The Anderson Family

My Granny & The Velveteen Rabbit

2012-02-16T20:22:00.000-06:00

I saw this on Pinterest and pinned it. I loved what it said but something about the picture reminded me of my Granny...maybe it's the soft expression or the wild white hair. :-) haha. My Granny used to say her hair looked like the man on the Quaker Oats box when it wasn't fixed. It didn't matter, we always thought she was beautiful, even when she died she was beautiful.

"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes don't see as well and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. "But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand" --The Velveteen Rabbit

Granny's Sewing Room

2012-02-16T19:37:00.001-06:00

My Pawpaw gave me a bunch of my Granny's sewing stuff a few weeks ago. Just the yarn he gave me filled a 3 drawer rubbermaid rolling tote and I still have some in a trash bag. He came accross things I had sewn with plastic canvas when I was like 6 and 7 years old. My Granny had saved them and it was SO incredibly special to see them and remember sitting and sewing with her. They were things I had forgotten about even making!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE vintage things but especially the items my Granny has in her sewing room. She had so many items from even before the 70's she had saved, used, put away. Buttons, zippers, and other trinkets...some she had stored in old vintage mayonaise jarsI plan to do a big shadow box with some of the items and the rest are packed away safely so that anytime I open the box and go through it I can know that hers were the last hands to touch these items.

There are a few items of hers I plan to use....a small pair of metal scissors and a wrist pin cushion. I didn't want to mess up/ruin or change the atributes of anything else in her box but using these two items will just make me feel close to her when I sew knowing that she had used them when she would sew.

One of the treasure troves of sewing items from my Granny's sewing room.

This is the bag of items she saved from when we would sew together when I was a little girl. We would sew plastic canvas together...I know it's hard to see it all but the top left was going to be a book/bible cover, the two circles with the rectangles cut out were tops to banks I was making. The bag on the bottom right is little "books" I made with my Granny's scraps. I made them into little books for my barbie dolls. I also sewed my name but ran out of room and had to put the "ny" on a seperate piece of plastic. The thing above the flag was a magnet I was working on like the one my Granny made. It says "Create in me a clean..." The rest would have said "heart and renew a right spirit within me."

This bag of plastic canvas is pieces Granny and I cut out together and she was going to make me doll furniture for my barbies.

Thread from one of my Granny's sewing drawers. I LOVE knowing that the last time any of this was touched was by my Granny. I love looking at half empty thread spools and wondering what she last sewed with it...and how long ago she used it.

This is my Granny's sewing box that she always kept by her sewing machine/sewing table (which I also have). You can read the sewing machine post here.

It opens up on each side and has several more vintage sewing items. My tummy gets butterflies looking at all of it. I'm so proud to have these things and it brings a smile to my face each time I open them up and look and revel through remembering when I was a little girl watching her sew, and how she helped me sew even in my home economics class when I was a junior in high school.

My Granny's scissors. I had to photo the box too so you can see how old they are but how well she took care of her stuff...they are so heavy and she used them for everything. Then tucked them away in their box and put them in the drawer with her other sewing stuff.

This is a buttonholer made my Kenmore. If you're a seamstress or know anything about current model sewing machines, you'll appreciate that we no longer have to use these oversized attachments to put buttons on clothing. Once again though, the box, manual and other attachments are in the box all safe and sound. I took this picture with my hand in it so you could get a better idea of the size.

Look at the price on that meta zipper...25 cents! The papers are a pattern that she had made of some sort...it was marked "place on fold"...."bib"...."bottom piece"...etc. I'm not sure what it made or if these are all of the pieces to it. I love the jar of buttons too...we'll get to that in a minute.

A second buttonholer...this is a more upgraded version...she even had it in its box and then in this brown paper bag whic I;m assuming is from the store she bought it at.

This is the sewing box that came with her sewing machine that I have. I wish you could see it in person. All of the feet are shiny chrome and look brand new. It's amazing how well preserved all of these items are and how well she took care of them, kept the original packaging, etc.

Buttons buttons everywhere...I love all of the vintage buttons...cover buttons...snaps...eyelets...fasteners...

Look at this one...Sharon is my mom's older sister. Apparently Granny had used these to make something for my Aunt Sharon and then labeled them in case she needed more later on. My Granny used to make all my mom and Aunt Sharon's clothes. It's pretty special to have this. Notice the price...15 cents!

I love these tracers. I call them tracers...there may be a more technical term for them. They have wooden handles! I love that. My tracer is about the same size but has a thin blue plastic handle. They just dont make things the way they used to...and I love the charm about old tools and how detailed they are.

This is cool to me...I knew her machine took metal bobbins but I wanted to share them in case those of you who haven't seen older model sewing machines are inly familiar with the plastic bobbins. I saw a shop on etsy that takes these to make steampunk jewelry. Nice idea...I'll think about it. I already have plans to make a shadow box but maybe some kind of jewelry or something I can wear and keep with me at all times would be nice.

Ahhh...the jar. Not sure why I'm so in love with this jar..but I am. I love the sound of buttons rattling in a glass jar and I love the old buttons in this one. They still have threads attached to some of them. AND I didn't knwo it until my mom and Pawpaw told me but this is an old mayonaise jar from the 70's. This whole jar just got cooler. It sits beside my sewing machine because I just love the look of it and it's even more special because it was my Granny's.

Other than the jar, I have everything else packed away except these two items. A wrsit pin cushion and a small pair of metal scissors. These are probably the only items of my Granny's sewing stuff I'll use...other than the hundreds of skeins of yarn. :-) I'm so proud to share these things with you. They mean alot to me and it has been so incredibly special to have her sewing items beside me when I sew.

Love you Granny. <3

Tanner's Valentines

2012-02-15T17:41:00.000-06:00

Here's Tanner's Valentines...his FIRST valentines...I was so excited to do these for his friends. It's just one more thing that makes me so excited to be his mommy.

I hole punched them and tied ribbons through them onto a bag of "bait" which was actually gummy worms I had put in clear cello bags. They turned out cute!

Here's all the sweet little valentines from his friends at Mom's Day Out. I let him have the candy of course, but the valentines are going in with the special items I plan to scrapbook one day.

Then, Tanner and I made cake pops...many more than this....but this is just the point I stopped to take the picture.

My parents took us out to eat at O Charleys that night and it was yummy. We had a good time. We didn't have to wait and they weren't crowded at all.

We ended the night reading books on mommy's kindle. It doesn't matter what time of year it is...he loves to read stories about "ho ho".

On Valentines Day, my parents and pawpaw came over to give Tanner his Valentine surprises. He got candy, balloons, a valentine cup, and some stuffed animals--a big green frog and a Scooby Doo. He was so excited! He also got a card in the mail from Grammy (Ben's mom).

She and Aunt Debbie had already mailed him a box of goodies last Friday before we left for VA and when we told him it was a package for him from Grammy and Aunt Debbie, he said "Aww, that's sweet". :-)

Aunt Jessi, Josie and Jolie came by later that night to bring Tanner a valentine and a box of chocolates. Uncle Joe was with Joel because he wasn't feeling well.

Practice Makes... Plenty

2012-02-15T17:10:00.000-06:00

So...I'm still crocheting. I finished this Auburn scarf for my mom on the way to Virginia. Hence why I took this pic in the car. Not sure it will ever get cold enough in Alabama for her to wear it but at least she liked it. AND--I made it with yarn from my Granny's sewing room. That makes it even more special. It's not variegated...I crocheted two yarns at the same time to achieve this look. I liked how it turned out so I'm working on a pale purple and heather gray one for me. :-)

The yarn I bought in VA and started crocheting was called "Peacock"...isn't that a fun color combo? I made this one for Ben's mom. She lives in Pennsylvania...a much more appropriate climate for scarf-wearing than Alabama. :-)

Virginia Came Knocking

2012-02-15T16:33:00.000-06:00

"...Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” -Ruth 1:16,17

For those who don't know, Ben was contacted the first Thursday in February by a golf course in Virginia and they asked him to send his resume'. He hadn't applied for this job but they were impressed with him and sought him out. He sent his resume' on Friday. The following Monday he had a phone interview. 3 hours after the phone interview, they called him back and asked for a face to face interview that weekend.

We left Friday morning for Richmond, Virginia. Tanner stayed with my parents for the weekend. We stopped in Georgia and had PF Changs for dinner and then went next door to Barnes and Nobles so Ben could do some school work and I could get some starbucks. :-) We got to Virginia about 2:40 a.m. on Saturday and his interview was at noon. He dropped me off at a shopping center accross from our hotel and I shopped in Kohl's Target and Hobby Lobby for the 2 hours he was in his interview. I finally just bought some yarn and a hook at HL and headed back to Target to get some Starbucks and sit in their cafe area and crochet til he called to find out where I was and pick me up.

I started chatting with a lady next to me and that made time pass by. Ben called to tell me he was out of his interview and asked which store I was in. I told him and he headed my way. In the meantime, it started to thunder and the sky got dark. I said "Oh wow, I guess it's gonna storm." and the lady next to me that I had been talking to said "That's snow thunder." and sure enough...it started snowing...HARD. I mean SUPER HARD. It was so hazy from how much was falling and the wind was blowing hard. My phone said it was 22 degrees so it was cold enough for it to stick and after about 10-15 minutes it did start sticking.

Ben got there and picked me up and we headed to an outdoor mall that the guys at the golf course had told him about. It was SO. COLD. But I loved it! Every minute of it! We did some shopping and bought Tanner some things. We also got some new shoes and I got a new dress and shirt. They had a cool christian store called C28 and it was trendy christian apparel and jewelry. I got a shirt in there that says "I love my Husband"...cause I do...so much!

Saturday night we had dinner at Kona Grill...a super amazing restauarnt where the food was worth every penny, the service was unlike any we have had anywhere and the atmosphere was so calming and classy. We had sushi as an appetizer that was delicious! Then we had salad and clam chowder and for our entree Ben had a 28 day aged ribeye and I had sea bass that was marinated in a miso-saki sauce for 3 days--SUPER yummy!

We left there and headed accross the street to Cheesecake Factory to get some cheesecake to take back to our hotel and since Starbucks was also close by, we swung in there for some coffee to take back with us too.

Here's some pics from our trip. And if you're wondering how the interview went, Ben was offered the job and we have prayerfully been considering it since Saturday. We are supposed to give an answer this week. I'll keep you posted, keep praying that we will have clarity and wisdom in making this decision. We want to be exactly where God wants us to be..."for such a time as this".

Side note here...this is us in the elevator of our hotel...and I made the scarf I'm wearing. Yep, crocheted it myself. I was super proud of it!

Driving in the snow headed to the outdoor mall...this was after about 10 minutes of it snowing...just to give you an idea of how fast/hard it was coming down.

Ben booked our hotel and everything. He did a great job picking it out! It was really modern and super nice AND he got a good deal on it!

This is where we checked in...and on the left is the pool table/lounge area. We had an assigned parking spot in the parking deck and when we got on the elevator and went up, the other side of the elevator opened and we walked into the hotel check in area. It was a neat setup.

This si where they cooked breakfast in the mornings, or you could buy items from the fridge area, etc.

Bathrom in the hotel room.

King suite.

Flat screen tv on the wall accross from the bed in between two huge windows.

The view from our hotel room straight down. The whole base of this building all the way around was a HUGE childrens museum...to play...dres up...paint...make pottery....learn...explore...create....we definitely plan to bring Tanner here sometime. I wanted to go in and play...it looked like so much fun!!

SouChe'

2012-02-07T22:38:00.000-06:00

This past Saturday I hosted a SouChe at my church. We called it SouChe (thanks to my pastor's wife for the super cute name!) because we did a soup lunch and crochet workshop. It was a lot of fun and we plan to do this as a small group with get togethers every 3-4 weeks. I'm pretty excited about it! There are a lot of crafty and talented women in our church and our community! Not all of the ladies that came were members of the church and I was so excited to see some other ladies getting involved in our group and wanting to join us!

Octopus for lunch!!

2012-02-07T22:14:00.000-06:00

For lunch today, Tanner and I made Octopus'...he loves helping me cook and I love that he likes helping me because it's just one more fun thing we can do together. We started with an 8 pack of hot dogs and a pack of spaghetti noodles.

We cut each weenie...well...I cut each weenie into 6 pieces. Then we broke the spaghetti noodles in half and we stuck the dry noodles through the hot dog pieces. Tanner said they looked like helicopters. :-)

He may have been eating his weenies instead of sticking noodles through them...

Here's what they looked like on the plate before we cooked them.

Once the water started boiling, I dropped them in carefully one at a time.

Here's what they looked like when they finished cooking. They looked like Octopus' or jellyfish...pretty cool.

I used pizza sauce on them. Tanner wanted to pair this lunch with a banana and cheese. Yummy! He said "This is good mommy!"

Growing Animals

2012-02-07T21:15:00.002-06:00

One of the playtime activities that Tanner and I did last week was to "grow" animals. I bought these animals at Michaels but you could probably find them at the Dollar Tree too. You put them in warm/hot water and they start to break open out of this little plastic pill and they become these foam-like animals. Tanner thought it was the neatest thing ever. Here's some pics I took...

All that and CROCHET too?!

2012-02-07T17:25:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, I went to a friends house for a few hours to learn how to crochet. It was so much fun! She made homemade chicken pot pie and put together some little instructions...but mostly what helped was watching her. I'm more of a hands-on learner. Here's some scarves I've crocheted in the last few weeks.

I was feeling...ummm...ambitious nd bought to skeins of this yarn...it's actually a piece of thread that the yarn is "fuzzily" fused to in a back and forth motion...MUCH more challenging than 4 ply worsted yarn. I used the whole skein to make a scarf...SIX times....

