309 Macro Monday

I have been on a blog low lately. I just can't seem to get myself to the computer with enough time to say anything. I hadn't even looked for a pic for Love Thursday in weeks. I didn't even pull out a SOOC Saturday! How can I be too lazy to NOT edit a picture?? Well, I am feeling it again. I am feeling the need to take pictures, and to look for love. I snuck out onto the track behind my house on Friday after lunch with Katie. The fresh air must have done me a little bit of good, so I headed back out on Saturday. While I was stretching I looked at the track right in front of me, and the heart shapes were jumping out at me. I had my phone there for the tunes, but I clicked a pic off. I will share it on Thursday of course :) But, it is not Thursday yet, so I decided to give Macro Monday a shot. And not only because I had whipped out the macro yesterday. When we ran into Schnuck's we noticed that their long stem roses were a dollar each, and they had several varieties. I am a sucker for a certain little 7 year old, especially when she is asking for something so beautiful. Sure, it isn't even something truly for her ... even better! I was snapping a few shots of them when I got pulled into the whirl of their center. I was so drawn to the center of this rose. Maybe you can see why ... maybe not.
Check out the other Macro Mondays at Lisa's Chaos, she has some amazing pics of a caterpillar up right now!

308 Shadow Oaks Fall Festival

On Friday the 16th, Shadow Oaks Elementary held their yearly Fall Festival. Katie was excited that her Mimi and PopPop would be in town to go with us (especially since PopPop took her to her first Fall Festival when I was still recovering from Connor being born). She almost ruined it by throwing a fit before we even loaded up the van. I told her that we would buy a certain amount of tickets and when those were gone then we would be done ... and she flipped. Turns out she had nothing to worry about. We bought $20 worth of tickets and toward the end she was sharing them with a buddy and we still barely finished them all.
One of our first stops was to Mrs. Hite's room. This was Katie's First Grade teacher, and she absolutely loves her!! The object of this game was simple, you flipped over one leaf and there would be a number 1, 2, or 3. Katie flipped over a three! She was so excited because she won a pencil (she has a thing for pencils, you wouldn't understand). The funniest thing though, Kaitlyn and her family were walking around with us. Kaitlyn reached over and flipped the very same leaf ... she knew it was a winner. Sneaky little thing :)

This was also Katie's weekend with Shadow, her Second Grade classes chameleon. Each student gets to take Shadow home for one weekend, and you are supposed to take Shadow along with you everywhere. I am sure Shadow had a blast, even though he ended up spending most of his time with Connor.

My favorite thing was "Make A Bracelet". At least you walked out of the room with a bracelet! Yup, that is my girl, staring off into space. *SIGH* This was Katie's favorite game from the year before.Jaclyn, Katie, and (I wanna say Brianna) Cute as can be, aren't they?! Katie and Abbey getting ready to go into the Haunted House. Katie had already been through once with Mimi so she was an old pro. Abbey had tried to go before and decided to turn back. I took both girls through the first time, and then they went through another time with another friend Shelby. I am so glad to know that our girls have a little bit of adventure! (but not too much) When we went outside to go to the Haunted House we sent PopPop off in search of Funnel Cake. After multiple trips through the Haunted House we headed back in to find him. He had finally acquired his very own funnel cake, and then he went off in search of us. He ended up outside the Cake Walk room .... ...Where he beat out four little girls dfor a six-pack of cupcakes. Poor little things. Connor did not mind that PopPop crushed the hopes of little girls for these cupcakes, they still tasted yummy to him!! And FINALLY, after two hours and $20.00 in tickets, we headed home. Katie barely even pouted! We grabbed some Chick-fil-A sandwiches and nuggets on the way out, and we hightailed it home. Another successful Festival extraction!

307 - Grovin'

It has been a while, but I wanted to put up the pics from our Saturday in the Grove. Every football season we try to get as many of the old crew together, mostly people that were either in Phi Psi or that hung out at the house with us. It is also the perfect excuse to get together with my best girls. (even if Katie asked me if Andrea was still in college because she looks so young)And our kids get to play together while we talk about the day when they will be students at Ole Miss. They are young and we can decide their futures for now. Luckily the Crawford's are ALWAYS prepared. This time they brought this ladder game which was a huge hit. And considering that we picked the Ole Miss/Alabama to attend there was a lot of time to kill since individual tickets were hard to find.And what trip would be complete without a trip to The Union to visit the bookstore. This pic was taken this year ... This picture was taken in 2007. Where did our wee munchkins go??Toward the end, the kids were getting restless so I let them take turns taking pictures. I think Riley took this one for us.And Molly took this pic.Even Chloe got in on the fun. Chloe loved to take pics!!Another Riley shot

The kids went back and forth from the tree where they could climb, to the chairs where they could draw. They got along surprisingly well. It is a good thing they were happy drawing because the Grove was a huge mudpie.

We can't wait to see everyone again. We will make a trip down NOLA way soon!!

306 Swine Flu Prevention Email

I received this information in an email. It all makes sense, and I thought I would share it on here just in case! Take care, and stay healthy!

