I love how this came out.

Other Wordless Wednesday pictures can be found via the linky on MomDot!

Technorati Tags: Wordless Wednesday, raclette

I almost forgot to have us do an Advent pocket tonight! But I remembered and we had a really good conversation with Fuller about obeying Jesus. The Swedish fish were a fun treat to remind him of Luke 5: 4-7.

Just a reminder, I’m participating in the December Photo Project, hosted by the lovely Rebecca. You can find other participants on her site. And if you are coming here from the DPP page, welcome!

Technorati Tags: Advent, swedish fish, Christmas tradition, December Photo Project

A few years ago I bought a spray can of gold hair/ body glitter. I didn’t really have an idea of what I should dress up for on Halloween (if at all), but I knew I wanted there to be glitter involved.

I opened the can for the first time on Friday. I decided, even if I didn’t have a costume, glitter in the hair on or around Halloween was perfectly acceptable. I wanted to be shiny and sparkly.

Then, when we were at Wal-Mart last week, I found a pair of fairy wings for $5. Specifically, I found a pair of orange wings for $5. So, I decided I would slip them on my back and become the Magical Mom. Wings, glitter, and me- my ideal costume.

(I even sprinkled “Mommy Dust” wherever I went, since the glitter transferred to everything I touched, looked at, or even thought about. Tebow’s diaper changes were interesting.) (Oh, and the wings were great since I could slip them over the straps of the Ergo when I had Tebow on my back during our church party.)

Hope you had a good Halloween, I know I did!

I love that our family is trying to make it a tradition to attend at least one educational demonstration by the Auburn Southeast Raptor Center each football season. They have the demos on the Fridays before home games. The first time we went, last year, there was a decent size crowd. We went again this past Friday and it was very full.

My idea of taking pictures during the demo is to use continuous shooting mode to try and capture flying birds and some of the interesting faces the birds make when the trainers bring the birds around for a closer look. I didn’t even know I had this picture of the winking owl until I looked at the pictures on my computer!

To see other Wordless Wednesdays, check out the linkies on MomDot and Five Minutes for Mom.

Technorati Tags: Wordless Wednesday, Auburn Raptor Center, Southeast Raptor Center, raptors, owls, wink

That’s what happened wen I put in the latest Harry Connick, Jr CD, Your Songs, on the CD player in the living room. Fuller and I had a sweet ten minutes or so dancing around the living room, dodging Tebow who was crawling around near our feet.

I received Your Songs from the One2One Network, with the opportunity to give it a listen. The songs are all covers of popular songs ranging from Smile (Charlie Chaplin) to Just the Way You Are (Billy Joel), with his classic big band sound that I always seem to associate with Harry Connick, Jr.

The album was delightful, not only causing my little family to have a dance party in the middle of the afternoon, but it has been calming to listen to on the way to Asheville and later in the evening when I need to focus. While I don’t really enjoy all the songs on the album (I’ve never been a fan of Mona Lisa or Besame Mucho, regardless of the performer and even Harry Connick, Jr couldn’t win me over on those) overall, it is a good album to have in my music collection.

And I will always remember the first time my little boy looked up at me and asked, “Mommy, do you want to dance?”

Technorati Tags: Harry Connick Jr, Your Songs, music review

Chick-fil-a was one of the Type A Mom sponsors. They gave us a quick “grab and go” lunch on Saturday, making it possible for me to finish packing the car between rain showers. I have to say, one of the things people like to talk to about in reference to Chick-fil-a is the sweet tea. Me, I’m in love with their lemonade. It has the right amount of tart to sweet (more tart than sweet) and it really quenches my thirst.

Hey, if Kristen can blog for Chick-fil-a sweet tea, I think I should be able to blog for their lemonade. Let’s see if we can get the ball rolling on that…

Technorati Tags: chick-fil-a, sweet tea, lemonade

I see a profile of a face, looking to the left. I also see the reason why I will never ask Fuller to put sunscreen on my back.

Technorati Tags: sunscreen fail, skin protection, Wordless Wednesday

Here it is three weeks into the 2009 season and I haven’t really mentioned our excitement and travels. It’s a blogging block I’ve been trying to deal with- repetition. As a personal blogger who does a lot of the same things every year, I find myself not really wanting to blog about “that” again. “That” can be anything, from football games to Christmas.

But this weekend, when we traveled to Auburn for the weekend, something different happened. Something I had to blog about.

Damon and I were fortunate enough to leave Tebow and Fuller with my Uncle’s family so we could go to the game alone. Originally we thought we would have to take Tebow with us, but circumstances changed and we found ourselves on the Auburn campus touring the tailgate areas and lining up for Tiger Walk.

