Monday, December 31, 2007

California Gets Another One

Another one of my friends will soon call her home, California. I have known Melanie for about a year now and she is just one of sweetest, down to earth people. I will miss her especially when "California falls into the ocean". :) Keep taking care of those babies and keep in touch girl.



Malia--Melanie is the one on the left

Savannah 2008

Wade and I have decided that we will be heading back to Savannah in April for a long weekend...Tennessee was picked out of the hat for vacation this year, but we just couldn't stay away from Savannah for that long.

We fell in love with this city....well, mostly me, I think, but I seriously have thought about it at least once each day, since we came back. It is the most beautiful city that I have ever seen.

Here are some pictures of the thousands, no, I am not exagerating, thousands that we took.







Malia

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Kitchen Konversations Ep. 2

Me: Emma, I need to go do the dishes. Don't you need to do the dishes in your kitchen too?

Emma: (Looking at me with a puzzled look) My dishes?

Me: Yes, the dishes in your new kitchen. Remember you cooked me that great lunch?

Emma: No, I don't need to do the dishes. I will just burn them.

Me: Burn them?

Emma: Yeah, I don't need to do the dishes. I will just throw them in the fire.

Ladies, it's a new feminine movement, burn the dishes, not the bras.

Malia

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Superheroes

After coming home from shopping one night, my husband proudly announced that he and Jackson were superheroes.

"Want to know what our names are?"

"Sure! What are they?"

Jackson says, "Well, I am Power Boy and Dad is Strong Man."

Wade says, "Guess what our initials are on our shirts." He has a mischievous grin on his face, so I should have known that something was amiss, but I bought it, hook, line and sinker.

"What are they? Tell me," I say.

"Well, he is PB and I am S & M!"

Boys!!!!

Malia

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

We Love You Kellllllyyyyy!!!!








My very best friend, Melissa, is having a birthday soon...well, on Tuesday as a matter of fact. For her birthday, she received Kelly Clarkson tickets. Guess who she picked to go with her....just guess.....ME!!!! We had so much fun, or at least I did. We got lost, basically driving around in circles. We learned a sign of the times by having to watch eight gay men coddle and fondle the ENTIRE show, apparently, they like Kelly Clarkson! And we learned that some artists actually DO sing really well....even without all the technology that they have in today's recording studios. Most of all, we enjoyed each other's company. Thanks Melissa! I had a blast!

Malia

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Kitchen Konversations Episode 1

Emma loves to "help" me do the dishes, which I am sure will be a blessing one day, but for now, I love the conversation...

After going outside to feed Booboo with a clean dog bowl, I found that my darling, sweet husband had fed him the night before...with my corningware dish.

Me: Emma, can you believe that your daddy used my corningware dish to feed Booboo last night?

Emma: Ummm...yes!

(Now that I think about it, me too!)



After the dishes were done and the sink was clean, I turned off the water, because, we are in a water crisis here in GA ya know.

Emma: What did you turn the water off for?!

Me: Because the dishes are done, we are finished!

Emma: Well, that is just because you are being mean!

Me: Because I finished the dishes?

Emma: Yes!

(I guess this means I shouldn't do dishes anymore, oh well.)

Malia

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Cabbage Patch Hospital Vol. 1

A week ago Emma, my mother-in-law, Judy and I went on a short trip to Cleveland Georgia to the Cabbage Patch Kid Hospital. This is a trip that should have only been a half-day trip, but turned into a full day and night trip. We ran into many obstacles, but had fun nonetheless. The first obstacle was realizing that, "Hey, I have already seen that road once, and that house....and those mountains! How am I now heading back home?!" Next was when we turned into a driveway to turn around and head back in the correct direction, the car began to smoke and smell. Here we are two women with a little girl who has her heart set on seeing the Cabbage Patch Hospital, stuck on the top of a mountain, somewhere in North Georgia, not sure which road we were on, with a smoking car. After five hours, we finally made it to the Cabbage Patch Hospital and as soon as we get out of the car, Emma announces that she needs to go to the bathroom, but we didn't make it. I guess Cheetos and Jones Candy Corn Soda are not a good combination. More positive pictures to follow.



