Rockin' with the Block!

So, when my roommate and I first looked at renting this house, the landlady told us that the street threw a huge Halloween party that would bring in tons of people and that we needed to have a truckload of candy for all of the trick-or-treaters. We decided that we would embrace the neighborhood experience, and we planned to have a chili supper and invite some friends over to enjoy the festivities with us! We have been stocking up on candy for the past couple of weeks, and I am glad we did because we had TONS of children stop by!

I cooked a huge pot of chili this afternoon (almost filled the largest pot I own which is a 12 quart stock pot!). There wasn't a single bit left!!!

Today I was in a bit of a hurry and didn't put on my apron. This is why you should wear an apron when cooking (especially when you are in a hurry!) Notice the aprons hanging on the left side of the picture...silly girl...just got in the "zone" and forgot until it was too late! :)

We got everything ready and waited for our guests to arrive:

This is one of my little friends who is the daughter of one of our doctors. She is SO cute and has a great personality, as you can see...She dressed up as Jessie from Toy Story. I asked her where Woody was, and she said, "Oh he had to stay home...he's sick...he's been throwing up all day...and so is Bullseye" What an imagination she has to be able to come up with stuff like that!!

This is what the street looks like from the side walk in front of the house. They block off traffic and set up a stage where a band comes to play.

 The street really goes all out, and there are TONS of people...

 One house had this giant fire ball that I heard was made out of a piece from a water fountain!

 We had between 30 and 40 friends come over throughout the night!! It was SO much fun! Since the band was just around the corner, people could come and get a bite to eat and something to drink and then walk up to the band area, or just stay in the house and visit!

 I was behind the camera most of the night...but this proves that Candy Corn was here! :)

 One of my favorite outfits was this family right here: Presenting Captain Hook, Peter Pan, and Wendy!! This family is so creative!

 We talked and laughed and ate and drank and listened to the band as the candles burned lower and lower....

Such a fun night! :)

Touching Moment...

Today was such a rewarding day at work! I am so thankful that during this season of my life, God has given me a job that I get to do things like I got to do today! It makes me so happy to be able to bring smiles to the faces of children in the hospital, and it always amazes me how I leave feeling blessed by the patients. Today was such a perfect example.

Today I left my normal post in the ED and worked with the inpatient Child Life Specialists and threw a little Halloween party for the inpatient children! We do reverse trick-or-treat, where we dress up and go room to room handing out costumes and goodies! I didn't know what to be this year and decided last minute to be a candy corn! It ended up being a $3 outfit, which I will have to say looked pretty ridiculous, but was so much fun!

I had the privilege of working with one of our patients who I will call "Precious." She is 6 years old and was paralyzed from the neck down (and lost her mother) in a car wreck a few months ago. She has a trach and is dependent on a ventilator, but she has such a spunky little personality and is full of life! She has learned to talk over her trach, but her little voice is soft and often difficult to understand. Today she was going to dress up like a Barbie cheerleader, and it was my job to get her ready, so we had a lot of one on one time as I reconstructed the outfit to accommodate the wires from the pulse oximeters and heart monitors. While I worked cutting out the sleeves and making an opening in the back, we talked. After we had talked about pets and art projects, the conversation went something like this:

"Precious": "Everybody is my friend and my buddy...well but not Satan"
Me (smiling): "That's right...he's not our friend"
"Precious"(with bright eyes sparkling): "But God...he's my Buddy...and Jesus...he's my buddy"
Me (tearing up): "Yes, that's right...he is our friend"

Wow! Talk about "from the lips of babes...." I have been thinking about it all day! Here is a little girl who some would say has no quality of life, absolutely making my day with her JOY! What an amazing reminder that this little girl has hope in the midst of a terrible situation! She has a friend...I have a friend...what HOPE!!

After I put the bows in her long pigtails, I held a mirror up so that she could see what she looked like. Her smile lit. up. the. room! "That's GREAT!" she said. I fought back tears again and thanked the Lord for her life and how she touched mine today!

Porch Party Pasta Salad

This is a very easy recipe!

