Nanny's Fish

Last night I had practice for a mother daughter dance that Bethany has asked me to do in proxy for Echo. I was gone for two hours. Apparently, while I was gone , Nanny cought the World's Giantest Fish. Maybe I should just call it the Pond's Giantest Fish. Up there, that's the pond at the farm. After the pond was made, Nanny had fish put in. Over the years, the fish have grown and we have caught some that were pretty large. Lately, Nanny has been trying a new way to catch giant fish. She puts a little baby carp on the line and uses that as bait. I guess it finally worked.

She looks all business there, but on the inside she is bursting with joy. I would also like to point out that we are not currently going through a cold snap. It was about 90 degrees outside, yesterday.I couldn't get this picture to turn to save my life. Just turn your head a little. Since I was not there when the photo was taken, I can only assume that this picture was taken sort of as a scale. If you know how large Jackson is, then you can see that that is a giant fish.

This picture is evidence that I was not there. I would not be able to watch as my son held a fish like that. It's one thing to hold it away from your body with just one hand but it looks like he is giving the fish a hug. There's not enough sanitizer in the world for those hands. (Mental note: must find that shirt and burn it)


There is that little bit of joy I was telling you about.

Strangely Inspired

The other day, on her blog, Sass mentioned a fitness plan. She was a little annoyed at the presumptions that she was pregnant and was ready to get super fit to deter this from happening again. I have had quite a few 'I'm not pregnant' moments myself. The most recent one was as I was sitting at Jonathon's field day at school. I had brought my own pop up chair and was sitting there as Emma Mae ran around making new friends. One of the girls came over and poked my belly and asked if I was having a baby. I said, "No, I just had one. See her?" She said, "She's not a baby." I said, "I think your mommy left you." I'm just kidding. I didn't say that. I just wanted to. She was right. Emma Mae is not a baby. And I shouldn't be blaming my pudgy belly on her another minute. I have actually gained more weight since I had her than the last month I was pregnant with her.

Anyway, this weekend I was out on a walk in an effort to keep up with the Strangley Lush Fitness Plan (SLFP) and lo and behold, I saw this. It's a gym. Not even a mile from my house. So, I walked right up there and I joined. They have a little nursery for the kids and they have great classes. They even have a cycle class, which I may try tomorrow.

Today was my first trip to the gym. Jackson and Madi went with me and they did GREAT in the nursery. I did the elyptical for about 45 min and it said I went 4 miles. How exciting!! I wanted to go over and try the weight machines but I was a little intimidated. But that's okay. I will try them next time. Once I get a little more comfortable.

I got a little sunburned over the weekend but if you look back at the shot before the gym you will see that most of that ain't sunburn!! I'm working hard and getting fit. Can you tell I'm losing weight, already?

I'm A Little Overwhelmed

It's that time of year again. The garden is booming. Everything is getting ready to be picked. My father in law brought me two 5 gallon buckets of beans and we picked about three 5 gallon buckets of squash. My husband's grandma came to help me snap the beans yesterday. We sat there and snapped beans for about 2 hours while the kids ran amuck. This morning my mom came over to help me jar all of our beans. Neither of us has ever done this before so Nanny came back over to help us. She is about 80 years old and she just scoots around telling us exactly what we need to do. I wouldn't have it any other way. I tell her I'll do all the work if she will just tell me what to do. So, she obliges me. She is so funny. I'll turn the burner on and she'll turn it just a hair up or down. It's got to be JUST right. I'm so happy to have her around to show us how to do all of these things. Jarring is very intimidating because of the pressure cooker. But, really it's not that bad. Here's a shot of the pressure cooker.

Anybody can set a cooker on the stove and take a picture to pretend like they are really doing it. So, I made it into a movie. That way there is evidence that I was really pressure cooking.

Then there is the squash. We will be slicing it, blanching it and putting it into freezer bags. That will be the easy work. Although, I'm not sure you can tell from that picture how much there is. There's A LOT.

Let's just say I have it coming out of my ears.

That squash barely touched my ears and will be included in the baggies to go in the freezer. If any germaphobes out there have a problem with that, the next time you come by for dinner, pass on the squash.

(Gosh, that sounded really cranky, sorry, I'm a little tired. I will try to stop calling people names. Maybe.)

The Romance is Gone

In the beginning it was all so new. So exciting. I couldn't get enough. I had to look at it everytime I walked in the room. I thought about it all the time. I even had quite a few late night and early morning rendezvous.

