Two more super long, stretched out days until...

Thursday night we head to Disney on Ice!! We are celebrating Miles' birthday with this special family treat. Her birthday isn't for another week and a half, but she's also having a party on the day before her 6th birthday, so she's getting to stretch out her celebration!

On this weekend...

I totally stole the style of my title from Angel.

Anyhoo, this weekend was the bomb. Like the atom bomb. Awesome. And painful, but I digress.

Friday night, we hosted Mandy and Neil for a little sleepover/birthday celebration for Mandy! We had a ball. The kids spent the night at my parents' house and we stayed up late giggling just like we did in 6th grade. Saturday, Mandy, Neil and I hung out around the house while Phil went and got the kids.

He took them to Franklin, where his brother's wife, Aunt Melissa, took Miles on a shopping spree for her upcoming birthday! Miles scored two skirts, a blouse, some knee socks, some adorable new mary janes, an awesome coat and a Build-A-Bear unicorn. Lola got a unicorn, too. Then his parents asked if the girls could stay the night.

Saturday night found us at Shea's house for a birthday party for Jen and Shea. Good times and plenty of laughs with a group of awesome friends! THEN it happened. As we were leaving, I slipped on Shea's front steps. It literally happened as I was warning Phillip not to slip because the rain had made them super slick. I have a mammoth sized bruise on my right booty cheek and another on my back. Ouch. Super ouch. I'm in pain. Regardless, it was extremely fun.

Sunday, I did a few chores around the house while Phil went and got my babies. Then we watched the rest of the Titans game before I made the cookies for mini fruit pizzas. The girls helped make their own concoctions once the cookies cooled. Very delicious, if I do say so myself! I made Lola a new blankie and patched Miles' old blankie with two silly hearts that I zigzagged into place. Mandy and Neil came over again after the girls went to bed and Neil promptly took a power nap on my living room floor. I swear, how that boy can sleep on hard wood floor is beyond me. We talked about putting a bed back up in the extra bedroom since we already know that they'll spend a lot of time here this winter. I just can't have someone sleeping on my floor on a regular basis. The thought of that makes my back hurt.

Needless to say, seeing so many friends this weekend was awesome, but we're ready for a new week around the Brown household. We are also praying for sunny days, since I currently feel like I live in Seattle!

PS Here is my super easy version of fruit pizza. I included the extracts for added flavor and I recommend using the small cookies because a big one gets soggy:

Base:
1 package break apart sugar cookie cough

Cream cheese spread:
1 bar of softened cream cheese
1 T of frozen orange juice concentrate
About 4 heaping tablespoons of marshmallow creme
splash of almond extract
splash of vanilla extract

Topping:
About half a pound of fresh pineapple (about half a cored pineapple), 1 container of strawberries, one kiwi, 1 pint of blueberries

Break cookies apart. Use 1.5 squares for each cookie so they will be a little bigger. Bake as directed. Cool completely. Meanwhile, mix all cream spread ingredients together, whipping it up real good. Set to the side or better yet, refrigerate. Chop pineapple into small cubes, slice strawberries, slice and peel kiwi. Mix all fruit together with the blueberries.

Allow people to build their own mini fruit pizza using 1 cookie with a layer of cream cheese mixture topped by fresh fruit mixture. Yummmmmm-my!!!!

It's another Saturday night...

We had so much fun last night celebrating Mrs. Mandy Vogeler's birthday. It was very low key and so relaxing. In the end, the boys went to bed (separately, of course LOL) and Mandy and I stayed up and giggled endlessly. Gotta love celebrating someone's birthday with her for the 22nd year of friendship.

Tonight we head over to Shea's house for a joint birthday party for Shea and Jen. It is a family fun party, but we will be there without the kids since Phillip's parents surprised us by inviting . Today, Aunt Melissa took Miles on an early birthday shopping spree! She got some new clothes, new shoes, a dress coat and a Build-A-Bear unicorn!

BTW, Neil just told us a hilarious story about water balloons in college. He and his roommate would leave the bars 20 minutes early so that they could make it back to the dorm room before the masses began to walk by after closing time. They would launch water balloons from their dorm room window using a huge slingshot apparatus that engineer Neil created, and his roommate would tell him when to launch. He would launch the balloon that inevitably soaked someone.

The thing is, they lived across the street from Greek Row, so the victims would always just assume that someone in a fraternity house did it. No one ever looked across the street to see these two guys roaring with laughter in a top floor dorm room window.

One night, a group of guys became enraged and began beating on a fraternity house door. Fire trucks and cops ended arriving to restore peace and Neil and his roommate stood around in the crowd just watching, trying to look innocent. It may not sound that funny now, but we all just fell out laughing like maniacs. I guess you had to see the presentation of the story in person!

I love a Rainy Night

This week has been nothing but rain in Middle Tennessee. Literally, we have woken up to rain and gone to bed with rain. We have been entirely too lazy but it feels so good to be lazy sometimes. It is also better for my checkbook! The week has mainly consisted of Lola and I lounging around watching kids movies and taking naps. We've avoided getting out except for picking up Miles. I am ready for some sunshine but I think I'll miss the rain!

