Chitlin' Hoedown!

Today we made our annual trek with friends to Yatesville, home of the Chitlin' Hoedown. An entire day spent eating roadside barbecue and Maw Maw's fried pies (fortunately still in operation after her death last summer), scarfing down boiled peanuts, packing in loads of people watching, enjoying the best Chitlin' parade EVER, and just generally hanging out with friends in the sunshine - what could be better? In all the years that we've been going, I don't think we've ever taken a camera. First pictures ever of Chitlin' Fest! We got some great pictures inside a building that we've admired for several years, and also paid a stop to the Full Gospel Thrift Store on the way home. Although no purchases were made at Full Gospel and no one actually ate the chitlins this year (Donald is the only one to have ever claimed that prize), we can always hope for next year! Welcome to Yatesville!
The Chitlin' Window - Where the magic happens! Just don't stand downwind...

Yum! That's the combo plate, not the scrap plate. I'm still not clear what you'd get if you ordered that one.

Picnic on the lawn

Waiting for the parade to begin

Mr. and Mrs. Chitlin'! This was the first of three fantastic Mustangs to appear in the parade this year. I could hardly pay attention to anything else...but then the Shriners came by!

Possibly my favorite float - you know how I love hats!

Well, this one was good, too!

As was this one - Not sure where the "real" left off and the "costume" began on this guy.

I just liked the slogan on this one.

That's a tractor trailer with an airbrushed rendition of Da Vinci's Last Supper down the side. Don't see that very often.

Crowd shot - I love the guy in the foreground.

A rat tail hairdo and a REALLY smokin' shirt

The Andersons pose for a pic

Love ALL of these pictures - This building is open to the sky and has beautiful weathered brick inside and out.

See you next year!

Lazy Sunday Morning

While I went to church to fill in for the sick pianist, Donald and Emily stayed at home and had Daddy-Daughter day. When I left, they were water painting at the kitchen table. I came home to find lots of new pieces of artwork on display. What better way to spend the afternoon - curled up in front of the fire with the family watching Project Runway?? Glad that Emily likes it, too - I'm getting a little burned out on the Wiggles. She's discovered a renewed love of them the last few weeks and I have caught myself humming "Fruit Salad" in the car on the way to work. Hope your Sunday is equally lazy!

Love this one!

Fun at the Fair

While Donald helped the GYSTC by selling tickets at the Coweta Fair this weekend, I took both girls to the Fair to see the sights. We had an excellent time trying out all of the different rides, eating some divine corndogs, and petting lots of animals at the livestock barn. Emily was very brave about going on the rides, as was Abby. Also, I learned that it takes about ten minutes to completely dry out a child's wet sock underneath a bathroom hand dryer. An exciting day!

Glad I brought along scarves and hats. Brrr!

We rode the merry-go-round about four times!

Loved the roller coaster!

Emily bailed on this ride at the last minute. Brave Abby!

She thought this car was jazzy.

Only eight days old!

Emily asked if this is where turkey comes from. I didn't want to go into too much detail about that.

Hee haw! They were careful with this one - Remember that Abby was bitten by the donkey on a preK field trip!

All tuckered out

Library Tea Party

The Newnan Central Library is absolutely fantastic and has loads of fun things for children to do. We visited there last weekend for Science Saturday (that's right - I'm married to Bill Nye and Emily is following in his footsteps) and had a fun time making Oobleck (cornstarch and water) and listening to stories. This happens the second Saturday of each month, if anyone out there is interested! They also have lots of other fun things for little ones to do but many events are held during the week so that working mommies like myself miss out on all the fun. Fortunately, today was one of my furlough days and I was able to take Emily to the Fancy Schmancy Tea Party, which is held once per quarter. Lots of fun! She had a great time listening to stories, sipping tea, and making tissue paper flowers with about twenty other very fancy boys and girls. If I had to take a furlough day, this was definitely the way to spend it! We even got to meet Donald for lunch later and take a quick trip to the "old store" - always a favorite (mine, not Donald's). If you were also celebrating Furlough Day today, I hope it was a good one for you!

She loves to strike a pose.

