One NICE Weekend

This fall weather has been a dream, hasn't it! We spent the weekend outdoors. On Friday night, we hung out with Chase DeVries and family at his birthday bash. I had SO much fun hanging out with the Reneau sisters. They are a hoot! Unfortunately, I had eaten about a medium size bag of peanut M&M's earlier that day, and my stomach started cramping up during the party. Which reminds me, why can't I have more self control when it comes to peanut M&M's? Anyway, thanks Melissa for a great time and party! On Saturday, Karson and I had some girl time. We decided to go to Flea Land which I believe should be called Bargain -or- Yard Sale City. I was low on cash (which was a good thing), and we managed to escape with two packs of chewy Nerds, a yo-yo balloon, and a $2 floor puzzle for Isaac. Then, Karson wanted to go to Pizza Hut for lunch. Afterwards we shopped at Wal-Mart where I purchased the most beee-autiful Mums. I aways think of Homecoming and the fall when buying Mums. When we got back home, I had to quickly put the groceries away, and we all head to Romanza Johnson Park for a surprise party for Brad Caffey. He was recently hired by the BG Fire Department. WTG BRAD! The creek was chilly but that, of course, didn't stop the kids. It was icy fun for them! After the party, Matt headed to Simpson County with Karson to meet up with DeVries again at their camping ground. Sunday was the highlight of the weekend. Our church hosted its 2nd annual block party. We have 12th Avenue shut down on our city block and offer all kinds of freebies to the people in our area of town. It's AWESOME and I can totally feel God's presence in every part of it. The pictures in this post are all from the block party.

Face painting and tattoo parlor.

The jumping tent and watergun wars maze.

Horse and carriage rides and the cupcake walk.

Our very talented members performing a singing number =) and corn hole.

The fish pond and MAGIC SHOW (one of Kaelin's--our youth minister--friends drove all the way from Nashville to perform. How cool!)

The Next American Idol

This video does not do Miles justice. He has totally grown up into an overnight singing sensation. He's trying to follow in his mother's WINK footsteps (refer to "Strawberry Miles" from July 2007--an earlier post about my pop group's demise). I can hardly believe my boy will be two in October. What happened to my baby? I believe I want another one. I'll be honest, I've been feeling the baby blues lately. A HUGE part of me is ready to be out of the baby stage (especially since Miles peed in the potty the other night--yippee skippy), but THEN, I see a tiny baby and my heart just melts. Okay, Tiff, snap out of it, this post is about Miles. Miles is talking more than ever these days. I wish I could record a day's worth of conversation. It's wild how quickly he has picked up the English language. I'll narrate a typical morning of phrases/tricks:

• I not sleepy. Turn it on (talking about his humidifier that I have just switched off).


• I want sausage--HOT. Cut it. Need a fork (which does NOT come out sounding appropriate) My milk? I get it.


• It's at this point that he runs out of the room to retrieve his blankie and doggie (whom he calls Awgie) who must sit directly behind his booster chair and dine with him.


• He might go rummaging through drawers and locates some "batties" aka batteries which have become his FAVORITE possession these days. Hint, hint this would be the perfect birthday gift for him =).


• After forgetting about the batties, he decides to do some jumping and dancing with which he tells me "I won't faw down, OK."


• Want cwoes and shoesocks. Shoe socks has always been one word for him. He knows it's time to go when we start getting the kids dressed. Don't touch it is what he says when I'm changing his diaper along with pee in da potty.


• As soon as we get in the van, he states push button which means he wants to close the door which is impossible with him strapped into his seat. Once we're in route to our destination he starts chanting want takieanka (which is an odd Wiggles song that he LOVES).


• See Donald's (pointing to McD's)--and I think to myself, WHY NOT?, I could certainly use a Big Mac in my life.

Placing the batties in the chair for breakfast.

Just some Updates

I believe our sickly bunch is on the road to recovery if we can survive the ragweed and allergens circulating. Miles has had a fever and loads of congestion. It's getting to the point where he asks for medicine. He's been loaded on Ibuprofen and Benadryl the past few days. Luckily, we have him on an inhaler which should help. Karson has gradually followed his lead. I imagine Dr. Chris will put her on an inhaler too this season.

