A Great Day to be Alive...

I started seeing students yesterday which is always a very exciting time. For one, I get to see what kind of progress they have made with their speech over the summer and for two, they all have great stories to tell about their adventures during the summer (most of which are made up). My most favorite thing is sitting back and letting my kids talk to each other. (I don't do this normally because, being the control freak speech therapist that I am, I like to rule the conversation and the speech room.) Yesterday I met 4 new 2nd graders and began our sessions by allowing them to tell the most spectacular thing they did over the summer. After explaining what "spectacular" means, the stories began. And they got bigger and better as they went. The cutest thing about the group was a sweet little guy who would look at me every now and then and say things like, "I like your hair" or "I like your necklace". To which his group mate would follow with "Oh, me too!" I think they were just trying to get beads (part of my reward system), but none-the-less it was cute!

Today, while walking with one of my 7th graders, this is the conversation we had...

Me: "Andrew, where did you get all of those Silly Bandz?" As I stare in astonishment at the stack of Silly Bandz creeping up his arm to his elbow.

Andrew: "This summer, I cleared out my bank account and spent all of my money on them."

Me: "Wow, you must have had a lot in there!"

Andrew: "$800."

Me: "You spend $800 on Silly Bandz?"

Andrew: "What, I like to buy nice things!"

Bless his heart. (I told you most of the stories were made up. This was before he told me that he went to Florida and swam out into the middle of the ocean and dove to the bottom of the ocean -11 feet in all- and then felt a shark fin touch his leg.)

After a very entertaining day, I went to pick up Lucy, who was finishing a 2.5 hour nap. She woke up as I was coming in MeMaw's door and was in a happy little mood. She insisted on taking out the bottom drawer of MeMaw's jewelry box (she loves pretties) and rummaging through it's contents. As she was playing, she found a pin. She looked at if for a few seconds before shouting with a big smile on her face "Gee Cocks"! (Lucy for "Gamecocks") She handed the pin to MeMaw and sure enough, it was a Gamecock pin. Oh joy of joys, she's a Carolina Girl!!!

As if the day couldn't get any more full of life's simple pleasures, I came home to a mailbox full of magazines and catalogs. I had never heard of one so I opened it first and was so pleasantly surprised when this greeted me from the front page...

Lucy's 1st ski suit! (Not snowsuit because she will be learning how to ski this year!!)

I wasn't incredibly impressed with the rest of the catalog, but they do have a few other cute things including leggings and leg warmers and PRECIOUS clogs! I give hannaAndersson.com 2 thumbs up for kids clothes (whoever Hanna Andersson is).

Today Was a Fairytale...

Ok, so today wasn't really a fairytale, but I'm a little behind on the blogging so just pretend it is last Thursday-Saturday. What was last Thursday-Saturday, you ask? Our 4 year anniversary weekend, of course! Because I started school on Thursday, we drug the celebration out as long as possible. After putting Lucy to bed, I made a DELICIOUS dinner consisting of...

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta Toss (I know it's hard to see the picture, but this salad consists of pasta, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, olives, Mediterranean salad blend, chicken, feta cheese, and a yummy homemade dressing.) Jeff rated this salad as his #2 favorite salad. (2nd to Ruth's Chris's house salad.)

The second coarse consisted of...

Peppered Beef Filets with Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes. I'm still shocked that I transformed this meal from raw ingredients into the scrumptious culinary delight that it was. We both agreed that it was one of the best meals we have ever eaten and the whole thing cost us about $20. And, I learned something in the process... who knew that Beef Tenderloin and Filet Mignon are the same thing??? (Lucy (and Memaw) surprised us with a yummy ice cream cake, but we were too stuffed to enjoy it after dinner. We have, however, thoroughly enjoyed it since.)

I would also like to point out that we finally used our beautiful china (Thanks Scooter).

While we ate dinner, we sent each other clues via picture messages. (We are a little iPhone crazy over here.) I guessed mine on the first clue...

Jeff's plans for the weekend included spending Friday night here, The Mansion on Forsyth Park, in Savannah. Also were we spent our 1st anniversary.

A 4-course dinner at 700 Drayton (My salad moved to Jeff 3rd favorite salad after he ate theirs.)

A moonlight cruise on the Savannah River where we met this guy...

In case you can't tell that is Andy Griffith and Barney Phyfe covering the back of a t-shirt. I was hoping to get a better picture when the dancing began, but this man hugged the side of the railing for the duration of the cruise so I think he was feeling a little too sick to dance.

We also met new Words with Friends partners; a couple celebrating their 5th anniversary. (If you don't know what Words with Friends is, please follow these directions.

