Moments

One Movie and One Concert Not To Be Missed

Thursday, October 20, 2011 By Sherra 13 Comments

Two things we did this summer that I forgot to tell you and you should put on your “to do” list…

See the movie “The Help”

I read the book last year and couldn’t put it down. I admit that I have low expectations whenever a book is turned into a movie. The people in my mind don’t match who they cast in the movie role. I also know you can’t cram all the depth of a book into 2 hours.

But in this case, I thought they did a stellar job and the casting was excellent.

Read the book before or after. Elizabeth bought the book after we saw the movie. Big endorsement as reading is not her favorite activity!

Either way, I believe the movie will entertain you, make you laugh, make you cry and most importantly make you think.

It’s worthy of discussion as a family.

#2

See Keith Urban in concert.

Even if you don’t like country music. Even if you don’t score bargain last minute day of the concert tickets on craigslist like I did. Go ahead and splurge.

Photo courtesy of Joanna

One of the top three concerts we’ve ever been to.

This is from rocker PhilBillPaul who is not the biggest country music lover in the house.

I am.

The darling twins are.

They grabbed last minute tickets after they found out I did so it was fun to meet them in the lobby before the show.

They agreed and said best concert E.V.E.R.

Leave a comment and let me know if you’ve already seen the movie, read the book or fallen in love with Keith Urban in concert…

Filed Under: Moments, Raves

We Don’t Understand Rugby

Monday, September 19, 2011 By Sherra 7 Comments

Here’s a little “Where’s Waldo?” for your Monday.

Except it’s “Where’s Rachel?”

The game last weekend was against Georgia Tech.

She’s the scrawny one in blue to the left of #3.

They lift her up because it’s part of the game. We’re not sure what part but I think it’s when the ball goes out of bounds. Maybe.

And she’s scrawny. We think they need to lift her up higher. This is just our observation since they haven’t asked us for any coaching tips.

She’s #9.

We cheered when she scored. Even though they lost in the end. It was close like 3-2 but we don’t know how to keep score so maybe it was 21-17 or 100-87.

She has no fear. It worries me.

We cover our eyes a lot. Because just like in basketball she doesn’t care how big the girl is, she wants the ball.

I swear she is smiling while watching this pileup. I’m just glad she wasn’t at the bottom of the pile. For once.

We don’t understand this sport. We don’t understand why she loves it so much.

We are thankful only one darling twin is playing this year.

Who here enjoys watching rugby?

Who here enjoys watching one of their babies play rugby?

Why?

Filed Under: Finding the Funny, Moments

Reflections on a “Normal” Weekend

Monday, September 12, 2011 By Sherra 5 Comments

I’m writing this on Sunday evening after a weekend of what we consider to be “normal.”

I am still challenged to define normal because I don’t think it exists.

I know you have all been covered up with TV, magazine and internet stories about that fateful day in our country’s history. Frankly, I don’t think there are ever too many stories or too much coverage. I think we easily forget on a day-to-day basis as we go about our “normal” lives.

This year, more than others, probably because of the decade mark but also because of the age of my kids, we all talked out loud more.

It made me think of Alan Jackson’s powerful song, “Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)” as discussions were based around remembering where you were the moment you heard the news of the planes hitting the towers.

This weekend we spent a lot of time talking about 9/11. Scary Baby had so many questions after they discussed it in school and she came home and looked back at our 2001 family photo album.

We prayed for those who lost so much. We spent some time reflecting on the last 10 years of our lives.

Ten years ago…

We had a two year-old whose biggest questions were about things like the caterpillar crawling up her arm at my Uncle Jack’s in Indiana.

My daughters and nieces stood still for a quick photo at our annual Kivett family reunion just a week and 2 days before September 11, 2001.

Just 3 days before on September 9, 2001, our oldest pumpkin turned 12. They all attended a private Christian school and wore mom-loved school uniforms.

All the students wrote letters to President Bush in their classes.

His darling twin sisters were ten.

They donated teddy bears with a pink heart attached with their own handwritten note to give to children who had lost someone on that dreadful day.

How could I know that ten years later…

That our now 12-year old precocious 7th grader would be our most challenging 12 year-old we have yet to raise but we are hoping it will come full circle when she takes care of us in the nursing home.

She always has to test out the college sister’s bunk beds when we visit.

How could I know that ten years later…

Our then 12 year-old pumpkin would become a 22 year-old man-child semi-adult…

Who would still let me take a picture of him with his new book bag in his senior year at college at Georgia State?