Each time I pulled the WHOLE thing out and it looked like this. The reason? Because by the time I finished...my tension was spot on BUT the shape was more like an unrolled crescent roll...it got larger the longer it got.

Now it looks like this...still a little longer on the end but I'll pull just that part out and redo it. Then I'll weave in another skein of the same yarn and this scarf will be doubled in length. I'm pretty excited about it. It's SO soft!

I also made a scarf for "Little Tanner" the doll that I sewed for Tanner a few weeks ago. :-) Tanner wasn't a fan.

Once Upon a Craft

2012-02-06T13:20:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone! I know I have alot of catching up to do...and I plan to do that today/tonight to fill you in on whats been going on around here the last few weeks BUT I am so excited that I wanted to share something now!

I was invited back in January to do a guest post on a craft blog. I chose to do a tutorial on crayon rolls. I'm so excited to share the link with you because she just posted it last night! You can check it out here. The name of the blog is "Once Upon a Craft".

A few more pics

2012-01-27T16:00:00.002-06:00

Tanner and Reese cuddled up watching tv before school Wednesday. :-)

Tanner pushing his boy doll I made him in the stroller. I bought the stroller for $10 because he loves pushing strollers in the nursery and other friend's homes...BUT it needed to be revamped. So I've made a new seat cover in a boy themed duck cloth fabric. Next is to paint the stroller brown. :-)

Speaking of dolls...making dolls is my new favorite thing to make. I said before that I like making softies and stuffed animals...these dolls were so fun to make. They took several hours and I worked on them all week but finally finished about 11 pm last night. The little girl doll is for Ben's sister's little girl who is having a birthday dinner Saturday. She'll be 6 next week.

Pawpaw pulling Tanner in the wagon. Tanner was eating his lunch and having the best time while Pawpaw pulled him. Pawpaw loves riding Tanner on the tractor and pulling him in the wagon.

Tanner's Weekend!

2012-01-27T15:10:00.001-06:00

Here's a few pictures of Tanner from last week/weekend. This is a picture he drew on his magna doodle.

I took off work last Friday, so after I picked up Tanner from Mom's Day Out, we went and had lunch with Ben at the golf course. He was so excited! He loves going to see Ben at work and riding on the golf carts, feeding the turtles and stuff. No turtles last weekend though...too cold right now.

Saturday we decided to take Tanner to the movie theater for the first time. Beauty and the Beast 3D was playing and I am a Disney Princess fanatic so we went. He did pretty good keeping his glasses on but he started to get restless about an hour into the movie. He was tired and we forgot his pacifier. He loved having his own little kids tray of popcorn, fruit snacks and drink though. He thought the movie theater itself was neat and kept saying "WOW!"

Here's Tanner on Sunday when we were headed to church. He loves sunglasses.

I've been SEW busy!

2012-01-27T14:40:00.000-06:00

I've been sewing alot lately and I wanted to share a few things I've made. I'm taking a break from custom orders right now so I can make some things for Tanner that I've been wanting to make and so can prepare for the upcoming craft market I'm hosting at my church again. This will be our 4th one and I'm SO excited about it!

These are 2 pairs of house shoes I made for Tanner. The top ones are lined with an "ultra cuddle" fabric that's super soft, it's a micro plush. The outside is fleece. The bottom pair is fleece inside and outside.

I'm re-doing Tanner's stroller to make it more boyish. I still need to paint it brown but here's the new fabric seat I made to replace the pink and purple one. :-)

One of my new favorite things to make are softies and stuffed animals. These are some owls that I've been working on for the market.

This is a crayon roll up. I've been making them for boys and girls. Super fun to make!

Coffee cozies! This one has the words "faith, hope and love" on it...I love this fabric! But I have about 10 other ones I've cut out and haven't sewn together yet.

I made this John Deere rice therapy bag for my Pawpaw. He thought it was neat and said he uses it on his shoulder when it gets to hurting. :-)

Dyed Rice = Hours of Fun!

2012-01-11T21:55:00.000-06:00

Inspired by Pinterest, I decided to dye some rice (that we have an abundance of...13 lbs) as a fun toddler activity. It's sort of like a colorful, indoor sandbox. If you want to recreate this, you'll need:

White Rice

Food Coloring

Rubbing Alcohol

Ziploc Bags

Cookie Sheet

I did the dying part by myself without Tanner's help because the wet mixture to dye the rice would stain hands, clothes and anything else it touched.

I ordered liquid watercolors from a discount school supply store online and will use that for future projects when it comes in. It's non-toxic, washable and 100% safe because it's made for toddler activities. But for now...we have this...because I'm impatient!

I poured the rice in a bowl to make it easier to scoop out so I wouldn't have to keep stopping and opening bags.

I also went ahead and lined a cookie sheet with aluminum foil so I would have somewhere to lay the rice to dry. You dont HAVE to line the cookie sheet, but I chose to anyway.

Okay, now that you have everything ready, just put 1/2 tablespoon of alcohol in a ziploc bag and then add your desired amount of food coloring. I had to add ALOT to get the vibrant colors I got. I used the guide on the back of the food coloring box and then multiplied it by 5. This picture is my mixture of "Orange Sunrise".

I forgot to snap a pic of me mixing the orange rice so here's the next step but with a different color. This color is Turquoise. I scooped out 1 1/2 cups of rice for each color. It was about (4) 16 oz bags of rice. The yellow was my last color and had about 2 cups of rice.

I shook up the rice with the food coloring and alcohol mixture. It mixed very well and at this point if it wasn't vibrant enough I added more coloring but NOT more alcohol.

I did a total of 7 colors - Jungle Green, Orange Sunrise, Blue, Purple, Turquoise, Red and Yellow.

Next I poured them out one by one on the cookie sheet to let the rice dry. But if you notice, I opted to make "boats" out of aluminum foil by folding the sides up so that my colors wouldn't run together while drying.

Once it dried, which took about 2 hours but I let it sit for about 8 hours just to be sure. I poured it out into a clear rubbermaid drawer. The lady on pinterest used an under the bed rubbermaid tote but I didnt make enough rice for that and wanted the sides to be a little higher for all of the "splashing" I anticipated.

He thought it was so neat and couldn't wait to get his hands in it. I barely got him to look at me for this picture!

We added some of his toys to it and let him shovel, dig, pour, strain and enjoy til his heart was content!

The only con to this activity is that there was still a good bit of colored powder-like substance that was getting on his hands even after the rice completely dried. I'm not sure why or if it will stain his clothes but the food coloring I used is not safe on fabrics. SO...here's hoping it washes out!

I was having so much fun with the food coloring that I also decided to make colored ice cubes for bath time fun. Another great idea I saw on pinterest. The food coloring didn't dye his skin in the tub in case you're wondering but they did melt pretty quick. Maybe I should have put in a few at a time. Oh well...there's always next time!

I'm One of THOSE...

2012-01-11T13:02:00.000-06:00

Pinners. Yep, a pinner. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, there's a new site called Pinterest and you can pin anything from anywhere on the internet to virtual pinboards. The tagline for Pinterest is "Collect the things you love". I have boards for home decor, arts n crafts, auburn stuff, etc. I also have pinboards for yummy snacks and meals for Tanner and kid crafts. BUT, I'm one of THOSE pinners who pins and pins and pins and can't stop pinning and when I finally do...I've run out of time to actually DO the things I've pinned to my boards. What?! After several months of doing this, I decided I needed to start somewhere. I needed to make or DO something from my boards. Otherwise, what is the point in collecting the best ways to organize my pantry, or healthy recipes, or tricks for cleaning paintbrushes and making a dog house out of an old dresser?

So...about a month ago, I made myself start DOING some of the things I found and pinned on Pinterest. Here's a few of the things I've done so far...

For Christmas, one of the presents I gave Ben was a frame. The one on the left was the image from Pinterest and the image on the right is the one I made. The pinner did "Met, Married, Live" and since Ben and I met, married and live in the same town...that wasn't going to be visually appealing. I chose to do all of the places he's lived, including Germany. AND I bought the frame big enough that when we move we can add to it.

This next project the pinner did for an outside patio light. I wanted to recreate my own but make it an indoor chandelier for our bedroom. Umm...no. It is WAY to bright to be anything romantic or soft. So...it will be hung outside over our table and chairs. :-) Again, the image on the left is from Pinterest and the one of the right is the one I made...it's not lit but I wanted to show you what it looks like lit and what it looks like not lit. That way you can see it's just a hula hoop with icicle lights taped to it. Simple. Beautiful.

My next project was super easy since I already have paints on hand. Paint the wood block that our knives are in. Why haven't I ever thought to do this?? The pinner painted hers green and did a black initial. I painted mine metallic silver so in person it looks almost stainless steel to match our appliances. I haven't decided if I'm going to put an "A" on it or not. But if I do, I have a friend with a cricut and she can do one out of vinyl for me.

Next for the kitchen I decided to do a menu frame. I had pinned it awhile back but it's so simple to do. Again, the pinner's image is on the left and mine is on the right. Instead of doing a weekly calendar like the pinner did, I wanted to use mine as a menu display. You simply use dry erase markers and they wipe right off the glass. Ben and I use Google calendar and we sync it to an app on our phones so we don't need a to do list or calendar. BUT--it could always be used for that in the future if we wanted to change it up.

My "office" is also in the kitchen off to the side so that I can be in the cenrter of everything since I work from home and that enables me to take care of Tanner too. So I decided to take down the "dressy" pictures hanging above my desk, get a corkboard out of the storage building and paint it to liven up my workspace and make it more fun and bright.

THEN I wanted to find a better way to clean my paintbrushes instead of just water. AND I found a good way on pinterest...soak them in hot vinegar for 30 minutes. Perfect! I already had the hot vinegar in a bowl because I had used it in my microwave to steam (for 13 minutes) the gross-ness off and I didnt want to just pour it out. So I was able to clean 2 things without waste! YAY! Both of these 2 pics are from pinterest because I didnt take pics of myself cleaning my microwave or my brushes.

Lastly, I FINALLY found a great way to clean my cooktop. I've used so many different products and even the surface cleaner that came with it doesn't work well. I sprinkled baking soda all over the cooktop and soaked a rag in hot soapy water and then rung it out. I laid the rag on top of the baking soda covered cook top and left it to do its thing for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes I started to wipe up the baking soda and it made a thin paste. I did have to use elbow grease on a few areas but overall it just wipes right off...I mean cooked on stuff too...like oil, and a few other spills from when pots boil over. My mom apparently knew all about these cleaning tricks and thought I did too. I was so excited when I was telling her and she just kind of looked at me and said "That's been around a long time, Tiffany".

There ya go! Some of the stuff I've done on pinterest so far! If you want an invite to join Pinterest, let me know and I'll send you one, all I need is your email address. If you already have a Pinterest and want to follow any or all of my boards...click HERE. You can sign up for pinterest using an existing facebook or twitter account. I login with my facebook so I dont have to memorize more passwords and usernames. PLUS it lets you share the things from your pinboards with your friends on facebook and followers on twitter if you want to.

Tanner and Santa

2012-01-06T16:36:00.000-06:00

If you've been following along on our blog, you know by now that Tanner is scared of Santa, he even told us on multiple occasions that he was "too scared" to have his picture taken with him and he didn't ant Santa coming to our house Christmas eve. He told Ben to go to the North Pole and get his gifts. He made it very clear he didn't want elves at our house, or Reindeer on the roof. :-)

So you can imagine my surprise when his first day back at Mom's Day Out this past Wednesday, I got this! It's from their Christmas party they had before the holiday break and they had them developed and passed them out. I was shocked! He wasn't too scared looking in this picture. Mrs. Ruthelle said she was talking to him off to the side just long enough for them to get a good picture. :-) So sweet, I'm thankful she was able to get him calm because I SO wanted a pic of him with Santa this year!

Pawpaw's 80th Birthday

2012-01-06T16:22:00.000-06:00

On December 29th, we celebrated my Pawpaw's 80th Birthday!

Carter and Tanner helped us sing "Happy Birthday" and then they were ready to eat some cake!

Time to open gifts!!Look at those little boys trying to help Pawpaw open his presents!

Christmas Day

2012-01-06T15:29:00.000-06:00

Christmas Morning we waited for Tanner to get up and he slept in a good while! Once he got up, he was able to see what Santa had brought!

After he got to look at his gifts and even open some and play for a bit, I finished cooking the food items we were taking to my Pawpaw's house and we walked over. We ate lunch and opened gifts and spent time together before we left to unload our gifts at home (in the rain!!) and get the next batch of food ready and load the car with gifts for Ben's Grandma's house.

Unfortunately I dont have any pictures from Pawpaw's house or Grandma's house. My camera died after we did Santa and I didn't have time to charge it before Pawpaw's house and we were late getting to Grandma's house and most of the festivities were over but we still stayed and hung out for about 3 1/2 hours.

It was alot of fun and each year gets better and better as Tanner gets older. I anticipate even more fun next year.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-31T12:35:00.000-06:00

Every Christmas Eve we always go to my grandmother's house in Clanton to eat and open gifts. We read the Christmas story, drink hot chocolate and spend time together before heading home to wait for Santa. :-) Tanner gets new pajamas to wear every Christmas eve and these are the ones Aunt Lisa in Pennsylvania got him. I saved them just for this night!

This is my Mamaw and Melvin's Christmas tree. I turned the flash off for the next picture so you could actually see how much it twinkles and how pretty the lights are.

This is a picture of Ben and I snuggled up on the couch waiting to open gifts and just watching Tanner play and have a good time.

My mom and dad. :-)

From left to right, Aunt Donna, Ethan, Pete and Melvin.

