Hello rovers.

Today is November the 16th. With temperatures hovering around 80, I have no choice but to wear shorts… at least they are corduroy.  Despite the warm and stormy weather outside, I’ve been sneaking in a little Christmas music. I do this at home when Justin’s at work because he’s the “no Christmas music ’til after Thanksgiving” type. Bah humbug!  I will remind you that “Patty Loveless holiday” station on Pandora rarely disappoints!

Morgan had a wonderful surprise birthday party the weekend after her birthday at the “brown house”. It was a post-church lunch celebration and the only way I could pull it off was to host it in the newly renovated {so-close-to-being-done} garoffice! I had to tell her that “I had it all clean and didn’t want any kids out there getting it dirty” in order to keep her out! It paid off. She was thrilled with the surprise and loved seeing her old friends, and it was such a treat for Justin and me too! I made a somewhat hasty decisions to make all the food from scratch… you know, sweet potato casserole with Baldwin  County sweet potatoes and Baldwin County pecans. Thankfully all the sides were accompanied by fried chicken that I didn’t fry and a beautiful birthday cake that I didn’t bake!

Our sweet friends knew exactly what would bring the birthday girl a GREAT big smile… post-party they invited her out to ride their beautiful horses. Thank you, Abby for the picture!

She absolutely loved it, and her daddy did, too. They had a great afternoon riding together with friends!

We ended up staying in town on Monday, in order to get a few loose ends tied up. This ‘trying to live in two places’ deal can be somewhat challenging. Every time we go home to the brown house we all find such comfort there. I think it’s the familiarity of our belongings that makes our trips home feel so nostalgic, and the wonderful friends we have there help, too. That’s my ‘coffee pot corner’ in my kitchen pictured above, taken apparently at 6:46 am as the coffee was just starting to fill the pot. I love that little corner of my kitchen and when I go home I appreciate it. I bought that tiny 4-cup coffee pot last year when Justin was gone, it was all I really needed since there was no one to join me for my morning coffee drinking. I’m thankful now that we have to brew two pots in it when we’re home because he’s there with me.

The week we got back from the brown house JM had a field trip to the fire station, and just like Paige’s trip he had a turn behind the water hose {wearing Mommy’s sunglasses}!

I really have to work hard to get candid photographs of him because this is his new “smile”. Sweet, but not exactly authentic! I don’t even have to say smile for him to make this face, I can just point my camera or my phone at him and he does it.

This past weekend, Justin invited 3 of his friends down to the “grey house” for a guys weekend, and the kids and I vacated to the east to spend the weekend with my family. The kids were in absolute heaven! They love their cousin Sloane and their MommaSis’, Uncle Chance, Mom & DaddyBoy, so I knew the weekend would not disappoint… and to top it off our beloved dog Eufaby was there too! My parents have very kindly welcomed her into their home while we are living at the beach, and it’s been months and months since we’ve seen her.

Erika has a “den” of sorts at the landing at top of her stairs… a cozy room with dark walls, and pops of color everywhere! The girls slept soundly on the daybed together, until 1:30 am Thursday when I knocked a piece of plywood down the stairwell that was serving as a gate. Have you ever heard a sheet of plywood go down a wood staircase? It’s all Erika’s fault, she woke me up and said something about one of my children coughing… or something. Needless to say, we didn’t use the “gate” the rest of the time we were there.

We did play in the back yard with Daddy Boy.

We squeezed in a trip to the park…

Paige & I accompanied Momma Sis’, Chance & Marla on a photoshoot at Grayton Beach.

We also got to ride around in DaddyBoy’s new ride. Mom and DaddyBoy have recently purchased a house just a couple doors down from Erika and Chance, so there were many trips back and forth {2 doors down on a gravel road in a neighborhood}. And all trips by car were easily justifiable because who doesn’t love a Grand Wagoneer, especially one with a green license plate! I may have my eye on a grey one, but dad assures me I wouldn’t want to leave home without a mechanic in the backseat, so I’ve enrolled JM in a vocational school.

There’s no doubt it’s a sweet ride and just getting inside brings back so many memories {my parents both drove them when we were growing up}. One thing that’s different is that this one is now 20+ years old and may need to have the exhaust checked because if you sit still too long the fumes will get to you! Just ask Rover.

DaddyBoy drove her {officially named Goldie} down to Rosemary Beach on Sunday and we took the little ones to the Flutterby Festival.

Paige spent Saturday night with Mom so if it appears as though she has on lipstick, she does. Mom swore it was her lightest shade… you know grandmothers have a hard time telling their grandchildren no!

Mom made a valiant effort to get Rover to hold his paint brush properly.

After that we loaded up and headed back to the “grey house”! The kids had an absolute blast and it’s always hard to leave!!

And a few matters of business before I go…

The sweet little Tee Pee tees have been deeply discounted and can still  arrive in time for your Thanksgiving festivities!

If you’re looking for an enriching and wonderful book to read to your children about Thanksgiving we are thoroughly enjoying The Courage of Sarah Noble, check your library!