How could I know that ten years later…

Those darling twins would choose to serve our country.

No one could have told me my teeny tiny baby daughters would become Soldiers.

But this is our new “normal” and in between the dirty pig rooms and me being a “mean mom” and PhilBillPaul being a “nice dad”, I go to bed every single night and count my blessings.

We spent the weekend doing “normal” things and tried to explain to Scary Baby that this is what we all do to prove they didn’t take our “normal” away.

While Elizabeth was at a Military Ball for her unit…

Side note: Fellow married Soldier in her unit, not a date. Only picture I could get from her.

We went up to the North Georgia mountains and met Rachel and friends for lunch.

Jordan and Jenna loved the pancakes.

We admired the girls’ view out their dorm room window.

Someday we know they will appreciate it as much as we do.

The view makes up for (at least a little) the spartan dorm rooms that they live in as cadets.

The cadet military dorms are a far cry from the typical college student who gets to buy new comforters, build lofts, hang wall art and decorate their new home away from home with brightly colored lamps and fun desk accessories.

The choices they have made will serve them well long after they have to sleep on a scratchy green army blanket.

We are proud parents and we need to sing their praises directly to them more than we do.

We spent a beautiful afternoon watching a not so beautiful sport.

Circus baby is the one with the ball as they played Georgia Tech.

We explained to Scary Baby that we would continue to gather and laugh and love and keep on living in our wonderful country. That we would celebrate our freedom and thank those who continue to fight for it every day.

We promised we would never forget.

We haven’t.

I’m never too busy to stop and watch one more poignant short video and hope you aren’t either.

It seems like such a small gesture to sit in a quiet place and reflect.

If you need anymore good reading to help you remember the richness of our lives that we sometimes take for granted, please take the time to read an excerpt from a book worth buying called The Legacy Letters by TuesdaysChildren.org.

I believe that part of remembering and honoring people is to take some time to feel the pain of what others have lost…

Questions for a father lost on 9/11 from Motherlode, a NY Times blog.

I know it makes me more grateful.

Thanks for reading to the end and helping me remember.

Did you and your family do anything special to honor the heroes of 9/11 over the weekend?

Filed Under: Life Lessons, Milestones, Moments

DIY Kitchen Renovations ~ Cabinets

Monday, August 22, 2011 By Sherra 6 Comments

What do you do with 20 year-old honey oak cabinets that your husband loves but you know need to be updated?

He gets cranky when you talk about painting wood.

He likes the real wood grain to show.

After several long meetings with my friend Google, I had enough ammunition to show him some options that we would both like.

I started out this whole kitchen renovation thing with making everything light. I thought we would do light counters and even lighter cabinets. I was thinking of a soft cream with a dark brown antique glaze.

Once the counters were done, I changed my mind completely. I wish I had made the countertops darker when I was using the Giani Granite paint kit. When the tile backsplash went up, I knew we needed to make the cabinets chocolate brown to pull colors from both the counter and the backsplash.

I read dozens of blogs about painting, glazing and stripping cabinets. I was searching for the least labor intensive way to give the cabinets a new look.

Here are some great tutorials that really helped us:

How to Paint & Glaze Cabinets
This was the look I originally thought we would go with.

How To: Reglaze Honey Oak
When I changed my mind about going darker, this was great to read except she sanded and I refused!

How to Paint Cabinets::For Imperfectionists
She’s speaking directly to me!

Deciding on a cross between several methods we read about and eliminating as many steps as we could, we finally agreed to create our own glaze with color kit.

Products we knew we needed:

Deglosser (to avoid any sanding – hate it)
Glaze
Paint (to mix with glaze)
Polycrylic (topcoat for glossy finish)

I saw the Valspar paint samples and got the nice Lowe’s man to mix up two chocolate samples for me which turned out to be exactly the right amount of paint we needed for $6 bucks.

We stuck with 4 parts glaze to 1 part paint and tested this on the smallest doors.

We also found that the cheap foam brushes worked much better than regular paint brushes. The brushes left brush marks and I hated that look.

Ready to Work

First, PhilBillPaul removed all the door fronts and labeled them so we could put them back in the right place.

Next, cleaning with Dollar Store degreaser.

Doing all this outside or in the garage would be great but since it’s 110 degrees in the shade here in Georgia right now, I set up the cabinet work in the family room.