Left to right around the room -- Tanner, daddy, momma, Cyntia, Uncle David and Aunt Kathy. Mamaw was further in the corner and can't be seen in this pic.

After we left Mamaw's house, we went to my parent's house to open gifts.

Unfortunately, my camera was in the car and I was too tired to go get it...or too lazy. Anyway, we had a lot of fun at my parent's house and we open gifts and talked and stuff til about 11:30pm. We all got lots of great stuff...I got a box of Paula Deen cookware, black boots, cute socks, money, the big Mary Kay compact (from Taylor), and some other stuff from my parents AND a Kindle Fire Ben gave me that night. Then we had to head home so Ben and I could set up Santa stuff for the next morning. I'll talk about Christmas day in my next blog. There's just too much to put in this one blog post!

Merry Christmas from Our Family to Yours!

2011-12-25T00:01:00.000-06:00

“For unto us a child is born.”
Isaiah 9:6

Tanner Gets a Haircut

2011-12-23T21:23:00.000-06:00

Thursday, Tanner had a hair appointment at Bliss salon in Millbrook. Ben's best friend Coot is engaged to Leann and she does all of our hair...my mom, sister, cousins, Ben, me and now Tanner.

If you remember I actually cut Tanner's hair about a month ago so this is sort of his first REAL haircut and he did great. He never cried, moved, flinched, bucked, nothig. He sat perfectly still and did everything Leann said even when she was buzzing around his ears. He was such a big boy!

I wanted the front short enough to spike but thankfully Leann explained to me that his hair is still pretty thin right now and as much as she'd have to cut off for it to look right, he would lose alot of the hair that he doesn't have a whole lot of. :-) I ALWAYS appreciate honesty.

Ben's Christmas Party

2011-12-23T21:15:00.000-06:00

Last Friday, we headed out to Maxwell for Ben's Christmas party. It was different from what I was expecting but we had a good time. They catered Fat Boys BBQ and Santa came to pass out bags of gifts to each of the kids. Tanner got a big pack of play doh, a monster truck and a flute.

Santa was played by Ben's boss' boss. His name is Billy Anderson and Ben calls him Uncle Billy even though they aren't related.

Tanner was waiting for Santa...

Then he got nervous and he grabbed the lady besode him (I was standing behind him taking pics) thinking she was me. lol

This is Tanner's new friend, they had fun playing together and even danced together but I haven't been able to embed that video yet. Hopefully I can but if not, it's on my Facebook.

After we left, we went to Dairy Queen so Tanner could have some ice cream. It's cold outside so we probably would have been better off eating something warm, but oh well. :-) Whatever makes him happy.

Tanner's Christmas Party

2011-12-21T14:48:00.000-06:00

Last Friday, the 16th, was Tanner's last day at Mom's Day Out until after Christmas. They follow the public school schedule for holidays and stuff. So...it was his Christmas party. We were asked to bring a $5 book wrapped and labeled with their name because Santa was coming and would be passing out these gifts to the kids. What a great idea! So, in celebration I made Tanner this shirt to wear. :-) I think it turned out pretty cute! It took about 4 hours total but when he put it on that morning he was SO proud and he said "Mommy made this." It made me smile.

Here he is wearing it before school. :-) Such a cutie pie! I love this little boy SO much.

Here's his book Santa brought him. :-)

His teacher said that they got pics of the kids with Santa and she would get one of Tanner and Santa for me. As soon as I get that I'll update you with a picture. He also got a few more gifts from his teachers. One was a book and another was a goody bag with fruit snacks and stuff.

So sweet. I'm so glad we made the decision to put him in Mom's Day Out. I know it's only 3 days a week for 3 hours each day but it still lets him make friends, have a change of scenery and get some time away from mommy to grow independently. I always miss him when he's not here though and it's one of my favorite things to pick him up and have him come runnig towards me saying "Mommy I had a good day! I missed you! Look what I made!".

Pinterest Playdate 12-15-11

2011-12-20T18:26:00.000-06:00

Who has a Pinterest account? I DO! Do you have a pinterest account? Come follow me! http://pinterest.com/tiffanypaigea/

Pinterest is addictive. It's something you can easily spend hours on collecting recipes, home decor tips, kids craft ideas and everything else. I have SO many things I want to do but never seem to have the time for. So...I decided to host a Pinterest playdate at my house. I asked some friends to make a food item from pinterest and be prepared to do a craft from pinterest. It was alot of fun and I hope we can get together again soon.

Here's Harlee Grace and Madalyn.

Boston and Tanner getting ready to say the blessing.

Look at those sweet faces!

Here's some of my sweet friends..Kandi, Katie and Kristy.

Here's Harlee Grace after she finishd eating her chocolate peanut butter pretzels that Kandi made.

Katie brought Granny Smith apple slices with peanut butter and granola in the middle. They were pretty yummy and super easy for the kids to pick up and eat.

Kristy brought a taco bake...I don't remember everything that was in it but it was topped with doritos which gave it a good texture and crunchiness.

I made baby Jesus in a manger replicas out of hot dog and croissant laying on a bed of mozarella and a manger constructed out of chocolate graham cracker.

Here's the peanut butter pretzels that Kandi made. They were yummy too and it was our only sweet treat!

After eating and playing in Tanner's new playroom we had craft time!

Saying "Cheese!" before everyone left. It was a fun day and Tanner really had a blast with his friends.

O Christmas Tree

2011-12-15T02:52:00.000-06:00

Lots of new ornaments have made their way on our Christmas tree this week. Our Christmas tree is sort of a celebration of everything in our family.

We have ornaments that our previous foster children have made, pictures of some of our foster children, a family ornament with the names of everyone who is with us that year (We've done that every year since we've been married..but I have a few from before we were married that are personalized with my pets), ornaments that my Granny sewed out of plastic canvas, Auburn and Alabama ornaments since we're a house divided, homemade dough ornaments that Ben and I painted before we ever had children, we even have ornaments that Ben and I made as kids and several ornaments that Tanner has made at his school and with me. You get the idea. It's our celebration of this beautiful journey we're on together. Here's some of the newest ornaments we've added...

This ornament is one that Tanner made at school today, 12/14/11 and its a large wooden star with a coke can tab for the hanger on the back. Isn't it one of the most precious things youve ever seen? I LOVE it. I'm partial to anything he makes anyway but this is an incredibly special addition to our tree.

Ben was on his way home today and he went by Artistic Expressions and picked up the ornament that Tanner and I made as well as the car he painted. Here's the ornament back with his name and the date.

This is the ornament front with his little hand. It's so neat to look at the one from last year and especially 2009 (he was 3 months old when we did that one) and see how much he's grown.

This is one of the sides with the thumbprint lights. See...I told you it gets more glossy and vibrant after they fire and glaze it.

He is SO proud of this car. When I unwrapped it from the paper, he took it over to Ben and said "Look Daddy, I paint this!"

Ben and I bought this ornament in PA. We always get a family ornament each year, as I said above, to celebrate who is with us at Christmas. This is the first year it's only been 3 of us but truthfully it feels like a long overdue break and we are enjoying doing holiday activities as a family and being able to focus solely on Tanner and really take in everything through his eyes and experiences. Tanner picked out this ornament by the way. :-) I'll try to photograph the others at some point if I remember before we pack them all away.

Here's our tree. Please excuse my blinds uneven and raised...we have a cat. Please also excuse the frumpled (is that even a word?!) tree skirt since one of our yorkies likes to curl up on it. The presents are also distributed unevenly since Tanner likes to get behind the couch or sit in the window sill. It drives my OCD crazy but once I get them all wrapped, it will be more balanced and Tanner will have to wait til after Christmas to sit in the window and look outside. :-)

Speaking of Tanner...look who fell asleep under the tree while I was taking pictures of the ornaments. Sweet baby.

I had to include a pic of his newest ornament nestled in the tree. "The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay"

I snapped this pic yesterday of Tanner and Pawpaw on the tractor (Thats what Tanner calls it) and of course he had to wear his John Deere cap. This was probably the highlight of his day! Pawpaw's too!

Painting at Artistic Expressions 11-30-11

2011-12-14T00:12:00.008-06:00

Every year Tanner and I go to Artistic Expressions and we paint an ornament for the tree, it always has his handprint on it. They normally have about 2 week turnaround time this time of year so we went on the 30th since I was off work and because we were leaving for PA that day and I wanted it back in time to hang on the tree.

Tanner is bigger now so while I painted the ornament, he painted a car. We did his handprint on the ornament in brown because the background is a teal color and then I wanted to do Christmas lights with his thumbprints. It turned out so cute. His car will be cute too. I cant wait to get both of them back. I have so much fun when we do stuff like this.

Lora (at Artistic Expressions) was getting ready to do his hand on the ornament. That's why it's covered in brown paint.

He was working so hard on that car! I'm working on a display for his room to put all of his Artistic Expressions pottery on. This will be his 3rd one and definitely not our last.

I'll be sure and post pics when we get them back too. They're always more vibrant and glossy after they've been fired and glazed.

Update on Tanner's Playroom

2011-12-13T21:57:00.000-06:00

Well, the painting in the playroom is now finished. The airplane finally got its wings and tail painted. :-)AND--the windshield is a metallic silver color (Ben requested that) but its hard to tell in this picture.

The basket on the hot air balloon finally got it's outline and basket weave.

Until the Ikea diginet wire I ordered comes in, this is the place I'm displaying Tanner's art and there's plenty of space for more of his artwork.

Ben picked out the ceiling fan...it's not the best picture because I was too lazy to turn off the fan before taking it. The blades are black and the rest is silver. It has halogen bulbs...not my fave for lighting purposes so we're looking into led bulbs but they have to be a specific kind...the ones with 2 prongs. We found some online that should put out more light and not get as hot.

And as you can tell...he loves his new playroom...it gets played in alot! I'm hosting a pinterest playdate at my house Thursday so Tanner will get to have some friends over to play in his new playroom...he's looking forward to it but we have some cleaning up to do first. :-)

Hanging on the door to his playroom is this handmade Christmas Countdown that Ben and I were given as a gift our first Christmas. It has 2 felt shaped Christmas lights with ribbons on them that you can move down to each day as you countdown. Tanner has one in the 25th and one in the 4th...that's what those lines are...the ribbons. He doesn't care much about the numbers...he just likes to move the ornaments in the pockets.

Pennsylvania - Day 11

2011-12-13T21:11:00.000-06:00

So...we drove into Tennessee at some point Saturday after staying the night in Kentucky. I'm not sure what time it was when we crossed the state line but we had talked about stopping in Nashville and doing some things...BUT Tanner was asleep when we got to Nashville and we opted to let him sleep so we could get as much drive time in while he rested.

When we hit the Alabama line, we knew we were almost home and we started getting a little restless...and silly....

Tanner made a mess with his dunkaroos but as long as he was smiling, we didn't care. He was so good the entire trip and never fussed.

Who's that hottie?? hahaha...love him. The best trip ever with my 2 favorite boys.

Pennsylvania - Day 10

2011-12-13T20:06:00.000-06:00

Well, Friday we spent the day packing, washing clothes, and getting ready to leave Pennsylvania and head back to Alabama. We decided to wait and leave Friday afternoon so we would have as much time as possible to spend with Ben's family before we left. We visited with his mom for awhile and got her setup on Skype so we can skype with everyone once we got home. It was difficult leaving because we had such a wonderful time and it seemed like with everything we've been through in the last year and even in the last month that this was the change we needed.

We also said goodbe to these 2 girls...Mya and Zoey. Tanner will miss them for sure. Mya is the white one and Zoey is the brown one.

We left PA and decided to drive back a different way than we came so that we could see more states/different scenery. So within 30 minutes of leaving PA we had crossed the West Virginia state line and Ohio state line. We drove through Ohio in the snow and finally stopped at a Max and Erma's to eat. It was a very kid friendly restaurant and they even had a big antique clawfoot tub that held ice cream toppings for their unlimited sunday bar. Tanner could have done without the toppings though...he really just prefers good ol plain vanilla ice cream.

We stopped in Cave City, KY for the night. We had intended to stop before that but as we contemplated checkout times, it made more sense to stop once we got back in the central timezone so we could gain an hour and thus that gave us an extra hour of sleep the next morning.

Pennsylvania - Day 9

2011-12-08T21:48:00.000-06:00

Day 9! Man this week has flown by...I'm normally homesick after about 3 days somewhere but to be honest, I'm sad to leave. Really sad actually.

The start of today we went to visit Ms. Barbara's work and meet her co-workers. She works at Washington Financial Square and it has several office complexes inside of this building. Her employer is Pathways and they work with mentally and physically challenged adults and children.

This is the view of the city from her office...much more breath-taking in person. She's on the 3rd floor and shares her office with one other person, a very swee lady named Kim. Kim was the first person during our whole trip to point out that Ben had a southern accent. :-)

Another view from her office window...it really is a beautiful view.

Here's Ms. Barbara's desk. Tanner was having fun spinning us all in her office chair. You'll notice she's decked out in her Steelers gear because tonight is a Steelers game! We had plans to go to Pittsburgh and ride the incline this evening but with the massive amount of traffic, we opted not to.

It's Grammy and Tanner! This was the best pic out of the ones I took...he wasn;t looking in ANY of them!

There's a mall by Aunt Debbie's house that we went to and we were going to have Tanner's pic taken with Santa but he wasn't feeling it. We got about 15 feet away and he said "I too scared Mommy" so Santa walked over, gave him a candy cane and told him "Merry Christmas". Sweet Santa.

A little further down was a ride-on area that has a bunch of these cars and stuff... so of course Tanner wanted to ride. This one was cool though because inside it had a video to simulate the actual race. It rocked and tumbled pretty violently though and Tanner wanted off before it ended.

