Pig Party

Never short on reasons to have a party, we celebrated Chad's bounty by having our neighborhood buddies over for a Pig Party. Mr. Dan smoked the beast for us, and we all helped ourselves to some whopping plates of Wild Q.

 The Star of the Party...

 ...and the biggest shocker of all: Miss Allie with a mouthful of fresh pig.

Sibling Football

Check out this rare and wonderfully entertaining game of football between big brother and little sis...

Toothless Wonders

After weeks of anticipation, coaxing, pulling, tooth-dangling, and teasing...it finally happened: Jackie lost her first tooth!

Check out this good-looking snaggle-toothed pair!

Just on the heels of Jackie's loss, Anna Kate proceeded to lose her 8th tooth, securing her position as the Queen of Gums.  No doubt she is wearing the Tooth Fairy Out!!

The Quest for Ham

Hunter has been asking me to cook him a ham lately. Having never done this before, I called Nanny for play-by-play instructions. Armed with my list, I headed to Harris Teeter. After picking up a browning bag, an $8 bottle of ground cloves, and a number of other items I'm certain to never use again, I ventured over to the meat counter. There was a nice array of hams, but they looked to me like they had already been cooked, at least once. I asked the meat guy about this, who informed me that I must need a fresh ham--which they don't have. Hmmmmm.

So, I get home and call Nanny. Without calling me a moron, Nanny tells me I'm a moron:  "I've never baked a fresh ham. I don't even know where you would get that. What are you thinking, Honey?" Hmmmm. I feel compelled to apologize to Hunter. "Son, I'm sorry but your mother is not smart enough to cook a ham for you."

Smart? No. Resourceful? Yes. I load the kids in the car and head to Nanny's. In no time, Hunter has his ham and all is right with the world.

Meanwhile, Daddy--who is unaware that Nanny has come through for us--decides to get us a fresh ham his way.

Rainy Days and Sundays

A little afternoon rainshower clearly didn't dampen the spirits of these four...

Pedicure Party

I've been promising Leigh I'd take her for a pedicure for weeks, so I finally made good.

Amazingly, our buddies just happened to be at the same nail salon, same day, same time.

I'm not sure what Missy Priss enjoyed more--having her toes loved on, or having a Sprite all to herself.

Here Lucy graciously smiles so I can take a picture--she's so proud of her camera smile that we don't have the heart to tell her it looks like she's gearing up to drop a load.

Pretty in purple...

Here Leigh gets some good moral support from Jackie and friends--just in time for the painstaking process of placing the tiny jewels on each fingernail. Time well spent, I might add, as she carefully picked each one off--as carefully as they were put on--within an hour of leaving the salon.

Gorgeous!!

Mommy & Leigh's Day Out

Today Mommy & Leigh got to spend the whole day together while Daddy & Hunter busied themselves doing boy things. We started our special day with a trip to Nordstrom Rack, where my little shoe buddy was drawn straight to the gold lamee pumps with the strength of a magnetic Jedi force.

Of course, she was all that in the black pumps as well.

Next up was Pier 1 and Pottery Barn Kids, where the big doll house provided a solid hour of entertainment.

After our shopping spree, we headed to Chili's for some mac-&-cheese (shocking!) and fun with the nose-on-the-spoon trick.

We rounded out the afternoon with a stop by ColdStone for dessert, just to spread some extra sugar on our special time together.