Having some snacks
Cute decorations - and she even drank real tea with sugar cubes.

Meeting some new friends

Showing off her artwork

Not the greatest photo of us - Donald caught us both before we smiled! But it's the only one I have of the two of us. She was just about finished with picture-taking at this point and was in need of a nap. What a treat fpr me to get to take a nap midday. I love it! I would be so much more productive at work if I could have a thirty minute power nap after lunch.

Movie Night

Abby joined us for Movie Night at the White House tonight. The girls made pizza for dinner (along with tater tots - yum!) and then watched The Muppets Take Manhattan while Donald cooked some delicious brownies. Emily has gotten very into the Muppets after watching them On Demand a few times. They took a break from the movie for a bit to chase each other around the house screaming and to help Donald pop some popcorn old-school style on the stove. This was fascinating for them both! We finished up the evening with a swim in the big tub. I promised them s'mores but had fed them so much junk up to this point that I figured we could hold off on those for another evening. Can't give away all my tricks at once! Dinner on a blanket in front of the fire with every stuffed animal we own- always an exciting experience.
A little more popcorn after taking a bath

Cuddling on the couch together to catch the last of the Muppets - I LOVE it when Miss Piggy and Kermit finally get married!

Interior Decorating

Between me and Mimi, Emily gets to watch lots of HGTV. Apparently, it is wearing off on her. Here are two pictures of her latest decorating projects.

I pulled out my totes of fall decorating stuff and began putting things out this weekend. Emily decided to help me out in the dining room by decorating her pink piano. She scammed several things from my box of goodies, including several pieces of fabric, a few pumpkins, and some leaves. She also scavenged throughout the house for several other non-seasonal items to include in the mix. This decorating scheme has many layers - note the Halloween stickers above the keyboard on the piano, the stuffed rat ("because rats go with Halloween"), and the picture of me and Donald (are we in the same league as the rats and the jack-o-lanterns? Not sure about the reasoning behind this choice.) She was very proud of her work and refused to let me have back the resin pumpkin, even though I offered to trade her a garland of silk leaves. I assume she didn't want to compromise the integrity of her design.

Don't blink. You're seeing correctly. That's a toilet seat decorated with cartoon character Band-Aids. She is very proud of this work of art and gets agitated if I mention taking them off. Like any four-year-old, Emily loves Band-Aids and always has some boo-boo (real or invented) that needs attention. One afternoon, I indulged in a little reading while she was playing. When I noticed she had been quiet for a bit, I went looking for her and found her in the midst of creating this masterpiece. It's in the guest bathroom, so come on by and visit it sometime!

Fun Times!

I forgot to post this picture with her birthday pics. This is a girl who has seriously eaten too much Publix cupcake icing. I don't know how we got her to go to bed that night. She looks kind of like a rock star at the after-party...

Showing Off Schoolwork

I so look forward to going through Emily's school bag on the afternoons she goes to school. She is learning so much each day and it is always a joy to look at what she's accomplished in class that day. Here she is showing off a picture of herself that she made during the first week. Notice that everything is in pink and purple. Miss Dina and Miss Jamie try but they have so far been unsuccessful in convincing her that there are other colors in Crayola's repertoire. It is her signature color!

Apple Picking in Ellijay

Last weekend we journeyed north to Ellijay to pick some apples with Emily. It was a long drive, but definitely worth it! What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon - eating apple fritters as big as dinner plates, having a delicious picnic of candied apples, cider, and boiled peanuts in the sunshine, and exploring an orchard with my two favorite peeps. I have given apples to everyone I know and still have a bowlful sitting on my counter! As for the fritters and boiled peanuts, those were gone before we even left the parking lot. Chitlin' Festival is right around the corner, though. Bring on the boiled peanuts and barbecue! Yum!
A rare family shot. The nice orchard lady took it for us.

Hard at work

Such a pretty place! These are Rome Beauty trees. Makes me want to buy a farm. Wait a minute...there's one for sale right down the road from us! I could be making my own soap and homemade pies by Christmas!

Em's favorite way to travel

I love this picture! Only their feet were showing.

Miss Stripey Pants