Like any new relationship, the newness fades and you are left with just 'it'. No more mystery or excitment over what it could be, or will be. 'It' is just 'it'. Then the struggle is moving forward and trying to make 'it' exciting. Never as exciting as 'it' was. Just as exciting as 'it' can be now that the thrill is gone.

This is my struggle with my blog. The newness is gone. Will I ever be as good as I was when it was all new to me? Do we have to break up? Do I need to find a new blog? Or should I just commit to this one? That's what we do, right? We commit. We make it better. When we have all of that history (I think I have something like 95 posts) we don't just throw it out the window, right? We start 'faking it till we feel it', right? Some times are going to be better than others. And that's okay. Because when we do get that one post that takes us back to that feeling, it's worth it, right? So what if the rest of the posts are about toilets and kids in the sand. It's the posts that make you remember why you did it in the first place that keep you in it.

Madi and Madonna

On Saturday, Madi, Emma Mae and I had our girls day out. We went to our little mall and found just the right shop to purchase Madi's earrings in. It was just a little junk jewelry shop called Claire's. I'm sure that some of you have heard of it. They have the free ear piercing. But we passed that right up and went straight back to the sticker earrings. We found the perfect little pack of 30 sticker earrings. (you can also see that we found some other little junk jewelry, but that's beside the point)
I wrote my last post mostly thinking that I was going to go ahead and pierce her ears. I sure am glad I got so much good advice. Who'd have thunk that so many people would have such strong feelings about piercing a little girl's ears? I didn't do it for two reasons.

I really don't think that she knows what she is asking for. Meaning, I don't want to get up there and have someone stick one of those guns to her ear and have her freak out there in the middle of the mall. I think I'll wait until she understands what it will entail.

I had not considered that as she grows her body will change. I sure would hate for them to be lopsided when she got older.

I don't have any problems with piercing a baby's ears. It is probably a good time to do it because they have no idea what is going on and don't really feel a thing. Also, as a grown up will be responsible for turning them and cleaning them, it is probably more likely to really be done. I remember mine getting very irritated because I did not take care of them properly.

So, I will wait. Maybe not until 10 or 11 but at least until I know she will be responsible enough to understand the procedure and take care of them correctly. And we will have our girl's day out.

On a whole nother subject, Scrappy sue kindly mentioned that Madonna (Madge, as I call her) will be playing in Madison Square Garden the night of my birthday. The tickets go on sale tomorrow. What do we think? Are we up for it?

I hope she has calmed down some. I don't think I could handle any beds being brought out onstage, if ya know what I'm sayin.

A Secret

Remember when I said Jonathon had a secret? I think it may have something to do with that cute little girl whose burying him in the sand. I still haven't been told the secret, I just know she's involved. I think it may start with 'girl' and end with 'friend'.

Also, thanks for all the great ideas about Madi and her earring situation. I didn't realize that so many people would have such strong opinions on ear piercing. I'm going to try to do a post and let you know what I ultimately decided, this weekend.

Oh, the Humanity

When Madi was born more than one person asked when I was going to have her ears pierced. I said that I had no plans to do that. I figured that when she got old enough to ask me, I would take her to have it done. We would make a day of it. Go eat breakfast at Zeig's. Do a little shopping at the mall. Then we would pick just the right pair of beautiful earrings to have her ears pierced with. In that sweet daydream, Madi was about 10 or 11.

Today I was perusing some of my favorite blogs when Madi woke up from her nap. She came to the office and sat on my lap. She and Jackson like to look at all of the pictures on the computer. I got to Gigi's blog and she saw someone she knew.

She said, "That's Shelby."

I said, "Yep."

She said, "What's that on her ears?"

I said, "It's earrings."

She said, "Where did she get those?"

I said, "The mall."

She said, "Can I go to the mall and get some of those?"

Oh, my gosh. This happened so much sooner than it was supposed to. Madi will be 3 in June. She is mature for her age but she is no where near 10 or 11. This is messing my daydream up. What am I supposed to do now? I feel the urge to do a poll. Does anyone remember how the mullet poll turned out? Well, it wasn't very good for me in the end. I think I may do a poll and just say up front that I may or may not go by the winning votes in the poll.

So, vote for what you think I should do, but know that this ain't a democracy, it's a dictatorship. If I don't want to do what you want me to, I won't. So there.

But I would love to hear your opinions. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Artery Cloggin' Chopped Steak

Get ready guys and gals. This meal ain't for the weak of heart. Literally. If you have a weak heart do not eat this meal. All of you with healthy hearts that want to keep them that way, do not eat this meal either. Now, those of you who have good hearts and feel like life is short anyway, enjoy good food when you can, you may partake of this meal. And you sure will be happy you did.