2 cups chicken (cooked and chopped)
1lb. rotini pasta (cooked and drained)
8oz. bacon (cooked and chopped **I did mine in the oven while the pasta cooked--so easy!)
1 bunch spinach--cut
1/2 cup black olives
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup feta cheese Put the bacon on a baking sheet and placed in the oven at 350 until crispy:

While the pasta and bacon cooked, I whisked together the Dijon Vinaigrette:

3/4 cup of olive oil (I actually used less--more like 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup tarragon vinegar (didn't have that on hand, so I used white wine vinegar instead)

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

small garlic clove minced

1/4 tsp. sugar Mix together drained pasta and chicken:

Coarsely cut spinach:

Mix with pasta and chicken:

Add remaining ingredients and toss with Dijon Vinaigrette:

Enjoy! :)

This weekend, the aunts went to visit this little cutie pie and his mommy (Tom was on call, so it was a great time to have some quality sister-time!). Thomas is so close to walking by himself...he loves to push his Thomas the train around the house!It was a beautiful day on Saturday, so we headed to Birmingham's Botanical Gardens to enjoy God's creation! Only God could have made such exquisite beauty:

Wow!

Thomas had fun getting out of his stroller and playing:

The aunts:

Thomas is all boy! He loves his trucks and cars!

Sisters:

Thomas and his mommy:

Sisters:

The aunts again!

On the way home, we totally found us a little "street merch!" We were driving through Mountain Brook and saw this piece of furniture on the side of the road. Ivey decided that she wanted to turn around and go ask if the owners really intended to give it away....

Sure enough, they did! Kathryn was so embarrassed of her two sisters! :) Here we are negotiating a deal! ;)

Ivey lives in an older home where closests are few and far between, so having this chifferobe as an extra storage place will be handy!

It looks great! We both are pretty thrifty and love a good find...this has got to be one of our best finds in the street merch category!

We met Robby at the Silvertron Cafe and had a wonderful time together! At one point during supper, Thomas glanced over my shoulder to the TV in the bar area and said "Boot-Ball!" We couldn't believe it...he recognized the game! Attaboy, Thomas! You know your stuff! (He also has learned to raise his hands above his head when you say "touchdown!")

Ok, these nachos were AMAZING!

One of my favorite times with little ones is when they are in their PJs...either just before they go to bed, or when they first wake up! There is something so sweet about a PJ'd baby! I got up early with Thomas this morning and enjoyed him so much :)

Thomas had been fighting a cold all weekend, so Ivey decided to keep the germs at home today! Here are the aunts after church:

Enoying a yummy spaghetti lunch:

We visited the rest of the afternoon and drove on home. Don't cry, little buddy, the aunts will be back to visit again soon! :)

Weekend at Callaway Gardens!

*Note: this is going to be a really long post!


I had such a fun weekend traveling with my parents and little sister to Callaway Gardens! My dad attended the Medical Association of Georgia's annual meeting and was the recipient of the Physician's Award for Community Service! I am so proud of him, and I am thankful I was able to be there to see him receive the award! Traveling with my parents is always a blast. I have such fond memories from my childhood of how they would make everything so special for us and did all they could to make it a fun, adventurous time! Traveling with them again as an adult has proved to be the same kind of experience!

Ready for a road trip:


We decided on the more scenic route which led us through lots of country and quaint little towns. In one town, Trion, GA, there was an old Tavern that was built during the prime of the mill town. It is still a restaurant today:

The drive was absolutely gorgeous! I love traveling the country roads! We drove by several cotton fields and my sweet daddy asked if I wanted him to stop and let us get a closer look! Of course, I did!

That night, there was a progressive dinner, which was on the edge of this awesome view!

Saturday morning the girls rented some bikes to keep ourselves entertained while the docs had their meetings:

There are miles and miles of bike trails through the woods:

We stopped along the way and enjoyed a leisurely picnic lunch:

My mom is always up for adventure and suggested that we climb this tree (yes! that would be the same mom who just broke her wrist a couple of months ago playing tug-of-war with the children at church! :)

After my dad's meeting...he joined us for another bike ride to the "beach" where Kathryn and I just waded, but he took a swim! :)

Getting ready to dive into "Mrs. Callaway's pond" as he liked to call it! :)

Our bike excursion lasted for 4 hours, which left us only 1/2 hour to shower and get changed for the awards dinner :)

Here is my sweet daddy receiving his award! I am so proud of the work that he does. He is an amazing father as well as an incredible doctor! He loves the Lord and seeks to glorify Him faithfully with the calling that he has been given to serve others!

He gave the best acceptance speech!

After the dinner, there was lots of dancing, which the whole fam enjoyed! What a busy day--we were worn out!

Such a fun weekend! Here are we are on the way home today where we stopped for a yummy lunch: