Anyone for Shrimping?

Baxter's off for the shrimp boats. Change of boots and

with the cutest outfit on. Has put the "lion whip" down and no longer chasing after

sissy. Think you've seen these boots and outfit before? http://sarahmeeks.blogspot.com/2007/09/potty-training.html

If Sarah would keep her blog up, we'd be a year behind her on the outfits! Thanks for all the clothes Bo. Now if we can get our monster to have such nice manners. Yes, we took this on the way to eat lunch with Scott. Our little shrimper belongs with his nana and papa at the coast!

So, by 11:00 a.m. I had cooked 4 waffles. Two were 1/2 eaten, two were "too burned"! I heard, "Uh-oh!" and when I found the source the little devil had stinkied in the floor. I know, my fault entirely. However, I was on the phone with Amy and her suggestion was to spank him for doing that. I said that punishment was way too harsh, hung up with her and rubbed his nose in it! Thankfully Bax had opened the drawer and broken all the birthday candles last night so that little task was marked off his list. All the while, Lillee Grace has been very sweet. I think it was $8.97 Minnie Mouse I keep threatening to dangle from the back porch steps if she misbehaves. Hey - it's working.

Thinking of calling SuperNanny if this little tornado doesn't provide some relief to our home soon.

Gangsta Backsta

Early morning with the kids on MLK day! Is this really what Mary endures each day? Was I having second thoughts about quitting work next year? Nope - Keep working - yes, must keep working! Or, maybe I could get a second job taming wild animals. Baxter climbed up on the bed I had just finished making to obtain the stick to turn the blinds. Then used it like Gunther Gable and got after Lg. Not really sure how the princess hat came into play?

Winter Wonderland

The snow was lots of fun and exciting for LG. Not lots of pics of Bax because he slept through the sledding and snowman making.

I

I included these pictures to mention the little argument that erupted when suiting up to go out in the element. Btw, it was not THAT cold. Just wet. So I got my outfit on and Scott decided he needed a new set of tires - which I did not understand. Then I heard his little comment about me looking somewhat like "The Michelin Man." Not funny. Well, just because of his sarcasm, he missed out on the days activities because he was in the house searching for 1. his jacket, 2. his "other" glove (could only find one), 3. just the right hat to wear so he wouldn't have a repeat of the 2005 snowstorm pics where his snow hat made him look like a bag boy with said syndrome. Also, please scroll back up and get a closer view. He has on a thin windbreaker (and did have the hood on :() along with my gloves with a little fur at the wrist. Please take the time to inspect. In retrospect, I guess I did have the last laugh. It was only when he sat down for dinner last night and was wearing only a ski bib with no shirt underneath. Appetite lost for me. So I guess does serves him right for making fun of his wife.Baxter did enjoy holding a few snowballs!

Baxter was all decked out in his new boots. Luckily, Sarah and Bo discovered they were too small for Bo early enough to bring these to us and get to Hanky Panky to get Bo some cool new camoflauge ones that we look forward to seeing in a few years. Baxter didn't really understand the whole snow thing? Didn't really care either.

Here's Lillee on the redneck snowsled. That's right - Don and Farrah brought over a piece of linoleum (sp.?), poked a hole through it and slung LG and Mary Kate all over the yard. She had lots of fun but ended up with a really dirty booty and some wet, soggy clothes.

Here we are thinking we're in the blizzard of '98 all bundled up. Sandra didn't stay long. Her lift ticket attached to her very cool snow suit said she was to be on the slopes by 12! Mr. Wes manned the truck so that anyone coming by would get completely bombed by the snowball arsenal in the back of the truck. Farrah enjoyed suiting up all the kiddies and making snow angels.

Don, Mary Kate and LG had a great time sledding down the neighbor's yard. What a picture of suburbia! The Longs brought their sled over before venturing to the Methodist Church to tackle those hills. Since the house is for sale, we could add how great the hill is to sled on to the flyer in the yard. Dixie also really enjoyed the snow.

