Thankful

For my family, for my health, to be home!
Pictures to come....

Bird Day

Over the River and Through the Woods....

To grandmother's, great grandmother's, grandfather's, Aunt KK's, and anyone else's house we can manage the time to get there we go...

The Tahoe knows the way to carry the babe through Interstates and divided highways and two lane ro-oads!

We leave in the morning. Jack is a pretty good traveler. Dan will be staying behind to work, and will catch up with us next week- boo! We will miss him.

Due to mom's health, Kelly and I will be "in charge" of our family's Thanksgiving. Can we say NERVOUS? Kelly has a friend who has generously offered to donate a turkey (smoked) since mom has been so ill. WHEW! Thank goodness for generous people (or maybe my cooking reputation preceeds me and he was just scared I might kill her if I cook the turkey???)

I am planning company mashed potatoes and poulet de normandy that can be prepared the day before and just need to be baked the day of. That will take some of the pressure off! We do Thanksgiving lunch, so all other items will need to be started as soon as I get out of the shower- no time to mess up!

The evening will be for the Marsh Family Thanksgiving with Dan's parents. They are originally from up north, so we get authentic stuffing there. I struggled with it at first because I was so used to cornbread dressing(if you are from the south, there is no need to explain). Now that I have grown accustomed to it, I CRAVE it so I cannot wait!

I am spending the whole week "back home" so that I can help mom ease back into her routine. She JUST got released yesterday and we could NOT be happier!

It will be a week full of Dr's appointments, cooking, visiting, grocery getting, sleeping, reading, and playing. It will not however be a week with an internet connection, so my posts will be spotty if not non-existent!

Have a Happy and safe Thanksgiving all!

Funky Funky Christmas

I was reading Urban Grace's post today that asked if your family had any unusual holiday traditions. I could not really think of any.
I was thinking that we were pretty normal until I remembered- FUNKY CHRISTMAS!
My sister and I got the New Kids on the Block Christmas cassette way back in the late 80's when it first came out and fell in LOVE with the song, Funky, Funky, Christmas. We get it out every year and can still sing EVERY WORD!
Some people had comments like, "we wait until everyone is awake to go in the den on Christmas morning". I thought that was normal? Some people stated that they watch National Lampoon's Christmas vacation over and over and over on Christmas...I thought that was normal, too!
To me....Unusual has to be something like this song...pulled out and cherished and loved and sang AT THE TOP OF OUR LUNGS every year!


This one is for you KK!



You can thank me later for getting your holiday started off on the right foot!

PS- to enjoy the clip to it's fullest potential, you should probably scroll down and pause my playlist..just sayin'

Beer Bread- who knew?

My peaceful weekend allowed my mind to unclutter a bit. Enough that by about 3pm on Sunday afternoon, something occurred to me.
I could cook dinner! Wahoo!
My friends all joke that I don't cook (I think that has something to do with the fact that I never cook), but that does not mean that I can't. I am actually not bad when I take the time to do it, or my husband says so anyway. Of course, that could be his desperate attempt to try to flatter me in the hope that I might cook more often. Poor guy..one can only live off Bertolli, spaghetti, and tacos for so long.
But I digress.
The point is, although I did not have a LOT of time, I still had more than the usual 15-20 minutes to prepare something for us to eat.
It was cool outside and gray and gloomy. Since I had some ground beef thawed in the fridge, I decided Taco Soup would be perfect! It is super easy! There are tons of recipes out there for it, but mine is:
brown 1 lb ground beef with half of a medium sized onion diced
drain and put beef in large soup like size pot(that is a technical term stemming from my vast cooking knowledge)
add:
1 can tomato sauce
1 can water
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can veg-all
1 can rotel
1 package of hidden valley ranch seasoning
1 package of taco seasoning
stir
cover
simmer

You can serve over fritos with sour cream and cheese garnish. You can leave out the corn. You can add beans. It is pretty versatile. Dump what you would like and go with it!

Sunday, I decided to make a hearty bread to accompany the soup.

I remembered seeing something about it on Facebook, so I googled it.

Ya'll.

It only has THREE ingredients.
That is my kind of recipe!

3 cups self rising flour
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 12oz can or bottle of beer

All things that I had around the house!

Just mix it up, and bake in a greased loaf pan for 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees.

It is very crunchy on the outside and very soft and yeasty on the inside. I hear tell that different beers give it different flavors. I will definitely be trying this one out again. It was a hit with the boys!

Who knew?

I just love cooking when it is so easy!

Happy Birthday Maddox!