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt)... *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected o ne. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*

5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

305 Two Years and Counting

Two years ago Connor made his appearance. He was in such a hurry to get here that he came almost six weeks early. Weighing in at 4 pounds 14 ounces ... most of which was LUNGS! Good thing, that meant he never had to be placed on oxygen. His big problem was maintaining body temperature, but eventually we got that under control and he came home!By his first birthday Connor had more than made up for his low birth weight. He had barely busted through a tooth to be able to eat his cake, but he was walking a little bit.Now, two years later. Connor is a Master of Destruction. He can look at a room and automatically figure out what he can destroy. On the otherhand, he likes to clean. He will make a point of throwing away every piece of paper he finds, and he throws a fit if I don't let him throw away his own diaper. Speaking of diapers ... he isn't completely potty trained by any stretch of the imagination, but he has used the potty numerous times. He has even managed to pee standing up. You can tell he gets the concept, and he will try to make himself potty when you take him, not that it always works. He isn't a great talker but he understands SO much! Mostly, Connor smiles. He smiles and smiles and smiles ... until I break out the camera (he is like his sister that way)Katie spent his birthday morning at her friend Mia's house, and they asked Mia's mom if they could make Connor a cake. They have a gluten free house, so Connor has now experienced his first gluten free cake. Tenbye got a little distracted and accidentally used too much water, so it turned out a little flat. She did have three little girls and two little boys running around, so I think she had an excuse :) Connor didn't mind. It was covered in icing and made by three little girls that he adores. They were all a bit tired when we finally sang Happy Birthday ...

Connor, if you ever wonder what you were like as a one year old, here is a breakdown.

You are a funny little man. Everyone points out how smiley and happy you always are. You adore your sister, which leads to you annoying her most days, but she loves you back and that makes up for it. You remind me of the Sour Patch Kids commercials, first you are sour then you are sweet. You will smack someone and then love them up. You draw on walls, something that Katie never really did. You draw on yourself (right now your right foot is blue). Mosquitoes LOVE you, and moments after being outside you will sport a few new bites, which turn into huge welts (you have three around your left eye right now, luckily those happened after pictures). If you see me check Katie's sugar then I have to fake check yours, too. Katie introduced you to Exfoliating Foot Scrub, and now everytime you take a bath you hold your feet up until I scrub them. Then you giggle like a maniac, and I am afraid you will drown yourself because it tickles so badly. No is your favorite word, and you will scream it back at us when we say it to you. I know this should anger me, but it is too cute right now. I will punish you for it in a few years though, just a warning. You love putting on other people's shoes, and since most of the shoes sitting around the house are Katie's that means you sometimes end up in heels. You could swing for hours. When I make your milk for bed (strawberry, of course) you will give Sweet Kisses to Katie and Daddy. Then before we head upstairs you will grab something to take with you. It could be anything, last night it was a little plastic panda. Most nights you are serenaded to sleep by our own version of "Hush Little Baby" which involves a titanium ring instead of diamonds, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Devil Went Down to Georgia". It is a very good thing that you don't mind me being off key. Mostly, you are the sweetest boy I could ever imagine. You brighten every day, even when you drive me nuts. You are the perfect addition to our family, and we love you so much. Happy Birthday Dinky! (yeah, Dad doesn't like me calling you Dinky either - too bad)

304 Four Score and ... Last Weekend

It seems like forever ago, but it was just a week. I was in Atlanta, visiting the family, attending a reception for Picture Hope. It was such a whirlwind visit. I was exhausted!! I have never made such a short visit (on my own and on purpose) before and now I know why! We drove out on Friday, and we didn't arrive until around 10pm. Saturday we did a little shopping. Katie had decided that she wanted some "scrunchies" of her own, and Grammy wanted to get some for her. We might not have made it to my favorite kind of junk store (thrift/antique stores) but we certainly saw some junk at the Dollar Store. It amazes me when you can look in one direction and see Halloween products... then you turn around and it is Christmas! It is funny ... and sad.But they did not have scrunchies. And then we hit Target, still no luck. It was a Super Target so we grabbed a few groceries for the night. Well, we tried to. Target did not have CORNMEAL! How can a grocery store (even one in Target) not have cornmeal?? I am appalled! And of course, at the time, I was annoyed! We did get cornmeal, and I did make cornbread for the family dinner. We also baked a ham and potato casserole. And brownies, I can't forget the brownies. I forced the kids to sit still for a picture. As usual, I waited too long and they were not wanting to behave. These pictures may not be very good, but they are hilarious!It is slowly becoming fall in Atlanta. Grammy has a few roses still blooming, but not many. These roses originally came from my Great Aunt's house so we call them Griffin Roses.My very favorite tree, the Japanese Maple.Sunday night I attended a reception for Picture Hope. It was a wonderful little event, and I am so glad I did not allow myself to talk nyself out of going. Being out by myself is FAR from being in my element. Luckily, Stephanie Roberts has many wonderful friends who included me in their conversations. I am honored to have a picture in the Picture Hope book, and so happy I was able to attend this event. It was held at the Villa Serena in Conyers, GA. The place was gorgeous BUT SO HARD TO FIND! I almost gave up and went home. It was the perfect excuse to hightail it home, but I persevered and made it through the night.One of the things we did while I was in Atlanta was "plant plates" as a border for my Mom's flower beds. She had seen this done on several blogs she normally reads, and it looks adorable. Plus, Mom had a good point, The plates aren't seasonal, they provide color year round.

I am too tired to babble on tonight. We had another fun filled weeked!! More on that later.