The Best Workout

The best workout EVER...


... is the one where you take a 4 year old

... and a 7 year old ice skating

... and only the 7 year old is any good!
The little ice skating referees had to help Linley and I off the ground MANY times and I had no shame in accepting that help. Linley and I were both covered in ice and sweat at the end of our hour.

A Few People that I am Proud Of

We have celebrated a few accomplishments at our house recently.

1. This guy completed his first ever 4 mile race and he even came in 5th place in his division. Not too shabby, seeing as how my first ever 4 mile race was the same day:)

2. This handsome fella won "a major award" (name that movie). Congrats sweets on a job well done. I am very proud of you and your hard work.

3. This young lady had her first dance recital and completed the whole thing without throwing a fit, falling on the floor, or losing her piece of tape that marked her spot. Good job Linley!

The moments we have with the ones we love are much too short not to celebrate all of life's special moments. I hope you all have a Happy New Year!

College Girls Weekend

There is nothing quite like a girlfriends weekend to keep you going through the Holidays.
Thanks ladies for the delicious food, even the midnight food that ended up on Mer's white coat, the laughs, the shopping and most importantly the time away from the boys (and children in my case).


In case you are ever in Clemson and are headed to a place called ESSO-don't worry about being under dressed, just throw on your camo and go!

Love ya ladies and Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloweenie

Happy Halloweenie from my toothless son...


...and adorable daughter

Parisian Superlatives

There really are too many pictures to share and I have had lots of people ask me my favorite thing that we did. Here is the thing: I had lots of favorites, but for different reasons and purposes.

Favorite guide was not dad on this trip it was our trusty Rick Steve's book-see me carrying it? He stayed with me 24/7



Favorite disgusting food that I tried was escargot.
If you can get past the chewiness of them (clearly Kate's face tells us that she could not:) then they weren't terrible.



My favorite spot to feel like a regular was Carmines. We ate there at least 3 times on our trip. YUM.
Favorite transportation-the tiny elevator. Not really, but it was kind of funny.


My favorite 'French' afternoon coffee experience was at LaDuree on the Champs Elysees
Everything was so pretty!

Pretty macarons
and pretty table service
My favorite family time was game night with a dessert smorgasbord and liverpool rummy. Which also served as initiation for my friend into the family.


My favorite night time activity(my only night time activity) was walking a hundred miles to see the Eiffel Tower light up at night-in the rain. Fun times



Favorite shopping experience was the Marais District. I only had one bad shopping event and that is when I got scolded for touching a headband-sheesh.

Favorite tourist spot: Notre Dame tower and the gargoyles.

On the last day of our trip I had my favorite funny day and girl trip to Brussels. We walked miles and miles to get the best french fries. Well they may have been good, but if we had eaten them in Paris they would have been covered with the most delicious gravy ever and then they would have been the best!


My favorite statue was the Mannequin P'is. I am not sure if this is how to spell it but that is how it sounds and it is also what he is doing. They had just changed his clothes the day we were there and had a band and great fanfare.
I laughed and walked more on this trip than any other trip I have been on. It was supremely fun and relaxing. Thank you Darrell, Grams and MacDaddy for holding down the fort while I was away.

I Would Do It Again

We finished our first Warrior Dash and had such a great time. It was the first time Darrell and I have ever raced together and the 1st time I have EVER fun 3.5 miles in a row.
Here are our cheerleaders sporting the free viking helmets:

Jackson had one of my cameras for the whole time and took some pretty interesting pictures. He was very worried about me racing. Tears flowed freely the night before and even the day of the race. He was afraid that I would get hurt.

Since Darrell and I didn't eat the kids helped themselves for us:
See that green just behind Gee? Yeah, that was poison ivy that I sat in for a good half hour. Hopefully the contaminated mud water washed it all off.
We were waiting in the starting gate sweaty and burned well before our start time. Luckily the kids kept us company.


This is the home stretch of the race and we were WAY more tired than this pictures shows. Of course Darrell is still concentrating on the run and I have turned my attention to the littles that were cheering me on. As soon as we finished the last wall we decided to run a little faster since we knew we would have witnesses.

I was so hot that the mud actually felt good. Darrell waited for me after the last obstacle so we could cross the finish line together.

After this water break we went straight to the water hoses to be sprayed down. It didn't do much good.

LIke that purple face on me? I believe it was half dead tired and half sunburn.


Mom graciously allowed me to donate her old tennis shoes. Wasn't that nice? I have no idea how they will clean those, but at least I didn't have to do it.
Oh and Potts don't be too sad that I defaced your Bachelorette Party t-shirt it came clean in the wash:)

Happy Birthday Uncle Jim

Wish we were there to celebrate with you.
Instead this short video will have to do until I make it your way in less than ONE MONTH.
Love you BIG (really I mean OLDER) Brother!

Here is the official birthday picture-the one where I didn't wake the poor girl up with blinding lights and horrible singing.


And before the unofficial end to summer and last lake weekend comes, I must post the pictures of our wonderful end of summer adventure that is now tradition with the three of us. If Linley starts Kindergarten next year then I suppose we will have to include her on our little journeys.

This year we obviously went horseback riding (for 2 hours-that is a long time for us!)

We had a great time, good guide and of course Jackson thought it was hilarious that his horse was both eating the tree and peeing-all while I captured it on photo.

So happy long weekend to all of you and Go Vols!

Fair Time with Cousins

We had a last minute visit from our Parisian relatives a few weeks back. I thought it would be fun and very American to go to the Fair.
Of course Jackson looked up all the rides and height requirements DAYS before we were set to go. He also convinced Aunt Kate to get a wrist band to ride all the rides with him.
I would love to tell you that I got tons of pictures besides these four, but after not wanting to miss Jackson's 1st EVER upside down ride, I was O-U-T for the rest of the night. Just a glimpse of the merry go round made me turn green.

Thanks Jim, Kate, MM and James-we had a great time and can't wait to see you on the other side in a few months.

4th Things First

Happy 4th Birthday Sweet Girl!

I woke Linley up with her Birthday Breakfast that she picked out

I couldn't decide which picture was funnier so I put them both in. Of course it wouldn't be right if the birthday girl wasn't sick on her big day so I loaded her up with Motrin, kissed her and sent her to school.

After a Dr. Appointment and a cherry coke to make everything better we had the Big Event of the day. Darrell's boss had a surprise birthday party that we were invited to, which included hot air balloon rides.

So those three crazies went up in the balloon and I would say the 4th Birthday was a smashing success!

I can't believe the youngest is 4 and last night as I put her to bed and tried to sing to her 'This Little Light of Mine' (the silly version where you hide it under an armpit-NO) she simply said "Mommy, I am a big girl now and I don't sing it silly anymore" sniff sniff