Here, Lillee Grace and Minnie try their bowl of snow. Minnie was purchased with an ulterior motive. Sandra and I went to Wal-Mart this a.m. at 6. Like every other dummy in Griffin, we stocked up like we'd be snowed in for a week. However, I did not spring for the tiny heaters that everyone was purchasing in the center isle. Through foggy eyes, I saw Minnie and decided that I'd rather pay $8.97 at the Superstore instead of $29.99 at Disney. Also scoped out some Disney cups that we will be filling up with water and adding a packet of Crystal Light Lemondade to so we won't be paying $5 for a "cool cup" at the park! I love our budget!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (oops, Thanksgiving too)

Well, it's been awhile. I was a little disheartened about blogging after Scott did his little guest blog from that wedding. After what I thought was a semi-decent blog from the mountains, I had several comments that Scott should definitely be a ghost writer more often. As a matter of fact, one person said,"Your blog is like Look at My Kids..." And he said, "Dot, Dot, Dot!"
It's been a great year for us. Baxter has been sick for about the last month but overall everyone has been healthy and happy. We have been extremely blessed.
Not really sure about a resolution for this year. I'm kind of going with the trend of a one-word deal. Just not sure of that word though - SIMPLISTIC? REST? GIVE? ENCOURAGE? These are all some I am pondering. I have resolved to either scrapbooking (must get back to that anyway) or blogging weekly. Oh and the whole 25 lb. weight loss. Ok, 10, maybe just 5 for now?

Kids and Santa - Baxter was still really sick.

Baxter's new horse we found at the post-Christmas sale at Eckerds!

The plethora of ridiculous plastic toys from Santa! The tackier the better!

Lillee Grace, Baxter, Gray and Caroline (Ms. Sandra and Dennis, too) tracking Santa at www.northpole.com. This was Christmas Eve after the church service. I believe at this time he was still making the rounds in Brazil! However, there were definitely reports of bells on our roof approx. 1 1/2 hours after this sighting so it must have been a super fast sled!

Lillee Grace - definitely a 1st for her this year - not scared at all. Lucky for us, her list stayed mostly the same with each Santa (Hello Kitty necklace, Little Mermaid Dora??? and a guitar)

Result of my parents babysitting while Christmas decorations are still being erected.

Since my dad would not be here with us for Christmas he let the kids open presents from he and my mom. Go figure. Bax was just thrilled with his Black and Decker tool bench!

Pre-Daily Report party in Atlanta. What a fun party and we had the best babysitter of them all! Thanks Bethany! (oh, Amy too!)

Thanksgiving Weekend. Scott and I took Lillee Grace to the movies while Bax and my dad did some fishing.

Fall Break

Here are the little tikes at the apple orchard. We all had lots of fun chasing Baxter around the place while he pretended the apples were balls.

After our wild weekend with the masked Agnes Scott girls, it was time to head back to reality of sippy cups, diapers, princess tiaras and lots of goldfish. In response to the overwhelming comments and hearing how prolific of a writer Scott is, I thought I would reply to that with a couple of simple photos of kids. That should nix the entire hugeness of his ego. Because honestly, who can top photos of beautiful kids.

Here we are about to leave. Just starting to get a little cooler.

Lillee is very happy to be with Chief I Swear to Tell the Truth. We have on our lovely stickers to be able to board the Blue Haired Blue Ridge Railway!

Mom and I getting ready for a ride of a lifetime with two small children. M&Ms - check, crayons and book - check, Measuring tape for Bax - check, sippy cups - check, lots of little gadgets to keep them occupied - check.

As Willie sings his rhymes and songs, Bax sings away... I thought even the indian behind him was going to start clapping his hands.

How cute - he so enjoyed hanging out with the fishing pole. Here he is in the middle of the river.

A Great Day for a White Wedding (Guest Blog)

I begin this story of the first full day of my thirty-fifth year in medias res. We returned from the Rose wedding and decided to operate the elevators under the influence. You never know what you'll meet riding fast glass elevators after midnight.

The characters in this scene are my wife, a bottle of Amstel Light, and two masked Agnes Scott students, as we all ride the glass elevators inside the Hyatt Regency. For a moment we contemplated crashing the Agnes Scott homecoming dance that was in full swing down in the ballroom. Instead, it was off to the room to smoke a maduro on the balcony.

The story begins at 3:00 when I returned from the Rock Ranch with Bax and LG. We returned, ate a piece of birthday cake, changed into wedding guest attire, hopped in the car and arrived at the Hyatt about fifteen minutes before the wedding was to start at Piedmont Park.

However, there was just enough time to do a self-portrait in the hotel room.



Take a moment to reflect upon our camera skills with a BAC of 0.000. They only get better as that number rises.

We had a difficult time finding a parking space and in finding a parking spot at Piedmont Park, where the wedding took place. Hence, the camera was left in the car and we have no pictures of the wedding.

I'll summarize. The wedding took place at the Clara Meer Dock at Piedmont Park with swans and ducks in the lake. It was something of an intimate gathering. We did not know the families very well. We had an invite and were not exactly crashing the event, but our connection to the parties was virtually tangential. We would soon change all that. In fact, we already had.