In other news, we traveled to Seymour, Indiana last weekend. My cousin Monica got married. Matt performed the ceremony so it was an overnight trip for us. We'd planned to go to the rehearsal sans kids, and since my parents were coming the following day, it just made since for them to stay behind. Matt and I have been/done enough weddings that they are usually never on schedule and run late into the night. But when the stomach sickness plagued everyone (including my sweet mother), we decided to take Karson and Isaac. The Hampton Inn had an indoor swimming pool which we knew they'd love. Mom only felt strong enough to handle Miles-ie-pooh. Anywho, everything went smooth, and we had a great time hanging out with the family.

Here we are eating at a quaint little place called The Chocolate Spoon for the rehearsal dinner.

We were booted from the Hampton at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning which meant we had about six hours to explore the town of Seymour. We went to an outlet mall and killed some time (and moola) at the Gap. Then, we went to Applebee's for lunch. We were running out of options and didn't really feel like driving around all afternoon when my cousin called and said we could crash at her house.

One of the major perks of staying at Monica's house is her English Bulldog Charlie. The kids LOVED him, but he was incredibly large and a little intimidating.

Charlie has grown QUITE a bit since these photos which were taken on Labor Day of last year. I guess I didn't realize how large bulldogs can get.

All keyed up for the wedding!!!

Three of the most adorable children EVER if I might say so myself =)!!!

Me and my beautiful sis =)!!!

Me and my smokin' hot minister of a husband!!!

The lovely bride and lady of the day Monica Pogue (Horvath).

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Karson started taking gymnastics at Tumbletown this week and LOVES it. Her cousin Elizabeth is in her class along with some buddies from the past Natalie Reneau and Kassidy Mason.

Mystery Meat

With much thought on the matter, we've decided to change Isaac's name to Bones. Bones was an excellent eater as a baby but has digressed considerably since getting an older, more bossy opinion. He has a solid meat diet--burgers, chicken, sausage, hot dogs, bacon--you get the picture. He loves milk and will eat cereal, yogurt and macaroni. Other than a handful of snacks, that's IT! We've forced him to try different things like sloppy joes, spaghetti, meat loaf--which are all meat yielding meals, but it's all out war with no good return. SO, yesterday, Miles and I were lunching on a tasty uncrustable when Bones bee-bopped into the kitchen and asked for Fruit Loops because he was hungry. Hhhuummmm, maybe he'd like an uncrustable. Battle lines were drawn, tears were flowing, threats were made and finally the dreadful bite. The reason for this post is based entirely on this sentence which has made me laugh:

Bones: "This meat tastes funny."

He also told me that it was bleeding (I guess he saw the red jam and made that assumption).

He, of course, didn't like the bite but swallowed it. I'm open to any suggestions you seasoned mothers have to picky eaters. It's not that I'm worried because I normally stock all Bones's favorite foods in our refrigerator, but I'd really love for him to start enjoying other foods.

Bitten Again

The Counting Crows sing a song called "A Long December", but I have decided to change the title (and a few of the lyrics) to "A Long September"..and there's reason to believe, maybe this week will be better than the last...Our family has been plagued by the stomach bug that has reared its ugly face ALREADY this school year. It started last Saturday night. Most of the stomach bugs that we've experienced in our home are generally 24-48 hours. This one lasted a little over four days with Isaac who took the worst punishment. He and Miles had it together which isn't surprising since they are clones of each other and always getting into mischief together. After doing about 10 loads of laundry (pillows, sheets, mattress covers, towels, rags, etc.), scrubbing floors, carpet and toilets, Lysoling everything in my power, I was hopeful by Thursday that the bug finally flew the coop. WRONG, the bug came back into our lives yesterday this time attacking myself and Karson. Matt's brother Andrew had Karson and Isaac over for the night on Friday so I had no idea she was sick until he called on Saturday afternoon telling me she had the #2's. I felt fine yesterday morning and called my Dad to see if he'd come over and put down the quarter-round on our hardwood floors. It's been sitting in our garage for over a month, and I was SO ready for that project to be completed (even though I haven't painted the baseboards yet). My stomach started bothering me late in the morning to the point that I could hardly stand up. Needless to say, September and this bug are no longer welcome in our home. Karson and I are at home from church this morning. We both got about 3 hours of sleep last night. SO, if any of you bloggers are needing some busy work or simply need a clean house, I will gladly send this bug your way.