Trip to Stone Mountain

The kids got their faces painted at the Yellow Daisy Festival going on at Stone Mountain.

Owen was transformed into one happy cat.

And Chloe opted for the very feminine skull with fire coming out of the top.

This was a chalk drawing pumping a new Buick as we walked up to the Festival. Pretty cool seeing such a big chalk drawing in person.

Our friends Daniel and Christal met us at the Festival and stayed for fireworks with us. First time we have seen them in probably close to a year. Daniel and I had fun taking pics of each other and of the fireworks. Christal is pregnant and due to have a baby boy on November 8th. She looked great! :)

Fireworks in front of the mountain

A tribute to 9/11

I love that my camera can take pics at night that will leave the shutter open long enough to catch fireworks like this!

The three Civil War heroes of the South. General Robert E. Lee is front and center.

Birthday Wishes

Owen drew a special card for Grandma Eloise that she just loved.

He also included four quarters, which was the best birthday present he could think of to give her. Grandma's reaction made Owen feel like the best gift giver ever!

Grandma has the digital picture frame in her lap from Mike & Gail. She couldn't take her eyes/hands off it for the first 30-45 minutes she was over before starting to open new cards/presents.

Even Maggie got a birthday hat :)

Grandma is looking over at Owen as he started us off singing Happy Birthday. He shouted a CHA CHA CHA after every line in the song, which amused Grandma.

First wish

Second wish

Third wish

To more (and healthy) birthdays just like this one!

Happy Birthday to Grandma Eloise!

This is what I will remember about Grandma's 91st birthday. Or really any time that we have Grandma over. She is always laughing, whether she finds us amusing or she's stirring up a little trouble. :)


Mmmmm, German chocolate cake!
And....

Apple Pie. With vanilla ice cream!
Because when you're 91, you should get all the cake and pie you want!


This card sang Kool and the Gang's Celebration. Owen had her open it over and over so he could sing along with the song.

Kisses for Chloe because she was singing along, too.

The Bean just loves birthday parties, singing and cake!

I think she looks like such a pixie, leaning over and digging into her present bag :)

Thinking she likes what she sees

Always a good sign when she wants to wear it right away and then can't stop looking at it :)

Owen Dancing for Grandma Eloise!

Grandma Eloise turned 91 today!

Reason enough for Owen to shake his groove thang :)

Mouse Catch and Release

Last night, I was in the midst of an Etsy listing frenzy when Todd came barreling down the stairs and breathless into my office.

Honeys!

You've got to come upstairs!

Now!

There's a mouse!

In our bathroom!

Quick!

Go get it!

He might even admit he ran just like a school girl down those steps.

Hello Little Mouse.

I see you in there. That corner doesn't hide you.

Ahhh, there you are. My, what little ears you have! You're lucky Tiger wasn't here, because you would have been toast. Feel fortunate it was my big bumbling Henry who caught you and just wanted to play.

Here's a little carrot as a parting gift. Take it with you, if you want. Or eat it before you leave. Now shoo. Go find another backyard to explore. Without three or four cats.

Todd was thankful I caught the mouse so he didn't have to check into a hotel last night. :)

We are a good fit for each other. In many ways, we are very much alike. We like the same artwork, architecture, interior design and most music. We share the same religious, parenting and political beliefs. But when it comes to intruders on the homefront, we go our separate ways. I catch all the snakes, lizards and rodents. He handles all the large insects and spiders.

I love him for that.

Bungee Jumping Kidlets

Normally we let the kids ride the ginormous carousel at North Point Mall on the rare occasions we venture inside this packed building of slow walkers. But this night, the kids had behaved really well when we went shopping for wedding shoes and clothes. So we took them back to the bungee jumping station to get tethered up.

Here they are getting hooked up to the seat harness and the bungee cords.

This isn't a very clear picture, but I love the feeling that I get seeing this smile of wonderment on Chloe's face.
Look closely, Owen is smiling, too. :)
So high!

This is a good shot for giving you an idea of how large this contraption is with four trampolines at the bottom and these long arms extending up into the 2nd story of the mall.

Back on the ground and totally exhilerated.

Think they had much fun?

Running Boy

The kids wanted to race home after coming back from the nature trail. Chloe never had a chance...she didn't realize until too late that Owensk had already taken off running.


He is so fast!

Sneak

The kids were little fish at White Water this weekend. More pics coming soon :)

Going Green(er)

We turned a little bit greener this week. Our house, because we will be using 30% less natural gas to heat our water and Todd because he's thinking "Green schmeen, I can think of other things I would have rather spent our money on than this!" We bought two solar panels to use as an energy source for heating our water.

Here is our old water heater after they cut out the piddly little wall that partially hid it in our garage.

Here is the new, triple insulated hot water heater that we works in conjunction with the solar panels.

Here are the guys hoisting the second panel over the roof line.

I wish I had been outside five minutes earlier to see how they got it up there without smashing our windows. I know ropes were involved. But still. These guys are pros.

Mounted on the backside of the house, facing South. They are about two and a half to three feet wide and probably close to six feet tall.

My DH worries the panels will fall through the roof and crush us in bed. He likes to worry.

I am excited that our gas bills will be lower, our water hotter, we'll be green and using fewer of our earth's resources and will also get a nice rebate check back from the government for going solar.

Todd seems to be a little excited over giving me grief about spending more money. In the long run, it will save us alot of money. But for now, I'll do what I'm good at and try to be green while doing it :)