Fall vegetable fun

Tonight, Miles' school held a fall festival. Games galore and food for sale just about sums it up. Except that Lola kept asking me all day long if it was time to go to 'the fall vegetable' yet.

I love this!

My friend, Mandy Caffey Vogeler, makes some awesome mixed media art, but when I saw this post, I just knew that I had to share it! Enjoy!

When I say D, you say A, When I say DA you say R!

I am joining the Daughters of the American Revolution. I was asked to join by Mrs. Betsey Murphree at my Junior League meeting and she told me last night that they voted yes on me. We got a little tickled because I didn't even know I was officially under consideration and did not actually intend to apply until next year, but it's cool.

I am a ninth generation DAR. My great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather, Captain Hans Heinrich Felder, led colonial troops to victory over British soldiers in the South Carolina low country in a few different battles. The period piece movie "All for Liberty" was based on his troops. So there you go. You can learn something new about me everyday if you want to. LOL!

I'll let you know how it goes; I'm not really sure what to expect. Betsey told me they get together for dinner once a month, all sharing a blood link to our country's beginning, to surround themselves with other people who have an interest in preserving our country's history. I can dig that.

Amen, sister.

This morning, I saw a friend's incredibly poignant status on Facebook and couldn't help but nod my head in agreement. What did it say?

"The only people you need in your life are the ones that need you in theirs."

Nobody puts Baby in the corner...

How sad it was to glance down at my buzzing cell phone earlier and see a text telling me that Patrick Swayze had died. I wasn't quite ready for the last dance of the season. RIP Johnny Castle. Dance on!

What's going on in our world

The weekend started off with some really sweet girls heading to Blockbuster to choose a movie after a pizza dinner! We came home with a Scooby Doo flick and Coraline. Later, delicious white chocolate macadamia nut cookies were served upstairs on our silver Aurthur Court bunny tray. Needless to say, it was a night of indulgence but sometimes it's fun to be a little spoiled! If it helps, we did take a nice walk around the neighborhood to get our blood pumping.

The next day, we had plans to go to tailgating at the MTSU Blackout game. However, Phillip woke up Saturday motivated to get some things done around the house and we had a change of plans. Furthermore, the kids were being a little sniffly and whiney. It was disappointing to bail on seeing our friends but truthfully, I was completely exhausted anyway. Meanwhile, Phillip located my old lava lamp from college and cleaned it up. I got said lava lamp for either my 21st birthday or Christmas that same year from Casey and I have always loved it! I had wanted to retrieve it from the storage closet outside for a while so that I could put it in the girls' bedroom. They were so happy to watch it as they drifted off to sleep last night! My best friend, Mandy, has one in her house, and that got them interested. They were too excited to find out that I had one, too!

Today we headed to Franklin to visit Phil's parents. I ran over to the mall for a few things but otherwise we just had a nice relaxing visit. Tonight I do believe we'll be watching the VMAs...and that's basically a wrap for this weekend.

Why do we find random things that we love but can't replicate?

I am a wonderful replicator. I can often find a way to reproduce recipes that I like to much acclaim. However, we all have a few things that just really make us happy yet we can not ever seem to reproduce these things, right? Here are mine:

• Stones River Country Club balsamic vinaigrette: Oh my. The best balsamic every. Little bit tangy, little bit sweet. Can't find anything close outside of the CC.
  
• Fresh Express Ginger Sesame dressing that comes in their Asian salad kit: the perfect combo of flavors without being bitter. Yum to the max...except the kit cost $4.50 when it isn't on sale.
  
• Fried pickles like they had at Puffing Billy's circa 1998-2001: battered to perfection in a thick, bready coating instead of a thin crumbly layer. I have tried everything possible and can not recreate that breading. The closest thing is panko, but panko is not what they used.
  
• Pizza like Jet's or Pizza Perfect: a thick Sicilian crust that comes out crisp and delicious.
• Honey mustard from Zaxby's: what is up with this one? Absolutely no honey mustard on the market has the perfect sweetness AND zing of Zaxby's!
• Waffle house eggs: how do they make them so perfect when I can see them cooking them and they aren't adding anything out of the ordinary??
• Demos' chicken and rice soup: I have tried recipes that I've found online, including the lemon juice that I know they add, but mine came out with a broth that is entirely too thick.
  

Anyway, can you tell I'm hungry but avoiding a late night meal?? All of the things on the list make my taste buds very happy and but wallet very empty. Maybe I need to try again!

I'm gonna make a statement and leave it at that.

My kids will grow up to love me more than sunshine. I am a disciplinarian when necessary and a best friend when possible. I am a momma most of all. I watch out for them and protect them and love them with all my heart. I teach them well and it shows in their accelerated intelligence and artistic abilities. They are hilarious characters that are well liked and outgoing. They are courteous and considerate most of the time, which is great for their age. We choose healthy snacks most of the time but also know that a little bit of pizza or a happy meal once a month is worth the fun. Anyhoo, my point is just that I am so thankful that I am not a full blown lunatic raising children that will grow up to literally hate me when they reflect back on their childhoods. Not everything has to be a harsh reality at 3 and 5. The end.