Date Night

Robbie and I went on a date night last night (2nd one in 2 years)! We have made CARTI's Festival of Trees a tradition the past few years but we've never gone to the Friday night function--Festival After Dark.

It was fun! You can view all of the decorated trees as well as the silent auction items. There's a live auction and the entertainment was by Jason D. Williams, the piano man. There were so many people and the line to get food was unbelievably long, so we decided to re-direct downstairs to Capriccio Grill Italian Steakhouse to have a romantic dinner. Robbie thought that was the best idea I had had in a very long time, especially since he went on a date with me to primarily eat anyway! Oh well,,,things change when you get married and have a baby. I'm not complaining one bit. We had a good time and enjoyed our adult conversation. Thanks for the good company, honey!!

Shop & Sip

I helped host a Shop & Sip Party at Moravia (a local boutique in downtown Conway) this past week. It was so much fun and a nice way to spend a Girl's Nite Out! We had appetizers and sips and guests were able to browse and shop tax free!! We had a great turn-out; I missed the opportunity to take lots of great pictures. If you've never been to Moravia, you should stop by. They carry unique clothing plus handbags and fabulous accessories!!

Thanks for a great night girls!!

The Hostesses: Jamie, Christi, Shannon & Me

Don't you love Christi's purple jacket?? She bought it that night.

Kim (owner of Moravia), Tabitha & Crystal

Mandy & Jamie

Edmond's Got Talent

The other day Edmond thought it would be cool to not only have 1 paci in his mouth but 2. He was gracious enough to let me find my camera and take a picture. I wonder if he could audition for "America's Got Talent",,,who knows; they might be impressed!!

Hung on HATS

Edmond loves to put on hats, especially someone else's. He always gets into Grandaddy's hats when we go home and has started putting on mine and Robbie's. I think he looks so old in this picture! He's growing fast and really developing a personality of his own.

Notice this hat doesn't lack too much from fitting him. This boy has a big head; or maybe his momma has a small one!

Halloween 2008

I said the day before Halloween that "it always rains on Halloween" but I thought this year was going to be the first one that it didn't rain......and what do you know it started right before we left our house. Oh well,,,that didn't slow us down (this was disappointing to Robbie)!! We met The Bakers' at Best Buy parking lot for Trunk or Treat, which was perfect for Edmond to run around and expend some energy. He really didn't trunk or treat much but he sure enjoyed seeing all of the people and running around!

After we left Trunk or Treat we headed to The Ryan Home to visit and let the kiddos play. Needless to say Edmond fell asleep on the way over there but soon woke up when we changed him out of his wet costume into some borrowed dried clothes from Noah (thanks so much)!! We had a great time and I think Edmond did too,,,at least we made an effort to participate in the festivities.

We borrowed this fabulous costume from Landon and I had been calling it a Dragon the whole time until Robbie pointed out that people had commented what a cute little Dinosaur we had. So, I decided to settle on DRAGOSAUR!! ;)

Carnival Ride

Carnival Ride is the name of Carrie Underwood's tour.

Did I mention one reason I went home for a visit was to go to the Carrie Underwood/Little Big Town concert? Well,,,as you can see I had the privilege of meeting Ms. Underwood. I know the picture isn't very clear but I forgot my camera (I know you're not shocked) so we had to use my dad's Iphone and I don't think the woman taking the picture really knew what she was doing! Anyway,,,she's just as cute in person but she was really quiet. My mom and bro wondered if it was because she was "trying to save her voice" since it was before the concert. I guess I was expecting a backstage experience like you see in the movies; me and Carrie "chillin out, talkin, singing a few lines..." yeah right! I was disappointed she didn't comment on my cowgirl boots; maybe she was envious! ;) Oh well, it was still cool. She signed my ticket stub too.

**Phillip Sweet who's in Little Big Town is from Cherokee Village and graduated w/ my older bro, Jason. It was so cool to see him perform and make it big! We were hoping we could see him but their band didn't hang around to meet folks.

Busy Boys

Last weekend Edmond and I went home for a visit. We had a BUSY weekend! We went to Corbin's 6th grade football game on Saturday. They had a wonderful park where the game was held, so that's where I spent the majority of my time watching the little boys. Corbin's team won!! I can't supply any more details since I was on the playground.
Kendall & Edmond swinging...we thought Kendall was gonna swing himself to sleep at one point.

My mom spotted this sweet shot so I had to share it. Grandaddy with his 2 youngest grandsons...never mind the fact that it's a behind shot; it's still sweet. Kendall and Edmond are crazy about their Grandaddy; Kendall is even saying "grandaddy"!

The results of playing hard! Need I say more?

