Johnson Fun Run

Jackson participated in his school's fundraising event today which was a Fun Run. For years (6 to be exact) Darrell and I have wondered what Jackson's gifts would be as he grew up. We were pretty sure it wasn't soccer, nothing really where aggressiveness is key, and he doesn't play an instrument.
So his ideas to be an acrobats or actor/dancer were looking all too promising ( I can't say that we were thrilled about either one of those, but my brother wanted to be a garbage truck driver so there is hope yet.)

Well today he shined (oh and he shines in many ways that aren't athletic, but go with me here)


My son was one of only 2 in his class with 9 laps. That is 2.25 miles in about 25 minutes.
Look at him go. It would have been 10, but he slowed down to walk with his very best friend and neighbor (who happens to be a girl and precious and her mom told the principle that they were going to get married-but that is a different story)

This is at the end of 2 miles-he looks pooped.

ahhh, wasn't that fun. After the refreshing popsicle he asked if he could finish. Is he crazy? I think so.

I think this mommy will have to reward him by using her blow money to treat him to dinner (ok, so that is a reward for me too).

Tornado Boil 2010

This was our 4th Annual Crawfish Boil. Every year we have had beautiful weather and lots of crawfish leftover. This year, not so much on either side. I think the rain huddled everyone closer and since there was really nothing else to do besides chow down, there was not a single ugly crawfish unspoken for. I kind of liked it. I also liked it because I didn't have to keep up with any kids, but we all know I would never enjoy an afternoon of good friends without my sweet precious children;)

So here it is in two pictures:
1. The hosts ( I love the parties where the ladies have to do very little, except of course the lady who had to clean up her house.)

2. These two were peeling as fast as they could for the two crawfish hungry vultures beneath them. My kids would never touch something that still has eyes and legs!

Oh and one more Happy Belated Birthday to Uncle Paul. We really hope you enjoyed that Princess Cake you requested:)

Florida

Here are a thousand pictures chronicling our time in Defuniak Springs. Maybe not 1000 but at least 20.

We had a great time at Darrell's grandparents house last week. We made it to the beach 3 days and one of them was perfect. The other two were filled with jellyfish. It is hard to beat a free, clean (except from us:), hospitable place to stay. The week was filled with dirt roads, boiled peanuts, jelly fish, Seaside, sand, ice cream for breakfast, candy for lunch and carrot cake for dinner. And at three pounds heavier we made it back to the pollen clouds of Tennessee.

After the first day there and non stop whining from one of the two below I thought about leaving them both just like this for a few hours:

The hats were borrowed from Grandma and Grandpa. Jackson wore his backwards so he would look like a teenager.



My favorite part of the trip.
First ride at THE TRACK. I am pretty sure I went here when I was in High School and now I am back with my own kids. And by the way, the bumper boats should be called the soaker boats because you will not leave without being wet.

Happy Dance!

Boiled peanuts which became boiled, sandy peanuts.


I don't think there was ever a moment when she was without food. But how can you resist that chubalicious girl?
Riding or more accurately driving the little tractor...

...and the big one


Riding the chickens is a tradition at this place, but Jackson was adamant that Linley could only ride on the small one.

See ya next year Gma and Gpa and thanks for a great week!

Completely Random Post

We just returned home from half of a week in Florida for spring break. It was a great time and many pictures will be coming, but until then I will have a completely random post on a few things that have been happening and a few other random thoughts.
1. Darrell (and I) recently bought a new (to us) car. If you have never saved up and paid cash for a newish car then I would highly recommend it. It drives much better:) My favorite part of this new car was when we went to fill it up for the first time. Neither of us could figure out how to open the gas tank. Finally I convinced D to let me read the owners manual. Here he is after we finally figured it out.
And here he is when he realized the paparazzi was going to put his picture on the blog.
2. I love my girlfriends and our recent weekend together. I also love this one and her fashion shows. My vote was for the silver number, but I was outvoted-tell me you all like the silver better too and I will be your best friend.

3. I love any time I get to hang out with girls sans kids! Mandi I had a picture of you showing us how to stand when taking a picture, but I decided you might not like that one published. You're welcome


4. I love the bounce dryer bar-they should pay me to advertise for this thing. If you don't have one then go get it. I even emailed them and told them how much I love it and they sent me a coupon. Bonus points for them.
5. Happy Easter ! I hope you all enjoyed my favorite holiday

6. Last and DEFINITELY least ( I kinda hope you have stopped reading by now), but don't we look really OLD! The crazy hair, the lazy eye, the wrinkles Oh MY!

Why I Am SOOOO Tickled

So the other night I laughed sooo hard that my husband wanted me to be committed and my brother in law came out of hiding to check and see if I was crying or laughing.

I was laughing and I am still laughing and now you must hear why.

Darrell and I very frugally planned a trip to San Francisco this summer to go to a friends wedding.
On this trip we will have NO kids (this is very important to remember).

We got our air fare for next to nothing thanks to some travel vouchers that we have been holding onto and I also found an excellent coupon code for a rental car. So we get to and around San Fran for less than $200. All that is left to book is the hotel and this my friends was Darrell's job:)

He did a great job picking out the location and swankiness of the hotel.
Major props to Darrell, you see it is just too bad that I can't thank him properly;) because we will be staying in a room suitable for these two:


Yes my friends my loving and adoring husband booked a hotel room with TWO TWIN BEDS:0
And here is where I will steal something from one of my favorite tv show bloggers and insert the Jim Halpert face here:Love ya honey! Can't wait to cuddle up to my pillow on our 3 day trip to California without any kids!

Grocery Project: What I Learned

I think I was hoping that Darrell would hate the meal planning (which he did), hate grocery shopping (which he did not), go over budget (which he did) and that at the end of it all he would come home full of praise and admiration for his wife with all that she does.

So here is what we learned so far:
1. I am a wimp when it comes to sticking to the rules. I was supposed to hand over the $$ and go away and let him figure it out. I didn't. Every time he moaned for a little help or got a little pouty, I would sigh, groan and go help.

2. Darrell had no idea that planning a menu actually meant you would have to think about ALL parts of the menu including the main dish AND the side dishes.

3. He also didn't take into consideration that breakfast, lunch and paper products had to be bought.

4. Looking in the pantry to see if we had any items, consisted of asking ME what we already had.

5. Coupons and Darrell work better if I am in charge:)

6. He gets bonus points for taking the grumpier of our two children with him to the grocery store only minutes before bedtime. No seriously he deserves much praise for this one!

7. He went WAY over budget and even brought home items in brands that I have never seen just to try and save a few dollars. This is funny b/c he bought some random orange marmalade(it looked like it came from the international food aisle), but then individual things of Pringles for Jackson's lunch-hello?

8. I still don't think he is a great appreciation for the time spent meal planning, couponing, and shopping, but I think he hated it just enough to not complain for a few weeks so:
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

The Grocery Project

Just a little note for everyone to get ready for next week.
Darrell will be starting on a little journey I like to call payback
The Grocery Project.
I have done the shopping, planning and couponing ever since Darrell and I have been married. Darrell loves that I save a lot of money, but just this week I thought it might be a fun little experiment to put him to work and maybe gain a little appreciation for the skills that it takes. (I just hope he doesn't put me to the yard project:)

For one or maybe two weeks I will hand over my weekly grocery budget and the big fat coupon book and let him have at it:0

It makes me smile just thinking about it.

So here are the rules:
1. He gets $75 to get all of our groceries and consummable items for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
2. He has to make out a menu plan for the entire week and I will still do the cooking seeing as I don't plan on torturing EVERYONE in the household.
That doesn't seem to hard does it? At least I am not making him actually cook the food.

We will see how it goes. So, sweetie, enjoy that long weekend with the guys, because you have a lot of work to do on Sunday!

Any other wives willing to join me?