Trip to AUburn!

My Poppa's best friend in all the world is currently living in an assisted living place in Auburn.  His name is Rex and his granddaughter is somewhat famous.  Her name is Allie and she's the star of the Auburn women's basketball team.  (She has a bobble-head doll designed after herself)  Anyway, Rex and his wife, Virginia (a.k.a. Ginner) used to double date with Poppa and Granny.  But before all that, Poppa and Rex met at Arab High School where they were both part of the "1944 Undefeated, Untied Football Team."  They attended frequent football reunions.  They took all kinds of road trips together and everything.   The were virtually inseparable.  Rex hasn't been in the best health, so he was unable to make it to the funeral; a fact that really upset him.  So, since he couldn't come to us we decided to go to him.   

It was a nice visit.  We took him to lunch at Amsterdam Cafe and then sat in his room and talked for a while.  Now Rex is a talker and he knows EVERYBODY!  As a matter of fact, when we were heading out to lunch he pointed out his neighbor two doors down.  Her last name is Chizik!  (That's right...the coach's mom is his neighbor and good 'ole Gene has visited Rex twice - which is how he go the framed Cam Newton poster in his room!)  He also has an autographed helmet from Tommy Tubberville.  Rex is a character.  We shared some laughs along with some tears.  It was really good to see him and I know he appreciated our visit.  


Before heading home, we made a few stops: Tiger Rags and Toomer's Drugs for some world famous lemonade.  Andrew had been talking about lemonade all day, but Toomer's also has ice cream, which is what I was going to get.  So I asked him again what he wanted, just so he knew he had options.  I said, "Andrew do you want lemonade or ice cream?"  And with this "what were you thinking" look on his face, he threw up a hand and said, "I want lemonade AND ice cream."  I should've known!

I like the newly painted mural outside Toomer's.  Here's Andrew and Paw Paw enjoying their treats.

Man, I love that place!  It's always good to go back "home."  And I'm glad we got to see the Toomer's Oaks one more time before they die. :(  I hope they make it but it's pretty doubtful.   This particular day they had them boxed off with plastic all around the trees.  I think they were replacing the soil in an attempt to save them.  I took a picture, but decided not to share.  I'd like to remember Toomer's Corner in a more positive light.  

Maggie loves Minnie Mouse!

Today was Maggie's 3rd birthday party!  I had the privilege of making her birthday cupcakes.  She was having a Minnie Mouse themed party so what better way to celebrate than with Minnie Mouse ears cupcakes.  Here's what they looked like the night before the party, without polka dots on them:

I was so proud that I had them all ready the night before.  I did not procrastinate!  I cut out the fondant pieces on Thursday to let them dry out and they were perfect.  However, when I woke up the next morning, the moisture from the icing caused the fondant to turn to a sticky mush!  I woke up in a PANIC!  I called Erin to tell her not to worry, but that I would be late to the party.  I carefully removed all the "ears" on all 36 cupcakes.  I dusted them with a little corn starch and put them in the oven to let the convection fan (with no heat) dry them out.  It took about an hour, but they were soon firm enough to reassemble.  So, disaster averted!  (WHEW!)  Then it was off to the party where I finished assembling the cute cupcakes.  You can still see a little corn starch on some of them, but hey...at least they look like ears now!

 I think the finished product turned out pretty well!

 Aren't they cute?

Speaking of cute....check out this birthday girl!

Happy Birthday To You....

 A little help from Daddy to make a wish...

 Andrew (eating an ear) with the birthday girl!

Happy Birthday Granna!

Today was my Mother's birthday!  In honor of her special day, I made her a cake.  She requested brown and blue, so I made her a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream with blue buttercream scrollwork.  Here's how it turned out:

Here's my beautiful Mom with her cake!

We took Mom to Top Of The River for dinner.  Yep, we made them sing to her. 

 No free restaurant dessert for us...we had a cake waiting for us at home!

 Andrew was ready and willing to help with the "candle."

Happy Birthday to the world's greatest Mom!  (I'm sure a lot of you might be thinking that YOU have the best Mom in the whole world, but I hate to break it to ya...mine's got 'em all beat!)  I truly am blessed to have a Mom like mine, who taught me how to love and be loved.  She's a pretty great Granna too!

A Man's Worth

Today we buried my Poppa.  This was a sudden loss for our family and something that I don't think we were prepared for, but then again, can you ever really be prepared to say goodbye to someone you love?   I've tried and tried to type up what I think would be an "appropriate" blog post to sum up my Poppa's life and I've deleted every post so far.  My sister has always been the writer in the family and she wrote some pretty amazing thoughts about him on her blog.  (Please go read it.) She read most of this at the funeral and it was perfect.  We could all smile as we recalled our wonderful memories of Poppa and through our tears, we were able to rejoice because we know that Poppa is in heaven with our beautiful Savior!  


Since I'm not really good with words, I'll stick to pictures.  This picture was taken on July 31, 2007.  I had just gotten my zoom lens and was playing around with it.  Poppa was, where else, but in the garden.  I was standing on his back porch and I hollered out to him.  This is what I got....and even if you didn't know my Poppa, you will once you see this picture.  To me, it sums him up perfectly!

"To measure a man's true wealth, count the things he has that money can't buy and death can't take away."  With that in mind, my Poppa was the richest man I ever knew!  


I'd like to thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, flowers, and cards during this time of grief.  It really does mean a lot to hear your encouraging and comforting words.  

Happy Birthday Sam!

Today, Andrew and I went to another bouncy house place in town to celebrate our cousin, Sam's, 5th birthday!

Andrew loves the icing! 

 This place also has arcade games.  Who isn't a fan of whack a gator?

 This boy loves to bounce!

Happy Birthday Sambo!  Thanks for having us at your awesome party!  We love you!

Nice Surprise

We had to get up really early this morning and go to Huntsville for my mom's doctor's appointment.  After a few quick stops at Belk and Hobby Lobby, we headed home.  Andrew fell asleep in the car and luckily stayed asleep when we got home.  Mom and I capitalized on this rare occasion and took a nap too.  When we woke up, this is what we found outside....

Dan Satterfield sure missed this one!    It came down hard and fast and we had close to 4 inches when it changed over to sleet.  I wonder what it will look like in the morning?


Oh, and the forecast says we'll be looking at a "significant snow event" next Tues, Wed. and Thurs!  Woo Hoo! I am LOVING this winter!

Caramel Cookies

Tonight I was in the mood for something sweet, but was running low on weight watcher points for the day.  I searched the WW website and found this recipe:


1/2 c butter, soft
1 c dark brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 c AP flour
3/4 c whole wheat flour
1/4 t salt
1/2 t baking soda


Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Cream butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Add remaining ingredients.  (this time I followed the recipe instead of mixing all my dry ingredients in a separate bowl like I normally do.  It worked just fine.) Chill your dough (because of the whole wheat flour, I think you could skip on the chilling if you're in a big hurry)  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  

The best part of this recipe....these cookies are only 1 point each! (using the small cookie scoop or a heaping teaspoon of batter.)


With a cup of decaf, these little babies hit the spot!  They were quick and easy too, so you should try them for yourself!