We ended the night by having dinner with Aunt Lisa. She came over to Aunt Debbie's house and we had hamburgers, corn, seasoned potato chunks, fresh tomatoes and the most AMAZING pineapple upside down cake ever. I'd love to describe the taste...but there aren't words. Ben's mom worked wonders with that cake and she even made a crushed pineapple cool whip to top it with. Oh...it was delicious...I may have had 2 bowls. Seriously.

Pennsylvania - Day 8

2011-12-07T23:20:00.001-06:00

So, day 8 in Pennsylvania started off pretty uneventful. It was Ben's mom's first day back at work since she had taken off to hang with us. We decided to sleep in (like we haven't done that everyday so far...) and then Ben started washing some clothes while Tanner and I played, got baths, got dressed, and watched Pocahontas on tv.

THEN...Ben hollared upstairs "Tiffany, it's snowing..." I ran over to the window and it sure was!! I ran outside and started taking pictures. It had just started so not much was showing up if any...although that haziness you see in the distance is the snow falling.

Here's a photo to prove it WAS snowing...even if you couldnt see it in the above picture. See the snowflakes on my jacket?? It was falling pretty steady too.

And yes, I did run outside in my flip flops. In fact, yesterday I wore shorts and flip flops. Maybe it's the Alabama girl in me or maybe it's just me not thinking in my sheer excitement!!

Back inside, Tanner was relaxing and Ben and I were talking about where we would go eat lunch at. We decided on Bob Evans. It's right down the street and since we were planning to take Aunt Debbie and Ms. Barbara (Ben's mom) out to dinner later, we didn't want to eat too much and get full.

I've taken tons of pics of the outside since we've been here but none of the inside of Aunt Debbie's house...what a shame because it's a beautiful house. Here's the Christmas tree when you first walk in. Insn't it pretty?

And here's the fireplace next to it. I need a fireplace. Every Christmas..er...winter...I think how NICE it would be to light a fire and be able to decorate my mantle.

So...when we finally decided to leave, I had to snap some pics of Tanner standing in the snow. He thought it was neat but since it hadnt really accumulated at this point, he wasn't much mesmerized or anything.

Here we are at Bob Evans. Its a cute little restauarnt by the way and reminds me of something you'd see in the south...even though there are noen where we live. This was our first time in a Bob Evans restauarnt....although I do buy the sides they sell in Publix that are made by Bob Evans.

By the time we left Bob Evans and got back home (which is only about 5 minutes away) the snow was starting to accumulate. This is a picture in the neighborhood at Aunt Debbie's house. Isn't it so beautiful? I was taking this pictures while we were listening to Christmas music on the radio. Perfect.

Another pic in the neighborhood Aunt Debbie lives in. This is next to her house.

Here's a quick picture I snapped of Tanner and I when we were about to go back in the house. It was cold outside so I was in a hurry to snap the picture.

Here's Ben being...Ben.

Tanner was standing on Aunt Debbie's couch and watching the snow through the window.

Pennsylvania - Day 7

2011-12-06T17:05:00.000-06:00

Here we are in Pittsburgh! We parked on the 9th level of a public parking deck that charges $7/hour for parking. Crazy! We were walking down the sidewalk when I snapped this pic.

Anyway, we walked over a few blocks to Point State Park. Point State Park is where the 3 rivers meet in Pittsburgh. What three rivers? Ohio River, Allegheny River & Monongahela River. There's a geyser that shoots up where the three rivers meet but since its the middle of winter theres a HUGE wire Christmas tree with lights over that area. Off to the side of it is the Fort Pitt Museum.

This is Tanner right outside the Fort Pitt museum standing next to a small cannon.

This building is next to the museum but we didnt walk up to it for me to read what exactly this building is. Looked cool though so I took a picture.

This is inside the museum. Isn;t this one of the most adorable and funniest pics you've ever seen? I love it!

Tanner kept calling Tamaqua (his name) "The Man" and kept saying he wanted to go see "the man". It's a lifesize wax figure and it was amazing how much he looked real. Tanner was talking to him and saying stuff hoping "the man" would talk back to him.

Look at the attention to detail...even his fingernails were amazingly real looking. Seriously...you would have thought these wax figures were actual people just posing.

Inside the museum were different sections and on the bottom floor there was a section with a small log cabin called "The Trader Post" and it showed how indians would trade and what their trades looked like, etc.

This was in another room and he was making cannons. I got way more pictures than what I've posted but I felt like it may bore you to look at them unless you were really there. I'm a museum person so I enjoy things like this anyway but I think you'd be fascinated even if you aren't that into history or museums.

Tanner was mesmerized with everything, I'm pretty sure this was his first museum and he even sat through the video we watched. He's been the perfect child to travel with and has really been taking in all of the sights and events and the whole experience.

Here we are on the elevator, he didnt want me to take his picture so he looked down. Oh well, he's still as cute as pie.

Part of the museum had benches and it was 2 walls of glass to let you view the Allegheny river and the bridge & tunnel that we drove through/over to get to Point State Park.

PNC Park which is the stadium where the Pittsburgh Pirates play baseball. We had a PERFECT view!

NEXT...was....PRIMANTI BROTHERS!! Ben and I had decided we definitely wanted to eat there when we came to Pittsburgh because it was the number 2 thing to do in Pittsburgh as per Google AND it's been featured on Food Network (Diners, Drive ins and Dives) as well as the Travel Channel (Man Vs. Food --aired last Wednesday). If you ever decide to eat here...they only take CASH. :-)

Here is Ben with his Cornbeef sandwich. Every sandwich has the meat you choose, homemade cole slaw (that is off the chain!!), fresh sliced tomatoes, cheese, handcut french fries and a fried egg. May sound gross to some but it is FABULOUS. Definitely lived up to my expectations.

Ben's mom had the cheesesteak sandwich. She said it was "DEE-LISH!" :-) And thankfully, she had CASH...Ben and I did not. :-)

Tanner had a turkey and cheese sandwich but we asked for his fries on the side and cole slaw on the side because he obviously would not have been able to bite through that sandwich or even hold it all at once.

This was MINE. I asked the owner what his favorite was and he said Capicola with cheese. It was GREAT and I loved it, he made a good reccomendation. I asked if he would take a picture with us too. So if you watch the Food Network or Travel Channel and happen to see Primanti Brothers on there...this guy is on there too and we met him. He's very funny and personable, definitely makes for an even better experience.

He took us behind the bar to take pictures so that the sign could be above us and so we could spread out a little more. This is the original Primanti Brothers location so its not huge and the tables are not super spaced apart...but its such a great atmosphere with great food and friendly people.

He was being silly in this one and laid over on Ben...unfortunately the flash got in the way but I like Ben's smile in this one...it's his real smile...it rarely shows up. He normally wears his fake smile in pictures.

Then, he laid over on me and he said "Don't be jealous man, don't hit me." LOL Then he said "We look like Danny Devito and Arnold Schwarzneggar from that movie 'Twins', you know what I'm talking about?"

Then he ofered to take a pic of all of us behind the bar. Wasnt that sweet? He was telling the other customers not to get in his way while he was taking pictures and that he was going to be a famous photographer someday. haha!

The sign at the front of the restaurant.

This building and alley is next door. I had to take a pic because I love old building like this with the fire escape stairs and rustic look. Pittsburgh is a pretty great place to visit.

On our way out of Pittsburgh we passed by "Occupy Pittsburgh".

This building is teh courthouse...and it was GI-NORMOUS...I know I;ve said that about alot of buildings up here but it seriously was HUMONGOUS.

I liked this big tree as we were passing by so I snapped a pic before the light turned green and Ben had to hit the gas.

As we were going back over the Golden Bridge (the yellow bridge you saw in earlier pictures) on our way back to the Fort Pitt tunnel, we could see the Steelers stadium so I tried to get a pic but since we were driving, it was raining and I'm not the best photographer...here's what I got. :-)

We stopped by a mall on the way back to Washington, PA and there was a big toy store and Tanner fell in love with this train set. It;s a 6 volt battery powered train that you push the pedal and it goes around teh track. You can also buy more tracks to add to it or change the layout. It was only $99 but since they're so cute, there's a waiting list. Ben put us on the list and told the lady we would be here til Friday. Where we would put this I have no idea...but it sure made him happy to ride it!

Pennsylvania - Day 6

2011-12-05T21:57:00.000-06:00

It's a beautiful Monday morning here in Washington, PA. We decided to drive around this morning and visit all the places Ben lived, played and went to school as a child.We also visited some of his family's past homes and schools. It was alot of fun. Here's some of the pictures we took as we strolled down memory lane.

This first picture is one of the places where Ben's mom lived when Ben was little. He lived here with her when he was ages 4 and 5.

This next picture has no significance to Ben BUT this AMAZING and HUGE building is a high school. It's so nice and it really is massive if you see it in person. Our high schools in Alabama pale in comparison.

Not to be outdone by the highschool...here's is one of the elementary schools here. Isn't this beautiful? But again, not significance to Ben.

Ok...here is Ben's church he went to when he lived in Pennsylvania. It's called Fourth Presbyterian Church. You can see the church from the road but when you turn to go to the church, the road winds around and goes up a hill. It was also raining...so pardon the raindrops in my picture.

This is a pond through those trees that Ben and his sister used to ice skate on when it would freeze over in the winter. I probably could have gotten a better picture if it hadn't been raining.

This house is where Ben's Grandma Berdine (Ben's mom's mom, also the one we had Christmas with a few nights ago) lived in when Ben was a child.

Just one house over is where Aunt Shirley (Ben's great aunt) used to live. Now she and Grandma Berdone live together in the home that we had Christmas at a few nights ago.

This next picture...well actually the next 3 pictures are where Ben's mom went to elementary school. The building is now a dance studio/taekwondo place.

This place is a high school...SO big it wouldnt even fit in my camera. It's called Trinity High School and this is where all the magic happened. :-) This is where Ben's mom and dad met and fell in love. Yes, they were high school sweethearts and walked the halls in this same school. The next few pictures were my attempt at getting pics of the whole school and parts of the detailed architecture.

Now we are about to enter Anderson Dr. Yes, it IS named after Ben's family. Ben's dad's mom (Ben's grandma Anderson) has been an Anderson her whole life. Her maiden name was Anderson and then she married Ben's grandpa, who they lovingly refer to as "Pap-pap" and she went from Miss Anderson to Mrs. Anderson. This road was named after Ben's grandma's family.

This house is where Ben's Grandma Anderson and his Pap-pap lived, also the home that Ben's dad grew up in. The picture after this one is a side view of this same house and the third pic is one of the garage/shop that's next to the house. It's where Ben's dad grew up working on cars and doing body work on vehicles to earn money as a teenager. So this is where it all started...he's always had a workshop. :-)

This is the creek by the house, it runs under the little bridge we were driving over and runs right next to the house.

This is the home accross the street from Ben's dad's childhood home. This home is where Ben's dad's childhood best friend and best man in the wedding lived. His name is Eric.

This is the home that Ben's mom is almost 100% sure that Ben's dad's mom grew up in as a child. If this is it, it's also where Ben's aunt Pam and his cousin Kevin lived for awhile before moving to Alabama.

This is also part of the house above...I mean, not part of the actual house but its right next to it...on the same property.

Ben's mom was a fabulous tour guide. This is the home that is next to the home Ben's grandma grew up in and it's the home that Ben's mom and dad always said they would buy and live in. They were dating at the time and they would walk around and say that when they got married they were going to buy this home and raise their children in it.

This is the 3 car garage that is also part of Ben's parents' dream home. It's a beautiful area...rolling hills, pastures, and so peaceful.

After viewing all the sights, we headed out to Tanger Outlet Mall in Washington, PA and we did some shopping, eating, playing, laughing, talking and just had a good 'ol time. :-) Here's Tanner on a mechanical bull he wanted to ride.

Tanner and the cat in the hat in the Dr. Seuss car.

Ben's mom wanted a pic of all 3 of us but this was the best one...lol...we were never all 3 looking and Tanner doesn't like to "cheese" on command like he did when he was younger.

After we left the outlet mall, we went to Sarris Candy shop and Ice cream parlor. It's in Cannonsburg, PA and has been there since the 50's. We bought some chocolates in the store and looked around awhile. This is made entirely of chocolate...it's HUGE...I wish I had stood next to it when Ben took the picture so you could see it in relation to a person.

There was so much attention to detail and even little things like the trees were made out of cotton candy.

We walked through to the other side and had ice cream at the ice cream parlor. The cups were HUGE...Tanner loved it though and he said it was "nummy nummy".

Well...that's all for now...more to come tomorrow! Tomorrow we are spending the whole day in Pittsburgh...we have lots planned...including the top 2 things listed to do in Pittsburgh--going to Pointe State Park, eating lunch at Primanti Brothers (featured on food network's Diners, Drive ins and Dives as well as on Man vs. Food).

Pennslvania - Day 3,4 & 5

2011-12-05T19:47:00.000-06:00

Here's a pic of Ben at Aunt Debbie's house.

On Friday we got ready and went over to see grandma. It was mine and Tanner's first time meeting her and she was excited to see Tanner. Grandma lives with Aunt Shirley (Ben's great-aunt) about 5 minutes from Aunt Debbie's house (where we are staying).

Here's a pic of Grandma, Ben, Tanner and me.

Tanner almost fell asleep on Grandma and she was telling him about how she used to rock Ben to sleep when he was a little boy.

Aunt Shirley and Tanner

Grandma and Tanner--isn't this a GREAT picture?? I'm planning to print and frame one.

Tanner and I at Aunt Debbie's house.