Malia

Thursday, October 18, 2007

A Good Reason To Miss Bible Study




So, there I am, taking a nap on Tuesday to unwind the day before I go to Bible study. At 5:42 p.m. Wade comes in and lays down with me and all of a sudden he says, as if it is no big deal, "Oh, Mike Rowe was supposed to be at the Lowe's in Woodstock today. Man, I forgot. He was supposed to be there from 4-6 I think."

Now, pause, I raise up my head and look at him. I have only been trying to get Dylan an autograph through the same approach as I got Paula Deen's and have been extremely unsuccessful. Wade knows this. Here was the opportunity to not only get his autograph, but actually meet him and get a picture with him and Wade just "FORGOT"?!

"What?!!!!! How could you forget that?! Jeez!

"Well maybe he was there 'til 7."

"Ummm, well, maybe you better go find out!"

20 minutes later, after I have fallen back asleep because it obviously pointless, he comes back in and says, "Yeah, he is there until 7."

I jumped out of bed faster than you will ever see again and said, "Grab them, get them in the van and let's go!"

"We can't make it there I don't think. It is 6:02 p.m."

"All we can do is try, but don't you dare tell them where we are going. I won't have them disappointed."

We tell the children we are going to go get paint.

We live about an hour and 30 minutes away from Woodstock. My goal was to make it there in 45 minutes.

I prayed the entire way that God would get these children there, so that they could meet Mike Rowe. Dylan especially.

I sped, I broke many laws. We got there at 6:52p.m. We jogged to the end of the very long line that we did not expect to see. The children looking at us with questions in their eyes.

I so afraid that they would say, "It is seven o'clock, that is it folks, thanks for coming. But alas, four hours later, we were shaking hands with Mike Rowe, the dirtiest man alive. We were all tired, you can tell by the picture, including Mike. He was a super nice guy, obviously tired, telling us he was staying until we were all gone. He signed a couple of pictures for us and y'all they took at least 15 pictures with our personal camera without us asking.

Mike Rowe, you are a super guy. Thank you for putting out television that my family can sit down and watch together. You have a lot of children looking up to you and I think you for that.

Malia

Friday, October 12, 2007

Savannah




I have fallen in love with a city...no, it is not Paris, London or even San Francisco, but a city right here in Georgia. Savannah. I think about her at least once a day and feel so blessed to have been able to go to this city. I have gotten my husband to agree that we will go for a long weekend to Savannah at least once a year. It was my pick for vacation again this year, but alas, Tennessee was picked. Here is me walking through City Market, which is one of the blocks between the many squares of Savannah, which has craft stores, food venues, and not to forget horse and buggy waiting to take you on tour. Watch out for the horse droppings. This was an early morning of Wade and I searching for the Lady and Sons restaurant. We went around and around in a circle looking for it and finally, after very mucy aggravation that you can begin to see on my face, it was found.

Malia

Friday, October 05, 2007

Fair


We went to the North Georgia State Fair last Tuesday and had a wonderful time. Emma loved the rides. Dylan learned that growing up means that you can't ride the caterpillars anymore and you have to move up to the big stuff.

Malia

Friday, September 21, 2007

Oysters and Sushi




I also had a birthday months ago, but I turned 30. I celebrated by tasting my first ever sushi and raw oysters---blech to both.

Malia

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Introduction to Halloween


This is what I found in my laundry basket not long ago in a clean pile of laundry....I am still trying to decide if Wade put it there to scare me....

Malia

Friday, September 14, 2007

Jackson and Paula




Jackson LOVES Paula Deen. I mean, he will stop in his tracks if he is walking through the room and he sees her on t.v. He will say, "Ooo, it's Paula Deen, she is hot!"

Dylan doesn't understand this and one time said, "Jackson, you know she's like 70, right?"

Jackson, "Yeah, I don't care, she is hot."

