I'm not sure what has gotten in to me this past week, but I can't get food (good food) off the brain. Don't get me wrong...I always love to eat...but it has been more intense this past week. I think the fact that I was sick a few days during the week of July 4th and didn't eat for 2 whole days made me start thinking about food when I felt well again. Here are a few of my favorite restaurants in our area (within an hour drive) and my favorite things to eat there. All of these places make for a great date night or special outing!!!
Henry's Louissiana Grill (Acworth, GA):
My favs are Seafood Ooh La La and St. Charles Seafood Scampi, but you can't go wrong with anything on the menu
www.chefhenrys.com
The Grape (Atlanta, GA):
Scottish Smoked Salmon Flatbread is a great appetizer
Seared New Bedford Scallops is a great entree
http://www.thegrape.com/menus/Menu_Atlanta-dinner.pdf
Canoe (Atlanta, GA):
Slow Roasted Carolina Rabbit entree is delicious
Popcorn Ice Cream Sundae with House Made Cracker Jack is the BEST dessert ever!!!
http://www.canoeatl.com/
Bonefish Grill (Chattanooga, TN):
Bang Bang Shrimp is a great appetizer
http://www.bonefishgrill.com/
Harvest Moon (Rome, GA):
Their pizza is great and I love that you can build it with your favorite toppings
Their homemade bread and apple butter make for one of the best bread baskets I've had at a restaurant
www.myharvestmooncafe.com
Try one of these places out and let me know what you think! Happy Eating!
My sweet family
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Giving
This past week my husband worked with the Meadowdale Mission Alliance, the mission team from our church. He has worked with the mission team the past few years and they have usually gone out of state to help start new churches or repair churches who needed construction help. This year they worked on a house in our home town that an elderly lady from our church owned.
The MMA had one week to work on the house. They went in and gutted the house completely out. The team gave the lady all new windows, a new heating/air system, new flooring, a new room, new landscaping, new paint, new sheetrock, and more. It was a very hard job that at times seemed overwhelming to me. Justin was gone every morning before 6:30am and was not home until 10:30pm or later at night. It made a very frustrating and long week for me and the kids to not see him at all, but today I saw the finished product at the revealing and the joy on the lady's face was marvelous! She was brought blindfolded to the house and saw it for the first time since they had begun the cleanup over a week ago. She wept tears of joy and was overwhelmed with everyone's sincere giving of labor, time, and love.
What little faith I had when I saw the house on Wednesday and saw how much was left to do. But the Lord provides. Everyone worked long hours together and got the house completed before the weekend was up so the lady could move it and everyone else could go back to their "regular" jobs.
I was very proud of the people in the mission team who worked to make a better home for this sweet lady. But more than that, I was so proud of my husband for his sincere, giving spirit to help someone in need. He worked hard everyday to get the job done. I know the Lord will bless him, not because of the work he did, but because of the attitude behind the work. God Bless to all!
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The MMA had one week to work on the house. They went in and gutted the house completely out. The team gave the lady all new windows, a new heating/air system, new flooring, a new room, new landscaping, new paint, new sheetrock, and more. It was a very hard job that at times seemed overwhelming to me. Justin was gone every morning before 6:30am and was not home until 10:30pm or later at night. It made a very frustrating and long week for me and the kids to not see him at all, but today I saw the finished product at the revealing and the joy on the lady's face was marvelous! She was brought blindfolded to the house and saw it for the first time since they had begun the cleanup over a week ago. She wept tears of joy and was overwhelmed with everyone's sincere giving of labor, time, and love.
What little faith I had when I saw the house on Wednesday and saw how much was left to do. But the Lord provides. Everyone worked long hours together and got the house completed before the weekend was up so the lady could move it and everyone else could go back to their "regular" jobs.
I was very proud of the people in the mission team who worked to make a better home for this sweet lady. But more than that, I was so proud of my husband for his sincere, giving spirit to help someone in need. He worked hard everyday to get the job done. I know the Lord will bless him, not because of the work he did, but because of the attitude behind the work. God Bless to all!
Before:
After (if you can see over the people):
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
July 4th
Every year we go to our church for the 4th of July. It is close to the fairgrounds, where the fireworks are shot from, and we have a great view from the church parking lot. The children's ministry at church always provides fun inflatables for the kids to enjoy before fireworks.
Malone loved the inflatables this year and spent all of her time at one that was set up like a batting cage. She loved hitting at the ball. I think we may have a ball player on our hands.
We also eat and have a cookout at the church. This year they provided a classic cookout food, hotdogs. They were very good and they definately made it feel like summertime.
