FFF "Up"

The theme for this week's Favorite Foto Friday is "up". Did you know that there are 93 different meanings or ways to use the word up? I chose this one: "Informal. cheerful or optimistic; high-spirited; happy; exuberant; upbeat."





And this one: in an erect, vertical, or raised position.



If you'd like to see how others interpretted the theme this week, check out Sarah's blog here.

Hair Cut

We took Tabitha to get her first 'official' haircut on Saturday. I've tried trimming her bangs in the past, and I have a hard time doing it. I'm usually afraid that I'm going to end up poking her in the eye or nose or something with the scissors and end up trimming them crooked. So, we found a place that specializes in children's hair. We went anticipating the worst and were very pleasantly surprised! She was an absolute angel! We went in tow with the camera of course! Unfortunately the battery died before the end product! :o(


What's that, a Dum-Dum?....offering a bribe to sit still.


Closing her eyes so she wouldn't get hair in them.


Trimming up the back.








The new look after we got home. It was really cute, they had curled it and put a ribbon in her hair.

FFF "New"

This week's Favorite Foto Friday theme is "new". I wasn't quite sure where to go with this theme. I finally decided to post some more pictures from Tabitha's "2 year old" photo shoot. They are "new" pictures that I've not shared with anyone, thus they qualify for the "new" theme. If you'd like to see how others interpreted this theme or just pictures of cute kids, check out Sarah's blog.

Snow Day!

Yes, I'm home from work today because it snowed in South Carolina. I'm a home health nurse and the company that I work for has a policy that if the schools have a snow day, so do we--which is kind of good since most of the nurses have kids and would have to come up with a baby-sitter of some kind if school was called off. Well last night when the weather forecast was calling for snow, mind you snow here in South Carolina is a rarity, the television began posting the cancellations for today. To me it's kind of silly to call off school before it ever actually starts to snow, but that's what they do down here. The city offices are closed all day, all of the schools cancelled school for today and many businesses and daycare centers are closed today. It has only snowed enough to cover the grass (slightly) and is melting pretty much as quickly as it hits the ground. I did however manage to make a snowman be it ever so small!

Wow! What a Difference a Year Makes!

What a difference a year makes! These are pictures from Tabitha's birthday photo shoots. We lucked out and had the same photographer as we did last year, that's a little amazing since Sears is not the place that tends to have photographers that stay a long time, most of them move on to bigger and better things. Someday we'll go to a "fancy" photography studio, but for now we are well pleased with Sears....and the price is right!

FFF "Eyes"

This week's favorite Foto Friday is all about the eyes. We've done this one before, but I have to agree with Sarah, I really love looking at a person's eyes. It's one of the first things I notice about a person when I meet them. I just love Tabitha's big brown eyes, they say it all! If you want to see more beautiful eyes, check out Sarah's blog.
Please check out yesterday's post from Tabitha's birthday. There are more pictures of those beautiful expressive eyes!

Happy Birthday Tabitha!!!! Part 2

I took the digital camera to Tabitha's daycare and left it for the teachers to take pictures today when they gave out the cupcakes that I brought.----No I'm not a terrible mom because I couldn't take the pictures myself.---I couldn't take off of work today and I wanted pictures, so I thought bringing the little digital camera and leaving it was the obvious solution. We had our own little celebration at home after work/daycare. Here are some of the pictures from the celebrations!

Not a very happy little camper, is she?

How come you have white frosting and I have green?

You know it's really not too bad, especially if you get it on your face!



These pictures are from the family's celebration.

Oh boy, a Dora cake, I can hardly contain myself....(hear the sarcasm?)

Well, the frosting is good.
That frosting was murder to get off of her hands! I had to give her a bath early!

Here she is in the new rocking chair that Granny bought her.

Giddee up horsee!

Happy Birthday Tabitha!!!!

Today is Tabitha's 2nd birthday!! It's hard for me to believe that a whole year has gone by; it seems like yesterday that she was turning 1. Today I am taking her to daycare just like any other day, we will be having cake tonight, and on Saturday we will be going to have her 2 year old portraits done. Tabitha is taking cupcakes to daycare though to share with all of her little friends. I unfortunately have to go to work :( Last year on this day I was still on leave and people at my work had a "shower-party" for Tabitha. She received so many nice things on that day. Can you believe that some of the clothes she received on that day still fit?! She's such a petite thing!---I'm a little jealous! I'll post pictures later, until then, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, baby girl!

FFF "Cold"

***Edited**** Not sure why, but all of my typing duplicated itself! Bet you all thought I'd lost it!!!

This week the theme for Favorite Friday Foto is "cold". I am at a loss coming up with a picture for this theme. It's kind of hard to do here in South Carolina. The locals would call some of the weather that we've had this winter cold, but to us it's just chilly. Heck earlier this week it was 72! When you say cold, I think of ice and snow.