Next step was wiping deglosser on with a scrubber pad so we didn’t have to sand. This was the strongest smell so PhilBillPaul did this part because smells are a real migraine trigger for me.

I came back downstairs to do the glaze painting. Only three thin glaze coats later…

And three polycrylic topcoats…

We both love the results.

Thank goodness!

He also spray painted all the old hardware with a brushed nickel finish. We can both live with them for now and may get wild and add new cabinet handles later. I’ve marked some on ebay.

Perhaps we ran out of steam and didn’t get the bottom cabinets done yet…

It’s really so you could see the dramatic difference changing the honey oak.

Did I mention that I also thought it was a good time to add beadboard to the island and several end cabinet surfaces?

Again, we went the budget route and used the mdf sheets from Home Depot and I’m fine with it. PhilBillPaul said it was a pain to work with.

He knocked that out last weekend but saved the painting for me. Hopefully when we paint it and he adds the trim to the edges and bottom, we’ll like it.

Cripes, we still have to paint the walls. And eight honey oak stools and one chair.

I haven’t even mentioned the rotting kitchen window. The house may collapse before we get the inside updated.

I promise to post pictures of the complete renovation. If it is ever complete. Check back in 2012 to see if we ever get this dang project done.

Meanwhile, if you missed our other kitchen projects:

The Craigslist appliances
The countertops resurfaced
The glass tile backsplash

Filed Under: Finding the Funny, Moments, Raves

DIY Nursing Care

Wednesday, June 15, 2011 By Sherra 5 Comments

It’s not enough that we now have to be our own cashier, banker, waiter and candlestick maker with all the customer service friendly businesses where you now provide your own customer service.

We now announce Do-It-Yourself Nursing.

A week and a half before his surgery and because we didn’t have enough stress at the house, The Grunter arrived home early from his new job and announced he had injured himself.

This is when I check myself out of parenting responsibilities.

Because I don’t do blood or vomit.

Believe me, I do enough other stuff so don’t start thinking PhilBillPaul has to do everything. And don’t say in your head or out loud “Poor PhilBillPaul” in that voice ~~my mother~~ Junebug uses.

Thanks.

I suggested that PhilBillPaul take a look at his injury because he is an expert on personal injury. This is when his voice actually got higher as he squealed, “OH BOY, OH GEEZ, OH EVERETT YOU HAVE TO GET TO A DOCTOR…” I knew it must be bad.

They headed to an urgent care facility assigned by his new employer that was open 24 hours. Arriving back home at 2:30 a.m. they reported that it was not broken but the doctor said he was lucky because he almost blew the tip of his finger off.

This from pinching it between two big metal doors that reportedly weighed 1,000 pounds each.

Ouch.

Everett did not shed a tear or dance around screaming like I would have been. He did embrace the Tylenol #3.

When we went back for the followup appointment, he came out to the lobby carrying this bag.

He had to ask the receptionist/nurse?/person in scrubs for scissors so he could wrap his own injury.

Really?

I’m sure this is part of the new plan to make healthcare more affordable.

Can’t wait to do my own mammogram this year and PhilBillPaul finally goes in for his overdue colonoscopy.

Filed Under: Finding the Funny, Little Lessons, Moments

North Carolina Mountains

Monday, April 18, 2011 By Sherra 4 Comments

Continuing with our nature theme from last week, here are a few pictures of our day trip to North Carolina during Scary Baby’s spring break.

This is what life looks like as an only child. She has to travel with her ~~grand~~parents and stop at every scenic overlook and take pictures.

Luckily, she actually enjoys it.

Or pretends to.

PhilBillPaul wanted to show us some areas he had seen on a motorcycle ride.

The waterfalls were gorgeous.

We loved this one that they cut the road into so you can drive under the waterfall.

Scary Baby wanted me to take some “jumping” pictures of her.

Obviously my photography skills are shining here.

We stopped in downtown Highlands for ice cream and Scary Baby grabbed the camera to show me what she wanted for Easter.

She’s so funny.

We told her she ruined her surprise and we were going to cancel the order we had already placed.

Right.

Filed Under: Moments, Tweens

An 11-year-old’s View of Spring in the South

Monday, April 11, 2011 By Sherra 15 Comments

It started with a few seed packets.

Then she negotiated for a couple of six-packs of flowers.

The warm weather got her in the flower gardening mood.

With very little supervision she planted everything in the front yard.

