Day 2 ....

We have now officially decided that Pigeon Forge has ANYTHING you could ever want to do. This morning, we went to the infamous Smoky Mountain Knife Works ... a couple of boys got pocket knives, one got a wooden sword, and I got some awesome Henckel kitchen knives. Then after a much needed nap (for Derek and me), we found PONY RIDES!!!!!! The girls rode the ponies and Red could not understand why we couldn't take one home with us.
Look what the boys rode!!! It was so stinking funny! Literally, he smelled a little. Yes, a camel in the mountains, who'da thunk?
The restaurant we ate at even had an indoor carousel! We finished off the night with some putt putt and a mirror maze. Fun!

Forbidden Caverns

On the way to Pigeon Forge, we passed Forbidden Caverns. We really enjoyed it, as much as we could with little ones who had already been walking all over Biltmore Estate. In the picture below, there's a creek running through the cave ... very cool.

Since this is our anniversary trip ...

I thought I'd put a picture of just us, courtesy of my nine year old. We wanted the mountains in the background, but since he's a bit shorter .... oh well. And then a nice lady offered to take one of all us together. This was taken in the gardens at Biltmore.

Our Holiday Weekend ....

I thought I'd share a picture of where we went today! This is the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. After this, we went to Pigeon Forge, TN and went to a pretty cool cave, Forbidden Cavern. I have so many more pictures I want to share, but my connection is really bad up here in the Smoky Mountains. Just know we are having a GREAT time, Derek and the boys are playing pool in our cabin - YES! there is a pool table in our cabin, as well as a hot tub ... whoot whoot!

Our Anniversary!

Today is our 13th anniversary. Derek gave me this beautiful necklace on Friday night. I really love black pearls and it matches some black pearl earrings he gave me several years ago. It is much prettier in person.

He had to go out of town for work yesterday and won't be home until Wednesday. I was really put out that he would be gone today, but I'm over it now. He can't really help when the company decides to do this corporate function, can he?

The doorbell rang awhile ago and these flowers were delivered! I love yellow roses! I have had something delivered to him, too. I won't tell just in case he reads this (like he ever does, but the one time he does ... it would be today).

some old pictures I found ...

visitors ...

Nicole came over earlier this week to hang out. The girls love to hold baby Sadie. Molly did a great job. Anna .... not so much. She almost dropped her (we caught her).
After Sadie calmed down, we snapped another picture. This one cracks me up. Anna seems so proud and Sadie is thinking, "Help me".

Got my fall apron already!

This is my apron I got from Katie! Isn't it the coolest? I think it's fun and funky .... love the colors; and best of all, it's reversible! My 9 year old took the pictures, so sorry that they are lopsided.
And here's the matching potholder .... I love it! Thank you, Katie!

Fabric

What does this fabric remind you of? I'm hoping fall, because this is the fabric for the fall sassy apron swap. I've already cut it out, and wanting to sew it up tonight and ship it out soon.

Tree of Happiness Award

I've been given the Tree of Happiness Award by the sweetest and cutest thing you've ever seen, Kt. I am supposed to write 6 things that make me happy. While there are lots of things that make me happy, I limit it to these (in no particular order)....


1. My littlest is finally potty trained! No more diapers for me, hooray! There is once catch, though ... she will only wear Curious George panties - which I only have 3 pair and Target stopped selling them. Wow - 6 kids potty trained, what a feat!

2. My Yellow Box flip flops - they are the cutest, most comfortable flip flops EVER! Especially my zebra striped ones ....

3. Being married to the greatest man ever! He is patient, fair, level headed, spontaneous, great looking, athletic, has good taste in clothes (and shoes), funny, did I mention he has very, very, very nice looking legs?

4. My kitchen - I have the coolest kitchen EVER. I'll have to post pictures of it someday. It's big, cheery, with a spiral staircase leading upstairs. The only thing I'd like to change is the color on the wall one day ... maybe red.

5. My sewing machine - I have my Grandmother's old Pfaff and I heart it. I love sewing aprons on it. I can't quite do nice buttonholes on it, but everything else is super duper.

6. My kids - I have (in my opinion) the greatest and CUTEST kids ever. Their always willing to lend a hand, they are each others best friends, their funny, their smart.... I could go on and on, but I won't.

So there you have it, 6 things that make me very happy! But I, like KT, know that true happiness comes from knowing I am a child of God, and that He saved me from my sins, and I will spend eternity with Him one day!

I choose to pass the Tree Of Happiness along to Jennifer, Nikki, Audrey, Shawnee, Deb, and T.J. Join me if you'd like to by listing 6 things that make you happy, then passing this on to 6 other bloggers.

Squee! whoot, whoot!

As some of you know, I never did recieve my apron from the sassy apron swap. It was sad, but I moved on. Today I went to check the mail and look what I got!!!! Shari, who wasn't even my partner, felt sorry for me and made me an apron out of the goodness of her heart. Wasn't that sweet? I put it on right away and had my son take pictures for me; so it's still a little wrinkled. It's reversible and I love it! I have made two Emmeline aprons but gave them both away and now I have one of my own!

Here is side two, and I think this is my favorite side ....
Isn't it the cutest? Thanks, Shari!

Walking

I'm doing the Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds program. I started yesterday, walking 1 mile yesterday and today. By next week, I think I've got to walk 2 miles - UGH. We'll see if it will help with the weight loss. Hey, it can't hurt!

My bag from my excellent partner ....

Here is the tote bag I got from Cheryl, my super duper swap partner. I love it, love the colors, and it's HUGE, which is perfect for a mom of 6 kids! Now that the kids are in school, there is nobody to take pictures of me, so here is a shot of myself with the tote over my shoulder .... yeah, it didn't turn out to good; but you get the point.
Close up of the fabric. So channel, so me!