As we waited in the parking garage, Jenn asked a random well-dressed lady to take our picture. She did, and we learned that she had flown in from Pennsylvania for this wedding. We turned on the Jenn and Scott charm, and we became fast friends. Our work began in the parking garage long before we arrived at the wedding.



Louise's picture of us as we break the ice.


Our picture of Louise after we've put the broken ice in a tumbler and poured bourbon over it.

The trip to the Clara Meer dock was quite the Odyssey. The GPS took us to the address listed in the invitation, which was near the wedding site but far away from any available parking. After a brief detour into the Piedmont Driving Club (the application is on the way), curbing the tires, and a near collision with two gay men and their rat terrier, we walked to the dock and saw the wedding.

Among this potpourri of guests was a man in all black with a cowboy hat. We thought he was a wayward family member in town for the wedding. In the middle of the wedding, we thought he got fed up and was leaving. To our surprise, he picked up a guitar and played a song to the assembled congregation. Jenn later met this future Austin City Limits performer and became his first groupie.

I wish that he hadn't starting talking to Jenn right after catching the garter.

The evening wasn't all fun and games. Since the reception was at the Michael C. Carlos Museum on the campus of Emory University, I had the opportunity to show off my former almer mater, Candler School of Theology.

BAC still 0.000 as we take pictures on the quad.

I even went and checked my old mailbox. I figured I'd have a lot of mail to read, not having been there in over ten years.

Wait, who the hell is Sarah Szhneider, and why is her mail in my box? Guess I'll have to quit hanging up on those alumni people when they call asking for donations. After this experience, I had two choices. I could go to Canon Chapel to pray over this setback, or I could go and drink my sorrows away. ...

... so here we are, at the reception.


As luck would have it, the groom is an executive for a liquor distributor. One of the guests was a broker from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who deals in fine wines and spirits. I was feeling guilty about choosing bourbon at the Carlos over prayer at the Canon. Lucky for me the minister who did the wedding was in attendance and willing to hear my confession in the buffet line.


Here we are talking theology and picking up artichoke hearts.

Our newest friends, a real estate agent and his wife, from Yonkers, New York, suggested that we open the door next to our table out in the hallway, and suddenly our table was transformed into box seats. I sort of felt like Abraham Lincoln at Ford Theater with the angle this new view afforded us.


Taken from the box seat and enhanced with a zoom lens.

But we didn't stay seated for long. We spent some time mingling. I hung out with the maid of honor, the bride's sister, and we also met up with a wedding guest who will soon play the part of our friend Barbara Moon, in an upcoming bio-pic on the Lifetime Channel.

Maid of Honor, Kenny Chesney, and Jenn.

The Barbara Moon look-a-like, me, and Woodford Reserve

Alas, the evening had grown late, and we decided that we didn't need a cab. The hotel was but four miles away.



Come on baby, I got the keys.

We drove back as I chewed on a cigar and as Jenn stuck her head through the sunroof and photographed the skyline (also known as probable cause).

I think that big building up ahead is our hotel.

Soon, we were back safely at our hotel with our keys in the hands of a very sober valet, and we were off to ride the elevator with masked revelers. So ended a very full first day of my thirty-fifth year, a great day for a white wedding.

Birthday Boy

Yes, folks, he may look like a deer caught in the headlights. However, this is just Scott hamming it up for his big birthday dinner. We went down to Grits in Forsyth with the gang. I tried to organize a little soiree for him and we all had a lot of fun!

Poor thing had all of his friend's lined up on the sofas wanting to show off his ghetto tube and the cable had been cut off. I don't think cut off as in bill not paid, but it was showing no signs of life. I think he found some TiVoed CMT spotlights show featuring Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson.

The new 36 year-old has a big weekend ahead of him. Fun packed Auburn watching day along with a big wedding at Piedmont Park with a client tonight. We're staying at the Hyatt downtown so hopefullly 1/2 of Griffin won't wake up tomorrow hearing live reports about the Key family from Monica Kauffman. Then Sunday off to the mall and B.B., REI and to check on our injured, recovering friend Amy. Maybe she'll take us to lunch and let us use her handicap sticker.

I think Scotty is enjoying his birthday weekend. Just waiting for my mom to get here with the caramel cake today!

The whole gang L to R front row: Brennan, Becky, Renee, Niki, 2 dorks. Back: Lance, Dale, Jim.

Back row L to R: Lance, Dale, Jim. Notice below no pics of Dale and friend. Monica (I'm jealous) was in Savannah at a girl's weekend. Truly missed. We tried to take care of Dale.