I love my hubby!

I love, love, love my hunk of a husband! Seventeen awesome years of marriage plus 5 years of dating has made for 25 years of bliss! (25 years?!?! Am I really that old?!? I can't believe my parents let me get married at 5 years old!!)

This guy works wonders in his office, can build just about anything- just give him some tools, is a b-b-q wizard and the most incredible father and husband one can imagine! Oh yeah, I failed to mention that he's an awesome athlete - he completed a 100 mile bike ride like it was nothing!

And he's all mine!


In love~
Laurie

I love my "joe"!

I love my morning cup of coffee!


Whether the sweltering heat of summer or the cold, cold mornings of winter, I must have my morning cup (well...cups) of coffee! And on Saturdays, when my wonderful hubby gets out of bed before me and starts the brew - man, what a sweet smell to be awakened to!

The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Running on caffeine~
Laurie

The month of love

Ah, February. The month when the cold air and bitter winds of winter have taken their toll on all of us and our urge for warm weather is almost unbearable! But hidden in this chilly month is a holiday to celebrate the thing that all of us yearn for....LOVE!


So, in celebration of that wonderful four-letter word, I am going to write a post each day for all of the things that I love! And being that it is already Feb. 2nd, I will start with two things! (These are in no particular order, so no one get their feelings hurt, please!!!)
I love, love, love to workout! It is my time for ME! My favorite is when I get to escape to the gym at 5:30 in the morning (no, that is not a typo!) I love getting out of bed and heading to the gym when is it still dark, getting a good sweat going, and returning home before most of the family has awakened! (No Mom, I don't glisten, I sweat, sorry!) But, being a mother of two young un's I can't do that every day, so other days, I get them to school and workout before I run my errands. But either way, my kick-boxing/spinning/weight-lifting makes me happy!
I love that my kids will eat lots of healthy foods! You name it; almost every fruit or vegetable is eaten by our two little ones! O.K., I haven't mastered tomatoes or onions, but I can puree those and they never know the difference. Broccoli, asparagus, edamame, green beans ... are eaten without a battle, and the list goes on! This just makes any mother feel good! (I do balance the nutritional items with some sugary treats -- come on, what's a mom to do?!?)

Smiles~
Laurie

I can!

I know what you are thinking..."You can what?" And my response is "I can!" And you say, "Huh?" Let me explain.

I'm not much of a New Year's Resolutioner. I mean, I definitely can think of a lot of things that I could try harder at or do better in, but I'm just not one to make a specific resolve. I guess my tiny resolution for this year is to drink more water. You know, for better skin and for losing weight, etc. and I've done really good at it so far! So, if you need me, you'll find me in the bathroom most of the time; O.K.?

Anyway, I am a self-proclaimed blog stalker and run across a lot of recipes, craft ideas and decorating ideas that inspire me. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I came across a recipe for a Crock-Pot Apple Butter. It sounded so delicious and so easy, I said let's go for it! So, I bought 16 apples and some jars and was ready to start peeling. When I settled into reading the instructions, I found that after the apple butter leaves the crock-pot, it needs to be canned, as in "really canned" - like pioneer lady canned. Hmmmm, I say to myself...do I really want to get that involved? But I had 16 apples staring me in the face, so I decided to move forward.
Here is a simulation of me at the bus stop with my pioneer friends! NOT!

I had a Wal-Mart list to tackle and decided to pick up my canning supplies there. I searched and searched and searched and found nothing. I asked for their canning supply area and I got a cock-eyed, glazed stare. "We don't carry that kind of stuff." I retreated home and spent the afternoon sending emails, and calling stores searching for my coveted canning kit. Much to my surprise, no one carries it locally. Seriously?!?! I thought living in the South required some folks to can. But I was wrong. I finally turned to my "helpful-hardware man" at Ace and they ordered it for me and had it shipped to the store free-of-charge! They were also the only store that had a live person answer the phone AND that person understood what I was saying and knew exactly what I was talking about! Two days later I went and picked up my new hobby in a box! Let the following pictures tell the rest of my story....

My hobby in a box!

My first thought was ..."Oh my, will I be this happy when I'm canning?!?!"

Apples! Sugar and spice and everything nice -- yummm!

Mix the yummy-ness together!

Put it in the Crock-Pot -- nighty, night!

Ten hours later it goes from this, to this.... to this.... to this...And now I am ready to give some incredibly delicious treats to the teachers for Valentine's Day!

And you know what?!?!? I had a blast! I can't wait to make another batch for my friends and then tackle a new recipe! So, I guess I'll say that as a New Year's Resolution, I'll take on some new adventures in the kitchen! I really am a pioneer woman at heart! Hmmmmm, as I look over the horizon I wonder what my next canning adventure will be?
I think I can, I think I can~
Laurie

"A" is for....

AWESOME!

Yesterday was "Winter Report Card Day" for Sam. And guess what?!?! He got all A's! Way to go big guy! We are so proud of you!


I think he's a little proud, too!

Happy~
Laurie

P.S. Mom and Dad are excited about all of the S's in conduct, too!

Welcome 2010!

I found an awesome quote for the new year! (I posted it on my Facebook page on New Year's Day, so sorry if you've already read it!) But, here goes...

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Reading this just gives me chills, because it is so true! We are all a blank book and we are the ones responsible for how our story plays out. So, now I ponder...how will my book read!?! A mystery? A folk tale?

I predict it will be an adventure tale with some drama (I'm sure of it), some comedy (lots, I hope!), some romance (again, LOTS, I hope!!) with tons of "feel-good" moments and, of course, with Sam and Lily around...high-jinx will abound! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I know I owe some updates and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we have a lazy snow day tomorrow! That way, I can bundle up in my Snuggie and sit on the sofa and type away! I'll leave you with a few of pics...

Snow!!!!!!!!!!!
(Click on the picture and you will see that she has snow on her tongue!)

Here's the part where my adventure begins...


What better way to start the New Year than with a New Year's Day hike!

Opportunity abounds~
Laurie

Christmastime is here!!!!

You know this song. The precious little tune that has Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and all of the gang singing along!
As I listened to this song today, I just couldn't believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve! The build up to the "big day" is about to be over. I really can't believe it. It's been a busy holiday season, but seriously, if it weren't, it just wouldn't feel right. I love making the treats for the kids school parties, the handmade goodies for the teachers and neighbors and shopping for just the right gift for the family. So, come Dec. 26th, the sadness starts to set in.

This has been one of those short Christmas seasons, where the calendar only gives us three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But I look at all that we've done in this time and it seems longer! Here, take a peek...
The kids had a great visit with Santa and made sure they relayed their list of wants to him! (A loooong list of wants!)


We had a fun night with Aunt Janet watching the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and a fun evening downtown!
I had fun waiting in line for the coveted Zhu-Zhu pet for Lily Clare! (I guess I'm glad that she can't read this!)



Our neighborhood held it's annual ladies ornament exchange and it was as fun as ever! Plenty of food and an overabundance of fun! What a great group of ladies!
Lily Clare discovered a new way to smile!
Have any of you seen reindeer in person?!? They are so magical!



This past weekend we had a super Givens family Christmas gathering!



Sam and Lily built gingerbread houses. And I'm not sure if the houses or their stomachs received more candy. But they had a blast and the results are beautiful! Oh, did I mention who was the brains behind the engineering of the houses.......

(John and Tony, please don't be mad!)

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and it's "THE" night of magic! We will host some of John's family and then we will head to Chattanooga on Saturday for the Moore gathering! So, I do get to stretch out my celebration through the weekend.

Until I catch you up on the last of our Christmas fun, I will leave you with this...



Taking it in~
Laurie