Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Christmas Eve is tomorrow and I just wrapped my last gift! Well, I guess I re-wrapped it. The crinkly paper and bright-colored ribbon has tortured Bogie for the last several weeks as he knows that anything under the tree is off limits. So the poor dog finally collapsed under pressure the other day and couldn't stand it any longer. I left the room and he tore into one of the presents for Scott's grandparents. But he only got it half way open before his guilty conscience far outweighed his satisfaction of ripping open the red and green tissue paper. He dropped the present under the coffee table and ran to me in the other room with his tail between his legs and ears back as if to say he was really sorry. Bogie's not the only one excited for Christmas to get here! I've posted a picture of him by the tree. And I put a picture of when Gage met Santa for the first time last Saturday at the Broken Egg restaurant in Mountain Brook. Merry Christmas!

Fall Fun in North Carolina

I'm a little late in posting pictures from a trip we took last month to our cabin in North Carolina with Lish, Mark and Hudson. I forgot my camera - well I actually brought my camera but left my memory card at home. Lish brought hers though so we were able to document Gage's first trip to North Carolina. We had so much fun playing outdoors and catching up with our precious friends.

Thankful

My cup overflows. I'm abundantly blessed - to have my family, friends, a precious dog, rice cereal caked in my hair from Gage's last feeding, a part-time job in the midst of this economy, hot apple cider that I'm sipping right now, and so, so much more. It was wonderful to celebrate Thanksgiving last week and just be thankful ... all day ...
for all that I have. We spent Thanksgiving week with my family at my aunt's and uncle's house in Atlanta. Here are some pictures from our time with them:

Several Weeks and Several Visitors

I've felt so loved these last few months with our surplus of visitors. I know my in-laws, friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, sisters, brothers, etc. haven't exactly come to see ME, they've really come to see my almost-17-pound son, but nevertheless, I've felt blessed. Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. I'll have lots more in a few days as we approach Thanksgiving week. Until then ... Happy Thanksgiving!

In the meantime ...

I've fallen way behind. Lots has happened since my last post and I have tons of pictures to download. But ... I'm headed to bed. In the meantime I'll leave you with a picture of two of my most favorite people in the world. Good night!

Tomato Soup

People up North would laugh about how we Southerners bundle up when the thermostat drops below 60. The high was 59 today and the sky was overcast - a perfect fall day in my mind. I couldn't resist making a huge pot of tomato basil soup and I'll post the recipe below in case anyone else needs to warm up! (Pictures: Gage watched me cook and Bogie waited for crumbs to drop.)















Ingredients:
1 red onion
2 tbs butter
2 large garlic cloves
1 or 2 15-oz cans of diced tomatoes (depends on how many people you are cooking for)
1 or 2 quarts of V-8 juice (depends on how many people you are cooking for)
Fat Free Half and Half
Fresh Basil (or dried if you don't have fresh)
Salt
Pepper
Sugar

Thinly slice red onion and saute in the butter until soft. Add minced garlic and cook for a minute while stirring. Add can(s) of diced tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes while stirring. Transfer the mixture into a food processor and process for a minute or so until there is a smooth consistency. Transfer back to a large pot and flavor the soup with 1/2-1 tsp. of salt (to taste), 1 tsp. of pepper, and at least 3 tbs. of sugar (4 tbs. for a large pot). Bring to a boil then reduce heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1-2 cups of fat free half-and-half and add freshly chopped basil (I usually use about 1/3 cup or so). Enjoy!

Catching Up ...

So much has happened in the last few weeks and I'm really behind in posting pictures so I'll post one or two from each week. First, Anna Watson came from New York to meet Gage for the first time. She had never tailgated at a SEC school before so we walked around campus and showed her the sights. A redneck fan even let her borrow his koozie for the picture.
The next weekend Kristen (Graves) Hill came to visit us and we caught up, shopped and ate great food at our favorite Auburn places we used to frequent together in college. The following weekend I went to Atlanta to see my aunt Kim and Lish before picking up mom (Mimi) at the airport, who came in town to spoil her grandson and his parents. Kayla came Saturday and went shopping with us all day after we took Gage to the pumpkin patch. Then the next day we went to Montgomery to celebrate Terry's (Mermie) birthday and see Emily and Patrick who were in town. Then this past weekend after eating a HUGE brunch with Lacey and Lee Cadden and watching Auburn get killed by Arkansas we packed up and went to Troy to take Scott's granddad, Paw to the bluegrass festival he's been to every year since the 1960s. I'll post a video from that later ...