What we (by we I mean mostly Josh) did here was, we took some perfectly good vegetables and tried to figure out a way to make them bad for you. We had most of the veggies from Nanny's garden and Josh bought some extra squash and zucchini from a local produce shop. Anybody guess where the beef came from? That's right. That is my hamburger from one of our cows. So I guess you could say that most of this meal was home grown.

All we did to the hamburger was add a package of lipton onion soup mix to about 2 pounds and squish it all together. Then we (Josh) smashed it into little patties. Then he put it in the sautee pan on the stove with a little vegetable oil. And cooked it on both sides for a couple of minutes. After he was done browning all of the patties, he put them all in an extra pan while he sauteed a couple of onions and some mushrooms. Then he stuck them all back in the pan together with the mushrooms and onions and put it in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, he boiled the potatoes. When I got home I threw a couple of garlic cloves into the potatoes to give them a little flavor. After the cloves boil with the potatoes you can just mash them up with the potatoes at the end. Then when those were done, I added some butter and sour cream and mashed them all up. They were perfect.

Can you believe that about 2tblsp of flour, some beef stock and a dirty pan make that? I don't know if y'all are gravy fans but I really outdid myself with that gravy. I was very proud. That is the pan that the patties, mushrooms and onions were in in the oven. When they got done I took it all out and put them in that extra pan from earlier. Then I added a couple tblsp of butter and flour, stirred it up and added beef stock until it made that. Tastey, tastey.

That is the squash and zucchini while it was busy becoming the best tasting, bad for you, vegetable on Earth. All we (again, Josh) did with that was heat up a little veggie oil and dredge the slices in milk then flour and pop 'em in the hot oil. Then you have to salt them as soon as you get them out.

I guess you could fry them in olive oil. That might be good. I don't know, but they sure are yummy this way.


Be careful with this one guys. It is very good but very heavy. Make adjustments to suit your style and you may find a way to actually make this meal good for you. Or not.

Ungrateful Brat

Since I have spent the proceeding posts poking fun at my home's expense, I feel that it is now time to try to make it feel better. I love my home very much and feel very happy to live where I live. I also feel lucky because I have about 2 acres and only live a few miles out of town. It is very unusual to find so much space this close to town.

In true blogging fashion, here's my list of things that I love about my home.

This yard has been home to many fabulous Easter egg hunts. We have been known to find eggs long after Easter is over.

It provides a great space for playing in the water hose. One summer Jonathon and a friend were playing in the water hose when the pump on our well broke. Josh actually accused me of letting the kids run the well out of water. I think he was just mad.

Josh and Jonathon have plenty of room to practice whatever sport is going on at the moment. Right now, it is baseball and we are learning to catch pop flies.

Do I even need to mention the camping out that I'm sure will be taking place here in the next few years?

There are only two houses on this end of the road so there is not a lot of traffic down our street. Which makes me a lot more comfortable letting the kids play outside.

Mostly, our house was a good deal. My husband is very smart about looking for good deals. (remember the toilets?) Our house was more than we ever would have hoped for with the amount of money that we were able to pay. So, we have a beautiful home and the ability to sleep well at night because we did not buy more than we could afford.

How cute is that?? He was left out of the last shot and I couldn't go without letting him (remember I don't know really what he/she is since there has not been a part check done) be seen, too. I've had two takers on my puppies. Anyone else?

For Scrappysue

This is a reply to Scrappysue's comment on my last post. She is either a psychic or really lives up the street and is just making all of that New Zealand stuff up to sound cool. I think the degree of my white trashiness was just not clear enough from the last post. Turns out I am the person that has a broke down car in the yard. Only it's a truck. You could all make me feel better now by saying there is a difference. 'Everyone needs a broke down truck in the yard, what if there is an emergency?' An emergency where you need to be able to load the back of the truck up and just sit there?

The lawn 'ceramics', as you all so graciously put it, are there because my husband can't pass up a good deal and they were free. We do have rentals, but I am not really sure what the plan for those toilets is. Maybe I should plant something in them. What do you think it should be?

Free Puppies

Or at least that is what the ad in the paper is supposed to say. Yes, our dog had puppies. Six of them to be exact. Jonathon has already named them. They are Sam, John, Charlie, Toto and Frufru. Yep, you counted right. Only five of them currently have names. I haven't really inspected them to find out if their names match their parts but I really don't even want to have to think about that. I just want them to go to a good home.

How is it that my dog has not been fixed, you ask? Well, obviously we did not take Bob Barker's advice to fix her. Josh bought her because he thought he might want to breed her. She is a purebred lab and has papers to prove it. We never ended up breeding her. But we never got her fixed either. Then one night she snuck out and the rest, they say, is history.