Golf cart ridin'

This has become a tradition for the youngest grandkids and my parents; to ride on the golf cart. The little boys absolutely love it and to tell you the truth I think it thrills Gran & Grandaddy too! They just cruise up and down the golf course and Edmond and Kendall are as happy as can be. Grandaddy even let's them "drive" from time to time. I told my mom and dad they've created a monster w/ Edmond and the golf cart b/c every time we pull up to the garage Edmond points to the golf cart and starts making a VROOM VROOM sound. ;)

Belated Birthday Blog

Hopefully Kendall will forgive me for being so late to wish him Happy 2nd Birthday via blog! We were there in person to help him celebrate, so maybe that will get us off the hook. He had a brownie/ding dong cake. It was delicious!! He and Edmond have become big buds since they're only 8 months apart! Happy Birthday to my youngest nephew, Kendall!

**Look to the right of the picture at Camden's face---we were in the middle of the "Happy Birthday" song...we really get into the music at our house!

Silly Scarecrow

Okay, so I know I've been way behind on blogging.....I'M BACK!! This picture was taken at my parent's home a few weeks ago (maybe longer). We'd just returned from church and thought Edmond should get his picture taken beside the Scarecrow, which I'm proud to say Edmond IS NOT SCARED OF!! He's pretty proud of himself, can't you tell??

Pumpkin Patch

We went to Johnston Pumpkin Farm, which isn't too far from our house, yesterday. We went early evening and were the only visitors there. We mainly went to show Edmond the animals and let him run off some energy. We all had a good time spending quality family time together!! We'll have to go back to "pick pumpkins" another time. I want to try the patch in Mayflower,,,never been to that one but here it's a dandy.

Brunch Buddies

The other night at my birthday dinner Shannon was telling us girls about a fabulous brunch Michaelangelo's has every Sunday. It sounded so good that we decided we'd all meet up and just see how good it was or maybe it was the fact that she mentioned all you care to drink mimosas are included! ;) Anyway we met up with The Wilcox Family, The Ryan Family and The Baker Family this morning and had a wonderful time. The brunch is pretty good too! The kiddos did great and we had a good time eating, drinking and visiting. You can't beat it when you can have breakfast, lunch and dessert all in the same meal!! Let me just mention that I had such a good time I didn't even sample one bite of dessert...guess I'll have to go back and try it again!

The Jones Family...a rare photo op (at least rare in the sense that we're all looking the same way w/ open eyes and smiles)...Edmond's curls are outta control, they're taking over Robbie's forehead
Shannon and Jamie cheesin'
Baby Brendan,,,isn't he a doll!!
An even more rare photo op of me and my hubby and....his eyes are open!

Birthday Dinner

Shannon, Me & Jamie,,,Christi is taking the picture

We've made it a tradition to let the Birthday Girl pick the place to have her birthday meal. As most of you know I am a FAN of Mike's Place so I chose it to celebrate my belated birthday. Me, Shannon, Jamie and Christi have been friends for several years now and we always look forward to getting together. Everyone chips in and gets the birthday girl a gift; most of the time we give a gift card to somewhere fun and special so that the birthday girl will spend it on herself. We don't beat around the bush when asked where the gift or gift card comes from. This year I requested money so I could put it towards a new top to wear to The Eagles concert (earlier post). I wore my new jacket/top to my birthday dinner so the girls could see what I spent my birthday money on. Thanks to a wonderful birthday and for some great food, drinks and many laughs!! Love you girls!!

4 Wheelin' Fun

Robbie's been telling me that Edmond needs a "riding toy" and since I thought it was a little early for the real thing we settled on this inside toy. It's a Kawasaki and it's battery powered (for noises/sound effects only). It didn't take Edmond long to warm up to it; he could only go backwards for the first hour or two but now he's a pro. He also enjoys pushing it around the house! Robbie said we'd probably been better off to get him the play shopping cart since he has a habit of pushing things. VROOM, VROOM...

Howdy!

This was taken last weekend after we visited the County Fair to catch a glimpse of the animals. Edmond wasn't too impressed with the pigs, roosters, cows, and goats. I thought he would be so excited since he loves animals; we read about them and watch them on videos and he can imitate a lot of them very well!! We strolled him around and encouraged him to make the sounds along with the animals but he wasn't too interested. Oh well,,,at least we made our appearance and then headed to Pia's for a late Italian supper. I think the bowl of spaghetti was a bigger hit than the fair animals,,,until next year!!

Bobble-Head Brave

I know you've seen those figurines that are a big head on a little body and the head "bobbles" from side to side....well...this particular day I was trying to put Edmond's Braves cap on him and it just wouldn't fit so it's pretty much sitting on the top of his head and I couldn't resist snapping some pics. His daddy and I think he has a reasonable sized head (this comes from the Jones side),,,,you be your own judge...

Future Atlanta Brave!
it fits better when it's backwards...gotta love that expression
water break

"Life In The Fast Lane..."

