Monday, January 31, 2011

We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do...And a Luncheon...

Spirit of Athens is an organization that I have mentioned countless times on my blog. The work being done by SOA to revitalize our downtown and keep it thriving is simply awe inspiring. The annual Awards Luncheon was held recently, and I was honored to be a part of the planning committee. We had a full house!



It didn't look quite as full when we got started though. We brought in tables, centerpieces, linens, china, and more.


Each centerpiece was lent to us by stores located in downtown. That made them even more special! I loved this pot.


Each piece of pottery was carefully decorated with greenery and moss.


Herson is in this picture working on centerpieces. He is absolutely precious. He lives with a family here in town that brought him to the United States to go to college. They first met him when he was a little boy living in Guatemala. The family was there on a mission trip, stayed in close contact, sponsored him, and are now putting him through college. How touching is that story?


Each of the VIP tables was graced with fine china. This was no easy task. I was a little nervous driving around town with all my china in the back of the Volvo and was equally as nervous to handle the china that belonged to others.


Pamphlets were placed on the general tables, which were covered in burlap for a small town feel. Greenish mason jars filled with decorative stones and candles were the centerpieces for these tables.


Everything turned out so pretty. I was almost shocked by how good it looked. The event was held in the Rogers Center of the Presbyterian Church. It's a multipurpose building that also houses the youth department upstairs.


Everyone who came looked so nice too! Tiffany and Teresa are two of the sweetest people I know.


What would a local event be without Mayor Ronnie Marks and his lovely wife?


Our local culinary arts program graciously allowed us to borrow a few students to help with serving, keeping drinks refreshed, and cleaning the tables.


Elizabeth is a board member and good friends with Tiffany. Don't they look happy? :)


A lot of the downtown business owners were there including Josh from the Village Pizza that I am always tweeting about!


The Sweetest Things Tea Room catered the majority of the food. It was a hit!


Even a few local senators came out to the luncheon! Thank you Sentors Holtzclaw and Orr for attending. Also, Representative Williams was there.


This is the Todd family. I just love them to death! My mom taught Evan when he was in Kindergarten.


Trisha, the executive director, sat and worked while everyone behind her and beside her enjoyed the delicious food.


One of my favorite parts of the luncheon was the music! We were lucky enough to have two extremely talented men come and play during the event. Charles and Grant get two thumbs up! It added to the ambience of the whole lunch.



I cannot say enough lovely things about Trisha. She has a set number of hours she is supposed to work each week, but she goes above and beyond that time and time again. She attends every downtown function and helps plan the majority of them. Trisha is an outstanding executive director.


Overall, it was a huge success. The organization committee put in a lot of hours and sweat into making this happen.

Thank you Teresa, Lisa, Diane, Herson, Wyn, Trisha, and the countless others who made this such a special affair for so many.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Little Trucks Everywhere...

Having a little boy in the house is much different to having little girls in the house. For years, our home was covered in pink and glitter. There were dance shoes and baby dolls everywhere. Christmas and birthdays were both consumed with American Girl prizes and hair bows.

Then, Layton came along. Things started to change. Blue was the newest color in our home. Bats, balls, and trucks started to creep their way into Christmas and birthdays.


Now every time I walk through the house, I step on a truck or car of some kind. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Would You Like to See My Small Intestine?...

Layton had to have some biopsies done recently to check to see if his digestive tract is improving with all the dietary and medicine changes. Honestly, I cannot tell you how nice Vanderbilt Children's Hospital is. It's one of those things that you have to experience, but they make a hospital stay so much more comfortable and pleasant for families.

For example, Layton was super bored before he finally got taken to the OR. He hadn't had anything to eat since the day before and was cranky too. The nurse went and got him a toy car to ride around in to keep him happy in the pre-op area.


Yes, gee gee had to go for a ride on his head. :)


He was so relaxed by the time they took him back. Part of it was probably the super comfy pajamas he got to wear. Ha!


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Can you see Monkey George on the bed? Even Monkey George got a bracelet! He was so cute.
Everything went well, and I should hear from the results soon. That's the worst part...the waiting.

Ha Ha, Papa Jimmy...

The children call Jay's dad Papa Jim. Except for Layton who has recently taken to calling him Papa Jimmy. No one even calls him Jimmy. Layton came up with it on his own. When we went out for lunch with them one weekend, Layton kept getting on the floor right behind Jim and reaching up his shirt to tickle him.


I think Layton thought it was funnier than Jim did!

By the way, he rocks the sweater vest look often. I am totally convinced he is a member of the rat pack reincarnated.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

What's Up?...

I'm not really sure what's up, but Layton's face tells a story. One dimple is showing. He's smirking. And the blond fro is looking adorable. It's the story of a happy little man.

Monday, January 24, 2011

The Day Another Man Kissed Me in Front of the Hubs...And The Hubs Liked It...

We don't go to a lot of concerts. I've been to quite a few in my life, but only because a friend's father owned the local radio station for years and years. He would let us work the concerts selling t-shirts, Cd's, etc as a way to make money for our majorette uniforms. Those are not cheap. Seriously.

