Friday, December 24, 2010

Making cookies

Dylan and I made cutout sugar cookies this morning! He did an awesome job using the cookie cutters and decorating!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

How to carve a turkey-sort of

Paul carving the Thanksgiving Turkey! If you need any turkey carving advice let him know, he did a great job!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Lights, Santa, and Ponies

Last night we piled in the Jeep and headed up to Smokies Stadium to see the light show and other Christmas attractions. We had heard everything was free, which was not the case, it was $20 to see the light show. Which we thought was  a little pricey, especially considering we had heard it was free, but we drove through anyway. The light show was really very good and there were a ton of lights that were synchronized to the radio station we had turned to when we started our drive.



After we drove through the light show we headed over to the petting zoo. They had camels and ponies that the kids could ride ($5 per ride) and lots of animals, llamas, sheep, sheep with horn sideburns, cows, and more. Dylan LOVES animals and petting zoos, he could have stayed there all night visiting all of the animals, but we broke him away to see if he would visit Santa.
Luckily there was only one person in front of us so we figured we wouldn't have to wait to long to see Santa. However, this Santa was VERY chatty and was still chatting with the little boy on his lap when Dylan had enough and wanted to go back to the petting zoo. We talked to him about going and sitting on Santa's lap and telling Santa what he wanted for Christmas, but the allure of the petting zoo was calling him so we had to head back to the zoo. No Santa visit for Dylan this year, maybe next year...
Dylan did ride a pony all by himself though (OK, Dave was standing next to him to make sure Dylan didn't fall off). But he loved riding Strawberry the pony, I think that was the highlight of his night.

Two-Fer Tuesday

The Christmas Past Edition!

Dylan's 1st Christmas, 2008, with Uncle Kyle.


Christmas 2009, in Iowa, Me, Dylan, Mom & Dana

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Ice

We actually got the ice that was predicted; Weatherman 1, Knoxville 0



Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Hair

Since the day he was born Dylan has had a full head of hair. When he was around 3 months old I would have nightmares that I would wake up and find him in his bassenet with no hair, it was very tramautic. :) Luckily that didn't happen. He kept his hair and it went from jet black to the blonde it is now. He's got great highlights too, I'm jealous of them!
We were looking through a tote of Dylans things yesterday and came across a card that Carolyn had made for Dylan for Valentine's Day last year. On the front of the card was a photo of Dylan with the long hair he used to have. I couldn't believe how great his hair looked, it made me miss his long hair! We have been doing a good job of getting his hair cut pretty regularly, mainly so it stays out of his eyes, but I think it might be time to go back to the longer hair for the winter.
Check out these photos, what do you think? Should the long hair make a comeback?

Two-Fer Tuesday

Dave & Josh - I think we can all agree, Dave should NEVER have a mustache!
Flashback to 2009 - Wes, Josh & Dave

Monday, December 6, 2010

What makes people go crazy?

Do you really want to know what makes things crazy at our house before Christmas? It's not shopping for the presents, finding time to decorate the house and Christmas tree, no it's finding or taking the photo for our Christmas card! Luckily we were in Chicago this year for Thanksgiving and made a trip downtown to Daley Plaza to see the huge Christmas tree. Dana suggested that would be the perfect spot for our Christmas card photo and we were hoping that she was right! You know what it's like, either you get lucky sometime throughout the year and get a great photo or struggle to take one the day before you need to order your cards. The past few years, we've been in the latter category. I'm blaming Dylan, it's hard to get a good photo of someone 2 and under :)

We did get a good photo in front of the big Christmas tree though, we were lucky this year! Now I needed to find the right photo card to go with the photo. Fortunately, Shutterfly has hundreds of options to make sure there is something that will go with every photo. Do I choose this one? I like this one too! This could be it...Maybe this is the hard part, deciding what card to choose! I guess you will just have to wait and see! It is fun to look through the designs and see what one will work best with our photo.

Maybe some thank-you notes too... :)

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Two-Fer Tuesday

 Sarah, Beth & I at Rotten Apple Tavern.

Dylan relaxing on the drive home from Chicago.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Leaves

Late Sunday we went outside and played in the leaves!

 "Mama, can you rake me a pile of leaves?"
 "Maybe I should do it myself..."
 "This is fun!"
 "Seriously, I could play outside all day!"
Or maybe not. "Mama, help me up."

the end

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Two-Fer Tuesday

Sorry about missing Two-Fer Tuesday last week. It was such a crazy week I didn't realize I missed it until Friday night!

I thought I'd post a few Chicago photos since that's where we will be spending Thanksgiving!!


(Thanks to Andrew for the photos!)

