learn how to ease himself back to sleep sooner than later! Getting up at 2:00. 3:00. 4:00 to put ice in his water or find a toy that I haven't seen in months is getting old. Especially since I can not get back to sleep after doing this. I just wish I was more like Brent where I could probably run a marathon in the middle of the night and go straight back to sleep. Doesn't happen. When I'm woken up, I'm UP. I can not go back to sleep, so with my mind racing one night, I thought, what can I do to help Luke go back to sleep or at least teach him to be quiet in the middle of the night....
THE DOLLAR STORE!
So.... Here we are, the workers here know us well. Does it work? I'm still not sure, he got up last night. But at least I know he's trying. Poor thing, he's gotten blessed with my sleep disorder.



Not many will get this, but I am so thankful, that I have my sweet children to "worry" about in the middle of the night. I would much rather worry about them, than worry about having them at all. I am so blessed.

Pictures

I spent some time outside with the twins and my camera today. Here are a few pictures.

I am thankful they stood still long enough to take a picture with me in it! I had to use the timer and 10 seconds can seem like an eternity!

Trip to Georgia

You'll have to excuse my pictures lately, as I am working with a new lens that is all manual. I am so excited to have it, but it's pretty complicated! You'll notice a lot of them are blurry and the lighting is off, but at least I have something to remember a moment by. After having the twins, I found a new passion for photography. It is my latest hobby (an expensive hobby. Who knew once I started I would need more and more equipment?). I took several classes this past year, and am trying to take more, but between Brent's travel schedule and our babysitter taking a full time job, I can not find the time. So, using the new lens is going to be trial and error until I can get back into the classroom. So bare with me, it will be worth it when I figure it all out!

Before going to Disney World, Brent and I took the twins up to Adel, GA to see Brent's Grandmama. Can you believe that I don't have ONE picture of them with her from this trip? Funny thing is, once we got there, they ran around her house like it was a maze, and they were hardly even around her. After having dinner, we went back to Brent's parents to spend the night in Thomasville. We went to a park, ate ice cream, clipped daisies and fed squirrels. Although getting them to sleep outside of their own home was a little challenging, all in all they had a great time.



I am thankful to have children who love nature and being outside.

Our First Trip to Disney World!

We just got back from our first family trip to Disney World. We had a wonderful time and the twins were really good. I learned that Disney World teaches patience to children with all the lines we had to stand in, but also teaches patience to the parents for dealing with annoying people! Ashley's favorite ride was the tea cups, and Luke's was the race cars. They both LOVED Goofy's Roller coaster. I think we rode that about 10 times in a row. They also thought sleeping in bunk beds was "the best". We will definitely buy one for Luke when he moves into his own room. They laughed the whole time even though it was 95 degrees out. At dinner one night, Ashley had a laughing fit because she kept giving me wet willies on my arm. Everyone in the restaurant was laughing with her. Her giggle is so contagious, I even recorded it for my ring tone on my phone. It was a quick 3 day trip, but long enough for two 3 year olds. We were ready to get home. Looking forward to next time though! Here are some pictures.

Waiting on the bus to take us to Disney World!

Our first bus ride!
Ready to ride some rides! So excited!!

The teacup, Ashley's favorite.
Goofy's Roller Coaster
Carousel
Carousel
Safari
Petting zoo
Tired of waiting in lines.

I am thankful my children had the opportunity to experience Disney World. So many people, have never gone.