Directly in the path of the mower.

And the curb where people walk and extra cars park.

“Because they needed full sun.”

And Dad said they would be prettier in the front yard.

Not a great plan.

When I saw this sign on Sunday morning…

I gently suggested that she could move things to the backyard where there is full sun.

And we could remove the sign that I thought bordered on bad manners.

Since I have given up yardwork for ~~lent~~ ever.

Dad could build a small raised bed and it could be her own little garden.

One quick trip to the store and a bribe of another six-pack of flowers and she was all in.

While I sat glued to the TV watching The Masters and (clapping whenever Tiger missed in honor of my Uncle Jack ), she got busy and replanted everything.

I said “Take some pictures of your new little garden.”

She said “I want to take some pictures of the azaleas and cherry tree for Grandma.”

I showed her the macro setting on the little digital camera.

She went outside and came back with these…

Her cute little flower bed. Thanks Dad.

Green trees and blue skies!

Grandma, here’s the cherry tree in the front yard she wanted you to see.

One of our most favorite things about living in the South are the azaleas…

I have to enjoy all this from inside because the pollen and my allergies can equal migraine right now.

She even captured the neighbor’s dogwood tree.

I think we have a budding photographer on our hands.

Pun intended.

In case it’s not quite Spring at your house, hope you enjoy Scary Baby’s photo shoot of what’s happening around our house!

Filed Under: Finding the Funny, Moments, Raves, Tweens

Pot Roast & Bananagrams

Monday, April 4, 2011 By Sherra 4 Comments

Calm and quiet weekend here.

My favorite kind.

One darling daughter came home for one night.

We watched The Final Four basketball games together.

She took her baby sister to a movie.

And bought her new glasses. Her second pair of these fashion accessory only glasses.

She requested her favorite home cooked meal.

Pot roast, Granny’s noodles, mashed potatoes, corn and rolls.

Gosh, could I cram one more starch in to that meal?

We sent her home with the leftovers so her darling twin sister and friends could indulge in a homecooked meal this week.

Minus the pleasure of our company means it won’t be as good but I hope they’ll enjoy it.

I even included a dozen chocolate chip caramel cookies I baked on Saturday.

After dinner, we played a quick round of Bananagrams.

Have you played this fun game yet?

Back in February when Scary Baby and I played eleven rounds of Boggle and she said we were going to continue to play until she beat me, I had to tell her that was impossible.

When I shared Scary Baby’s relentless quest for a Boggle victory, my friend Ann said she had a great word game she would send us promising as much fun or more for the whole family.

We love it!

Not bragging, but no one has beat me at this one either.

Then we watched a little of the Country Music Awards while the boys headed to a movie together.

So nice to have you all to ourselves Wizzy!

We missed you Roger Leroy.

How was your weekend?

Filed Under: Finding the Funny, Food, Moments, Teens, Tweens

Valentine’s Day ~ Easy Gift Ideas

Monday, February 14, 2011 By Sherra 2 Comments

We headed up to North Georgia to visit the darling twins last week.

Because we hadn’t seen them in at least seven days.

We said we would take them to dinner.

So Elizabeth Rachel both of them invited most of the team to join us.

I lovingly announced we were not buying dinner for the whole team.

After a 45 minute wait for burgers and sandwiches, we all headed over to the gym.

We really came to watch intramural basketball and this was the Fighting Red Hens second game.

We specifically asked if they would be embarrassed to have their parents in attendance knowing full well that this was a collegiate activity that parents don’t typically attend.

They assured us that they would love for us to come as would their friends.

As we got settled in the bleachers, Rachel quickly pointed out there were other old people there. Yes, that’s right two other sets of parents came to embarrass their children.

The Red Hens won! The opposing team, The Tribe, displayed some pretty poor sportsmanship. Geez, who knew intramurals was so competitive these days?

Elizabeth is coaching instead of playing…much to her dismay. She still has a back injury and has not been able to do any physical activity for almost a month.

We had so much fun I think we’re going back this week.

Early Valentine’s Day Gifts

At the last minute before we left home, I realized we wouldn’t see them for Valentine’s Day and I had a couple of little things to give them.

I dug around for some little clearance boxes I knew I had put somewhere. I grabbed two pieces of tissue paper in a drawer I hide things from Scary Baby. There were two pink gift bags folded neatly there. I threw them in a bag too so I could put my thoughtful gifts together in the car on the way.