The weather was uncertain, but we were prepared with some ponchos to help with what ever moisture came our way. And I thought it might rain, but I have to admit, I never expected what happened to happen.

We got into the stadium with in an hour before kick off. As the clock counted down, with about 30 minutes left, we saw the black skies move toward us. When the rain came, I thought I was prepared with my poncho. I was wearing my camera across my body, so it was covered as well. My small backpack had my second lens and spare battery, with other things like wallet, lipstick, and some swag we picked up outside the stadium. It was on my back and under the poncho.

When the rain came, it started with a few drops and suddenly the skies opened up and visibility became a challenge. Then the Voice of Auburn said because of lightening we had to clear the stadium and take cover. Damon and I picked our stadium seats up and started to make our way out, along with pretty much every one else in the stadium (except the student section).

Then I learned how crappy my poncho was. My hood wouldn’t stay up so my head was drenched. And the neck area was letting in water, soaking my shirt. I have no idea how long it took to get to cover, but it seemed like quiet some time. This allowed my shirt to get even wetter, and as the water seeped in, it also managed to get my camera a bit too wet*.

Once we made it to the concourse, we just had to stand around waiting. The operating procedure allowed people back into the stadium 30 minutes after the last lightening strike. We took longer, waiting for the crowd to thin out.

It was quite the experience. When the game started (about an hour after kickoff should have happened) it rained a little more, but nothing like before. We saw an amazing game, celebrated victory, and got a little chilly in our wet clothes.

Fun was had and now I have an Auburn football memory that doesn’t really run into the other games I have been to in the past two years. (The next home game I go to will be the Furman game in November. Hope it is exciting but dry.)

*deserves its own entry

Technorati Tags: Auburn, Auburn football, thunderstorms

For some reason, it took over five months to get a picture of Damon, Fuller, Tebow, and me together. We were getting together with family one Sunday and I insisted we get a picture of the four of us. Then it evolved into a group picture with the sisters and their families. Then the sisters and their kids.

While skimming through for the “good” one, I thought it would look fun to see them all together. I had my camera on a tripod and used a remote to fire the shutter. It is kind of fun to focus on one kid and see how he/ she changes/ fusses/ smiles/ scowls.

I watched the trailer and immediately started digging around the internet. I was interested because it incorportated blogging, food, and Julia Child. I figured I owed the book a read before I saw the movie (and based on the trailer, I was going to see the movie).

I went a step further and suggested the book as a summer read to my mom and sisters. They all agreed and I immediately put Julie and Julia on hold at the library.

The Book

I really, really enjoyed Julie and Julia. I read bits and pieces of the blog and the book was definitely not a reprint of the blog. Instead it was a more lyrical telling of her journey through Julia Child’s cookbook.

In some ways I felt like I related to Julie Powell. Maybe it was because I used to be in a job I disliked and blogging gave me a relief from feeling soul-less. I enjoyed the descriptions of her cooking but was equally, if not more, interested in her behind the scenes glimpses of her blog. The roles her husband and her mother played in the adventure added just enough balance to keep Julie Powell from possibly going to the nuthouse for her ambition. The community of readers she developed should be proud to have been a part of helping Julie Powell succeed in such a way.

I also enjoyed Julia’s descriptions of Julia Child’s life before going to cooking school. While I think the book could have stood without them, the vignettes enhanced the parallel between Julia Child’s journey and Julie Powell’s. I would have hoped for more, since Julia Child is such an interesting character, but I might just go get Julia’s book instead.

The Movie

When I first watched the trailer, I knew the movie was based on the book, but could tell there were scenes on screen that were probably not in the book. Since I hadn’t read it yet, I couldn’t be sure, but some glimpses looked made up.

Now that I’ve read the book, I know the movie takes liberties and includes fabrications. But I’m ok with that. I’m excited to see the Julia Child storyline (even if her friends weren’t) since I wish there had been more in the book. I’m also looking forward to seeing the food, since it is as much a character in the book as Julie’s husband.

At the beginning of the summer, when I suggested the book to my mom and sisters, I wished there was some way we could all come together to see the movie together as well. And I didn’t think it would get to come true! Due to Sarah-Ginny’s new niece getting baptized on Sunday (at our church), it has created a rare moment in time where all three sisters will be in the same city for the same weekend. And we are hoping (cross your fingers) we can all ditch our husbands and kids for a few hours to just be sisters and enjoy the movie together (sorry, Mom!).

Disclosure: links to Amazon contain affiliate links.

Technorati Tags: Julie and Julia, summer reading, summer movie, Julia Child, Julie Powell