Tanner and Daddy at Aunt Debbie's house trying on hats. :-)

Our trip to Toys R Us where we got to see Geoffrey Giraffe...but Tanner wasn't a big fan.

Saturday night we had dinner and Christmas at Grandma's house with Grandma, Aunt Shirley, Aunt Debbie, Aunt Lisa, Cameron (Aunt Lisa's son), Ben's mom, Ben, Tanner and me. :-) This is where Grandma lives.

Tanner was SO INCREDIBLY SWEET when he was opening presents. He took his time, unwrapped each one and hugged the item, held it up and thanked everyone. He was surprised when he kept being handed more gifts to open. My sweet Tanner was so appreciative of everything he got and really had a good time playing with everyone.

Penn State! Ben's mom got each of us Penn state attire and we will wear it proudly! Ben starts Penn State in less than a month. :-)

Tanner and Ben's mom wearing their Penn State shirts. :-)

Grandma holding up one of the gifts we got her.

Grandma holding up a towel I embroidered for her with an "R" because her name is "Ruth".

Tanner was playing with Aunt Lisa and everytime they would drive the car back and forth he would throw his hands up in the air in a victory celebration.

Eating a Christmas Stocking cookie.

Tanner and I are also HUGE fans of Aunt Debbie's Jacuzzi tub. :-) We think it's something we should invest in when we get home....seriously.

Pennsylvania - Day 1 & 2

2011-12-04T14:56:00.000-06:00

So, have I mentioned before that Ben's mom and half of his family live in Pennsylvania? If not, now you know. They live outside of Pittsburgh in a city called Washington. It's about a 10-12 hour drive from central Alabama if you drive it without stopping. We left Wednesday evening about 8:30 and drove up through northeast Alabama, into Georgia and continued up through Tennessee. We drove until 1:30a.m. eastern time which would be 12:30a.m. Alabama time. We stopped in Athens, TN and got a hotel room for the night.

On the road...packed up...tucked in...and ready for a L-O-N-G ride.

We checked out about 9 a.m. on Thursday morning and stopped down the road at a Cracker Barrel for breakfast before getting back on the road. We drove through the rest of Tennesee and into Virginia and then we crossed into West Virginia and we stopped at New River Gorge Bridge for some pictures and to let Tanner run around and get some energy out. It was a beautiful place and worth the time to stop.

The Deceptive Forest / New River Gorge Bridge

We went through a few tunnels through mountains. One was called the Big Walker Tunnel and one was called the East River Tunnel. Ben asked me to take a pic of the inside but it didn't show up very well because of the lighting.

And THEN...we passed through some places in West Virginia that started to show signs of SNOW!! I was getting so excited, but then we stopped seeing patches of snow...oh well. Here's hoping it snows at least one day!

We got to Pennsylvania about 7:00 Thursday night and it was perfect timing because when we got here, dinner was ready and we were starving!

Tanner's Playroom is Almost Finished!

2011-11-27T12:47:00.000-06:00

Here is the view when you first walk in, my mom & I did the painting on the walls and it's still not 100% finished. I had to buy more paints because we ran out and there's still some details missing like basket weave, etc. But at the least the chair rail molding is up now and it looks GREAT! I love how it turned out! It;s got me thinking about how else I could dress up other rooms in our house.

We opted to leave the closet doors off of the big closet in the room (the smaller closet is housing Christmas gifts right now that we're "hiding") but I put up this Thomas the train fabric/curtain to block the two shelves at the top that are storing some of my craft stuff. The bare wall to the left will be a 3 row art display of Tanner's paintings and crafts from Moms Day Out, Home, etc. I'm trying to decide between doing the Ikea diginet system or using some twine and clothes pins. I love the Ikea display but I don't want it to look too un-childlike when its hanging up. I would paint the clothespins of course and use colored twine.

I got the rug at Kohls on black friday for $31.74...it was a 70% savings! Whoo hoo!

Tanner's first time seeing his playroom...he's seen it with the paint on the walls but hadn't seen it since. We secretly set it up for him so he could be surprised when he walked in. He didn't know where to go first and he said "Sit Mommy. Play"

We are keeping books in his bedroom to read as bedtime stories so I just put bigger toys on this bookshelf to use as toy storage and for more of a color visual.

I put the kitchen set in the closet because it's made to go in a corner of the room and this was the only corner left. He likes to use this area as his "garage" too and he parks his tractor and other big trucks here.

Here's a closeup of the hot air balloon that's not completely finished yet.Still needs another coat of color and the basket needs to be painted again and have basket weave added.

Here's a pic of the airplane that's not completely finished yet. The wings will be navy blue and windshield will be a pale metallic gray color.

More pics to come when it's completely finished!! We also put in a new fan and doorknobs. I love the doorknobs so much that we've decided to replace all the doorknobs in our house with the same ones...they're an antique nickel color which looks like a mix of silver/black. Pretty classy looking.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2011-11-27T01:43:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics from Thanksgiving with my side of the family. I snagged them from my mom since I almost never have my camera with me when we go places. I'm thankful she takes pictures for all of us to have and share.

This picture is Pawpaw with his grandchildren and great-grandchild. Carter isn't in the picture but if he was, it'd be all of us.

This is the grandkids and their spouses. Taylor said this picture was awkward because she didn't have a "spouse" so I think we should all remind her every chance we get that she has plenty of time. :-)

Pawpaw and his girls. :-) Aunt Sharon on the left and my mom on the right.

Pawpaw, his girls and their spouses.

Black Friday? YES PLEASE!

Thursday evening around 6:30, my mom and I geared up with our sales papers, layered clothing, and caffeine and we headed out to Toys R Us. We got in line about 7pm and doors opened at 9 pm. We were in the first 600 in line so we were allowed to shop in the first shift and still be under fire code. Hooray for that! We had a buggy FULL of great deals! We got in and out in 45 minutes.

We stopped by Krispy Kreme for some coffee drinks and to look through our sales papers before we headed out to Prattville. We pulled into Target and it was insane...we opted not to get in line since there was nothing on the Target paper we were dying to have. We drove down a little ways to Kohls and went right in. It took FOR-EV-ER to check out (as it does every year) and we spent about 30 minutes shopping but an hour and a half in the checkout line that wrapped around the entire store. But still--it was worth the great deals we got!

Then we headed over to JC Penney and they were supposed to open at 4 a.m. but they let us in at 3:30...what?! Yes. Thank you JC Penney! The wind was picking up by that time and it was pretty chilly standing outside. We racked up on some good deals there too and I got a set of 2 topiary trees that are prelit and 3 ft tall to put on each side of my door on the porch...for $19.99...regulat $79.99. I've wanted some for the last few years but never wanted to spend what they were selling for. Yay for savings!!

After we left JC Penney, we went to Lowe's and got in line for a clock my mom wanted and to look at some other items up for grabs. We were the 4th people in line and that line got LONG really fast! They opened up at 5 and we bolted through those doors with no buggy...we needed freedom to be agile! We scored the clock and within about 5 minutes they were all gone! My dad met us at Lowes...by the time he got there, we were already inside, had the clock in hand and were ready to check out. He strolled in ready to take his time and see what was on sale...we gave him a time limit of 15 minutes and then we left. :-)

Then, we went to Ihop to have breakfast and I went to work with my mom after that. It was a fun time! My mom hasnt been Black Friday shopping in awhile and we were laughing and on a roll. We're a good team for this sort of thing! Think she'll want to do it again next year?

Thanksgiving Dinner at Church 11-16-11

2011-11-26T00:45:00.001-06:00

Here's a few photos my mom took at the Thanksgiving Dinner we had at church a few weeks ago. It was a wonderful time and there was so much delicious food! I LOVE this first pic of Tanner...he's such a big boy sitting in his chair and waiting to pray and eat!

Tanner LOVES his Pawpaw...and his Pepe'... :-)

Tanner's New Playroom!

2011-11-22T00:16:00.000-06:00

As most of you already know, our boys are no longer with us as of Friday morning. It's bittersweet but we feel like the whole situation is God ordained and that His timing has proven to be more perfect than we ever could have imagined.

Now that we have an empty room, we want to do something with it before it becomes a "catch all". We decided to turn it into a playroom for Tanner because he has SO many toys, he stays home with me during the day and needs more space to spread out and play AND to alleviate some of his hurt from walking in their room and asking where they are. We immediately removed the bunk bed and sold it. We have now painted the walls and bought a new ceiling fan.

We have BIG plans for this room and have bought several new items in anticipation of fixing this up for him. We're doing a big mural/scene on the walls, putting chair rail molding around the room and also an art display on one of the walls to hang his beautiful pictures and crafts he makes at Moms Day Out. We are VERY excited to get it finished before next week when we leave for PA for 2 weeks.

We are re-doing all of the other rooms in our house too and have already bought more paint and ceiling fans, etc. Pictures coming soon but for now...here's some of the playroom pics in it's first stage...

Tanner's Thanksgiving Program & Farm Day

2011-11-22T00:00:00.000-06:00

Wee CBC took all of the kids to the Bradshaw Farm on Friday, November 18. It was their annual "Farm Day" and the Thanksgiving program. I was so excited. Unfortunately, Ben couldn't get off of work but my mom was off so she was able to go with me. We had a blast! Tanner sang 2 songs and I have a video I'll try to embed in the next post. :-) Here's some pics we took!

This is Tanner and his teacher, Mrs. Brooke. He LOVES her so much!

Isn't he adorable in his Fram Day shirt? They made them using their handprints. I LOVE it!

Tanner's 2 year pictures

2011-11-04T07:47:00.000-05:00

Here is a sampling of the 100+ pics that we had taken for Tanner's 2 year old photo shoot about a week before his birthday. There are some really good ones that I couldn't believe she was able to get because he was hot and irritable at times as well as just busy and running around like most 2 year olds. It also didnt help that the balloons we had tied to a chair started popping from the heat and then he started crying....yeah...you won't find any of those pics in here. :-) Enjoy!

2 Year Check-up & Pet Parade

2011-11-04T01:55:00.000-05:00

Time for some updates again! And I have several! The last time I left off was back in August. Tanner had his 2 year checkup the middle of September and he weighed 25 1/2 lbs (10.25%) and was 35 1/8" tall (75%). He only had to get 1 shot which was the other half of his hep B. No more shots til he starts kindergarten! YAY!

About a week later, he had a "Pet Parade" at Mom's Day Out and he got to bring his favorite stuffed animal. He didn't really want to take this picture because the sun was in his eyes and he was ready to go see "Mrs. Brooke" but anyway...here he is with his puppy for the pet parade.

Birthday Parties Galore!

2011-08-30T21:20:00.000-05:00

The first week of August we went to 4 birthday parties including Tanner's. Tanner's Party was August 6th, his 2nd Birthday, and we celebrated at the Golf Course clubhouse on Maxwell AFB. Tanner got lots of great gifts and had a blast! Here's a few pics from the party...you can see many more on my facebook page.

The following weekend, August 13th was C's 7th birthday. We celebrated at Artistic Expressions. Everyone got to paint an item of their choice and since it was C's birthday, he also chose a birthday platter to have customized any way he wanted...he chose to have Scoby Doo's face painted on it. It turned out super cute and I picked up everyones items last week. If you haven't gotten yours yet, rest assured you will get it this week! Unfortunately, I cannot post MOST of the pics of his party due to privacy for kids in care and confidentiality policies. I was able to email pics to birth mom though and she was SO excited to see them! Here's a few I can share...

Sunday, August 21st was my mom's birthday. Ben and I got her a BCS Championship football signed by the Auburn players including Cam Newton. :-) YAY!! It's authenticated and guaranteed to pass any third party verification. She was super excited...and may have cried a little.

Tanner's First Day of School...Sorta

2011-08-22T17:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, August 21, was open house at Coosada Baptist's Mom's Day Out and Pre-School program called Wee CBC. My mom came with me so we could let Tanner meet his teacher and see his classroom. I was SO excited for him to get to go to school like the big boys and have an opportunity to make friends his own age and learn. This is him while we were waiting to go in. :-)

Once we got to the classroom to meet his teacher, he was immediately comfortable and ready to play. There was another little boy named Landon there and they clashed a little (as 2 yr old's do in their "me, mine" stage) but quickly warmed up to one another and became friends.

This is Tanner and his friend Landon in front of the bulletin board in their room. :-)

Outside the classrooms are hooks where you hang the kids' stuff each morning. Here is Tanner's Dr. Seuss hook. How adorable is that?

This is Tanner's folder that will go back and forth each day so we can communicate with his teacher and see the work he does. Today he colored and we got a sweet little note in the shape of an apple that told us all about how good he did and how sweetly he behaved. She also said in the note that he got along with all of his classmates.

This is the bookbag and one of the reusable snack bags I made last night for him. I had been looking at this fabric forever at Hobby Lobby and finally had the opportunity to make something with it! I have enough left over to make him some shorts out of the plaid with a matching applique shirt and possibly a jon jon too.

Here he is this morning when we walked outside to go to the car. He looks so grown up!

Excited to go to school and see Ms.Brooke! The drop off this morning was a little tough on him or I would have gotten a picture of him and his teacher. Maybe this week or the next I can though. :-)

Back to School!

2011-08-20T09:32:00.000-05:00

Well, this past week was the first week of school for C & R. They had a good week. Kindergarten did a new thing this year called staggered start so R went to school on Monday with a handful of other Kindergarteners and then he stayed home with me on Tuesday and Wednesday while other Kindergarteners took their turn to go. On Thursday everyone went to Kindergarten. He was so anxious to go back! He has Ms. Perez this year, the same teacher that C had last year. I requested her because we loved her last year and she is so great at communicating with me. She even came to C's birthday party last weekend! It also doesn't hurt that she's an Auburn fan. :-) Ms. Baltzell is C's first grade teacher this year and she seems very nice too. I don't know much about her but I have heard alot of good things. We're looking forward to an excellent school year for both of them.