So,,,my dad and I went to see The Eagles on Tuesday night! This picture was taken right before we left. I can honestly say that it was "THE BEST" concert I have ever been to and I have been to several good ones. They played lots of their well-known songs and several of their new ones. My dad's and my favorite song is "Hotel California" and they played that pretty early on, which was surprising.

This band is so impressive because they played for a solid 2 1/2 hours with only one 20 min break and the only times they weren't playing was when they were switching instruments and introducing the band. I can't say enough good things about this experience!!

On a disappointing note...Robbie was supposed to go with us but he got sick that morning and my mom watched Edmond since Robbie was under the weather. Needless to say we have an extra ticket that wasn't used, so I guess it'll be our souvenir...probably one of the most expensive ones I've ended up with.

Thanks, Dad for a great memory!!

Happy Grandparent's Day!!

Everyone needs to have access both to grandparents and grandchildren in order to be a full human being ~Margaret Mead

Happy Grandparent's Day! We are so blessed to have wonderful grandparents and we hope you all have a wonderful day!! We love you!! xoxo
Mammaw, (my grandmother and Edmond's great grandmother)

Memaw Bettie w/ Edmond on Easter
Gran & Grandaddy w/ Edmond on Easter

Edmond Update...

We had our 15 month checkup today.....the diagnosis was A GROWING BOY!! He had 1 shot and "took it like a MAN". He does worse w/ the weigh-in and the stethoscope than he does w/ the shots. I think he inherited some of the "white-coat syndrome" from his father! The pediatrician recommended purchasing a Fisher Price Doctor Kit to start practicing with at home even though it may not make a difference when we go to the doctor. She reassured us that most children his age "freak out" at the doctor and won't "grow out of it" until around 3 years.

Statistics: Height--33.5 inches/97th percentile; Weight--26.5 lbs/80th percentile; Head Circumference--19

I've tried to warn Robbie that we may need to budget more for groceries than we have been in the past,,,I grew up with 2 brothers and we made many trips to the store!

"It seems like yesterday that I was just born..."

Birthday Celebrations

Robbie and Sarah
Uncle Rustie and Aunt Karla w/ watermelons in the background that were given to us by Bettie's neighbor
The Rhodes boys bringing in Uncle Robbie's present...a mini fridge for his office (the exact one he's been wanting)!
Grandaddy recovering from partying w/ his blankie and bottle
Edmond raiding Gran's pantry...all of the grandkids know right where Gran keeps the snacks. How can he be hungry?

We went home this past weekend to celebrate August birthdays on both sides. Robbie, my dad and Robbie's niece, Sarah. Sat. evening Memaw Bettie hosted the celebration at her house for Robbie and Sarah. She fixed fried chicken (Robbie's favorite) and tons of other Southern fixins'. Aunt Jennifer made a BIG bowl of banana pudding (another one of Robbie's favorites). We had a really good time but nevertheless ate way too much!!

Then on Sunday afternoon my mom hosted the celebration for my dad and Robbie. She had already planned on making fried chicken as well, so we basically had a repeat of Sat's meal even down to banana pudding for dessert. I guess you could sum up our weekend by saying we CLOGGED SOME ARTERIES! ;) It was all worth it. Thanks Memaw Bettie and Gran for the delicious fried chicken.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!

I couldn't resist putting this picture up b/c of the "festive" hat! Looks like Robbie's ready to celebrate, doesn't it? Anyway, Happy Birthday, Daddy....we love you and hope you have a good day!

Robbie's birthday has always been easy to remember b/c it was the same day as my Memaw's (my dad's mom)!

Happy Birthday, Susan!

Happy Birthday, Susan!! Hope you have a good day! I just love this picture of you in your blue sweater--so pretty!

"I Wanna Hold Your Hand..."

Tues. we met Susan and Setler at Don Owens Complex to walk. We used to meet up more often esp when the boys were younger and sleeping more often. They didn't sleep this go-round but they were awfully fond of each other. They started holding hands on their own....isn't it sweet? They're the BESTEST of BUDS!!

They just wanted to be close to one another, which created quite a challenge for the drivers of the strollers!!

PlayWorld

Check out that perfect form! His daddy would be proud.
Getting ready to take the shot...eyes on target!
baby in the balls...
here Dad,,,you're supposed to put the balls out of the ball pit!
Edmond and Robbie playing

My oldest nephew, Corbin, stayed with us last week to attend basketball camp at Hendrix College. His last night here we went to PlayWorld so he and Edmond could let loose. This was Edmond's first trip there and needless to say he enjoyed himself. We were practically the only ones there, which was nice.

Corbin went through the maze several times and played games while Edmond spent the majority of his time throwing balls out of the ball pit and wandering around. Robbie took the day off, so we got to spend some quality family time together!

We really enjoyed having Corbin down--he's such a great helper, esp w/ Edmond. Edmond loved having him here too!