1. Buy iPhone or iTouch

2. Download FREE "Words with Friends" app

3. Start a game with Jpruitt10 or laurenprutt (I am, in fact, laurenprutt. Unfortunately my husband doesn't know how to spell my name.)

On Saturday, a special friend was waiting for us at our hotel...

A big horse and his driver (I can't remember their names, but the driver had very long hair.)

After our private carriage ride, we took a trolley tour around Savannah, rode through a cemetery (guess whose idea this was), and took a nap while riding to Tybee Island. (Jeff drove, I napped.) After a very HOT day of playing tourist, we enjoyed a delicious meal with this Lady...

What was Jeff's gift, you ask???

Tickets to Brookhills' Secret Church lead by David Platt... one of his favorite worship speakers and authors. He has to wait a little while to actually get his gift because it's not until November, so stay tuned. (It took him 2 and a half clues.)

Sick day(s)

My precious Lucy-Lu has had a fever since Tuesday. Doctor Grandpa checked her out and says it's just a virus so we've been persistent with Tylenol, Motrin, and juice. Her fever finally broke this afternoon, although it may have been earlier but it was very difficult to tell with this stifling South Carolina heat. Her "illness" got me thinking...

It's very interesting how men, woman, and children handle mild sickness. When woman are feeling a bit under-the-weather, they may or may not (depending on the possible side effects) take medicine and go on with their day. They may try to squeeze in some down time or go to bed early, but for the most part, things run as usual. Children may be a little more fussy than usual, but mostly they go about their business with little indication that they are sick. I am convinced that there is more sugar or (possibly caffeine) in children's Tylenol and Motrin than in a cup of juice because my already very busy Lucy-bee seems to speed up even more (I know, not possible, right??? Oh, my friend, but it is.) at just the sight of the stuff. If it weren't for her all but on fire, H-O-T HOT body, we never would have known she was sick. In fact, we didn't. Her very intuitive Grandma discovered it when I thought she was just hot because it was hot in the house. All this to say, children generally don't show any signs of not feeling well. Men, however, when not feeling well, the Earth may as well stop spinning. (I'm not simply speaking of my husband. This has been confirmed by many wives and mothers.) Everyone and everything must come to a halt because he is sick. And usually, it hasn't occurred to him to try taking some medicine. I find this very interesting!

Moving on, while Lucy was taking a sick day nap, I was reading my new book, The Southern Girl's Guide to Surviving the Newlywed Years by Annabelle Robertson. Since we have been married for almost 4 years (next Thursday) and we have a child, I do not still consider us newlyweds, however, this book caught my eye and was on sale ($1!!!) so I thought I would give it a try. It is cracking me up and will now be my Bridal Shower Staple Gift. (FYI: My Baby Shower Staple Gifts are On Becoming Baby Wise and The Happiest Baby on the Block.) So I'm reading and I suddenly get the urge to organize the kitchen cabinets. (This was not a random, out-of-the-blue feeling. I was reading the chapter where Annabelle (who, to my delight, happens to be a preachers wife) was discussing how hoarders (Jeff) and ditchers (Me) are inadvertently drawn to each other and consequently get married, but struggle to find peace with this difference.) I've been wanting to organize the kitchen cabinets since before Lucy was born, but I was too sick to even open a cabinet, much less touch anything in it. When that stage ended, I was too tired or too instructed not to stand on chairs when my sense of balance wasn't so good, and then, of course, who has time to organize cabinets after a baby comes??? Then my excuse was, "Well, really the upstairs needs to be organized first because the natural order of progression would be the upstairs, then the kitchen, then the living room, so on and so forth". (The thought of organizing the upstairs quickly puts an end to my thoughts of organization because it's really, really bad up there. Like, one may actually go insane after attempting to organize up there!) But today, I guess because I've been in this house with a sick child for a few days, I decided to walk on the wild side and skip the upstairs and go straight for the kitchen. What a wonderful decision! My pantry shelves now slightly resemble aisles at Publix. My china has finally found a home all in one cabinet (perhaps one day I'll have room for a china cabinet but for now, a whole kitchen cabinet will do). My napkins, place mats, and tablecloths are put up high so Lucy can't drag them all over the house. My cookbooks are in a lower cabinet so I can actually use them. All of the medicine is actually in the medicine box, so when my dear husband goes looking for it, he may actually find it! And, I consolidated so much, I have one whole cabinet with absolutely nothing in it. Imagine the possibilities!!! The best part... the world did not end because I went out of order! Actually, as I was admiring my newly organized pantry (it's beautiful!) I thought, "You know, the upstairs may not be that bad. I think I'll organize up there after all". I quickly changed my mind when I walked to the bottom of the stairs and observed the mountain of stuff being held in place by a baby gate and decided a bowl of ice cream (Bryer's Oreo Cookies-n-cream... b1g1 FREE this week at Publix) sounded much better. While eating my ice cream I made a plan of attack for the upstairs (yes, I plan my organization). Jeff has the day off tomorrow and I'm due for a trip to Target (finally a valid excuse!) so perhaps my house will be organized before I go back to school. This thought makes me a little giddy!

