The Dillard House

Ryan & Bethany got in (from IN) on Friday evening and they're going to stay with us a whole week. We're super excited because we have so much fun with them. So one of the first things we did was take them out to eat Saturday night - to the Dillard house in Georgia. You know, the best southern restaurant ever!! You're seated and the waiters just start bringing huge plates of food and put them on your table. You help yourself to whatever you want and if you run out of something you just ask the waiter to bring more. And their food is so delicious. For more information on the Dillard House click here.

This is what we were served Saturday night:

Fried Chicken, Country Ham, Prime Rib, BBQ Chicken, Potatoes au Gratin, Green Beans, Creamed Corn, Fried Okra, Glazed Carrots, Baked Acorn Squash, Tomatoes, Onions, Cole Slaw, Melon, Yeast Rolls, Cornbread, Cobbler a la Mode

And here are some pictures of our evening...

Hannah & I stop eating to pose for a pic.

Ryan & Bess-a-nee (this is how Hannah says Bethany)

Samuel is enjoying his chicken leg & glazed carrots.

Lee & Emily have been kind enough to let Ryan & Bethany stay with them so we invited them along as well. We had a lively conversation!!

Sammy probably wonders why his dad is so crazy!!

Yard Sale Adventures

Well, our yard sale yesterday was a bust. Or at least it was for me. It was just too cold and there wasn't a lot of people out. Hannah on the other hand did great! Hannah has been wanting 'Rainbow Dashes Bedroom' (It's a baby My Little Pony) for a while now but it was $20. So Bobby & I decided that if she earned 500 stars on her Chore Chart we would buy it for her (which would have taken her 2-3 months). But after watching an episode of 'Jon & Kate Plus 8' where they have a yard sale and the twins sell drinks...I had an epiphany!! Hannah could make cupcakes and sell them at the yard sale to earn the money for her toy. She loved this idea and we had so much fun baking and decorating her cupcakes. She made Devil's Food with Cream Cheese Icing and Rainbow Chip with Strawberry Mist Icing. We decorated half of each batch with sprinkles. I must say that these c.c. were beautiful and tasty!!
I set up her little table and her chair along with the sign I made for her so she would have a "Cupcake Stand." She sold her c.c. for 50 cents each and she made $18 (which was a lot better than what I made!!) She wouldn't take "no" for an answer either! My uncle came out to look around and Hannah asked him to buy a cupcake. He said he wasn't hungry b/c he'd just had a big lunch. So Hannah picks out a cupcake and takes it to him. After he took it she just stood there with her hand out waiting for her money!! I think I need her sales skills with my Avon!
So that evening she took her $18 along with the $6 from Papa and headed off to Wal-Mart to buy her toy. It was one of those moments for me that makes me want to cry because I was so proud that Hannah had worked to earn the money she needed and had fun in the process.

Hannah also had a little friend to play with at the yard sale. Jessie was baby sitting her cousin (from her dad's side) and she brought him to the sale. His name is Kenneth but they call him Bubba (we are in the south you know). He's three years old as well and they had a blast!!! I got some really cute pics of them playing together.

It was hard not to eat all these while we were decorating them...
*sorry this picture is a little dark but you can still how marvelous they look!!*

Hannah's cupcake stand.

Bubba helps Hannah run her stand.
Looking for stray sprinkles (several times I had to reprimand them for picking sprinkles off the cupcakes!!)
Holding hands and playing.

March Madness

Every year Bobby makes me fill out an NCAA bracket. I normally just pick teams I've heard him talk about a lot or I'll chose one that has a funny sounding name {like Villanova or Xavier.} But this year I actually listened when Bobby talked about a 2 seed teams versus 6 seed team (you mean he wasn't talking about flower seeds all along?) AND I looked at how many wins-losses a team had before making my choices. In past years Bobby has made fun of my bracket but this year he said I actually did pretty good. We don't have a scanner or I would have simply scanned my bracket and uploaded it but you'll have to settle for a picture instead.

Orange circles are my winners...I added 2 more after this picture was taken.
In case you can't read it I picked Memphis to win the whole thing.

On a side note: What is up with the teams I've never even heard of - like Robert Morris and Stephen F. Austin. How the heck did they make it to the NCAA? They sound like law firms or investment bankers.

Completely Puzzled

Tonight after eating out we went to "Targets" to look around. Hannah picked out this really cute 24 piece cow puzzle. I helped her put it together before she went to bed. I had to help with the edge pieces but after that she pretty much put the middle together by herself. I couldn't believe it! She turned each piece the right way and got them together with no problems. My little girl is growing up so fast!!!

Hannah was so proud of herself!!

**That box in the left corner contains a weasel ball and it rolls around everywhere. Bobby bought it for Hannah & Samuel at Cracker Barrel and Hannah thinks it's the best gift ever.**

I'm Thankful For...

My parents.
My parents can drive us crazy but for the most part they're awesome. Recently my dad bought us a load of wood for our wood stove (when my mom noticed we were running low and of course my dad didn't even give us a chance to call and order the wood ourselves!) And then my mom paid $57 for Hannah's flu medicine and wouldn't let me pay her back. So we decided to take them out to eat to show our appreciation. They really are a blessing to us and we love them very very much.

My wonderful Mom & Dad

Mama and Fancy Hannah -- don't you just love her tutu and pink galoshes?

Can you guess where we went for supper?

I think we're going to have to buy Samuel a rocking chair!!

Going to the Eye Doctor because I Have the Flu

As many of you know I recently had eye surgery and this has resulted in many many many follow-up visits to the eye doctor. Hannah & Samuel have come with me on a few of these trips. And you may also know that shortly after my eye surgery Hannah got the flu. My mom didn't realize she had it and kept the kids one evening while we were bowling. Later in the week Hannah got very very sick and I ended up taking her to the emergency room. The doctor was also worried that Hannah might have pneumonia so they did some chest x-rays.

So last night Hannah is sitting on her stool eating a yogurt and she starts telling us about having the flu.

Hannah: "Granny gave me the flu!!" (very indignant)
Heather: "Yeah she did! Did you have to go to the doctor?"
Hannah: "Yeah I had to go to the eye doctor and I didn't like it at all!!"

The Old Man

Samuel apparently thinks that the bubbles in his bathwater looks like foamy white cotton candy. Several times throughout bath time he will get a hand full and attempt to eat them. This often results in his adorable old man beard.

Hannah attempts a beard (but it looks weird...)