War Eagle!!!!!

Last night everyone wore their teams colors to church. Everyone, unless you happen to be a Gator fan. You see someone, I am not sure who, decided we would really aggravate all those Gators by showing our team spirit. I think it worked a little.

This was a little tricky for me because Stephen is a Gator fan. I was afraid he would figure out something was going on when I laid out the clothes for the kids. He was clueless though!

I made Erin this pillowcase dress on Tuesday. I just love it! It was very easy to do.

The bloomers, however, took twice as long. They were not difficult really, Erin just needed a lot of attention Wednesday and actually sat in my lap for part of the time while I was sewing. I meant to put lace around the leg openings, but I misread the pattern and missed that step. I tried to make it work, but it looked bad. I really needed to make a larger pair because Erin will not be able to wear these much longer anyway.

This was Erin's response when her daddy suggested I make her a Gator dress!!!!!

Random Pics

Grant coloring Saturday night. Notice he now has a stuffed Mickey with which he is inseparable!

A rare picture of Erin and me

Erin is wearing one of my baby dresses. I just love her in blue!

Grant now has to run around in his diaper after his bath. Tonight he was an elephant.

(Not the type that reside in Alabama!)

Grant the Elephant

Tropical Storm Fay

Well, this is going to be somewhat of a long post. As you may know the Sunshine State has been attacked by Tropical Storm Fay this week. She winded her way through the Keys, swung around and came back through the southern part of the state and swerved back around to hit the northeastern coast. Tuesday evening we were bracing ourselves for a Category 1 hurricane, but thankfully she remained a tropical storm. Stephen went to Publix to pick up some necessities for our hurricane kit: canned goods, crackers, batteries, and DR. PEPPER!!! (That's a must!) The area pretty much shut down Wednesday evening and Bible Study was even cancelled. We have been stuck pretty much inside the house since Wednesday. The kids and myself are itching to get out. Unfortunately, it's still pouring outside.

We fared pretty well through this storm. It was not nearly as bad as the storms we endured in 2004. Our power never went out. This was good because if the power is out so is our water because we are on a well. We had one huge limb fall out of a large Live Oak tree in our front yard. I was planning on getting a picture of this, but my father-in-law is out there as we speak in the rain cutting it up and hauling down to the burn pile. (Stephen had to go in to work for a few hours. They are having there own "crisis" there.) We might have a few more small trees down, but we haven't really gotten out to survey the damage all over the property. Overall, we are just getting a lot of wind and rain. No scary tornadoes like last time.

I have been busy sewing during the storm. I made this for Erin. I used the pattern Abbie by Children's Corner. This was my first attempt at it so I just used some inexpensive calico from Joann's. I have to say I am a little disappointed with the fabric selection at Joann's. They do not have a lot to choose from. It's the only fabric store in town, but I have found some great online shops. This was the first time I had ever sewn french seams and piping into an outfit. I love the Children's Corner patterns because most of them are lined and I do not own a serger so it finishes the garment well.

Grant has been expressing himself lately too! He loves to color and pretty much finished up this coloring book during the storm.

Now for some cute baby pictures. (I guess I can't say that about Grant too much longer!)

Erin plotting to steal Grant's laptop. She wants anything that's his.

What a face!

Give me some love!

Sweet girl

Oh My!

She's getting too big!

I finally bought Erin some new shoes. I always had Grant in shoes, but out grew them so quickly that I haven't been as good about buying shoes for Erin. She has little feet wearing a size 2. Grant was already in a size 4 xw at 6 months! Whenever I put the shoes on Erin she just stares at them forever! Poor child!

Ready...Set...Go Baby!

Erin has been getting up on all fours while playing recently. She just has to grab whatever toy is out of her reach. Here's a play by play:

Ready....

Set...

Go Baby!!!!

Well, she has not taken off yet. It usually ends with a few tears of frustration, but give her a few weeks and she'll be crawling. Oh my!

Recent Photographs

Grant counting before sliding down the slide. He's becoming quite the little chatterbox. If only I knew what he was saying!

Erin swinging with her brother. She looks indifferent about the whole thing. Actually, I think she was falling asleep in the swing.

I took this picture last week. Erin was sitting in front of my full length mirror. She loves to see herself in the reflection.

I took this picture of Erin Sunday evening before church. She's getting so big! Where does the time go?

Grant and Erin watching T.V. together. Erin really watches everything her big brother does. She laughs at him all the time. It brings me so much joy to watch them together.

Olympics 2008

We have really enjoyed watching the Olympics this year. I think I prefer the summer games over the winter games. I love watching gymnastics, volleyball and, of course, swimming! It's amazing to see these great athletes do what they do best.

Grant has enjoyed watching the Olympics too. He really got into the opening ceremonies. His favorite parts were the drummers and the fireworks. The cutest thing I have seen him do recently happened last weekend. He had just gotten up from his nap and I had swimming on. This was the first time he had seen it on T.V. He started running around the living room clapping his hands and saying,"Kick! Kick!" (This is what we have been telling him in to pool when he is trying to swim.) Then he would get down on his stomach on the floor and proceed to kick his legs like he was swimming too! It was so funny I wish I had it on video. Maybe we have a future Olympian on our hands!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Last week we purchased this Mickey Mouse toy for Grant. He has loved Mickey for a while now, but didn't have any Mickey Mouse toys. He has even carried around the Mother's Day card he and Erin gave me because it had Mickey on it. I was very impressed that he took such good care of the card. (It finally ripped this week!) My mother-in-law had recently found some of Stephen's old toys which included a Mickey, and Grant loves them, but the figurine is small and Grant wanted to sleep with it. Due to the fact that he could swallow it, we set out to buy him a Mickey doll. All we could find was the Mickey pictured above with an airplane. As soon as Grant saw it, he loved it. This has not left his side in the past week and half (except for the few hours he was lost in the recliner!) Grant has carried him to church, slept with him, and played with him. The best part is that Grant will do things for us that we never imagined because of Mickey! He has slept through the night (yes, still a problem in our house) four nights, and he will eat all sorts of things as long as he pretends to feed Mickey first.

I think I love Mickey too!

We are planning a Mickey Mouse birthday party for Grant in a few weeks. I won Mickey cake pan off eBay and I plan on making him a special cake. I can't believe he's about to be two!

"Black" Throat

I have strep throat or"black throat" as my nephew Matthew affectionately calls it. He should know. He has had it many times. I however have only had it once as a kid and I must say I know I bounced back more easily at seven than at twenty-seven. I have been on antibiotics for 48 hours and I honestly was expecting to feel better by now, but I am not. When I went to the doctor on Thursday my fever was up to 104.0 (and I was taking Tylenol to reduce the fever!) as a I sat there shaking uncontrollably from chills in the waiting room. The harder I tried not to shake the worse it got. I am sure people were wondering what was wrong with me!

My fever stayed between 103.7-104. 5 for the next fourteen hours. I have never had a fever this high even as a child. I really did not get sick very often as a child. I don't think I slept for two days straight because I couldn't get comfortable. My fever has remained much lower (about 100) since yesterday as long as I keep medicated. My throat on the other hand feels worse! I am hoping for some improvement today because I have to work tomorrow.

Jane Austen

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On Our Front Porch!

This lovely Banana Spider has taken up residence on our front porch. She's huge! I would have to guess about 4-5 inches in diameter. (I guess because I am not getting that close to her!) I want her gone, but I am not about to be the one to break her web!