Well, I wrote to her and next thing we know, we have mail from Paula, addressed to Jackson.



Sunday, September 09, 2007

Under Foot





What to do with three children when they are bored and you have unpacking to do...give them each a peice of shelf liner.

Malia

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Nanny

My Nanny passed away Sunday night. As my father said, "The demons are no longer chasing her." I will forever remember her as a jolly and happy person. She always had a smile on her face when in my presence. Rest in peace Nanny.

Malia

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Anatomy....As Taught By Jackson


Each Sunday night, we gather around the television as a family to tune into America's Funniest Home Videos.

Last Sunday, a child came on our screen with his mouth wide open and his mom asked, "What is that thing in the back of your throat again?"

The child replied so innocently, "Ummm...testicles."

As Wade and I snickered, Jackson asked, "What are testicles?"

I sheepishly tried to explain, though I was not at all prepared and was looking to Wade for some help, Please!

Then Jackson told me had already had the answer..."Oh, you mean that thing that I just call peepee beans?"

Malia

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The Pay Off



The reward of all of our hard work is finally beginning to pay off:

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Princess Emma




Tonight Emma took a shower...by herself...she washed her hair, used soap and then put on my Peony Bath and Body Works body spray. She made the whole house smell wonderful.

I reached out to her at one point and decalred how pretty she was, ruffling her hair. Emma quickly pushed my hand away, flipped her hair and said, "You don't touch me. I am a princess and you don't touch princesses!"

Later, she let me touch her crown.

malia

Milo and Angel...We Hope


We have two new additions to our home, Milo and Angel. I am hoping that Milo turns into Miley, but they are too young to tell. I am not even sure Angel is a girl, but remember, Angel was very fine looking mine on the t.v. show.

The children has asked us to have a new kitten when we moved into our house and I was adamant about not getting one, number one reason, I hate kittens. Yes, they are cute, but they are also very, very annoying with needle like claws and they love discovering digging in plants, how to sharpen claws on furniture and that it is so much fun to play with your feet under the sheets while you are sleeping. I like my cat, the one that comes to me when SHE wants to.

My Memaw called one day and mentioned that she had done something very "stupid" and had fed two stray kittens that had come up. She had to get rid of them because they kept getting underneath her feet and she was afraid that they were going to trip her. My mother had told her not to even mention it to me because she knows what a sucker I am for animals.....you need to get rid of an animal, call Malia!

I did the good wifely duty and asked Wade first, just so you know, and now we have two new members. Meet Milo and Angel.

Anatomy...Taught By Emma


Emma yawns.

"Emma!", I yell in an exaggerated, concerned voice.

She stops and looks at me, wondering what exactly my problem may be.

"I just saw something in your throat...it was just hanging there!"

"That's because it was my bwain!"

"....Oooooohh...."

Malia

Monday, July 30, 2007

Ass Up, Nose Down

Emma is obsessed with the smell of the floors. Let me back up. Emma loves to clean. While I know this is a great trait for my daughter to have, it does get annoying when she always wants to help, and really, she is going back behind me with the cleaner and streaking the windows. She does a great job of spraying the cleaner, a little too good. She doesn't do such a great job of wiping it.

Anyway, the new house has hardwood floors in the bedrooms. When we moved in, Danny brought us a professional buffer, some buffing pads and some floor cleaner and wax. Emma was in Heaven with all this good-smelling cleaning stuff. She takes after me. I am obsessed with smell. Every day now, or whenever she discovers the floor cleaner she wants to know if we can clean the carpets/floors. I will of course tell her no, that we don't need to. She is still little and quite flexible and she will immediately bend her body in half, ass in the air, nose to the floor and proclaim, "We NEED to clean them! The floors smell bad!" She is my little floor police. Don't worry ladies, I will warn you before we come to your house, so you can whip out your Febreeze.

Malia

There is Hair on My Ice

Our icemaker is broken, so we have had to go back to the old fashioned ice trays.