What an awesome weekend! I caught myself about a hundred times just sitting and looking at Jack and loving that we really had no plans for the weekend! Of course we were busy, busy...but something as simple as letting him stand and wash his hands at his own pace and not having to push him to leave for Kim's, or to hurry and get in the tub, or to hurry and eat dinner, etc...was SHEER BLISS!

I spent the weekend catching up on many projects that I had going. The main project- Maddox.
Little baby Maddox James Frye was born into the world today and I had many little odds and ends that I wanted to wrap up before he graced us with his presence!

You can see, I had a very able assistant helping me to the finish line...
Jack is SO good with a pair of scissors.

JUST KIDDING!
That little guy is IN LOVE with the polka-dot owl. We were watching the Auburn vs. Georgia game while I was sewing the wings and I kept trying to get him to say "beat Georgia" and so he finally started calling the owl Georgia. Even Sunday when he saw him again he said- "hey Georgia". Then he hugged and kissed him. I have already deposited Georgia at the hospital with Maddox for fear that Jack would never let him go!

I made Georgia a little sleepy eyed chubby buddy mainly because I have become a little obsessed with the owl!
I am already plotting the colors and patterns to make one for Jack. I think it is only fair since I gave Georgia away.

All of the inspiration came from this fabric that Leigh Anne, Rayna and I spotted MONTHS ago while shopping for Tucker's curtain fabric. All of baby Maddox's bedding is being handed down from Tucker (including the curtains- seen as the backdrop in the pictures), so Tucker's room got a big boy makeover!

I decided as a gift I would make the canvas for Maddox with his name on it for his room.

The walls are painted brown with a LOT of white trim-it is such as great nursery!

*Thought I would include a behind the scenes shot so that you can see just how close my little helpers head was outside of all of these pictres! He was glued to me all weekend and I loved it!

SO...the Maddox Collection is born...

I hear that my favorite fabric store has it in pink...

I might have to go check it out!

Happy Birthday Maddox!

Baby Emma- canvas's

I had a request for personalized canvas's with the name Emma to match this bedding by Lambs and Ivy

I think it turned out so cute!

Established 2003

A friend asked for a "couples first christmas" ornament...and it got me to thinking about cute ways to do that outside of the traditional"So and So's first Christmas".
I think saying that your family was "established" is a cute way to recognize that a family has similarities to a business. It is also a cool way to show that you joined together at a specific time that is "your beginning". A family is something that has a lot of moving parts that need to be working towards a common goal; much like a business. There are lots of ways that Dan and I have worked together like a business since "our beginning". We have our own special skill sets that we try to apply to our daily routine. Put it all together and we have a lean, mean, Marsh machine that can bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan (or at least freeze it until we have time to fry it...or broil it...frying can be so messy) OK, so it is not always so straight forward, but we have found a partnership that works for us.
I do the cooking, he does the laundry.
I do the social calendar, holiday cards, halloween costumes, am the family scribe, and various randoms of that nature...
He does the yardwork, the car maintenence, boat maintenence, the garbage, and various randoms of similar nature applicable to his skills....
We are pretty darn good at divying up the baby responsibilities...
I ususally only end up on the short end of that stick if Dan is working late!

Sure you can find parallels between family and business, but being a family has many more fringe benefits. There is so much more to a family than the daily grind. Family is a state of mind. I think it "feels" different for everyone. For me, family means peace, contentment, unconditional love, and security. I am so thankful for the 7+ wonderful years that Dan and I have spent together! There is no denying Jack is our proudest accomplishment as partners to date.

I am confident that we will continue to work towards a common goal of having a loving household where we can create many happy memories together!

So how bout you? When was your family "established" and what is family to you?

Blueberry Pancakes and Link Sausage for Dinner

Jack is pretty savvy in the way of dog poo poo. He has been told since the moment that he could walk..."watch out for the dog poo poo". He is very proficient in navigating through a backyard before someone has gotten around to pooper scooper-ing.
We have two dogs, Mrs Kim has two dogs...it is pretty much all around us.
Last week, Dan made Blueberry pancakes and link sausage for dinner.
You have probably already figured out where I am going with this...
We sat Jack's plate in front of him and much to our amusement he said
"dog poo poo"! We died laughing!
I admit it- I love me some good poop humor!

The Good List

As the holidays approach, we are all hoping to get on the "good list"


If you have been around here long enough, you know that Mrs. Kim is the beloved caretaker to our dear son. Not sure what we would do without her! So far this year, I have made bunches of ornaments for teachers.


I worked in a daycare for a few years during college and I started thinking, wouldn't it be cool if I had something that documented who my "kids" were for each year?
So...Mrs. Kim's Good List ornament was born!