Monday, November 15, 2010

March of Dimes Signature Chef's Auction

Last night Dave and I had the privilege to attend the Knoxville March of Dimes Signature Chef's Auction along with a few of our co-workers from Tennessee National. We had a wonderful time looking at all the silent auction items and enjoying cocktails before being let into the main part of the convention center where the food was located.

There were 20 different food stations at this event! It was rather difficult to figure out where to start, luckily the program listed what each restaurant/chef's signature dish was so that helped us narrow down the options. We started at Carrabbas and while the book said they would have lobster ravioli, chicken Marsala and penne pomodoro I can't say we had any of that. We had
what I think was beef marsla (very good) and something fried and as I am sure you know, fried food is usually good and this was no exception. Our next stop was at The Orangery and it was by far our favorite of the night, their menu was also a little different from the book, but the roasted pork, sweet corn johnny cake, & roasted apples were a wonderful combination. The Partridge & Pear Restaurant was a spot I was looking forward toas well and they did not disappoint with their Beef Short Rib Ravioli, this was our #2 favorite.

We also stopped by Latitude 35 for the southern style shrimp and grits (ok); Chandler's Deli for mac & cheese, green beans and pulled pork (huge portions, but we still like M&M's better); Marble Slab Creamery had ice cream martinis, pumpkin ginger and chocolate amaretto, the pumpkin was the best in our book and excellent; Pelanchos for avocado stuffed with grilled steak wrapped in Monterrey Jack Cheese, lightly breaded and fried, also excellent; Regas Restaurant had braised Niman Ranch Pork Cheek marbella over morel mushroom mashed potatoes with a port wine, balsamic fig and olive reduction (this was good, but they only gave us one plate, so we were not very happy about that!); The Crown & Goose featured porcini dusted pork tenderloin on top of a pumpkin and butternut squash puree with pecan and walnut brittle, really good.

It was fun to walk around the convention center and check out the different restaurant booths and see what everyone had to offer. This event was a lot of fun, it's nice to go to an event and not just be served the same old food.  I am glad we had the opportunity to go and support the March of Dimes as well!


Thursday, November 11, 2010

Wedding present

Dave and I had a hard time deciding what to get Bob & Melea for a wedding present. We didn't want to get them something off their registry, we wanted something more original. Dave's initial thought was artwork, but that is difficult for us to buy, I can't imagine buying it for Bob & Melea, they certainly have their own style and have just moved, so who knows how they will be decorating their new place.

A few of the blogs I read (www.thepioneerwoman.com & www.dooce.com) have featured custom pet portraits by a few different artists and I really liked what I saw. This was also while I was looking for a present for Bob and Melea. The portrait style I thought would fit them and their style best was from www.doghousepetportraits.com. Kristin was awesome to work with and did such a great job capturing Mr. Fender from the photo I sent her. Bob & Melea loved the portrait almost as much as they love Mr. Fender!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Friday, November 5, 2010

New camera

Dave got me a new camera for my birthday!*

So, we searched around on the internet for a while comparing cameras before we actually purchased the camera. One thing we were looking for in our new camera was one that had a very fast shutter lag time. This is apparently different than shutter speed and also rather difficult to find in the camera specs since it can be measured differently. Our main issue with our old camera was that it took forever to take a photo. And when you have a two year old that moves rather quickly a camera that takes quick photos. What I really wanted was a DSLR camera, but right not that's just not realistic for us . Also knowing people that have them who don't use them because they are big and bulky to carry around is another factor. I certainly don't want an expensive camera that I don't use.

We ended up buying a Cannon PowerShot 1300IS. I haven't had a chance to play with any of the settings on the camera or go through the DVD that shows me how to do all that yet. But overall it seems to be a pretty good little camera. The shutter lag time is much better than our old camera and the photos are also much better. Our old camera photos were pretty washed out. Here are a few photos from the new camera. What do you think?




*Dave thought we needed a new point and shoot camera and since I told him that I didn't want anything for my birthday (just a cookie cake, which I did not get...) he decided that would be a good excuse to get a camera.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Pumpkin Farm

Saturday morning we made our annual trip to the pumpkin farm. We decided to go to Deep Well Farm instead of Oakes Farm and generally we liked Deep Well Farm. It wasn't as busy at Oakes Farm and it's closer to home, but the farm left a little to be desired. They did have animals, which Dylan loves, he got to feed goats, pet a donkey, llama, baby pigs and see rabbits, ducks and chickens.

There was also a maze made out of hay bales, Dylan had fun making his way through the maze, but decided to climb on the hay bales at the end!

They also had a huge slide, tire swing, tractor, kids play area and corn kernal play area. Dylan and Dave made a few trips down the big slide.