Today, Emma had her first glass of juice with ice in it. Do any of you remember how the ice has these little formations on the inside? Well, Emma was telling me, "There is hair on my ice. There is hair on my ice."

"What?!", I say.

"See mom, there is hair on my ice."

I held it up to the light and sure enough there were little "hairs" all over here ice.

Funny.

Malia

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Pancakes

I am having pancakes for breakfast. Pancakes are my absolute favorite breakfast food. They are being prepared by my husband. Those are the very best kind of pancakes.

Malia

He is Wonderful!

I want to go to church. I want my children to be brought up in the church. I struggle with learning the Bible to do this day, which I attribute to not being there every Sunday of my life. I was NOT brought up in the church. I was always a believer and was talked to about God, Heaven, Hell, The Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ...all of them.

I can't go every Sunday to my church because I have to work Sundays, not every Sunday, but a lot of them. Wade WILL NOT go to church without me, or at least that is what I thought. He is not social, as a matter of fact he has social anxiety disorder.

I have struggled with my children not being there very many Sundays for a while. I feel like a failure, like I am not bringing them up correctly or the way God intends for me to and would like me to.

The other day, at the Warehouse of Hope, I was talking to my journey group leader and asking her about ways my children could be more involved, not on Sundays. She pretty much didn't have any other options other than being a regular attender. I asked if anyone ever dropped thier children off at Sunday School and then came back and picked them up later. She looked at me as though I were crazy......My parents used to drop me off at Sunday school!

So, the only solution I could see, was to ask Wade to please, please, please, take them to church when I was at work.

Ya'll, with 0 resistance he replied, "Okay...if it is that important to you, I will take them, .......but only 3 out of 4 Sundays a month!"

Hey, I'll take it.

Thank you God!

malia

Saturday, July 28, 2007

$6.90

Tonight we are having coleslaw with our supper. Being that I am off of work today, I do NOT want to go to work and pick up the cabbage needed to make it. Burger's Market is right next door to me. It is family owned and Christian based. They are closed on Sundays. They also have all of their plants 50% off right now. I have a new sunroom. I need plants.

For $6.90 I bought a green cabbage, a red cabbage, that he went into the back to find for me while I shopped around some more. I didn't even know it. I also bought a Wandering Jew...it's a plant....it is huge!

I like Burger's Market. I like suppporting small town businesses. I'll be back.

Malia

Friday, July 27, 2007

A Weekend

Ahhhh...a weekend off....just enough time to re.s...t......do laundry, unpack my room, unpack the boys' room, do the dishes, unpack the dining room, clean the bathroom..........

Malia

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Hope

Dylan and I went and did something today that we had never done or even thought of doing before. We volunteered at Warehouse of Hope. Honestly, I had not known the place existed until last year. It is off a little side road and I guess it is not heavily advertised.

The place was packed! It was all kinds of noise and "excuse me's" walking down the hallway. Dylan and I were assigned to the clothes area. We went through two racks, marking down the old and highlighting the new.

Then we packaged beans...a type none of us could identify. We had fellowship while packaging beans...talking about the volunteer work we would be doing on Tuesday for a Home Makeover.

I didn't think Dylan enoyed it very much...he was complaining that his feet were hurting from working for so long....remember, most of us do eight hours per day on our feet.

We were talking on the way home and I asked him what he thought about it. I don't think that he is too sure what he thought about it. He said it was kind of fun, but he was tired from ALL the work he did. Please someone tell me that this is just how children react to these kinds of things that they can't understand. I plan to keep him in the good works and see how he feels in a couple of months.

Almost, home, he calls from the back, "Mom, I love you." Even he got nothing out of it...we at least got to spend quality time together.

Malia

Home Sweet Home

Finally...we are in...I am sitting at my computer, at my desk, in my den. We will sleep here for our first night. Our first home-cooked meal was...pizza...sad, I know, but I still don't know where my pots and pans are. I will let you know how the first night's rest goes....

Malia

Monday, July 23, 2007

Connected

I am finally going to have satellite hooked up today! Yeah!