Tanner has open house this Sunday, August 21 and will start Mom's Day Out at Wee-CBC on Monday. He'll be going Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. They learn bible stories, bible songs, do arts and crafts, take field trips and even have chapel on Wednesdays! He'll be going from 8:30 - 11:30. I'm so excited for him to make new friends his age and have a chance to learn and grow this school year. There's a maximum of 8 per class (which I'm thrilled about) so it won't be overcrowded. I registered him back in April and a waiting list had already formed for some of the classes. His teacher's name is Ms. Brooke and I spoke to her by phone earlier this week. She seems so sweet and I'm glad Tanner will have her. I picked out some fabrics awhile back and just finished a bookbag for him that's his size and I made matching reusable snack/sandwich bags for him to take each day with his snacks in them. :-) I'll post pics next time. I can't wait to update everyone after his first day on Monday!

One more person in our house has school coming up too...not me....BEN! Ben registered at Penn State about a month ago and we had his transcripts sent in, filled out FAFSA and he just got a letter this week saying he was accepted into the Turfgrass Science Program! It's a 2 year degree that will open many more doors for him (and us...since Tanner & I plan on tagging along). He's doing everything online and he's pretty excited to get started. Since we had already planned a trip to Pennsylvania and New York for the first few weeks in December, we plan on going by and checking it out in person. Pennsylvania State University is the 9th largest university in the United States and one of the most prestigious schools to get into. Needles sto say, Ben is goal oriented, career focused and ready to get started!

RSVP

2011-07-27T22:39:00.000-05:00

If you are planning to come to Tanner's party and have not yet RSVP'd, please do so. I have to have your information no later than tomorrow, 7/28/11 at midnight so Ben can turn it in on Friday, 7/29/11. Thank you!

Mommy-Tanner Day!

2011-07-26T23:51:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was supposed to be Tanner's 2 year pictures but due to the weather and forecast of storms, we moved the session to Thursday. So, since I was already off, I took Tanner to build-a-bear and he made his first stuffed animal. He has a few from build--bear already but they're ones that Ben and I made him before he was born. He really enjoyed making it too.

When we walked in, he wanted to hug ach one on the wall, so I let him until he saw one he liked and hollared "Frog!!" He narrowed it down to the monkey and the frog and ultimately decided on the frog. He got to pick out the heart to go in it and put his foot on the pedal to pump the stuffing in it. He didnt much care for that part so I got down with him and pushed it with my hand. I wanted to take a picture of him "stuffing" his frog but he wouldnt let me more than 2 inches away from him. He finally let me take this picture of him afterward though...

After we finished his frog, he insisted that we put shoes and "jah-mees" on him. Then I figured out that he wanted the shoes to fit him...but they wouldn't of course. So, we put the shoes back and he picked out "jah-mees" for his new frog. We then walked over to put in all the info and print a birth certificate. I typed everything until it got to the part to put in a name for his frog...I let him type a name and he chose "ffdhgdhfghdgfh" and he pronounces that "pull-fur".

Here he is with his new Frog, Pulfur:

After leaving build-a-bear, we went to Sears and bought all 3 kids new clothes...they were having a great sale! We then headed down to Gorin's for some ice cream. Tanner loves ice cream!

After we left the mall, we went to Toys R Us and got some birthday gifts and a few toys for the kids to play with outside. Tanner was so excited and when we left he fell asleep in the car on the way home. When we got home he was wide awake and ready to show MiMi his new frog and all the toys and stuff we bought. :-) It was a good day, I wish I had more time to spend with him like that. He's growing up too fast....in less than 2 weeks he'll be 2!

The Great Paint Explosion....Number 2.

2011-07-11T03:07:00.000-05:00

Raise your hand if you remember my post from last October about Tanner spilling bright yellow paint in the living room/kitchen and then "finger painting" the couch and leaving adorable yellow footprints all over our beige carpet? (This is why we got brand new furniture for free a few days before Christmas--thank you Haverty's Gold Plan.)

Well...this past Saturday....Our 6 yr old dropped a full can of ORANGE paint all over the other side of the living room, up the wall, on the door, inside the entertainment center, all accross our plasma tv, inside the surround sound speakers, accross the room on the bookcase, on Tanner's toys, etc. When he dropped it, the lid flew off and paint exploded out of the can on every surface imaginable within a 10 foot radius. My sweet husband was so dilligent in cleaning it up that he didn't think to take pics like I did back in October. He was able to clean it off the tv and mostly off the walls. It has taken him awhile to carefully scratch it off of Tanner's toys and even with his greatest effort and buckets of bleach...you can still see bright orange paint smiling upward from the beige carpet. Oh well, what can you do? We have decided to put in laminate flooring though. Soon.

New Car, Saving Money, Birthday Parties!!

2011-07-11T01:57:00.000-05:00

Good Monday Morning! It looks as if I've kept you waiting long enough for another update on our family! I'm just going to jump right in!

Last Tuesday, Ben and I traded in our '06 Lincoln Navigator for a 2006 Buick Rendezvous. It still has alot of the same luxuries I had gotten used to in the Navigator and it's still 3rd row. It's a crossover suv so it's a good bit smaller which I love AND the best part is that we were able to lower our monthly cost roughly $270 (that includes monthly payment, insurance, and gas). Ben and I are the perfect team when it comes to finding/trading in vehicles because he handles the dealership side and researching the vehicle stats, reviews, etc. He's very thorough! I handle the bank side - financing, interest rates, payments, etc. And I love to save money...who doesn't enjoy a good deal?

Speaking of saving money, my mom and I are on our way to being on "Extreme Couponing"! Well, not quite yet but we are saving lots of money. We went to a coupon workshop in Wetumpka that was hosted by The Clipping Queens of Atlanta, GA. It was great and so informative. I've been couponing awhile but still gleaned alot of helpful info from the workshop. My mom and I have been couponing together and shopping together the last 2 weeks. We haved saved at least 50% on each trip and one of them, my mom saved close to 80%!! We've gotten several items for free and we've even made money off of some items thanks to our coupons! I'm thrilled to be finding new ways of saving money because our ultimate goal is to be debt free. We don't currently have any credit card debt and I'm hoping that as we keep putting money in Tanner's savings account (that we opened when he was 2 weeks old) that his college tuition will be paid for or if he opts not to go then he'll at least have a large downpayment for a house.

So...how bout news on the kids? I'm planning 2 birthday parties simultaneously right now--Tanner will be 2 on August 6th and our oldest child placed with us will be 7 on August 13th. I love planning parties for our kids and I like having opportunities for everyone to get together and celebrate. Tanner's parties mean lot to me because there was a time when we were being told we may never have children (God said otherwise!) and each year is a celebration of him and the gift that he is to us. He's our whole world and we are so thankful that God chose us to be his mommy and daddy. Birthdays for our kids who are placed with us are always a big deal too because most of the time they've never had a "real" party or there's never been anyone to celebrate them and their accomplishments over the last year. It's always a joy to watch their face when they see how many people care and to have a day that's all about them. It's one of the many blessings about being a foster parent -- the opportunity to provide experiences that some kids have never had and most kids take for granted.

Tanner's party will be held at the clubhouse on Maxwell AFB and will be Yo Gabba Gabba themed. I'm having a lot of fun making all of his decorations and goody bags and stuff myself. Parties always give me an opportunity to be crafty and I like that! Our soon to be 7 yr old's party will be held at Artistic Expressions and is WWE themed. He's a big John Cena fan (aren't we all?) and can't wait to paint and enjoy his bday cake.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T23:33:00.002-05:00

Quote for the week: "Courage is being scared to death... and saddling up anyway". ~John Wayne

I'm terrible at maintaining updates lately. I'm sorry for that, we've just had lots going on and I haven't had much free time to sit and type. I keep quotes in my planner--one for each month to keep me focused, motivated and encouraged. I think I'll start opening my posts with a quote.

We had a great mother's day weekend and the kids had a lot of fun too. We stayed busy but got plenty accomplished and spent time together as a family. Tanner also turned 21 months old on Friday, the 6th...we are steadily creeping up on 2 years old! Where has the time gone? Now that he's learned to open and close doors, he loves to go in our boys' room after they go to bed (depending on his naptime, he doesn't always bottom out at 8:30 like they do). He tries to get in bed with our 5 yr old, or he tries to get them to wake up and play. And for whatever reason, he calls them both "ah-buh-gee" and we have no idea why or where that came from. They answer to it though and never correct him because they're both sweet like that.

The kids are getting excited about summer coming up and school being out. I think Tanner will be lost when he doesn't see that big yellow school bus everyday! He stands at the window and waits for our 6 year old to hop off and bee-bop down the driveway. He runs to the door and yells "ah-buh-gee!! ah-buh-gee!!" :-) They always hug him when they get home and the other night out of the blue, Tanner put his arms around our 5 yr old and just stood there for about 6 minutes without letting go. Our 5 yr old just stood there and hugged him back the whole time and never pulled away. He looked at me and said "I think Tanner loves me. And I love him too". It touched my heart and makes me a little teary eyed just thinking about it. These are the first kids that Tanner truly knows. He doesn't remember the other 3 kids we've had since he was born but he thinks of our 5 & 6 yr old as his friends and playmates and gets so excited when they come home or when he wakes up on Saturday mornings to find out they're still here.

Well, I hope the rest of you had a great weekend and I pray nothing but blessings over each of you this week. If you find yourself in a situation that is hard to see out of, just remember that God is still God. He never changes and nothing catches Him by surprise. He has a purpose for you and His plans are to prosper you and give you hope. Don't let your fear starve your faith. You can always find protection and safety in the shadow of His wings.

"If things go wrong, don't go with them." ~Roger Babson

"If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again." ~Flavia Weedn

We're Okay!

2011-04-28T08:29:00.000-05:00

Hello to all our friends and family! My heart is heavy this morning as I wake up to hear that the death toll in Alabama is up to 142 with reports still coming in. Such a sad, devastating day yesterday and last night. I wanted to be sure to post as soon as possible to let all of you know that we are okay and to find out the same from you.

Last night about 7:00 the wind started to really pick up and throw things around outside but it wasn't until about 8:30 that a tornado touched down at the Wetumpka Airport (Bet you didn't even know Wetumpka had an airport!) which is right accross the street from our neighborhood...a few hundred yards away. I grabbed all the kids and got them in the bathtub and Ben got all our pets and put them in the bathroom with us. We waited it out and my sweet little 5 yr old started praying to God for everyone's safety "even that you can keep the bad people safe and not get hurt". We all made it, and no property damage that we've noticed...mostly just large limbs on the ground and items strown about from the wind.

My dad was called out at 10:30 last night to soem damage in the wetumpka area and at 4 a.m. my mom got a call from the ER that he had been admitted with a broken elbow (OUCH!!). She said when she got there his arm was just dangling. They gave him 2 shots for the pain and they got home about 5:30 this morning. My mom has to drive him to Alex City this morning to see an orthopaedic doctor. Please keep him in your prayers because I know he's in alot of pain.

Also--when I signed into Facebook this morning I saw status after status about the devastation and impact the weather had on so many of my freinds and their families. But on a positive note, my friend Kristi posted a link to "Toomers for Tuscaloosa" which brought tears to my eyes. I think it's incredible how our state comes together for each other, we know how to support one another, and when there's a need we reach out to meet it immediately and selflessly. You can visit Toomers for Tuscaloosa by clicking the following link http://www.nevertoyieldfoundation.com/ This foundation was created to help the families clean up the damage and put their lives back together after yesterday's tornado fury that ripped through Tuscaloosa.

What's goin on around here?

2011-04-14T05:08:00.001-05:00

I feel like everytime I sit down to blog these days, it's always an update since SO much time has gone by...again.

I won't lie, it's been a little chaotic around here. I put my sewing on hold for now--the taking orders part anyway. It was stressing me out quite a bit with all the business and no time for my family--I was running off of 2-3 hrs sleep each night and chugging coffee like crazy. I'm still making items as time permits but I'm mostly trying to build up some inventory for the "2011 Spring Fling Craft Market" I'm hosting on May 7. I'm really excited about it. Our Homemade Holiday Market in December was a success and we hope this one will be even bigger and better--especially since there's more time to plan and no major holidays that people will be out of town for.

Where to begin...how bout with Ben and me. We celebrated 6 years of wonderful, beautiful, marital bliss on Tuesday the 12th. I think in the last year we have grown closer than any other year and mostly because we had several hoops to jump through and battles to fight but we overcame each obstacle side by side. There's no one else I would want to raise children with, share my future with, or grow old with.

Our 6 yr old has been doing good in school. All A's and he is reading very well. He told me yesterday "One day I will teach Tanner how to read like me." Tanner LOVES when the bus pulls up squealing the brakes. He runs to the door and says "ah-buh-gee" over and over waiting for our 6 yr old to walk in the door so he can hug him. We aren't sure what "ah-buh-gee" is or exactly what it means but he always says it when our other 2 boys are around or when we same their names. Maybe it's his own little made up nickname for them--kind of like how Taylor (my sister) used to call our cousins Brannon and Leslie "BrannaLessie" because everyone always said their names together. She always thought that was their name and that they had the same name--she was little though so cut her some slack. :-)

Our 5 yr old is doing fantastic in his little school too. He starts Kindergarten this fall and I registered him last week. We requested the same teacher our 6 yr old had this year so hopefully that's who he will get because she is the BEST. He is getting excited to go to his brother's "Big School" and it makes him feel grown up when we talk about it. He is writing his name and learning to read. He's actually doing so well that his teacher sent home a test he took and a note saying that he scored so well they wanted to put him in a special program 2 days a week to focus in on his reading and writing. I was so proud of him!