After checking out all the animals and play areas we hopped on the wagon for a tractor ride over to the pumpkin patch. Dylan loved the tractor ride and didn't spend a lot of time looking for a pumpkin, he wanted to get back on the wagon for another ride!
All said and done it was a fun trip to the pumpkin farm. We got a few pumpkins and Dylan really loved the animals and tractor/wagon ride.

And who wouldn't love the llamas with a face like this?

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Photoblogging: Boo at the Zoo

On Friday night Dave and I too Dylan to the Knoxville Zoo's Annual "Boo at the Zoo"! We all had a great time, it started with a ride on a big yellow bus from the parking lot to the zoo enterance. Our little fireman loves big yellow buses!

After we got into the Zoo Dylan was attacked by a huge beaver! Luckily it was a friendly beaver!

There were treat stations through out the zoo, so we made our way through each of them. Dylan did a pretty good job of saying "trick or treat" and "thank-you". Here he is checking out his candy.

Oreos! We got to see the elephants, zebras, meerkats, camels and a few other animals while we were at the zoo, unfortantely, part of the area where the treat stations were located didn't have any animals that you could see so Dylan was a little disappointed. But I think the candy made up for it!

Dylan the fireman!

Two-Fer Tuesday

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Two-Fer Tuesday

Sorry, no race pictures yet. Dave didn't take any...

But this one should make up for it!
Dylan, October 2008, 2 months old.
The beginning of fall in the mountains.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

He finished!

That's what the picture message I got from Dana said! It also had a photo of Dave after the race!
Dave told me he wanted to finish the race in under 2 hours and he did it! He said the obstacles were tough and he had some cramping at the end. I just talked to him briefly just after the race and when I get more details I will let you know.
Here are Dave's race stats:
Overall 2940 out of over 7500 participants
Placed 443 out of 706 in the 30-34 age division
Final time: 1 hour 49 minutes and 23 seconds

If you are interested in anyone else's stats click here to go to the results page.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Dancing Lucinda

The Nadas (still one of my favorite bands) are on a cross country living room tour (here's the link to the Facebook page). This is a video of Jason and Mike playing one of my favorites, Dancing Lucinda.

Another race for Dave - Men's Heath Urbanathlon

This weekend Dave is heading to Chicago to run in the Men's Health Urbanathlon. He will be running with his usual racing partner Andrew, and a few friends from high school, Andrew and Tim. (I know, two Andrew's will make this confusing, so High School friend Andrew will now be referred to as Andy).
Dave and Andrew are flying up to Chicago tonight to check in and meet up with the other guys. Tonight is the welcome party and registration.
The race starts tomorrow at 7:45am and the participants will go off in waves according to their age group. There are over 6,000 people registered for the race this year! Dave, Andrew, Andy and Tim are all in the same age group so they will be starting together. This race is a little different than the other races Dave and Andrew have run, as they are running individually instead of as a group. However, they will be sporting their Olympic Couch Riders shirts and I am sure they will all try to stay together. This race also has 9 miles of running in addition to the obstacles, which include running stairs at Soldier Field (check out the video for the stair running, it's crazy!), and other obstacles at Navy Pier, DuSable Harbor, & McCormick Place.
I'll let you know how Dave does later on Saturday or Sunday and hopefully we'll have pictures up early next week!
Have a great weekend!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

The Big Boy Bed

We got Dylan a big boy bed last week ( I think we picked it up on Wednesday?), it sat downstairs airing out for a few days and Dave finally got it up in Dylan's room on Friday. Since then we have been trying to show Dylan that the bed is for sleeping in and not just jumping on, but we had been unsuccessful until last night. He finally went to bed in his big boy bed and stayed there until he woke up this morning (after 8am)! I was already on my way to work, but Dave said he was up getting ready and heard Dylan open the door to his room and say "hello" so Dave stuck his head out our door and said hi to Dylan. (and told him how proud he was of him for sleeping in his big boy bed all night)
We have kept the crib in Dylan's room so it is rather full with the crib, Dylan's new full size bed, change table, rocker, toy box, armour, etc. Hopefully this will be the beginning of the end of Dylan's crib and we can finally take it down and get rid of it. (It's a drop side crib and apparently they are dangerous, so IF we have another baby we will be getting a new crib. BTW, we haven't had any problems with the drop side on our crib and Dylan has shaken the hell out of the crib).
So, wish us luck tonight that Dylan sleeps in his big boy bed again! (and let me know if you see any fire truck sheets, because I am having a terrible time finding them, all I've seen is a fire truck quilt, not quite what I'm looking for).

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Two-Fer Tuesday

Boats anyone? Here are some of my favorites from the builder (and my former employer) Kadey-Krogen.

Annapolis Boat Show 2006.

Krogen 54' my favorite Krogen design. Check out this article to find out more on the Krogen 54'.