Can You Blame Me?

For shopping at Walmart when they have items such as these? I walked by and absolutely couldn't resist! I mean, honestly, what do kids do to swimsuits... mine absolutely wear them out in a matter of weeks... snagged, faded and all worn out. So, why not buy 'em at Walmart and let 'em loose in 'em?

The Raiger keeps us in stitches around here. I snapped a few pics and a quick video of her yesterday. She seems to be growing and advancing at record speed... slow down my little baby girl!!

She brings at least 2 Carols to the table now and feeds them while she eats... you know "twins" skips a generation.... should could be preparing for her future!

I'm Drooling...

over all these recipes! This is punishment to me to type all these in at 4:25 pm, I have drool running down my chin... not really, that's gross but my tummy is growling. They all sound so wonderful and I'm really excited about the final product. Only a few of y'all have included pictures... and the pictures make it so much more fun. Please don't send pictures of the food... trust me people & kids are prettier! :) If you didn't include a picture but would like to please email it to me!



Thank y'all so much for participating... I promise it's going to be so good! Get to digging in those recipe boxes and send me your favorites!! Speaking of favorites, Erika sent me this on Easter as a reminder of the "Good Ole Days". I'd say this is circa '86 in Atlanta, GA and I remember it like it was yesterday!

Erika (L) & Darby (R) It appears as though I slept with a cat or Erika beat me up racing to the baskets... she's a fiesty one when it comes to Easter baskets!

Happy Resurrection Day!

Thankfully I've bounced back from the crud I had and was able to enjoy a beautiful Easter morning with my little family. We had a wonderful time at church and sang "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" and it made me overflow with joy at the thought of His resurrection. So, I thought I'd post it here if anyone wants to be reminded (I tried posting the playlist song but it didn't want to work. Here are the words; click on them to link to a YouTube video)...

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

After church we had a great time at Justin's parents house eating lots of good food... which any pregnant woman would love, especially one that hasn't eaten in a couple days! The children opened all their Easter goodies from their grandparents which included an assorted array of colorful Crocs. Even the little Raiger got a pink pair to match her sister. She was so proud of them.

Here are a few more pictures from our morning...

for those of you who remember Carol... this is Carol IV and super squirrely Paige

The Great Hunt '08

Something has gotten me... some sort of bug. It's been a while since I've felt this rotten. It's one of those bugs that makes you want to curl up on the bathroom floor with a pillow, heating pad and 5 blankets. And I've had a lovely low-grade fever to accompany all the nausea. Morgan and Paige both have asked to see the "bug" that I have... I wish I could show it to them and then squash it dead. Needless to say, Daddy escorted them to the Annual Egg Hunt at his parents house this morning with all the cousins. I begged him to take lots of pictures and I'm so thankful that he did so well. My fever broke this afternoon, I managed to crawl out of bed and I'm hoping to be well enough tomorrow to celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior!! Happy Easter to ALL!

Let the Games Begin

Morgan & Lucy Ford

This one is for you dad... Paige doing what she does best!

Why Moms Can't Shower...

I have no clue how much she ate. She thought it was delightful! I didn't!

Thanks Sister!

Don't adjust your screens... it's me still. I was starting to get nauseous every time I looked at the orange & brown. Don't get me wrong, I like it, I'm just sick of it. So I called up Sister this afternoon after I saw the header she did for Seleta and asked her if she'd do something for me. This is what she came up with. It not only made me laugh but also reminded me of this picture of her in Morgan's stroller so I decided to go with it. When she has kids I have a feeling they might be pushing her around while she works on the computer! Since Spring is here I decided to do a little "decluttering" on the blog! Still waiting for all your wonderful recipes!!

Calling All {Super} Readers!

