Happy Lazy Day

I know everyone can appreciate a day when you can go at your own pace - no appointments, no commitments, no obligations. That was Labor Day for us.

Well, there was one order of the day, and that was getting Sabian's mom to the airport for her flight yesterday morning. Leaving from Tallahassee (most of the time it is cheaper to get flights in and out of that airport), her flight left at 7:15 a.m. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, she needed to be there about an hour and a half early, and factoring in that Tallahassee is an hour ahead of us, that meant that they had to leave at 3 a.m. Sabian was back in bed by 6 a.m. CST, and snoozed for as long as he could without sleeping the day away.

Once he and Addie were up from their long morning sleeping, the three of us headed out for a late lunch in Port St. Joe. I'm sure I've said it before, but St. Joe is a small town (although bigger than Wewa!) on the water about 30 minutes from us. When it comes to sports, they are Wewa rivals. They are also located in the Eastern time zone. We had lunch and then took a walk by the water and out on the pier for a better view. It was a nice day and a great way to round out an otherwise busy weekend. We had a great time with Sabian's mom while she was here - details and photos to come later.

While we were in St. Joe we took Addie to a little park. We put her in a swing for the first time and quickly realized either she is too small, the swing was too big, or both. I think if we could get her in the right sized swing, she would like it. For now, she was pretty fascinated with her shadow. (For the record, her feet do not touch the ground...yet!)



While we were on the pier we saw some wild looking fish:

Long, skinny, and iridescent - Sabian said he noticed an electric charge come off of one of them. There were several swimming around, adults and what looked like some young 'uns.

Today I am thankful for my thoughtful husband, who brought these roses back from his errand running. Whether he knew it or not, I really need these today.

Say "Pause!" 3rd Installment

Shaquille O'Neal has a new show called "Shaq Vs." The premise of the show revolves around him challenging other star athletes at their own sports. This week he challenged Albert Pujols to a homerun derby. It was neat to see Shaq in St. Louis and also to see how gracious Albert was to his guest. Of course, Albert won the contest, but they had a good time doing it. Upon pausing Tivo while watching, we caught this sweet moment:

As big as Albert is, he looks like a child in Shaq's arms. Ha.

Today I am thankful we were able to get Addie in her bed at regular time. We've been on the go so much and she's been such a sport, she deserves to be in her own bed on her normal schedule.

Get to Know Some Strange Folk!

While my mother-in-law is in town this weekend we are in and out and keeping very busy. As a result, I do want to keep the blog updated but may not have the time to sit down and really get to tell you and show you all that we're doing. So, in the meantime, I'll put in a quick plug.

Two years ago I heard about an indie/handmade craft festival taking place in O'Fallon, IL. I went by myself to check it out. This isn't your grandma's craft festival. You'll find no country ducks dressed in bonnets and aprons here.

The Strange Folk Festival is all about all things handmade - cool things handmade. Even though I walked away with just one purchase (the tote bag they make every year bearing the name of the festival), I had a really good time and saw some great stuff. I was pretty disappointed that moving to Wewa meant I was going to miss it last year, and since then I have heard and read that even more components have been added to this little festival - music, food, etc. It's generated such a name for itself that I really think some bands and food people are vying for spots. What's so cool about this festival is that it takes place in Illinois. There are a few of these same type of festivals taking place in St. Louis throughout the year but this one is in the community park in O'Fallon, which is great.

I say all of this to say this - go to Strange Folk! If it is even better than the first year it was held, then it is really worth going. If I still lived in the area, I would even think of volunteering. If I still lived in the area, I would save up my allowance to splurge at this festival.

So, go, have fun, and buy something handmade. You'll probably even get to meet some of the cool people from Etsy, my not-so-secret addiction.

Today I am thankful for the talents of other people who make neat things that the rest of us crafty-less people can buy. Now, if only I had a budget to do it as often as I'd like!

5 Feet, 5 Inches of My Worst Nightmare

We have great neighbors. The Millers have been wonderful to us since the moment we moved in to the house next door to them and I will always remember the gallons of milk and OJ Mrs. Miller brought over to us the morning after we moved in.

I will also always remember the night we were in Wewa to interview and Mr. Miller asked us if we'd ever seen a gator and then proceeded to pull a baby alligator out of his pocket. No lie.

So, it should come as no surprise that when Mrs. Miller stopped by Sunday afternoon, she and her husband had something, uh, interesting to show us.


This is a "rattler." Someone around town killed it and brought it to Mr. Miller. You should know that Mr. Miller is a retired game warden, retired as recently as soon after we moved to Wewa. Apparently when someone kills something, whether on purpose or by accident, they drop it by the Millers. This includes bears and other varmints. His plan for this snake was to skin it and possibly make a belt. He offered for me to take part in the process, but I politely declined.

I am thankful I wasn't the one to come face to face with this snake. I think I might have fainted. Seeing it dead was bad enough for me. Between the bear last week and this snake, I'm beginning to feel all of this nature is a little too close to home!

Party Time! Happy Birthday Ivory!

On Saturday Addie attended her first birthday party. Ivory, who belongs to our friends Jason and Lee Ann, turned one on August 18 and invited us to join in on the fun as she and her family celebrated with her first birthday party.


Decked out in her Elmo dress (handmade by her seriously talented mom), she worked her way through her first cupcake expertly made and decorated by her Aunt Melissa who is a baker and just happens to have an awesome name. The cupcakes really were very cute and very, very yummy. Move over Ace of Cakes.


Addie proudly wore her party hat (again, handmade!) and took notes as she watched Ivory enjoy her cupcake and open her presents. No cake for her this year, but we're workin' on it.

As the youngest party goer in attendance Addie couldn't "hang" as long as everyone else and fell asleep before the festivities were over, but she had a great time.

Thanks to the Jason, Lee Ann, and Ivory for inviting us to join in on this special occasion! We enjoyed it and were happy to be included.