Jay is a huge Guns 'N Roses fan. The Appetite for Destruction album flat out rocked. You have to admit that. It came out 24 years ago, and you know you still nod your head when Welcome to the Jungle or Paradise City comes on the radio. In fact, a lot of those songs still play on the radio on a fairly regular basis. 24 years later!

So when we heard that Steven Adler (the original drummer) had a band and was going to be within driving distance of us, tickets were purchased. We went to Buford, GA to a rock cafe. It was so much fun!!!

We got there early, so we could eat something. And guess who came strolling in? Yes, Steven Adler!! So we said hello, and he was really nice. We even got a couple of pictures after the show.

And the show? Let me break it down for you. There was an opening act. A semi-big local band played for a while. They were your typical local band. Lots of covers. Lots of booze. They were doing shots on stage. Then, out came Adler's Appetite. They rocked the joint!!! There was no comparison between the opening act and these guys. There is a reason professional musicians achieve success. :)

Seriously, it was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. The caliber of their performance was absolutely top notch! I knew they would be good, but I never anticipated just how good. I mean, Steven Adler has quite literally consumed mountains of heroin and cocaine, been arrested half a dozen times at least, was forced out of the band because of substance abuse, has had two strokes from overdoses, and showed up at his sober living facility wasted. I half expected him to slur his speech and shoot up on stage. By all accounts though, he is completely sober now. The whole night he only drank water and Coca Cola.

After the show, the band hung around to give autographs and take pictures with the fans/concertgoers. Here I am with the one and only Steven Adler.



Right after this picture, I turned to him to say thank you and happy birthday. Instead, the man planted a huge kiss right on my lips! I turned so red and looked at Jay. Who immediately wanted a kiss from a woman who had kissed Steven Adler. HA!


We were at this club. The 37 Main Rock Cafe. It was the neatest place to see a concert. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. They had a great menu, and honestly, I ate some of the best potato skins I have ever had there. I wasn't expecting that in a rock cafe. In Buford.


Jay and I were lucky enough to get a table for seating instead of having to stand. It was one of the absolute best concerts I have ever been to.


When You Are Vertically Challenged...

Layton isn't all that tall. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it on the blog, but I know I have on twitter. He has two genetic conditions that combine to cause "failure to thrive." That's what the doctors call it. I think he's thriving; he's just little. That's all. With a special diet, medicines, and routine checkups, he will be just fine. Just a little shorter than your average guy.

Anyway, when I took the nuggets to Chuck-E-Cheese, he couldn't quite reach all the games. So what did he do? He climbed on top of them to play.



And what did I do? Well, I didn't stop him. I choked on water because I was laughing so hard.


And then I took pictures.

Please don't call DHR on me!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Hadley and Her BFF...

Hadley has a friend that she positively adores named Sydnee. They text each other all the time and have the most fun together. Sydnee's mom passed away this Summer. She had cancer and was a precious woman.

We all met when the girls were three. These two took ballet together and hit it off. Then, they went to daycare together in the Summers and attended the same elementary school.

I absolutely adore this picture of the two of them! So smiley. So sweet. It seems odd to me that they have known each other for eight years! Eight! I have friends that I haven't known for eight years! Ha!

Sydnee and I are what I would call kindred spirits. She's a little on the hyper side, which, if you know me in real life, you are well aware of the fact that I am hyped up! Syd's dad probably wanted to strangle me after I dropped her off this particular night. I had let them eat cotton candy and have coca cola with dinner. They were both on a sugar high!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

How Cute is This Face?....

Ok. Actually, he's kind of making a strange grimace. Hmmm.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Good Lawd, I Have Got to Do Something with This One....

She is just too much! Notice her chipped off nail polish.



She didn't even have permission to paint her nails.


The overly dramatic smile for the sketchy picture thing. Oh yes, she's got it.


Pure joy.

Whatever will I do with her?

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Chuck This, Mr. Cheese...

For some unknown reason, I consented when the children begged for a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese. Is that even how you spell it? That place is the equivalent to the 9th circle of hell if you ask me. BUT, the children love it, so I went and took some pictures. First up...

Layton in some crazy truck thing...






It rocked back and forth, and he loved every second of it. I say second becaus the ride only lasted a few seconds. Not near long enough to suit him. He used several tokens on this one ride.

The Blog Post That Pisses Off a Lot of People...

This is me with one of my guns.

 
Yes, my gun. I bought this gun two years ago. Admittedly, the hubs has shot it more than I.

I'll be honest with you. I grew up completely gun-phobic. My parents were so anti-gun that I convinced myself that if I looked at a gun, I would certainly die of a self-inflicted wound.

Just imagine the look on my face the first time I got in Jay's vehicle. He had three guns in it at the time. I immediately thought he was some kind of felon. Only criminals carry guns, right? That's what my extreme anti-gun parents had taught me.

It took a while for me to warm up to the idea of having guns in my home. There are a lot of safety measures that have to be taken when children live in homes that pack heat. For example, our gun cabinet and safes are locked. None of the guns in the curio, cabinet, safe are loaded. The ammunition is kept in a separate cabinet that is also locked. The children know the guns are not toys and have seen the NRA safety videos.

BUT, in the event you decide to show up at my house after dark without warning.....just remember that I am always packing.