Family Vacation

Every year my family (see above photo) enjoys a wonderful beach vacation in Florida. That's right, friends; 16 of my closest relatives all under one roof!!! This vacation has changed a bit over the years. In middle/high school we (the original grandkids) were not so excited to leave our friends and social lives to spend a week whole with our family. We always had a GREAT time with our somewhat odd (at times) family but, since this tradition started before the days of cell phones, it was hard to leave our extremely important lives for a week.

Now, 3 spouses (not all belonging to one individual, of course) and 4 new grandkids later, this week is one that I look forward to all year. Perhaps it's because we all have cell phones, but more likely because it's a week to get away from my daily routine and spend time with family I don't get to see very often. Usually towards the end of vacations I think, "this has been fun and all, but I have much to do when I get home so lets just get on with it." Not with this vacation. Towards the end I get that summers-over-and-school-starts-soon, Sunday-night-the-weekends-over, kind of feeling. It was so fun watching all of the little kids interact (I'm not sure "play" is the appropriate word) and getting to read by the pool while Lucy took a nap and someone else listened for her to wake up, wasn't so bad either! Other highlights...

Baby Bath Club met each afternoon before dinner and briefly after family pictures.

3 nights of family pictures

Recognizing the need for CPA (Coach Purse Anonymous).

*Note* These were all purchased this week.

A trip in Mini with Mini

Lucy and I stayed with my parents a few nights before leaving to go on vacation. While we were there, Lucy got to take a ride in my mom's Mini Cooper to pick blueberries at one of the families houses who I used to babysit for. Unfortunately they were out of town so we didn't get to see them, but Lucy had a great time eating blueberries (her favorite fruit) right off of the bush. (She ate a LOT of blueberries!)

First ride in the Mini

Picking blueberries with Mini

All My Single Ladies...

Oh what a busy 2 weeks...

Jeff left on July 18th to attend a World Changers project in Franklin, NC. This gave Lucy and I some great girl time. We ran lots of errands on Monday to prepare for our upcoming vacation. I'm so glad that my busy little girl loves errands! Her favorites include Target (obviously because of all the amazing things we find there) and Publix because she can "drive" the shopping cart. I think what she loves most about errands is getting so much attention from strangers because she is so stinkin' cute! Monday night was also a night I have been waiting for since May... My Southern Savers coupon class. I do not claim to be an expert on coupons, nor do I feel the need to go into excessive details about how to save by using coupons because there are plenty of websites and blogs where you can find that kind of info, but I have saved LOTS of money in the past 11 months and will share my top 5 coupon tips:

1. Shop at Publix if you can. They have the best money-saving deals, the stores are clean, and everyone is super friendly.

2. Sign up on your grocery's store's website to receive store coupons to be used with manufacturer's coupons.

3. Stack manufacturer's coupons and store coupons whenever possible.

4. Save your coupons and use them when the items are on sale to achieve maximum savings.

5. Use southernsavers.com to plan your shopping trips.

Enough about that!

On Tuesday, Lucy and I took a trip to Charleston to spend some time with an old friend and her sweet toddler. Unfortunately it's very hard to maneuver 2 busy toddlers, all of our beach stuff, and take pictures so here is the only one I have to show for all of the fun we had.

This is a very blurry picture of my intelligent baby reading on the way to Charleston. I always keep lots of books in the car because they are the only things that keep Lucy's attention for more than 5 seconds (Thank you, God, for a child who loves books!). So, on the trip, she insisted on having all of them in her lap before she would read them. We had a great time catching up with Carrie and Anna Pearl at the beach and then eating dinner with Kira and Caroline. (Thank you, dear friends, for living in such a wonderful place and for being so accommodating when Lucy and I come for a visit.)

The rest of the week was spent cleaning and packing (thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law for keeping Lucy busy while I got some work done) for our beach vacation. Being a single mommy for the week really made me appreciate my wonderful husband so much more for all of his help with our busy girl (especially his amazingly efficient dirty diaper changing skills).