I had a terrible time taking these pictures in the early dawn light....
flash...nah...
no flash...hmmm
Anyway, you get the idea!

I heart memaw

My memaw is my maternal grandmother. My mom was very young when I was born, so she did a lot for me. We are very close. She is a spritely little 83 year old woman who still grows her own tomatoes. She never drove a car. She walked to work every day of her life and she and my pa always went to the grocery store on Saturday with Mable and Joe. Mable is Pa's sister and before memaw and pa ever even got married she was my memaw's best friend(still is....PRECIOUS, I know).

Mom and memaw actually share a townhome and live together now. Since mom and memaw moved in together, mom does all of the carting to the grocery store for memaw. You see, Joe and Mable live on the other side of town, and where I come from, that is enough to mean that they would not be toting memaw to the grocery store on Saturdays anymore.

Well, since mom has been so sick, memaw has been depending on myself and Kelly and Josh for grocery gettin. So far, I have taken her on 3 trips. The first two were rushed and we even had a bit of a disagreement :

Memaw: (while holding a bottle of soft soap) I want this one...I am almost out

Me: Well, why don't you just buy this refill bottle, it costs a little more, but it will last SO much longer.

Memaw: no...I don't want that one, I want this one

Me: Well fine, but do not complain to me anymore about how much you spend at the grocery store. I am trying to help and you will not listen to me.

*I should mention that this is about the 5th item that she has put in her cart that is the smallest thing she can find hence the MOST expensive per unit and my patience had worn thin of all of the unneccessary spending*

Memaw: I DO NOT complain to you about how much I spend at the grocery store

Me: yes you do

Memaw: (giggling) I do,don't I?

After a few more rounds of my "spending smarter" lessons, she was sick of hearing me and I was sick of talking. Let's just say, that trip will not go down in the record books as one of the most successful grandmother/granddaughter bonding experiences.

All of that was for this...

So this past weekend, I arrive in Alabama ALL ready for a big day at the Dub-ya ( That is Wal-Mart). I am feeling so guilty for the last two trips that I have DRAGGED memaw through the store and picked on her for picking all of the expensive stuff, that I have decided she is going to get the royal Dub-ya treatment! We will take our time...she can browse through all the sweatsuits and fiber pills and Kentucky Wonder green beans in a can that her little heart desires and I will just stand faithfully to the side checking off the list and making sure that we do not forget anything.

The list.

I read it and I just laughed.

My memaw...she is a clever one.

In all it's memaw style scrawl (not a lot of schoolin' for that one- she had cotton to pick)

The list was very plain....

not mayonnaise, but Blue Plate Mayonnaise

not frozen vegetables, but Bird's Eye frozen vegetables

I mean, who I am to question the list? It was one thing to try to put all the crazy ideas of savings into her head when it was just mayonnaise, but who I am to question the list...I mean, it clearly said BLUE PLATE. And who is going to suggest Great Value brand frozen vegetables when the list CLEARLY states BIRD'S EYE.

I love that lady!

In other news, mom is doing great! I had a wonderful time visiting with her this weekend. I am looking forward to spending more time with her at Thanksgiving!

Dan and Jack had a ball at the Auburn Homecoming game. Pictures to come!

Auburn Homecoming- a message to Jack from his twin cousins

Hey cuz...Sophie and Aleah here....

Do you know who this guy is? It's Cam Newton. He is on our team and he is REALLY good.

We went to Tiger Walk for the LSU game and got to see him. It was SOOOO cool! Wish you coulda been there!

Hey...momma said you were coming to the Homecoming game. Are you going to come by and see us?

We were hoping that you could bring us some new fun things...maybe a bumbo? an exersaucer?

These car seats are such a snoooooze....

Momma has to work on Saturday, but daddy will be around. You should stop by and see him!

He is so silly!

Oh...and have fun at the game!

WAAAAAAR EAGLE! Hey!

Dear Mom

Dear Mom,

Thank you so much for all of the things that you taught me. Everything from my ABC's to please and thank you.

Thanks for teaching me to cook and do laundry.

Thanks for letting me mess up your kitchen when I went through my "baking from scratch" phase back when I was a preteen.

Thank you for helping me understand how important is to be quiet in the house when someone else is sleeping (I think that had something to with OHHHHH I don't know, working third shift as a single mom???). Thank you for teaching me how to work hard for what I have even if it meant working third shift as a single mom.