I still won't have gas until Tuesday, which heats my water, so I will finally be able to shower after going three week without.....just kidding...I have showered, but I still won't have the heat until Tuesday.

I want to give a special praise out to my friend Kelli with an I, who has the diagnosis about the lump in her breast being benign and the pain under her arm, which she thought was connected, being nerve damage from the "McDonald's kid's meal reach", you know the one, "Here kids in the backseat, here is your drink,.... here is your toy,.... here is a napkin...." Love you Kelli. Thank you God for answered prayers.

Malia

Saturday, July 21, 2007

One for the Underdog...er...Buffalo

I am not savvy, so I don't know how to paste the actual Utube movie here, but...I can give you the link, great, now the hyperlink thing isn't working and that makes me look dubm...anyway...here is the link...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM. It is eight minutes long, but it has you hooked on every second. Feel good story of the day.

Malia

Potter Pooper

I haven't jumped on the bandwagon, I can't even see the dirt trail the bandwagon is leaving behind I am so far from the bandwagon.

It's not that I don't believe in Harry Potter or that I don't even like him...I am just not that into him. More power to the ones that love Harry, but I. just. don't.

They had a release party at work tonight. People came in pajamas, they stood in line to buy the books, they played trivia. I would have gotten every question wrong.

I kept hearing the question, "Are you coming to the party? Wha?! Why?!

Apparently....I'm weird.

Malia

Friday, July 20, 2007

Give a Little Bit...


I get E-mail daily from a website called Dailycandy.com. They send E-mails regarding cool stuff that you can buy, attend, or places to eat in your area of choice. It amazes me some of the places they tell you about and the prices of some of the items they feature, but nevertheless, they are always unique.


Today I got an E-mail that featured a t-shirt, which looked very thin, but it promoted saving the earth. The slogan on the shirt was "The earth has a fever, be the cure." I thought, "How cute and catchy, I might actually want one of those." It is made from organic material, ships in organic boxes and $ 2. 00 of the proceeds goes to a foundation for children growing up on a safe earth. I will check it out. I got to the link it gives to check out the price on the t-shirt, maybe $20 at the most.


The price pops up and all I can do is laugh out loud! $82.00! What amazes me is that they only give $2.00 to the charity! Sad! No, you won't be seeing this shirt on my back :(


malia

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Sleeping in

All three of my children are out of the house....rare...but wonderful. I miss them...I do!, but I slept today until 12:00 p.m. It was great! I feel fully rested.

Now I have to go make up for the four hours I have missed in the day.

Malia

Nickparents

How sad is it when I walk into a room and see the t.v. and Nickelodeon is on, I turn my head and the only person in the room is my husband. He is tuned into Drake and Josh.

How sad is it that Drake and Josh is now on Tivo. Dylan and Jackson didn't add it to the Season pass...Wade did.

How sad is it when Dylan says to me this morning when he catches me watching Drake and Josh by myself, "Mom, that's pretty cool that you and dad like Drake and Josh."

How cool does it make Wade and I? Pretty darn cool!

Check these kids out, they are hilarious.

Malia

It's Raining!

I just had to shout it! That is two times in one day! Woo hoo!

Malia

Monday, July 16, 2007

A New Beginning

Just like the blog says, we have a new, new beginning...a house. Rachael has Chez Farmhouse, I have a house built in 1946. What should I call it? It has such character. It has curves and arched doorways, a sunroom, a den...and....a living room. There is enough room for all of us. We really like it. I would love to post pictures, but Blogger takes sooo long. I guess I need a lesson in patience. I will take some photos and get em posted. Meanwhile, you think of a name for my "Chez Farmhouse".

malia

Friday, June 29, 2007

Pictures....Through the Eyes of Children

I gave my children a small project...they get one shot, to take a picture of anything they wanted. They each decided in a matter of seconds, well, Dylan took a little longer, wanting to copy his brother, but mean 'ol me, I made him be creative and choose for himself. Here are the results....