And last but not least… I must congratulate the Chi O ladies at Auburn for representing at Homecoming… 3 out of top 5 is pretty awesome! War Eagle!

Hello patient blog readers! My goodness life has apparently taken over the time I used to have for blogging. What on earth has happened to me? I certainly want to update more than once or twice a month. How did I used to blog several times a week? Times have changed, our little children are growing so fast right before my eyes and I’ve been busy with them, trying to cherish every moment. I know the time I have with them at home is so fleeting, its hard to make computer-time any kind of priority. On the other hand, I want to record these precious moments that we have together. I need to find a balance between the two… or maybe I just need to find a house keeper!

First, today is Morgan’s 7th Birthday! I am so thankful for her sweet life, what a blessing this angel is to our family. Smart, sweet, helpful, and kind! She wanted a horse for her birthday… being the good parents we are, we got her one.

I’m so thankful that my sleepy eyes aren’t in this picture! Besides liking horses, she’s also into being “teacher”. It’s funny how often she and Paige remind me of Erika and me. I often send Erika text pictures of the girls and say, “Look, it’s Darby & Erika!” I’ve also been reminded lately that I do things that my mom used to do… like raid their Halloween candy loot for Almond Joys. Would you believe that NONE of them got a single Almond Joy! All that trick-or-treating for nothing!

So, back to the teacher business. I was shopping at Claire’s and spotted some “fake” glasses. I could not resist. Erika, Cousin, and I used to wear fake glasses {from Claire’s} when we were little so when I saw them I knew the girls would love them. I figured every “teacher” needed glasses and I couldn’t leave her pupil out. This is about how excited they were about their glasses…

This certainly wasn’t the stellar response that I was hoping for. I’m sure my pre-gift-opening pep talk of, “I got you something you’re going to love,” didn’t help! They were like, “Sunglasses? You got us sunglasses?” I was all, “No girls, these are fake glasses, aren’t the cool!?” Then I had to beg them to put them on for a picture. Thank goodness they were on the $1 rack. I feel certain they’ll realize how fun they are really soon!

Here’s our teacher in action and we’re still waiting for her to give Paige a turn at being teacher.

Do you see that table behind Paige & JM? That’s the coffee table. Here at the rental house we’ve had improvise a “play area” in this little space in the back of the family room. So, the coffee table has become JM’s “town” as he calls it. We’re not sure if he has a future in city planning or hoarding.

The scary thing is he knows if something is out of place!

In other things to report, the girls were chosen from their classes to ride in our town’s old firetruck for a parade during Red Ribbon Week. My kindergartener & 1st grader are both proud to be drug free, and Morgan told me she had better things to do than drugs. I won’t get on a soapbox about teaching kindergarteners & 1st graders about drugs. I tried to tell myself that sadly in our world there are some kindergartners & 1st graders out there who do know about drug abuse and hopefully educating them about the dangers is beneficial to their little souls. I really just tried to be thankful that at this point in their lives they are clueless about drugs.

One night I roasted brussels sprouts with balsamic vinegar & maple syrup…

Justin walked in from work and said the house smelled like a “dead mammal”. Awesome! Eat up! Thankfully they tasted way better than they smelled. I read sooo many recipes, have heard rave reviews and not a single person mentioned that your house would smell like a “dead mammal”. They taste like baby cabbages, so I’m not sure why I didn’t realize they’d smell like them too.

Being at the beach in the fall looks a little different than it does in the summer. We’ve been enjoying beautiful sunsets and had  great “family” night this past weekend, it included a “bonfire”, freshly caught fried fish, and s’mores.

Speaking of fresh fish, I think this may be the most hilarious fish I’ve seen Justin pull from the bay! It’s a Sheepshead, it looks awesome and tastes even better!

With these killer braces my teeth might be straighter than his now!

Speaking of fishing, this is how Paige fishes. She has a new friend, Georgia, who let Paige borrow a few “ballerina” outfits for Halloween. Paige wore them everyday until Halloween and for Halloween!

Justin’s also been diligently baiting our crab traps, and he patiently steams & cleans the crabs so we can enjoy unbelievably good crab cakes! {I used Paula Deen’s recipe with far less oil in the pan and omitted the green pepper} They’re a delicious labor of love!

I took JM to the dentist last week to have a cavity filled. He was a total champion! His reward was a matchbox car & trip to the farmer’s market where we enjoyed a lunch of boiled peanuts & satsumas!!!

I’m pretty sure that brings us to Halloween…

We have a farmer, a ballerina, and a fireman. And it looks like our fireman has a fake head. Not sure how he pulled that one off, no pun intended.

We hit a local neighborhood where the homes are close together and aren’t vacated {a common occurrence when you live at the beach}…

We were even fortunate to meet up with some of our new friends!

Then we came home and analyzed the loot and broke the news that they couldn’t eat it before bed.

I believe that brings me up to speed! Time to get busy preparing for a weekend celebrating 7 years of life for Morgan back at the brown house!!