The Party

With soccer season over and weekends open, we were finally able to celebrate Abigail's 9th birthday with some of her close friends. We baked some cupcakes and headed to Rucker Lanes for an afternoon of bowling.

From left to right Michaela, Kaylee, Cassie, Ashley and Anna

Layla came too.

And of course Elizabeth was in on the action.

Between Elizabeth and his own bowling game Brian was all over the place. This was the best shot I could get.

Mr. Thomas.



Mrs. Megan (with one talking Abigail)



And Earl too!



This is Rainey, Michaela's little sister. She didn't bowl but I had to post this picture of her beautiful smile.



OOOOHHH the Excitement.



Michaela won. She had the highest score out of everyone, including the adults. Broken arm and all!

Abigail was stunned.

So we moved on to cupcakes.

I love this shot of Kaylee.

And then the gifts.

Ick

Brian and Earl spent some time wiring plugs and such in the shop this weekend. I was out visiting them and found this...



I just thought it was a strange spider egg so I snapped a couple pictures of it. Then I googled it. It's a brown widow egg. Nice. I learned that the brown widow venom is twice as potent as black widow venom for those of you who were wondering. Time to call the Orkin man...

Welcome Jr.

Congratulations to Andre and family on the arrival of "little" Andre Jr. born November 5, 2008 at 12:36pm weighing in at 7lbs 5oz and a whopping 20.5"! I wish I were there to see him in person. Enjoy him, he is a gift!

For Aunt Kathy

The smile on her face was darling when she opened the box and saw the jammies...she really liked the little hanger they came with. She swapped the bow in her hair to the matching bow that came with them. She has been sleeping with Nellie every night since she got her so you really did get her the perfect gift. THANK YOU AUNT KATHY! We love you.

Thank you Mrs. Megan's Mom

My girls are begging to make these. Thank you...you are sweet to think of me.

My New Favorite Place

During our online search for the ingredients to make Abigail's birthday Pho Brian and I found The Butcher's Block. http://www.freshcutmeat.com/ What a place! We have been asking ourselves "Where's the beef" since we moved here. Well we found it! And fresh seafood(really...not the frozen stuff), fantastic cheese, wine, a variety of sauces and lots, lots more. They are very friendly and professional. If you are local, you HAVE to visit this place. If you're not local, you're stuck with my pictures...

Dry aged over 20 days before it hits the display case.


I took home a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir.




Tons to explore.




Another happy discovery...


Waterberry Farm grew the beautiful butterhead lettuce we found at the Butcher's Block. They will also be sending tomatoes and strawberries at a later date. Waterberry Farm is a hydrophonic farm located in Slocomb, Alabama, which isn't too far from here. http://waterberryfarm.blogspot.com/ Another place to play at a later date...

She walked away with a trophy

We arrived at the YMCA this morning at 9:30 for the playoffs. It was a beautiful day full of sunshine and a slight breeze. First up...the Green Team.


This shot reminds me of the opening scene in Monster's Inc.


You know, this one.






















And a win for the red team!



We took a break in between games for lunch and a little playtime.

Elizabeth and Layla had a blast on the bleachers.






Abigail showed us how to hit the ball with our heads. Ouch!


Then she rested.


Layla wanted more.


Elizabeth did too.


Fine. We'll rest.


I love the star in this one.



After an all too brief rest it was on to the blue team. These girls were serious! With a score of 3 to 2 we eeked out a win.












The celebration...

Half of the red team collapsed when it was over.


Congratulations! Good game!


Yay trophies!


Add the parents and siblings...


She is really proud!