Thank you for teaching me that if I hate to iron I should look for clothes that do not have to be ironed by never letting me choose clothes that needed to be ironed:)

Thanks for always reminding me that I should walk a mile in someones shoes and not be so quick to judge others.

Thanks for taking me to Julian Harris to vote in my very first presidential election a week after I turned 18. I was so proud! AND I have come a LONG way in my political thinking since then. Thanks for tolerating me even though we do not see eye to eye on LOTS of things namely, politics!

Thank you for teaching me that just because I am not at church every Sunday morning does not mean that I can't have a deeply spiritual relationship with My Creator.

Thank you mom, for taking the time to tell me that you are proud of me. Those five words had more impact on me as a young adult, and even now, than you could ever know.

Thanks for always making traditions like going to cut down a Christmas Tree on the day of the Decatur Christmas Parade every year. I can appreciate now all to much how you always made us clean the house before we got to put out all of the Christmas decorations. Not only did it help me appreciate everything that went into making the house festive, it also made the actual task of decorating a treat that we loved to do as a family!

Thanks for always fostering good relationships between Kelly and Josh and myself. I love having siblings that are my best friends.

Thank you mom for making it. Thank you for pulling out of near death so that we could have you around for a while. Not quite sure how you managed to get your liver back from failure- but you did it and I am so proud. And those kidneys that failed on you and allowed all of that fluid to fill up your lungs....you got those back, too. The doctors can hardly believe it! Thanks mom for working so hard at getting better so that we can have you back again!

Love,

Melanie

Cheer Banquet- Ornaments

I have been having such fun making Christmas ornaments this year!




I was a little panic stricken when a friend called to ask if I could get 15 ornaments done by November 19th for a cheerleading banquet...but the panic only lasted for a minute.

I jumped right in and got them done and I didn't realize until they were finished how very much I liked them.

I was feeling kind of nostalgic as I was making them. Ahhhh to be young again! (Ahhh...to fit in a cheerleading skirt and bloomers again)

Maybe I am just partial because the ornaments just happen to be in my beloved Auburn team colors ~ orange and blue!





But once they were finished...I did not want to let them go...I wanted to keep all 15 of 'em...
It is a hazard of the trade!

Giddy Up! It is Halloween!

We had a full, fun, Halloween weekend this year! I am so glad that we packed it in, because with mom being sick this year, I have NOT been in the spirit.

We kicked off the weekend with tons of fun at Boo at the Zoo!

We met some friends there and the kids had a ball!

Rials, Tucker, Jack and Elliott. Fun. Fun. Fun!



Jack is officially not fond of snakes. I made sure not to put out any "mommy's scared" vibes just so we could get his true reaction. He would not touch it and turned his head back to Daddy to try to get away. Hopefully this means I will never be asked if he can have a pet snake!



Saturday night we watched the game at our house with some friends- War Eagle!

Sunday started out as a bit of a lazy day, but we all three desperately needed it, so I am not feeling too bad about it.

Things really started revving up when we started carving the pumpkins. I let Jack help gut them and we picked out some seeds for roasting. He really liked them! Dan and I were surprised at how many he ate!




The big pumpkin started out as a "surprised" pumpkin with little hands up to his cheeks. (I wanted to trace Jack's hands, but he was not going for it). Once Dan saw the finished product, he morphed the idea into the big pumpkin gobbling up the little pumpkin. I think it turned out cute and funny with a little twist of spooky.

All the neighborhood kids liked it and that is all that really matters to us! Jack really liked them and at the end of the night he wanted to "turn them off".

Speaking of Jack, our little buck-a-roo had a BALL, YA'LL! He could not BELIEVE that people were putting suckers into his pail.

SUCKERS EVERYBODY! Forget the Snickers, the Reece's, the Twix...

Nevermind the Lifesaver Gummies, the Laffy Taffy's, the Bubble Gum..

Oh NO! This boy just needs a Dum Dum and he is all set!

All that galloping around from house to house, really works up a powerful thirst! He enjoyed sitting and handing out candy almost as much as trick or treating!

One more sucker before bed....

and then....

OUT LIKE A LIGHT!


Hope ya'll had a good one, too!

True Story

Jack at 6 weeks with his cousin Grace


Jack at 6 months with his cousin Grace.
(also pictured, Nanny, my mother who is recovering QUITE nicely...we are all so proud of her)

As soon as Grace was finished hamming it up for the camera, I will never forget, she said..get him off of me. He is HEAVY!
Yeah...he turned into a chunkster REALLY fast!

And to think....20 months later, he is walking around the neighborhood in search of "candy, candy, candy"!
More to come on Halloween and our horse/cowboy later!