Luckily, we've not really experienced that since we moved here. I get by with wearing a polar fleece jacket for most of the winter! SO, I strayed away from the theme this week. Tabitha will turn 2 this coming Thursday. Where has the time gone? These are pictures from last year's birthday. I'll be posting the pictures from this year later in the week. Check out Sarah's blog to see other's pictures this week.

FFF "My Favorite Foto from 2008"

This week for Favorite Foto Friday, we are suppose to post one and only one photo. This was a hard one for me; I love all of the pictures that we have of Tabitha for various reasons....but since I am to pick ONE, I picked one from Easter. It is a black and white one where I was playing around with the Photo Shop program. I'm no professional photographer, but I must say I think this one turned out pretty good. Check out Sarah's blog to see what others chose for their favorite photos!

What's all the noise about?

Most people who own Jack Russells know that JRs are fiesty and sometimes scrappy little dogs, they think that they are BIG! Sherman, our Jack Russell is like that sometimes, like when he and the other dogs, Ralph (another terrier mix) and Roxy (a corgi mix) are outside and a stray dog or cat comes into the yard---thank goodness they are on the other side of the fence! Well Sherman isn't very brave when it comes to loud noises, especially fireworks! Needless to say, he isn't very fond of the 4th of July or New Year's Eve when the neighbors are out in the street setting off their fireworks displays. Here are a few pictures of our "brave" little dog--not!





That's our computer armoire that he decided to crawl upon the shelf because--- I was sitting at the computer and, well it seemed like a safe place to him!

Happy New Year!!

We wanted to wish all of our blogger friends and family a very happy and prosperous 2009. 2009, that is going to take me a while to get used to writing! Does anyone else out there cook a pot of black-eyed peas for New Year's? When we lived up north, we always had a pot of great Northern beans with ham on New Year's Day, it was said to be good luck. I personally, was not a big fan of the tradition since I don't really care for ham and beans. So when we moved to South Carolina I discovered that people in the south eat black eyed peas on New Year's Day and I much prefer those to great Northern white beans. So, today I made a dish called Hoppin' John. It wasn't too bad if I say so myself! Most people down here have it with collard greens---sorry, I couldn't go the greens! Here's a little piece of history that I ran across in my search for a recipe:

Hoppin' John History

Hoppin' John is found in most states of the South, but it is mainly associated with the Carolinas. Gullah or Low Country cuisine reflects the cooking of the Carolinas, especially the Sea islands (a cluster of islands stretching along the coats of south Carolina and northern Georgia). Black-eyed peas, also called cow peas, are thought to have been introduced to America by African slaves who worked the rice plantations. Hoppin' John is a rich bean dish made of black-eyed peas simmered with spicy sausages, ham hocks, or fat pork, rice, and tomato sauce.

This African-American dish is traditionally a high point of New Year's Day, when a shiny dime is often buried among the black-eyed peas before serving. whoever get the coin in his or her portion is assured good luck throughout the year. For maximum good luck in the new year, the first thing that should be eaten on New year's Day is Hoppin' John. At the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, many southern families toast each other with Champagne and a bowl of Hoppin' John. If it is served with collard greens you might, or might not, get rich during the coming year.
There are many variations to traditional Hoppin' John. Some cook the peas and rice in one pot, while others insist on simmering them separately.
Most food historians generally agree that "Hopping John" is an American dish with African/French/Caribbean roots. There are many tales or legends that explain how Hoppin' John got its name:
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It was the custom for children to gather in the dining room as the dish was brought forth and h op around the table before sitting down to eat.
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A man named John came "a-hoppin" when his wife took the dish from the stove.
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An obscure South Carolina custom was inviting a guest to eat by saying, "Hop in, John"
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The dish goes back at least as far as 1841, when, according to tradition, it was hawked in the streets of Charleston, South Carolina by a crippled black man who was know as Hoppin' John.

Here's the recipe:


Hoppin' John

2 cups dried black-eyed peas
Cold water
1 pound lean slab bacon or 1 pound meaty ham hocks
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
4 cups water or chicken broth
2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice
Salt and black pepper to taste

Before preparing dried beans, sort through them thoroughly for tiny pebbles or other debris. Soak, rinse, and drain dried black-eyed peas. Place black-eyed peas in a large soup pot over medium-high heat and cover with cold water; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 to 2 hours. Drain and rinse beans.

Using the same large soup pot, over medium-high heat, add soaked black-eyed peas, bacon or ham hock, onion, and red pepper. Add water or chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the peas are tender (do not boil as the beans will burst).

Remove bacon or ham hock and cut into bite-size pieces. Return meat to pot. Stir in rice, cover, and cook 20 to 25 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes 8 servings.