the steps are in ~

what's in your basket?

while pete was in california this past week the kids and i spent a lot of time outside enjoying the gorgeous fall foliage. we brought these in and have pressed them. hoping to impress the family next month with some fun and festive decor for turkey day! not promising much.

oh man!

if you've spent any time with trey as of late you would be well aware of his infatuation with heavy machinery. and for our little man - well i have to believe one of his dreams came true last week. the asheville stone company was here installing a set of stairs around back and they had to bring in the "heavy machinery" to get the job done. trey could have spent all day perched in front of a window watching...

as trey so elequently said - at least a dozen times: cool!

bernard, stanley and ike are in the house!

last year i found this darling little vendor while perusing etsy at www.nissalissa.etsy.com.

we all fell hard for their little monster tees. we started with one last year and after nearly wearing the elbows through we decided to get a few more for this winter. here trey can be seen wearing bernard.

60 miles walked & $6.6 million dollars raised ~

we walked, we talked, we laughed, we cried, we ate, we drank and drank and drank...

we danced and we sang, we shared and we cared, we faced our fears and we grew.

we made new friends and we reconnected with old ones. we showered in a semi and we slept in a tent.

we carried flags and bandaged feet. we supported each other and we all walked strong.

still trying to process and put into words how incredible this past weekend was. will write more with time. for now enjoy my little montage. these were just the photos i snapped on my blackberry. will have plenty more soon.

opening ceremony

beth and i -ready to go and extremely COLD

our home away from home, "tent land"

beth and i - ready to take off on day 2, even colder!

beth and i - mid-day 2. heating up!

beth and i - day 3. not quite as cold.

beth, megan, katie and i. being bused to our start on day 3.

beth and i - lunch on day 3, only 5 more miles to go!

closing ceremony - we raised our shoes as the survivors marched in.

it FIT!!!

and with THAT i'll be off to atlanta

in the morning to meet up with the rest

of my blister sisters & walk

60 miles

over the course of the weekend.

why?

because i want my children to know a life without the fear of breast cancer.

because i want to honor those that i love that have fought the good fight against cancer!

because i want to remember those that have been taken by cancer!

because i belive there is a cure!

because i am healthy!

because i CAN!

our evening at oakley

talk about a night full of warm fuzzies! kate strutted her stuff and trey did his best to keep up!

the difference a couple of weeks can make ~

do you see that smile? now that is PRICELESS. our transition into the life of a full time kindergartner started off a bit rough but as you can see kate is now loving it.

tonight we were invited to join kate for open house. i've not seen her more excited since the morning we left for maine and she knew she had a week to spend with ella ahead of her.

life is good!

thanks ella!

after 8 longs weeks, kate was finally able to try out a new pair of earrings earlier this week. check out the pair she chose. thanks ella!

my snapie new camera

petie-pie came threw for me once again. my very own DSLR to capture the kiddos every move! thanks baby.

our weekend in nashville with the sundbergs

Late Friday afternoon we took off for Nashville to catch up with our friends and check out their new digs on the lake just outside of Nashville. the 4.5 hour drive quickly turned into 6. typical i guess but well worth it as kids and parents all had a great time. we enjoyed an amazing dinner on the deck over looking the lake after all of the kids were tucked in on Friday night. Saturday we woke and enjoyed a couples of hours of playtime before heading out to a local festival. some down home BBQ and an afternoon of swimming and fishing concluded our day. Happiness is!

big sarah and baby sarah

ethan and kate fishing

1 of 3 fish caught for the day

score!!

kate starts dance

look out kids - there's a new girl in class. poised with her mothers grace kate is tearing up the floor. class is a ballet and tap combo every thursday evening from 5 - 545PM. mark your calendars, her first recital will be in may.

happy birthday "little" brother

Sibling relationships - and 80 percent of Americans have at least one - outlast marriages, survive the death of parents, resurface after quarrels that would sink any friendship. They flourish in a thousand incarnations of closeness and distance, warmth, loyalty and distrust.

i know that i am a week late but certainly no less sincere in my wish for your happiness this year.

i am incredibly proud of you and all that you have accomplished little brother!

i love you~

she's BACK

and boy have we missed her! finally, after nearly a year my mom is making her come back. for the past year shes been battling extreme exhaustion and a slew of other unpleasant symptoms but last week "she" YES she was finally able to pin point the problem and receive proper treatment for her diagnosis; super-ventricular-tachycardia.

so look out world - mika is back!

AMEN~

Farro - ever heard of it?

if not i strongly suggest you hunt this tasty little morsel down the next time you are at the store.

pete and i were a bit perplexed when we first saw it on the menu. it was paired with butter beans and fresh sweet corn...it was intriguing so we inquired and ended up ordering it as a side dish saturday night while dining at FIG (a fabulous organic, sustainable-based restaurant in charleston, that we also highly recommend) and OH were we ever pleased.

farro can also be referred to as emmer wheat.

**Grano Farro has a long and glorious history: it is the original grain from which all others derive, and fed the Mediterranean and Near Eastern populations for thousands of years; somewhat more recently it was the standard ration of the Roman Legions that expanded throughout the Western World. Ground into a paste and cooked, it was also the primary ingredient in plus, the polenta eaten for centuries by the Roman poor. Important as it was, however, it was difficult to work and produced low yields. In the centuries following the fall of the Empire, higher-yielding grains were developed and farro's cultivation dwindled: By the turn of the century in Italy there were a few hundreds of acres of fields scattered over the regions of Lazio, Umbria, the Marches and Tuscany.**

happiest of days ella-boo ~

that is our wish to you today and every day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to our beautiful

our charismatic

our kind

our silly

our smart

our compassionate

our all-around amazing little ELLA-BOO.

enjoy your special day~

my latest purchase from iTunes

fall is upon us here in asheville and i find it to be incredibly refreshing. so much so that i have had an itch for some new music all morning.

so - as i sit here in my office, working with cold toes and a warm cup of day old coffee i knew i needed to do a little surfing in the iTunes store for some appropriate new tunes. somehitng that would only heighten the enthusium for this day i am feeling.

it didn't take me long to settle on my selection. i sort of knew what direction i was heading and after the fact i must say that i am feeling very satisfied.

i find the beat in "i walk the line" to be completely infectious. tapping my toes hardly seem to be enough. it make me want to slap my knee and bob my head...

in my opinion the only song this album was missing is "ring of fire." but no worries, i was able to download it from the classic cash album. whew---

oh how i love joaquine and reece.

OK - back to work. very busy. must stay focused!