Tanner is being Tanner. He'll always be my sweet little baby...and that's what I have to remind myself when he throws crazy tantrums and has a breakdown because someone said the word "No". :-) I also enrolle Tanner in school last week, well, kind of school. He'll be going to Wee-CBC beginning in August. He'll be in the 2 yr old class and will go Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:30 - 11:30. It's bittersweet. I'll be so excited for him to make new friends and get to play with children his own age on a regular basis as well as doing all kinds of learning activities, field trips, crafts, and other fun stuff. BUT--it will be so hard not having him here with me in the mornings and dropping him off will probably make me ball my eyes out until he gets used to it and I know he's happy there. He does great when he goes to my aunt's house though. She has an in home daycare and keeps him for me when I have to go out of town and stuff. He loves playing with those kids and spending a little time away from me. :-)

Well, I guess that's about all for now. But if you're interested in coming to the Spring Fling or if you know of anyone who crafts (including baked goods and photography) and would want to be a vendor (no fees, they keep 100% of profits) I've posted the details below. Skill level is not important. Flaws and imperfections are part of the charm of buying handmade. To be a vendor, they would need to contact me - TiffanyAnderson@elmore.rr.com.

Saturday, May 7, 2011 8am-2pm

Bethel Worship Center

11117 US Hwy 231 Wetumpka, AL 36092

Tanner's 18 month check up

2011-02-18T13:05:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was Tanner's 18 month check-up. He did so good and only had to get one shot!! He weighs 23 lbs and is 32 3/4 inches tall. She said he was on target for everything and doing great. We went to visit MiMi (my mom) at work yesterday. People kept coming up to him and trying to see him and he just pointed back to her office and would yell "MIMI!! MIMI!!" She was glad to see him too. :-) After we left from my mom's work, we went to Olive Garden and had lunch with Mandy (one of our previous social workers who remains a family friend).

It's been such a beautiful week outside. I'm not an outdoors person at all but I've kept the windows open everyday and all teh kids have been able to play outside and ride their bicycles. They've also been enjoying the 2 story treehouse that Ben and my dad built. We put some chairs and stuff up there too so they like to sit up real high and look around at the neighborhood and down the highway. They even climed up there when Reese ran away to see if they could see him. :-) (Reese is back home now...this was a few weeks back)

Well I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

MIA

2011-02-15T05:03:00.002-06:00

Yep...I've been MIA. It wasnt until Sunday afternoon during a visit at my garndmothers house that I really realized how long it had been since I last blooged to all of you. My aunt said she didnt know anything about what was going on and missed my blog posts. Theres 2 reasons I've been MIA.

First reason--I've been busy with my business. {what?! Did I just say BUSINESS?!} Yes, I've been making between 10-15 items a week in orders people have placed with me. I am so thankful to have those opportunities but at the same time it has made me very limited in blogging. I used the word business because I am prayerfully seeking out all the info I can get my hands on about small business licenses, peddler licenses, tax id numbers, buying wholesale, and possibly even hiring someone to do prep work. I know, I know. I'm going to stop here though because I don't want to share EVERYTHING all in one post. Thankfully my parents owned a business for 9 years and can give me some insight.

Second reason--I was frustrated with blogger trying to force me into a photo account online I would have to pay for in order to keep posting pictures. So I gave up on finding a solution and then got super busy!

Let's see...the last time I blogged was December 20th. A LOT has happened since then. We had a wonderful Christmas and our boys were able to be with us on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We took them to visit their birth dad for Christmas that Sunday. Then they had a good visit that Tuesday. Little did we know that that was the last yime they would see him. He was killed that Friday night in a terrible hit and run. He was walking home with a friend from a nearby restaurant when a vehicle struck and killed him. It was a sad day and has been rough at times over the last several weeks for our boys. BUT--they love the Lord and they have a HOPE and PEACE that only comes through Him. It's been awhile since they have cried about missing him and that's because they know they will see him again. When they pray every night, they always thank God that their daddy is in Heaven with Him and that theyw ill see him again one day. That comforts them and helps them go on.

So, not to leave you on a sad note, I will also share with you that Tanner turned 18 months old a week ago (2/6). Can you believe how fast time has flown by? I've found a moms day out that I plan to register him in and he will start in August when he's 2. It will be 3 days a week from 8-12 each day but I think it will great for him to spend time with kids his age in a structured environment. He does great with our 2 boys but they are so much older than him that he really needs to be able to socialize on a regular basis with children his age. I'm thinking this will be waayyy tougher for me than him. He stayed with my Aunt (my mom's sister) 3 days last week while I was fulfilling other obligations and he did so good. He didnt even cry when I left on the 3rd day. He was kicking his feet when we would pull up and pointing and couldn't wait to get out of the vehicle.

Well...thats all for now. More updates later...and Ill try to work on the whole picture thing. By the way--for those of you who do not have Facebook but are interested in seeing the stuff I have been working on, I am currently working on my Polka Dot Giraffe blog. It's not up and running yet--no posts with pictures or anything but here's the link: The Polka Dot Giraffe and if you want to be added to the mail list to receive posts automatically when I start, just let me know and I'll be glad to add you.

New Furniture for the Andersons!

2010-12-20T08:04:00.000-06:00

So...remember my post about 2 months ago when Tanner spilled, played in, and painted our living room furniture and carpet with a gallon of yellow paint? Well, Ben called everywhere around here to find out what we could use to clean the paint off our microsuede furniture. No one knew of or had anything and the last place he called suggested we call the place we got our furniture from and see if they had something to clean it.

So, Ben called Havertys. We purchased our furniture in March 2006 and Havertys reminded us that we had also purchased the gold plan to protect our furntiure from anything--including artwork by future children. :-) The protection plan is good until March 2011 (perfect timing, Tanner!). They sent someone out here to attempt cleaning our furniture. The paint didn't budge and they deemed it unworthy of even trying to take it to their wearhouse and try. A few weeks ago I spoke with someone from Guardsman (who our protection plan is through via Havertys) and she said Havertys would come and replace our furniture with what we have now and take the old furniture and they would be calling me to set up a day and time for delivery.

She called back again last week and said they had discontinued our current furniture and we could choose to take a cash settlement or store credit in the full amount of our purchase price. I was so excited! I've ALWAYS said we spent way too much on this furniture but I was glad we spent so much after hearing we could get store credit for the same amount.

We went to Havertys on Saturday and picked out our new furniture. I've never been a fan of leather but the firniture we picked out is a leather set and it's super nice and the color is cognac. Ben is SO excited about it too. Guardsman even included our tax money and delivery fee and everything so we didn't pay a dime out of pocket and Havertys will be here to deliver it this week before Christmas.

Since I can't post pics right now, if you go to the Havertys website and type "Stetson" in the keywords search box at the top you can see our new furniture. We got the recliner sofa and 2 of the glider recliners. They were so comfy that Tanner fell asleep while I was trying one out!

Catching you up Part 2

2010-12-12T14:58:00.000-06:00

For the time being, since I can't post pictures, here's the link to my facebook page called The Polka Dot Giraffe where I post pictures of the stuff I have been making. The Polka Dot Giraffe I probably won't post any more pics of my sewing stuff even if I figure out how to get the pictures to post again so follow me on Facebook if you want to keep up with what I'm making or click this link periodically to check it out.

I've appliqued several shirts, jackets, and burp cloths. I've embroidered everything from stockings to dance bags to onesies. I've made some onesie ties, ruffle pants for little girls and a few purses. I'm worn out and ready to finish up these orders so I can start getting some sleep at night! :-) But on the positive side, it is good practice for me and I enjoy getting to use my embroidery machine.

The foster care party was held the same night as my holiday market. That was non-intentional in my planning but my mom and Ben took the kids while my dad and sister came to the market with me. The kids got to see Santa, they got toys from his bag, and had a big dinner. They also had a childrens choir this year and there were alot more people there than there normally is.

We all rode Russell's float in the Prattville Christmas Parade and the kids loved it...even Tanner. They all got to throw candy to the kids and Tanner had a pretty good throwing arm too. Although one time I looked and he was squatted down eating a tootsie roll...silly boy! It wasn't nearly as cold as it was last year thank goodness.The theme was "Rocking around the Christmas Tree" and we were in rocking chairs around....the christmas tree! We had a hand painted giant wooden snowman on the float, a giant Christmas tree and even a wreath hanging on a real window. C'mon, it's Russell...they can build the float however they want because they have all the materials!

Well, that's all for now. I'll get to work on fixing the problem with the photos and hopefully I can star posting again soon.

Catching You Up Part 1

2010-12-12T09:40:00.000-06:00

In November, I spent a few days in Birmingham at CAS (Childrens Aid Society) for our annual benefit meeting. We also had a few trainings while we were up there (yay for free CEU's!) and even got to paint canvas pictures like at Corks n Canvas. My picture turned out decent and right now it's hanging in my...laundry room. I don't ahve anywhere else it matches.

I had intended to post pictures with these posts BUT Blogger just informed me that they now store photos in picasa web albums and I'm at my 1 GB free limit. Nice Google, real nice. Not sure what I'm going to do yet as far as that goes since I LOVE posting pictures for everyone!

The week before Thanksgiving, I participated in The Jongle Bell Market that my friend Amy hosts each year. We had a really good turnout Friday night and I got to meet some of Amy's friends/fellow crafters. It was alot of fun and also the first time I'd ever "showcased" my work in a public setting that wasn't online. I sold some things and took some custom orders so overall it was great!

Ben's mom flew in from PA for the week of Thanksgiving and split her time between our house and Ben's sister's house. We kept her busy! She spent Thanksgiving with Ben and I and had Thanksgiving dinner with my side of the family. It was delicious as usual and the kids had a lot of fun running around playing at my Aunt Sharon's house.

During Thanksgiving Break, I planned an Ornamnet Painting with my Moms on the River group. We had Artistic Expressions from Prattville to come in and help with handprints and coordinate the event. It was pretty fun and we had a good turnout of about 18 people total.

After my friend Amy's market was such a success, I decided to do one at our church with my Moms on the River group and anyone else we knew/met that made things homemade. We had about 8 crafters plus Santa and for having only 2 weeks to plan it was an amazing success! We held it from 4 to 9 and offered free cocoa and coffee. One of Amy's friend's who is an aspiring photographer did photos with Santa for $5. I was able to meet lots of new people and even see some old familiar faces come through. We had the bulk of people to come through between 5 to 7 and I'd say it was about 50 or so people who came through. I hope to do it again in the spring with even more crafters that have expressed interest but ust weren't available that night.

I hosted a Facebook Sale on my Polka Dot Giraffe Facebook page a few nights after the Homemade Holiday Market and was able to sell off somemore things I had on hand. I'm trying to clean out and make room for new stuff I've been working on. It was a good success too, especially considering that's the first time I had done anything like that. I posted pictures of items one at a time on my page and put a discounted price and the first person to type sold with ther paypal address got the item. Of course I had told everyone ahead of time what time to tune in that nght and I held the sale from 8pm to 9 pm and had 24 items up for grabs.

Alright, I'm gonna go ahead and publish this post and we'll continue playing catch up in my next post. :-)

Where Have I Been??

2010-12-09T09:05:00.000-06:00

I know, I know! I've been absent lately! That's mostly due to holiday festivities, participation in 2 craft markets, trying to finish Christmas shopping and I spend my hours at night trying to sew/applique/embroider orders I have taken for Christmas. Don't worry though, I plan to start updating everyone tonight and sharing lost of pictures of our last few weeks--birthday party, Prattville's Parade, ornament painting, Thanksgiving, Christmas Party, stuff I've been sewing, all kinds of good stuff! Plenty O Pictures!

15 Month Checkup

2010-11-22T08:13:00.000-06:00

Tanner's 15 month check up was last Thursday and we went prepared for him to get shots..but he didn't have to get them since they swabbed his throat and found out he had strep. Poor baby :-( He will go back in 2 weeks for his shots but for now he is on medicine for 10 days and so are our other 2 boys so that they dont pass it around to each other.

He weighs 21 lbs now and is 31 inches tall! He's in the 10% on his weight and the 50% on his height. She said his weight was completely fine though and that he is healthy as can be. He loves his doctor and we love her too. Here are some pics I snapped with my phone.

A few more...

2010-11-21T23:39:00.000-06:00

Ben's mom liked the peace sign sandwich bags I made so I made her one with her name on it.

It doesn't show up very wel in the picture but I made this fleece taggie baby blanket with the name "Annah" on it for my sweet friend Wendy who is expecting a little girl.

Alabama Sandwich bag. Bet all you Auburn fans will be thrilled when I run out of houndstooth. :-)

New Stuff I've been making!

2010-11-21T14:38:00.000-06:00

Auburn Group Picture

2010-11-15T10:54:00.000-06:00

Sew Snazzy!!

2010-11-14T22:27:00.000-06:00

I've made alot more than what's pictured here but the other stuff isn't completed projects, it's just stuff I've started on that only has the applique or embroidery done.

Ben brought me his shirt and asked me to embroider an Alabama "A" on it with houndstooth fabric and trim it in red. This is the only red I had on hand so I used it, next time I'll try crimson. :-)

Christmas bib with snowflake applique. I really like this applique...I need to find more things to put it on.

The first thing I appliqued after I bought the Alabama "A". A reversible baby bib...

A puse I made. The fabric flower is to accent it but it's only pinned on and is therefore removable if desired.

All We Do is Win Win Win!!

