Cubs Win!

Yippiieeeee! Our beloved Cubies are headed for the post season...bring on some more baseball!

This really does lighten the mood in our household, so I do appreciate the hard work the Cubs have put in lately and expect some more from them in the games to come.

Slow Cooker Pork Chops with Apple-Cherry Stuffing

Another yummy recipe. I tried this yesterday and the pork chops were very tender. I used craisins because I already had them and it was soooooo good. It seems fancy for how easy it was.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/Recipes/Recipe.aspx?recipeId=36762

Dancing Girls

Click this link to see the girls funny new dance routine! Once you get there go to the video link under our picture.

I couldn't get this video to load on my blog, so I loaded it on my myspace page instead. Unfortunately, you have to have a myspace account to view it. Sorry, I will keep trying. Oh and no picking on my lack of myspace friends.

Silly Girls

Doesn't she look sweet as an angel? So the bangs are a little short, just means we will save some money since she wont need a haircut for a year.

She loves to paint her feet!

Uhhh, sure.

Don't I look so smart and stylish?

Sleeping sweetly.

Believe it or not they were actually hanging out together reading books. So cute!

10 Years

So I was reading my friend Miranda's blog the other day and she was talking about going to her 10 year high school reunion and how fast the time goes. This caused me to think back to where I was 10 years ago...traveling, living at the bars, chasing boys, hiking, playing tennis, and pretty much whatever the heck I wanted to be doing. Who would have thought then that I would be married to Ben (of all people), staying at home with our two sweet girls, and driving a white minivan. So I'm not really sure where I was going with this...but anyone who knows me realizes the minivan really appeals to my practical side, but I know it totally isn't cool.

Last night I went to a real bar, well at least one you need a membership to get into. Those of you that live in UT or SC will know what that is, for the rest of the normal world it means cover charge. I went to dinner with an old friend and a new friend, at least I think she will be a new friend. I don't get out much for adult conversation so I may have blathered on about nothing for most of the night. Anyway we went to this particular place because they were craving fried olives. You're thinking fried olives??? Well this is the South after all and they fry everything here. The olives are chopped up, mixed with cheese, breaded and fried. You would think this is a win/win. At first I thought it would be like boiled peanuts (another Southern thing) where they are yucky at first, but you can't stop eating them. Yeah, not so much. But it was great to wear jewelry and makeup (not that this was necessary) and hang out with the girls.

So 10 years later things are the same I guess still hanging with the girls and playing tennis, but now I get to hang out with Ben and the girls too!

Our Great Smoky Mountain Adventure

We have been talking all Summer about going on a vacation and just hadn't done it. Then we thought Ben was going to start school last week, but it was moved back yet another week (nice!), so we loaded up the car with all the crap you need when you leave the house with two children and mentally prepared ourselves for the 6 hour drive to Pigeon Forge, TN. And for the first time on record it actually only took us six hours! Usually we can add on a couple of hours for pit stops. The girls were great in the car for the first 5 hours, then Morgan lost her mind...

We stayed in the fabulous Moose Tracks cabin in Sevierville Tennessee which is just minutes from DollyWood! We didn't go to DollyWood, but it looked fun. (Sorry Miranda no souvenirs from there...) The cabin is definitely a wonderful way to travel with the kids! And the view was fantastic!!!

Nora was a little disappointed that there wasn't a pool, but she got over it when she saw that she could swim in the bath tub.

The first night we stayed in and had pizza from the closest place we could find. The next day we went into Pigeon Forge which happened to be hosting the Shades of the Past car show. This made traffic an absolute nightmare because everyone, including the man driving our car, was ogling every car in sight. Ben said...well I better not put that in here. So we got out and walked some with the girls to check out all the sweet rides.

After that we went to this cool looking Old Mill Restaurant for lunch and while it was cool looking the food could have been yummier. However, they did have a fun General Store and Candy Kitchen to make up for it. Who would have thought of pumpkin fudge???

That night we went to a Tennessee Smokies playoff baseball game! This was the inspiration for our trip since they are a AA affiliate of the, you guessed it...Chicago Cubs! They had a stellar come from behind win that did not disappoint the fans! The girls had a great time running in the outfield grass. Nora threw the fastest pitch of all the girls in the park and won herself a bookmark and a free meal at Shoney's!

The next day we went into Gatlinburg, TN on our way to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It is a very cute little town with expensive parking. We got out and decided to eat pancakes for lunch because there are probably more pancake houses in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area than anywhere else in the world. So we trek up the street lugging our gear in the 90 degree heat to the Flap Jack Cabin which as luck would have it closed at noon, current time 12:15. Keep in mind this is getting to be past lunch time for the girls. So the girl recommends a good place - The Log Cabin Pancake House which was down to the next stop light and straight up the hill three blocks....she obviously hasn't carried a 35 pound 2 year old before. Luckily they had air conditioning, fast service and yummy pancakes!

After lunch we decided to hit up the Ripley's Aquarium because we heard it was nice and that they had an awesome military discount. Both turned out to be correct! We all got into the aquarium and got a souvenir booklet for less than $10! Not bad considering the admission is usually $20/person! Nora sure loves her fish and Ben was like a kid at Christmas! They have this really cool tunnel (long tunnel) that goes under all the tanks, it was awesome!

So we finally make our way to the park and were driving to a stroller friendly hike when...

So we decided to make it a driving tour today.


We then headed back into town to check out the Smoky Mountain Brewery and completely by coincidence I'm sure...caught the second half of the Bears game.
The next morning we were sad to leave our cabin and head home...did I mention the view?



But we loaded up all the crap again and decided to give the park another try...yes they were sleeping again, so Ben found us a waterfall to go to and have a picnic lunch.




Then we drove back to I-26 via the Blue Ridge Parkway. What a beautiful drive! I would recommend spending time in this area of the country! It was an absolutely wonderful trip! It was so fun to hang out with the girls and watch them laugh and play and scream all weekend!

Bright Beginnings

That means preschool!! Are you kidding me!! Nora was very excited to take her red backpack to her first day of school. Once we got there she wasn't so sure about it all. Morgan wanted to stay more than Nora. At the end of the day though she got a sticker that said she was very good today...she must have used it all up as she is currently hucking a block at her sister. After school we went to the Ye Ole Fashion Ice Cream parlor to celebrate her big day. Turns out a Jr. cone is sufficient for most people!

Miss Morgan had a rough weekend. With four adults around she still managed to find her way to the very hot BBQ grill. Luckily she only burned the back of a few fingers on her left hand. She is such a trooper! You wouldn't even know anything was wrong. I just hope it doesn't scar.

Turns out Ben gets one more mellow week before school starts, so we are enjoying the extra time by playing tennis and foosball. Seems that Ben is winning at everything lately! Ugh.