For the longest time now I've wondered "who's reading" and now I have this idea and I'm hoping all you readers will pull through for me!! {pressure, pressure, pressure} Over the last couple months a lot of y'all have come out of the "closet" and I get these funny emails saying, "I hope you don't think I'm a stalker or weird or anything... but I found your blog and I've been reading..." Of course I don't think your weird... just totally normal. Why do you think I don't list out all the blogs I read on my blog... because there are so many I'm embarrassed to confess and I don't personally know 1/2 of them!

There are a couple things in life that I absolutely love to do... and one of them is cook. As long as I can remember I was in the kitchen with my mom. She is a fabulous cook and taught me all the tricks of the trade. I can remember being in middle school and making a Lemon Meringue pie from scratch! Now mom would argue that I loved to cook, but that I didn't love to clean up. I've learned to do both now! :) My friend Chris Hill posted this post on his blog about a company called "Tastebook" that will print all your recipes and bind them (for what I consider a nominal price [$35] & they look really good) and my mind went wild... I thought "what if I asked all my blog readers (whether I know you or not) to email me a tried and true recipe or two?!" What a collection that would be! And guess what? If any of y'all are interested you can buy a copy too.... for $35! What a steal. I was reading through Chris & Kristen's recipes and I'm already itching to get a copy of theirs!

Here's what I want you to do (and I'll do the rest and let you know when it's ready):

1) Email me @ darby613@gmail.com a recipe that you LOVE and know is GOOD (please don't send one you haven't tried) if you have more than one send 'em on... depending on how many I get they all may not make the cut... and please don't send all desserts I'm sure there will be plenty of those. I want salads, veggies, casseroles, drinks, aps and more! And if you want to include a "blurb" about the recipe (if has a history or sentimental value to you) that would be fun too!

2) If you want to reveal yourself great, if not, that's ok too. But at least I'd love your first name and where you are from (everyone will get credit in the book for their recipe)... and if you are scared to do that... I guess you may remain anonymous!

3) If you want to email me a picture to go a long with your recipe that would be fun too! They allow you to add a picture to each recipe! How fun!

Ok, start thinking about your recipes and email them to me. I'll accept recipes for 4 weeks and then I'll close it up. But don't worry, I'll drive you nuts between now and then reminding you to email me the recipes. Once I've added all recipes and pictures to the book I'll make it public so y'all can see page by page and then order if you'd like! And please even if you're a stalker and haven't revealed yourself... it's ok, I want your recipes too! :)

A Much Needed Escape...

Justin and I had a fabulous 24 hour escapade to the lake (Silver Lake- a small, private, spring-fed lake near Marianna, FL) on Sunday. His parents kept the girls and we headed south for a little R&R. We both came to the realization that we don't do this often enough.... and sadly to say, if ever! The last time we got away (just the 2 of us) over night was a trip to Cumberland Island 4 years ago and we didn't even have kids then. We're hoping to be more intentional about treating ourselves to some time away... it's very beneficial to our mental health, especially mine. I've been in this rut of feeling like all I ever do is clean the house and tend to the children... oh wait, that is pretty much what I do. God has convicted me of this "rut" and I'm truly working on finding joy in folding socks, scrubbing toilets, scrubbing behinds, and pouring milk... and then wiping it up when it gets spilt. Anyway, it was such a special treat to not have to put anyone in jammies, brush teeth, read stories, and put them to bed... not to mention the other 1,000 chores that come in a 24 hour period! Justin's parents graciously kept the girls for us and we enjoyed peace and quiet that only the lake has to offer! Trust me, with a house that's still not finished I was tempted to stay here and get things done... I'm glad Justin talked me out of that one!

Thanks, Chris, for the pictures below... you seem to capture the lake in all it's glory. The lake has a sand bottom and is spring-fed. The water is CRYSTAL clear (as you will see) and appears to be bright blue... that would be the color of the sky reflecting off of crystal clear water. It's the most beautiful lake I've ever seen in my life. No brown water.... you can always see your feet no matter where you are in it! That's my kinda lake! :)

the view from the porch


the water

Another view from the porch... the covered dock you see is where Justin asked me to marry him 6 1/2 years ago! :) precious memories!