It wasn't until I started trying to photograph the new babies that I had an epiphany. See if you can tell what it was from that picture.



I'm White Trash. Did you guess it? Did the puppy playing by the toilet that is sitting outside clue you in? I don't say this to garner any sympathy, I just realized what our little place must look like to the neighbors. Not that it matters to me what anyone thinks, I'm just sayin' that I can see where one might drive by and think that a man in a wifebeater may come out at any moment, beer in hand, ready to pick a fight. Below I have included a little more evidence of my social standing, just for you're enjoyment.

Exhibit A: A baby walking around the yard in her diaper.

Exhibit B: Beach chairs folded out in the yard.

And last but certainly not least, the Dora doll that has been lying on my driveway for days now.

**I would like to go ahead and apologize in advance to all of the people who have been personally offended by this post. I realize that while it is very funny, it is not politically correct in the least. Thank you very much.***

Pre K Here We Come!

I can't believe that Jackson will be four years old in July. It seems like just last year that I ordered this picture. Well, I did order that picture later than I should have. I didn't order his hospital pictures until he was over a year old. When I finally got the pictures I thought they sent me the wrong picture. I thought, "How could they have mixed my baby up with a little Mexican baby?" I was on hold waiting to speak to my customer service representative about how they could have possibly mixed my baby up with this one when I took a closer look at the hospital bracelet. I thought, "Wow, I've never met a Mexican lady named Amanda..." Then I saw the birthdate and decided that was my baby. He changed so much in one year. I couldn't believe it. He was such a little chunk and look at those gigantic hands.

But none of that was really my point. My point is that today I went to the local Pre K school and registered him for next school year. I am so excited. Jonathon went to that school and did very well there. They have changed things around a little and Jackson will actually get to go to his Pre K class at Jonathon's school. This is very good news for me. I will only have one school to drop them both off to.

Some people have reservations about starting school so early. I do not feel nervous about it at all. Jackson is ready. He needs to be challenged. I understand that some women manage to have organized time at home to challenge their children, but I just don't feel like that's the best choice for me. I have two children under two in my house so to try to concentrate on teaching him seems almost impossible. I have nothing but the upmost respect for women that are able to manage that.

Jonathon seems really excited that Jackson will be going to school with him next year. I'm giving it two weeks before he decides that it is the worst thing that could have ever happened in his life.

Jekyll Island

This is not Jekyll Island. This is a picture facing the opposite direction. Jekyll Island is behind me. That distant land in the picture is Brunswick. The area that I live in is known as the 'Golden Isles'. Which really just means that there are barrier islands lining the coast. In case you didn't know a barrier island is nature's way of protecting the coast. The barrier island takes all of the brunt of the bad weather from the sea. So, why one would opt to live on a barrier island is beyond me. I think many people start rethinking their own choices around hurricane season.

I live on the mainland. It doesn't keep me much safer, but I am perfectly content over here. Living on one of the islands does offer a different culture than the mainland. You can ride your bikes around, walk to the store, and there are always people out and about. I guess that's because you're all sharing about 14 miles of space. Living in Brunswick doesn't really allow for riding your bike to the store. (Although, the store is only a minute away for me, but what would I do with all these kids?)

St. Simons and Sea Island are the main tourist attractions around here. But they are definately not my favorites. They have lost their natural island feel. My favorite is Jekyll. Jekyll was a vacation spot for some of the country's richest people, including, but not limited to, J.P. Morgan, William Rockefeller and William Vanderbilt. Then in 1947 it was purchased by the State and was made into a National Historic Landmark. The effort to perserve it's history has helped it keep it's natural appeal. It is a beautiful place to visit and just enjoy the serenity of nature all around.

Well, now that you know what Jekyll is, let's get back to the important stuff. My pictures.

This is Jekyll. Sort of. I was standing on top of the bridge that goes over to Jekyll. That's it over there. I'm thinking maybe that spot where everybody is fishing is part of the old bridge. Don't quote me on that, though.

Now, here is Jekyll. Click the picture and see if you can see that blue and yellow slide. If you can, then you can officially say you have seen Summer Waves. That's a water park that we all go to over the summer.

We went to Driftwood beach for these pictures. I'm not really sure how this happens, but it is a beach filled with dead trees. It makes for a great playground.

Here are all of the shots I took. Let me know what you think. I still have some editing that should be done on some of them. I'm learning.

Those last one's are my favorites. And I swear that picture of Jonathon jumping seems much higher than it was in real life.