September 29th

Here in the Ozarks, we live amongst the clouds.

September 28th

'Tis the season...

To start decorating the mantle.

Here's the halloween version.

September 27th

The temperature gauge read 57 degrees this morning on the way to yoga. It was cool and crisp and pot roast sounded great for dinner. It was about 78 by the time we ate it but boy did it taste good. I like summer weather but I love fall foods.

September 26th

Decorating Daddy

September 25th

One of Emery's friends turned two and celebrated his birthday at the Fun Zone. Em's favorite part of the party?

Take a guess.

September 24th

Five years ago I married the man of my dreams. I can't believe how fast 5 years have flown by. I also can't believe I still have these tic tac party favors. Five year old breath mint anyone?

September 23rd

The slide, also known as the "weeeee" to Emery.

September 22nd

Paying a visit to sweet baby Mason

September 21st

Just a touch of color.

I've been meaning to hang this since we moved in...over a year ago. I just never really had an idea of what I wanted to put inside of it. Today, I nailed it to the wall and went around the house scrounging for objects. That'll have to do for now.

September 20th

This is my basil :)

These are my tomatoes :(

September 19th

They may not look pretty, but these chocolate caramel swirl mini cheesecakes taste great. And since they are bite size you can get a satisfying mouthful of cheesecake and be done...or you can eat seven of them.

September 18th

Its Sept. 18th and we are still chillin at the pool. Jealous?

September 17th

The last of my 5 caterpillars has eaten himself out of house and home.

So he has decided to leave the nest.

I tried 3 times to return him back to the parsley. I even tried to put him on Spike's dill.

But, each time, he crawled away.

He is now out in the middle of our back yard searching for who knows what. More food? A place to start a cocoon? I fear for his safety all alone in the grass. I thought about setting up a hammock and magnifying glass Honey I Shrunk The Kids style but, David says I should just let it go. So I did...kind of.

September 16th

And so begins the third chapter in my husband's million dollar mouth.

*For those of you joining late, let me explain. After jaw surgery and braces, David had the remains of a failed root canal extracted, along with a cyst that caused the mess, to prepare for an implanted tooth. This means that he will be without a front tooth for some months to let the area heal. Above is his replacement for that time period.

P.S. With David's permission, I took a picture of his toothless grin for today's blog post but after thinking it over I decided to hold off on putting that picture on the internet until he has a little better judgement and a little less pain killers.

P.P.S This is just in time for Halloween!

September 15th

20 month old dance off...

She shows him how to shake it.

He shows her the leg trick.

September 14th

MOPS crafts. (its a necklace)

September 13th

Poor Spike. I tried to save him but I was too late. I hate spiders.

September 12th

Our church added a 3rd service starting this Sunday which means we can go at 9:30 instead of 8. (or 11, which we never do) This also means Em was able to sleep in. We didn't wake her. We just left the door open to wake up on her own time. It was nice to enjoy a cup of coffee before she got up.

September 11th

Football season is well under way. And thank goodness we have the hook up in Florida to send Emery her Gator gear. Her cheer leading uniform from last year is wearable, however it doesn't quite cover the under carriage. Put it this way, last year's outfit plus this dance video equals scandalous material. So, thank you to Aunt Carrie and Uncle Gary for keeping Emery clothed in proper Florida Gator attire. We love you guys!

September 10th

Spike has been going through some changes. He is entering what they call the third instar stage. He recently shed his black and orange skin and will now start to turn black yellow and green striped.

September 9th

Nutella and Banana Won Tons

These are fabulous. Plus, they are surprisingly easy to make...and versatile. If you only want to make two, then just make two. You waste a lot of oil that way, but hey...you only ate two. If you want to make fifty, then you can make fifty. I can't guarantee you won't eat fifty. They are really good.

Basically, it is about a tsp. of nutella and a slice of banana wrapped in a won ton wrapper with an egg wash to seal the flaps closed. Then you fry them individually in a small pan with about 3/4 inch of canola oil until golden brown.

I must say, I was very skeptical about making this recipe after my bang bang shrimp fiasco. However, there were very little oil splatters (if any) and since I used a small pan with a small amount of canola oil, I felt in full control. Here is the official recipe. I recommend you try this one right away. And make a bunch for your friends and family. They will love you.

September 8th

Guess what I found today...

Four more caterpillars! On the parsley this time.

September 7th

I started the 3rd book in the millennium trilogy. David is currently finishing up the first. We can't put them down. You know the book is good when 9:15 rolls around and your husband turns to you and says, "You want to go to bed...and read?"

September 6th

There was a Labor Day sale at The Children's Place and I ended up going a little crazy.

September 5th

I found another caterpillar on my dill! I am going to do my best to keep him away from the birds this time.
...and don't worry I'll go easy on the blog posts. I just got really excited when I discovered him and had to tell y'all. I named him Spike.

September 4th

Interesting was right! This was one of the most extravagant weddings I had ever been to. Below are the top five things I saw that night...

This table, set in the middle of the isle with a bench in front of it where the bride and groom sat. They look in the mirror to reflect on their lives together, taste honey and other treats symbolizing the sweetness of life and have coins and sugar showered over them.

Belly dancers at the reception!

This ice sculpture, where the hypnotic martinis were served.
P.S. they were delicious.

More belly dancers!

My husband, while watching the belly dancers.

Hilarious.

September 3rd

We attended the rehearsal of a dear friend's wedding this evening. It is a Persian/American wedding and David is a groomsman. After attending the rehearsal, I am very excited for the ceremony...it should be very interesting!

September 2nd

Emery's feet are growing so fast. Instead of buying shoes every 3 months, we just decided to give her Daddy's.

September 1st

Its Daddy's birthday! High fives all around!

August 31st

In honor of my mother's birthday, I took a picture of some flowers. These moss roses are becoming a favorite of mine. I got 4 of them on the "these are dying so their on clearance" rack a Lowes for 50 cents. Look at them now! The cool thing about this flower is that the bud blooms for a couple of days, then shrivels up to this moss like ball, blows away in the wind and another bud shows up in its place a few days later. No need to prune!