2010-11-14T21:02:00.000-06:00

November 6 my mom and I went to an Auburn game with her friend from high school, Regina. We took Tanner too and it just so happens that was his 15 month birthday. Yay for celebrating with some Auburn Football! Here is my mom and Tanner at my house before we left. Notice they are both looking adorable in their jerseys!

It was 6:30 a.m. so Tanner was still pretty tired bless his heart!

My mom was so excited she was taking pictures all the way until we got there. Then I had to take over because she was so excited they probably would have been crazy pictures!

This is Tanner and I at the McDonalds right off the Auburn exit.

This is when we first got to the game and parked. My mom took this picture od me and Regina...with her lucky pom pom.

My mom, Tanner, Regina waiting on the trolley bus to take us to the middle of the action!

There it is!! Here we go!!

We got there early so we could get some good pictures and be up close for Tiger Walk.

My mom wearing her Gene Chizik inspired jacket. :-) Well, actually it's my dad's. I was wearing her Auburn fleece jacket.

Oh boy...that's alot of people...

Tiger Walk!

Here come the players!

...and the coach!

Tanner and I cut in line for this...you get to cut in line for alot of things when you have a baby...and people just smile at you and never seem to mind. :-)

In case you've never been, there's pictures of all the heisman winners around the stadium, there are 3 pictured here and the middle one is Bo Jackson, 1985.

We had excellent seats...11th row!

Regina and Me

My mom and Tanner. Tanner was so excited!! He LOVED the music and he would say "Go! Go! Go!" when everyone started cheering. When you ask him what number Auburn is he holds up his finger like a 1. Too cute!

Auburn was so dern funny! He changed clothes a bunch and liked to mess with the other team's cheerleaders.

Tanner went strong ALL day with only a 30 minute power nap during the 2nd quarter.

Here we are after the game, waiting for teh players as they exit the stadium. Did I mention we almost got trampled when Cam Newton came out?! Everyone went crazy and we just tried to get outta the way!

I wish teh sun hadn't been reflecting so bad in this picture. This is Mario Fannin holding Tanner.

Here's Mario Fannin again with Regina. She didn't like this picture and she actually asked me not to post it but I think it's a good picture of both of them!!

Toomers Corner...I took way more pics than this but decided to post the one that looked the MOST "festive".

Dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Regina has the other picture since he's looking at her. He's holding up his "1" finger cause AUBURN IS NUMBER 1 BABY! War Cam Eagle!!

"Let Me, Let Me, Let Me Upgrade Ya"

2010-11-14T11:35:00.000-06:00

Isn't she beautiful? This is a Husqvarna Viking Designer Series Topaz 20 sewing & embroidery machine. I purchased it Friday afternoon and I'm absolutely thrilled with it and have made so many things in the last 48 hrs. This machine does everything - sew, quilt, applique, embroider, monogram, and tons more. I've already made some Auburn and Alabama items, monogramed Tanner's name on some things, and embroidered some of Ben's shirts. Pictures soon, I promise!

For Some Friends

2010-11-09T23:43:00.000-06:00

My friend Jamie commented that she liked this fabric so I made this for her since I'll be seeing her at our all staff the next. She loves all things organized, planners, notebooks, etc. I think she will find something to slip this cover over.

This is what it looks like opened up. Since I "eyeball" the whole thing, no two are ever alike. They're all one of a kind because I make one at a time.

My precious friend Naomi liked my reusable sandowch bags so much she asked me to make a few for her daughter. I made this one with peace signs because that's one of the designs she requested. The other she wants is hawaiian but I haven't found a fabric cute enough yet. I plan to look at JoAnns when I get back in town on Friday.

Going Green Collection!

2010-11-08T20:58:00.000-06:00

These snack/sandwich bags can be made in any size. I've been using my scrap fabrics to make them. It's fabric lined with coordinating rip stop nylon (food safe and machine washable) and has a 7 inch velcro closure. These are in my Eco Friendly section of my Etsy store and Facebook page.

Gearing up for the Jingle Bell Market!

2010-11-08T20:49:00.000-06:00

I've been working on several items for the Jingle Bell Market next weekend and I've also made a few things for myself. After making my friend Jenn a notebook cover, I decided to make one for my planner. It has pockets I made to hold pens, highlighters, post it notes, and other papers that always seem to fall out.

Next up is an eco friendly grocery tote. It turned out much better than I thought it would. I changed up a few things and decided to interface the whole bag instead of just the handles. It was really flimsy so I seam ripped it and used rusible interfacing, then stitched it back together. Much better now.

Pumpkin Carving

2010-11-02T01:34:00.000-05:00

Everyone had a blast carving pumpkins! Cole's is a bat, Ryson's is a happy jack o lantern and Tanner's is Big Bird. I made pumpkin bread with the filling and toasted the pumpkin seeds. Nothing went to waste!

The Fellowship of the Unashamed Creed

2010-11-01T23:23:00.000-05:00

I am a part of the fellowship of the Unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit Power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, learn by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear.

I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, back up, let up, or shut up until I’ve preached up, prayed up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until He returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes.

And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear for “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes..” (Romans 1:16)

Please Vote on November 2nd!

2010-11-01T23:20:00.000-05:00

My friend Anthony happened upon one of the most awesome opportunities of anyone's life. But before I get to that, I'd like to share with you a letter that he wrote. It was published in the Prattville Progress, Wetumpka Herald, Montgomery Advertiser and Millbrook paper. I'm using teh link to the Montgomery Advertiser's posting of his letter. It's not very long so I hope you'll take time to read it.

Anthony's Letter

Well, Martha Roby was at the Wagon Wheel in Millbrook on Saturday morning and if you know my friend Anthony, he would never be described as an early riser or a morning person. BUT--he feels very strongly about our country, our government and the future of our state, Alabama. So, at 7 a.m. he was at the Wagon Wheel in Millbrook.

As Martha Roby made her rounds to each of the tables, she was speaking with everyone who had come and answering last minute questions they had about her platforms. When she approached Anthony's table, they discussed a good bit about the recently televised Bright/Roby debate that took place on WSFA about a week ago. You can view that debate HERE. Anthony shared his letter with her and she thanked him for his support, feelings and for being active. She even signed the letter for him and stated that if he ever decided to run for office she would be glad to help him.

I was barely able to sit still when he was telling me all of this. She continued by saying that on Monday, 11/1, she would be going all over Alabama to visit the district headquarters with Senator Jeff Sessions. She then invited him to come along! Of course he took her up on the offer and they left this morning from Troy and had 9 (I think) stops to make before heading back home. Isn't that an awesome opportunity for Anthony? And not only that but what a precious actof kindness for her to reach out and invite him to be an active part of her campaign. He even did an impromptu radio interview this afternoon! I'm so proud of him and so excited to see what doors God is opening for him. I think it's pretty awesome anytime BIG congressman and Senators take time to acknowledge and invest in us, "the little people".

Please remember to vote November 2nd! I'll be at the polls bright and early with Tanner on my hip! Bentley/Roby 2010!

"Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote" --Andrew Lack

"Those who stay away from the election think that one vote will do no good: 'Tis but one step more to think one vote will do no harm" --Ralph Waldo Emerson

November is National Adoption Month!

2010-11-01T22:58:00.000-05:00

Have you been adopted? Are you and adoptive parent? Are you interested in learning more about adoption? I'd love to know! I'm so blessed to be employed with Children's Aid Society and have the opportunity to recruit and support foster and adoptive parents. If you are interested in learning more about adoption, please contact me at TAnderson@casapac.org and if you have been adopted or have an adoption story you want to share, please do!

Jingle Bell Market!

2010-11-01T22:56:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone! Here is the information about the Jingle Bell Market that I'm participating in. My friend Amy is hosting it and you can view pictures of last year's market by going to "Jingle Bell Market" on Facebook. Everything at the market is handmade from purses/tites to baby items, Christmas ornaments, Canvas Paintings and most everyone wuill be taking custom orders as well.

No Pattern

2010-10-30T01:21:00.000-05:00

My friend Jennifer showed me a picture awhile back of a notebook cover that she liked. It looked pretty easy to make but I didn't tackle it until just recently. I didn't have a pattern so there are some imperfections but isn't that the beauty of having something handmade? I am giving her the first one I made since she gave me the idea. I think she'll like it, especially the colors.

The inside is fully lined with interfacing to give it durability and sturdiness. I took some of the fabric scraps and stutched in 2 pockets for the front and a pocket in the back for pens and pencils.

This hsould give you an idea of the pocket siezes and stuff. When I get my new planner for next year I'm planning to make a notebook cover for myself. Hopefully the next go round I can finish it in under 5 hours. lol

I took some more of my fabric scraps and decided to start making some "ut oh pouches". This little pouches close with an elastic loop over the coordinating button (I think velcro is tacky so I only use it when absolutely necessary). In Tanner's diaper bag I keep alot of items and some are small so they get "lost" in his bag easily. In this ut oh pouch you can keep bandaids, hand sanitizer, tide to go pen, orajel, neo to go, sunscreen, epi pens, infant tylenol, and even a sucker to make your little one fell better. :-)

With some more scraps of my fabric, I decided to take a stab at making a burp coth. I've never made any but I had a friend ask me to make some so I wanted to make sure I could do it and do it well. My stitching is a little off but like I said, this was my first. :-)

APAC All Staff

2010-10-28T01:19:00.000-05:00

My All Staff was at a gorgeous home on Lay Lake (normally it's on the beach in a private beach house). This home was part of Richard Scrushy's estate that was auctioned off after he was prosecuted. It's currently for sale and the price has recently been cut in half...now it's listed for 2.7 million dollars. You can view the listing online if you google the address. It's 810 Paradise Cove Lane Wilsonville, AL. It's an 11,000+ square foot house with 9 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms. There's a heated in ground pool, guest house, boat house, matching treehouse/swingset, and acres and acres of land. It was originally set on 50 acres but it's now on 12 acres because they sold a lot of the land. It's surrounded by water on 3 sides and every morning we got to watch the sunrise over lay lake.

We took an evening dinner cruise one night that was a lot of fun and we had all home made food that everyone took turns preparing. Food ranged from Chicken Marsala and Grilled Meat fest to a Grilled cheese bar complete with green apples, prushutto, havardi, fontina, multiple bread choices and a salad bar with fresh cut strawberries and amazing pecans that were baked in sugar and red chili powder.

This first picture was the room I stayed in. I would have taken more pictures of thebedrooms since tehy were all different styles and equally as beautiful but I don't know that my co workers would have wanted me trompsing through their space and photographing all hours of the night!

Unfortunately I couldn't convince anyone to bring my sewing macine to me since I had forgotten it when I loaded my car and left. This desk would have been the perfect place to sew!

This is a full size kitchen off my bedroom. I was on the 3rd floor.

Another view if the full size kitchen off my room

This is the living room area on the third floor and my bedroom along with 3 others are also on this floor. The stairs lead up to the attic. Lisa was the only one I saw brave enough to go up them. :)

Another view of the third floor living area complete with a poker table/card table, pool table and flat screen tv.

This is the view from the 2nd story staircase. The staircase from the 2nd floor to the main floor looked like the one from Beauty and the Beast. You can see all the balconies on the 2nd floor overlook the main floor.The house was designed to be like a New Orleans Antebellum home.

Another view as I was going down the stairs. There were 2 fireplaces in the main floor living room - one on each side. There was also an entertainment center with a big flat screen tv that the guys got to enjoy while they slept on the couches at night. haha!

This is the view from the door looking into the living room. The 3rd floor is hidden from view of the main floor.

The outdoor pictures of this home are beautiful but I didn't take any since they can be viewed online. You'll love them! Chcek emot if you have time. Here's a good link with about 23 pictures:

810 Paradise Cove Lane

If I Stitch Fast Enough, Does it Count as Exercise?

2010-10-28T00:56:00.000-05:00

I've been invited to participate in a Holiday market that features all things homemade. I'm pretty excited about it and I've been playing around with a few ideas to see what all I may want to make and take. I've really got to get on the bal though because I want to make a good bit and have a good variety. Here's a few things I've madw with some of my fabric scraps.

This is my version of a "pee pee tee pee". Tanner never peed on us during diaper changes except maybe 3 or 4 times but some mommy's get splashed each time they change their little baby boy's diaper. So for those mommy's, this is to "cap off" their sprinkler til you can get a diaper on them. It's fully lined with terry cloth and is machine washable. I included a ribbon at the top in the event it gets wet.

Can you believe it? I still have camo left. I'm not a fan of camo so I'm trying to use it all up and move it out of my craft drawers. I bought a new pattern for alphabet pillows. I can make all letters A to Z and even heart, flower and star pillows that can be made with or without photo sleeves.

I had All Staff last week and my friend Jamie had a camera strap cover on her Nikon dslr camera. My froend Jill assumed I could whip one up (thanks Jill for the vote of confidence) for her if she bought the fabric. This was my practice run and I'll start on Jill's this weekend. This is a very rough version since it's been stitched and seam ripped and cut and measured multiple times but I finally have all the kinks worked out.

This is the finished tutu I started awhile back (just to see if I could make one) but ran out of the glittery brown tule so I had to wait 2 weeks for Hobby Lobby to order more. Note to self: Always buy more than you think you need. You can always return the extra if you don't need it.

Ben said I needed a picture to show how full it was. So here's a picture!

Vintage Style Pictures!

2010-10-28T00:37:00.000-05:00

We had the kids pictures taken earlier this month and they turned out so cute!! I wish I could post the other kids pics too because they are equally as adorable. I'm planning to mail those to their birth parents this week. I think it'll be a nice surprise. Anyway, here are some of Tanner's. He's 14 months old in these pictures.