Yes, I’m a planner.

As PhilBillPaul was driving, I discovered the cute little boxes were not going to hold my gifts. I had to re-use the gift bags that I obviously saved to re-use. How perfect that they were pink.

I wish I had video of the priceless moment when I presented Rachel with her pink striped gift bag. Elizabeth had opened hers earlier so she just posed for the picture.

Rachel looked less than thrilled when she saw Victoria’s Secret on the bag.

I said:

“You can open it now.”

“It’s a thong.”

She said:

“No”

“No thanks.”

Elizabeth and I laughed pretty hard.

I said:

“It’s not a thong.”

“Like I’d really buy you a thong for Valentine’s Day or any day?”

It was a t-shirt and candy.

Give me a little credit.

On Friday, I sent Rachel a text:

“R u wearing ur new thong today?”

Her reply:

“I am wearing it now it’s nice and snug.”

Me:

“Glad it fit!”

The Grunter and Scary Baby did not get thongs.

Just a cute box filled with Hershey’s kisses that fit nicely in the little boxes.

And a free doughnut.

We’re all about chocolate and sugar.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Happy Birthday Martha!

What are you giving or getting for Valentine’s Day?

Filed Under: Finding the Funny, Moments, Teens

Snow Updates and Superbowl

Monday, February 7, 2011 By Sherra 9 Comments

The theme is still snow since I asked for Midwest blizzard snow pictures.

One came via my cell phone on Friday.

My cell phone only shows the phone number and no contact name so I opened the message.

“This is from my sister in Milwaukee area”

“Our mailbox is almost buried. The drift in front of my house is over my head.”

It took me a few minutes but I figured out it was from my friend Peggy. Wow, Scary Baby and Wizzy were impressed. They wanted more details on snow drifts and how they get out if the road and mailbox are buried in snow.

Thanks Peggy!

I sent some texts with a little bossy peer pressure for these next pictures.

My younger sister lives in a submarine

My niece sent me these pictures of their portholes.

Okay, just kidding. Submarines don’t have siding.

Did Grace do all the shoveling?

Abby said they didn’t have a yardstick or measuring tape. Abby is 5’7″ to give you some idea of snow depth.

My Shovel is Bigger Than Your Shovel

My friend Ann lives near the Quad Cities (Illinois/Iowa border) and they got a little snow too.

Some people don’t mess with wimpy, little hand shovels.

That is an 8 foot privacy fence.

Aren’t you suppose to store or cover your lawn furniture before the snow does?

That is a poor little wiener dog.

Superbowl Fun

This year it was really all about the food and being together.

Because we weren’t really fans of either team. But since we needed to root for a team and the Bears or Colts weren’t contenders we went with the Packers.

Excellent choice I must say.

Christina Aguilera messing up the National Anthem was a blooper we had to rewind several times. She kept singing and covered but it was cringe-worthy.

Our professional assessment:

Half-time show: weird.
Commercials: marginal.
Game: Pretty good to watch.
Food: Very good.

PhilBillPaul picked up some boneless wings that I thought should have been called nuggets. I made a hot dip and a cold dip.

Recipe for Deviled Egg Dip that I only used about a teaspoon of hot sauce in.
Recipe for Mexican Cheese Dip that is ridiculously easy and very mild and you could spice it up if you want.

Plus bacon sour cream roll-ups that Scary Baby and The Grunter wanted.

My friend Ann wanted the recipe so I created this handy photo tutorial for her.

Make four rectangles out of your ~~crumbling expired reduced fat~~ crescent roll dough on a cutting board or wax paper if you don’t want to wash an extra item.

Divide the chilled filling between the four rectangles and spread out.

Don’t spread it all the way to the edges or the filling will ooze out like this when you roll them up. I’ve only made these about 40 times so I forgot.

Slice in about 8 pieces per roll.

Bake until golden brown.

What?

Oh, you want the ingredients?! Sorry, this is not a food blog and I almost forgot that. This is a very complicated Midwest recipe I got from my cousin Sally many years ago.

Bacon Sour Cream Roll-ups

1 can of crescent rolls
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crispy
1/2 C sour cream
pinch of garlic powder

Mix up and chill 3 filling ingredients. Spread on to 4 crescent roll rectangles (pinch seams together first). Roll up and slice. Bake at 375 degrees for 11-13 minutes or until golden brown.

Scary Baby helped make the Knox Blox pennants.