Dylan: This is a Star Wars Trooper, I think that is the name of it, that he got last Christmas and just discovered while cleaning out his toy box. They, that would be the men of the family, Nathan, Ben, Pappy and Wade and then just Pappy and the boys, put this together a couple of weekends ago. When he took the shot, he declared, "Perfect!"

Jackson: He has always been the keeper of many things, almost always animals. He has tons of them, mostly very, very small. The small kind you saw the dad on t.v. stepping all over, doing the one foot hop in the middle of the night kind of small. Tons. of. them. It is appropriate that he chose to photograph his animals.
Emma: At first, she wanted to copy Jackson also, but I was mean to her too. I made her choose something else. She chose our new toads (I haven't told you about them yet). You can see this one in the middle there, it looks like a brown tard in the water. If I knew how, I would draw an arrow or circle it or something, but I am not that savvy. Hey, you are getting a post aren't you?
I thought they did rather well, don't you?
Malia


Saturday, June 23, 2007

Ahhh....Summertime

....Is hot as Hell in Georgia!

Dylan receive an ant farm for Easter and we sent off for the ants that day. In May, I called because there were still no ants in our mailbox and the boy had been patiently waiting for more than the alloted three to six weeks.

I called Uncle Milton, but we couldn't seem to connect due to the different time zone. I believe that they are in California. Finally I got to talk to some one live and they assured us that the ants would arrive in two weeks.

Bless his heart, he waited...for another two weeks before asking if we could call Uncle Milton again. We were told that the ants had indeed shipped, but alas when the lady came back with the ship date, she informed us that a hold had been placed on our ants due to the weather in Georgia.

I inquired about what weather she was referring to since there had been no rain and certainly no snow in Georgia. We have only had pleasant weather for months now.

Uncle Milton's secretary said that there would be no ants shipped to Georgia until there was a 10-day forcast with 85 degree weather in it for Georgia.

"Son", I said, "it looks like your ants will arrive just in time for Thanksgiving dinner."

Malia

Thursday, April 05, 2007

You're So Pretty


On the day of my sister's wedding Jackson was not the perfect, outgoing ring bearer that I had hoped he would be. As a matter of fact, right before walking down that aisle, the groom's sister comes to me and says, "Malia, can you talk to Jackson to reassure him that you are still here?" I go out of our little hiding spot and sure enough Jackson's little chin is just quivering. I talked to him a bit and promised him all kinds of things if he did really good.


After all was said and done, we had to walk out the front door and around the church to the fellowship hall. Well, Jackson just starts balling and saying something that I can't even understand. I ask him to repeat himself, but I still can't understand him. Finally I get down to his level in my orange dress and gold sparkling shoes and I said, "Jackson, what in the world is wrong with you?" Jackson says, "Isje thelwo youneco sooelle praeujwe!" I thought he was saying something about the prayer.


"What?! Jackson, stop crying, I can't understand you. I need to figure out what is wrong so I can help you."


Frustrated, he tells me a little bit louder, "I'm crying because you just look so PRETTY!"


Lord, you know how much I needed to hear that. As one of the biggest of the girls there it is hard to think you look pretty, but to my precious baby, I am always the prettiest.


I love you Jackson!


Malia

Elvis' Killer Burned


As Jackson and I were on our way to Carrollton for my sister's wedding, at least an hours drive, I asked him what he would like to listen to, the radio, Elvis or the MP3 player. Jackson asked if we were going to head to Tennessee to Elvis' house to hear him sing. I explained to him that this would be just an impossible feat because Elivs was indeed dead. Jackson, being a Scooby Doo fan and having seen the Scooby Doo movie about the Tennessee Bell Witch over 100 times for sure, announced that he knew exactly how Elvis had died since he lived in Tennessee.....The Bell Witch had killed him!!!


Malia

Friday, March 23, 2007

Christmas 2006


















Oh yeah...you knew it was coming...Christmas....it is finally here. We had a lovely Christmas season, complete with a new tree and new ornaments. Enjoy...






















































































































































































To Be Continued......

God Bless,

Malia