How can I get any work done when I have two precious munchkins at home this CUTE to love on?! Just thought I would post this happy picture. It's been a busy few weeks and I have lots of pictures to post. I'll do that as soon as I finish my freelance articles today!

WAR EAGLE!

It feels like Christmas around here minus the Santa paraphernalia and snow. Spirits are jolly and the energy is electric in this lovely village on the plains. Orange and blue paraphernalia adorns mailboxes, front doors, storefronts and restaurants. The fight song plays over the loud speakers in the grocery aisles. It's impossible to avoid catching the bug ... the Auburn spirit one. Football season has begun ... and with a great new coach in place we're off to a good start! War Eagle!!

WAR EAGLE!

Some pictures from Labor Day ...

Goin' to the Chapel

I feel like George Banks (played by Steve Martin) in "Father of the Bride" when his daughter tells him she's engaged. He envisions her as the little scrawny 8-year-old she once was saying something like "Daddy I'm getting married."
That's how I felt when last night my baby sister Mary told me she was engaged. I remembered my brother Brad telling the neighbors that they could "pet her" when my parents brought Mary home from the hospital. And I remembered strapping her stroller to the back of my battery-powered jeep in elementary school and pulling her full speed down the driveway (without mom or dad around of course). I remembered her continually kissing the preacher when she was dedicated at church. I remembered forcing her to play school with me and I, of course, always got to be the teacher. I remembered my other siblings and I putting her underneath a laundry basket and pretending like she was a playful puppy while slipping food for her in the tiny holes so she could have a treat. I remembered when she told her whole class at school that her grandmother was the queen of England. I remembered teaching her how to hit a volleyball against the side of the garage. I remembered when she checked "other" on a standardized test in high school because she wasn't sure what Caucasian meant. And I remembered her telling me that she had met the one ... and that he was a lot like my husband Scott.
I can't believe that she is getting married. But I couldn't be happier for her! Congrats little MarBear. I love you sweet sis. Can't wait for June 12th!

It's been a rough weekend. I got bronchitis and then Gage caught his first virus. I thought I'd experienced true fatigue the first few weeks after Gage was born but that was a walk in the park compared to how exhausted I was this weekend! He was up all night several nights in a row choking on mucus or throwing up and my heart hurt watching him suffer. I was so worried that I just watched him constantly instead of sleeping just to make sure he was breathing ok. It was my first (of many I am sure) true challenges (emotionally and physically) as a mom and I am so thankful to say that I think we've made it through ok. Plus, we're ending this holiday weekend on a good note as my youngest sister Mary got engaged today! We absolutely love her fiance James and we're so excited for him to join the Webb family. Now I'm headed to bed ... goodnight!

I'm so glad I married an Auburn boy. I was reminded of that when we took Bogie and Gage on a walk around campus last night to get out of the house before dinner. No one else would quite understand the pride that I feel for my school.
When we walked by Dowdell in The Quad I could almost feel the sweat pour down our faces again as Lesley Ann and I studied for exams in the dorms without airconditioner or Kristen Graves crying because she had to eat another turkey sandwich instead of her mom's home-cooked meals.

As we walked down the concourse by Haley Center I
and on the chi-o hall in Hollifield we were threatened with watching the fire prevention video when we were caught red-handed hanging out the window smoking Cuban cigars that Emily York smuggled in after doing mission work in China that summer.

Mimi Comes to Town

I'm a little delayed in posting these pictures but last weekend my mom (Mimi) came to visit us. Although it's nice that my parents live in such a beautiful place, (Colorado) which we love to visit, it's so hard that they are that far away! I guess that is what makes their visits so special though and I treasure every minute I have with my mom. It was a beautiful weekend (odd for Alabama in August) and we took long walks, ate great food, shopped and hung out with precious friends and family in Atlanta.