This year there was a lot of lightening right before the fireworks which made me EXTREMELY nervous because I am very fearful of storms. My nerves had finally had enough and we decided we needed to pack up the kids and try to find a spot to watch the fireworks from our car, instead of the open, exposed parking lot. Justin had a friend whos family was having fireworks at their house so we headed there. I stayed in the car with Jagger (I was afraid it would be too loud for him since the fireworks were being shot from right there in their front yard) and him and Malone got out and watched them. I was really worried Malone would not like the fireworks since she is afraid of loud noises, but she did really well and enjoyed them. After the fireworks we came home and Malone played with the glow in the dark chalk that my mom had gotten her to have for the festivities. She LOVED it and had a blast drawing with it.
I am so thankful we live in America where we are free! God Bless!!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Happenings
This past week Malone went to ballet camp. She was so excited to go. She loves to dance and loves the cartoon "Angelina Ballerina", and she wants to be a ballerina too.
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As I expected, Malone did not want me to leave her each day. Most days she observed more than she participated, but came home every afternoon and was able to show me what she had been learning. On Wednesday, her teacher had to call me because Malone never calmed down after I left. I went back and she finished the day. On Thursday, her teacher made a special point to let me know how great she did that day. She said she participated and followed directions and was in a great mood. I was so excited. But then came Friday...performance day. Malone does NOT like crowds, attention, or clapping. She has an even harder time when I am around to watch her. So on Friday she came around the corner into the ballet studio, saw the crowd, and completely melted down. I felt so bad for all of the other parents and her teacher. After that performance I wasn't sure she was ready for dance, but we are going to give it a try and hopefully get her over hear fear of performing.
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We have also been having a hard time with potty training with pooping. We have absolutely no problems with pee pee and Malone is a pro. But she acts afraid to poop in the potty. We finally had some success tonight. Justin caught her about to poop in her panties and she was able to go a little bit in the potty and then said she was done (which I knew she wasn't). So I took her panties off and made her play without them so she wouldn't have that "safety net" to poop in. Well, for tonight, it worked. She went in the bathroom all by herself and then called me in there and said, "Mommy, look what I got in the potty". We were so excited. We did a happy dance and had a mini-party to celebrate. I am not getting my hopes up that this will be every time, but hopefully we are on the right track. Keep praying for poop success for Malone and for it to click.
Jagger turned 3 months old this week. I can't believe he is growing so fast. He is such a happy boy. He loves to smile and coo. He is happiest in the morning and loves to get all the attention. He is growing a lot of hair already and so far it is dark brown like mine. He goes to bed at 7:30pm every night and sleeps until almost 8:00am the next morning. He seems like he is going to be a Mommy's boy. If he is fussy he calms right down if I get him. He melts my heart so much. I love his little personality and can't wait to see how it will develop.
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I am so thankful to the Lord that I have such precious children. They challenge me, especially Malone at the age of 3, but they are also my entire world.
As I expected, Malone did not want me to leave her each day. Most days she observed more than she participated, but came home every afternoon and was able to show me what she had been learning. On Wednesday, her teacher had to call me because Malone never calmed down after I left. I went back and she finished the day. On Thursday, her teacher made a special point to let me know how great she did that day. She said she participated and followed directions and was in a great mood. I was so excited. But then came Friday...performance day. Malone does NOT like crowds, attention, or clapping. She has an even harder time when I am around to watch her. So on Friday she came around the corner into the ballet studio, saw the crowd, and completely melted down. I felt so bad for all of the other parents and her teacher. After that performance I wasn't sure she was ready for dance, but we are going to give it a try and hopefully get her over hear fear of performing.
We have also been having a hard time with potty training with pooping. We have absolutely no problems with pee pee and Malone is a pro. But she acts afraid to poop in the potty. We finally had some success tonight. Justin caught her about to poop in her panties and she was able to go a little bit in the potty and then said she was done (which I knew she wasn't). So I took her panties off and made her play without them so she wouldn't have that "safety net" to poop in. Well, for tonight, it worked. She went in the bathroom all by herself and then called me in there and said, "Mommy, look what I got in the potty". We were so excited. We did a happy dance and had a mini-party to celebrate. I am not getting my hopes up that this will be every time, but hopefully we are on the right track. Keep praying for poop success for Malone and for it to click.
Jagger turned 3 months old this week. I can't believe he is growing so fast. He is such a happy boy. He loves to smile and coo. He is happiest in the morning and loves to get all the attention. He is growing a lot of hair already and so far it is dark brown like mine. He goes to bed at 7:30pm every night and sleeps until almost 8:00am the next morning. He seems like he is going to be a Mommy's boy. If he is fussy he calms right down if I get him. He melts my heart so much. I love his little personality and can't wait to see how it will develop.
I am so thankful to the Lord that I have such precious children. They challenge me, especially Malone at the age of 3, but they are also my entire world.
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