The Saturday before we went on our trip we enjoyed a quick trip to the farm. We had a lot of fun... the girls both love to explore. Here are a few pictures from our farm outing:

the Raiger & her fruit-roll-up
Ava & Morgan (Ava's 11 months older and 11 inches taller!:))

Daddy & Raiger

Mommy & Raiger

Look @ all that HAIR!

The girls and I had big plans today! We were going to go play with my good friend & pledge sister from Auburn, Tara, and her 2 little girls, Towns & Cate. Morgan got sick in the car on the way there and puked everywhere. I mean, everywhere. If you recall, I'm not a fan of pukers but this little puker I love and felt very sorry for. We had to cancel our trip to play and we were all so disappointed. Morgan is a projectile vomiter (I'll spare you any more details... you can let your imaginations run) and I spent the afternoon in the car, disinfecting and cleaning. If you've ever disassembled, cleaned a reassembled a car seat you know it takes the better part of a day! Once she got it all out of her system she seemed to be just fine. Maybe it was bad apple juice? Who knows! I'm just glad it's behind her.

The girls were down by 7:45, it's 8:50 now and I'm ready for bed myself. It's been a long day and I'm one tired Mama!! Good night my friends!

Socks..

I put the socks on the girls this morning and they were a little tight... so when you sew the trim on stretch the sock out just a tad to allow enough "give" to get them on comfortably! I'll edit the post below! I would hate for someone to make them and then not be able to get them on! :)

Ladies, Start Your Sewing Machines!

There are so many things that I WISH, WISH, WISH people had told me much sooner than I figured out on my own. Here's something I did this morning that I would love to share with any of you who sew (particularly for little girls). I'm sure many of y'all have figured out that I am one of the cheapest persons on the planet (my mom may come in first, sorry mom!). However, I do enjoy nice things... so what do you do when you like the niceties in life but can't AFFORD them... you make them!



When Erika and I went to our grandfather's funeral last year we stopped at Sikes & Kohn's. If you've ever been to the beach (north FL) from B'ham or further north you've passed it between Montgomery & Troy... it's the giant shoe store. The store is easy to miss; the shoe billboards are not. Anyway, I bought Morgan 3 pairs of precious eyelet ruffled socks for $6 a pair. I know, it's crazy to spend that on socks but they were super cute and I loved them (& we've managed to keep up with them). Well, this week I went to Target and bought these....

And this morning I made these...

For the price of 1 pair of socks, I made 3 pairs (earlier today I said 6... I got confused) and probably could have done more had I bought more eyelet. I bought the ruffled eyelet trim at Walmart for $1.32 a yard. I would estimate that 3 yards of eyelet trim would do 6 pairs of socks.

Here's a quick tutorial on how to do it...

** Never turn the socks inside out... always keep them just as they would be if you were putting them on. It only takes one stitch: ZIG-ZAG

First, starting at the back of the sock zig-zag the eyelet around the top of the sock. The eyelet will slightly overlap the sock on top. Slightly stretch the top of the sock as you attach the eyelet, this will allow enough "give" to get them on comfortably. Here's a picture for the visual learners out there.

Before you go ALL the way around stop just short of reaching the point where to started. Remove the sock and cut off the excess trim.

Next you will put the eyelet trim right sides together like this... (still not turning the sock inside out)

Then you will do a "tighter" zig-zag to bind the ends of the eyelet together. It will not look beautiful or "finished" but because you turn them down the other side looks finished.

Trim away your strings and turn down the sock... voila, a cute little sock for a fraction of one just like it!

Here's where you stop at the back of the sock. Not absolutely perfect, but as my grandmother would say, "On a galloping horse, who would know!"
Ok, stay tuned to see what I did with this $40 worth of fabric...

I'm 1/2 way done so here's a hint...
Have a wonderful weekend... and y'all have to let me know if you make any SOCKS! :)