A few pictures

I haven't posted anything worthwhile in a while (do I hear an echo in here?), so why break the streak now? Here are a few pictures we've taken lately. My child is really growing up to be a string bean. I had no idea until I saw some of these pictures that were taken last week on the square (or the Town Square as William calls it).




Here are a few pictures from the recent Coterie Run for Kids race in which William ran.

I took the plunge

and became a consultant for Taste of Home Entertaining. Similar to Southern Living at Home, but, in my opinion, better products. ;) All of the pieces are nice and heavy and are actually much larger than they appear in the catalog. I have been pleasantly surprised with each item I've ordered....and trust me----I've ordered quite a bit! Here is a link to my website: http://terrijewell.tohe.com/

Let me know if you are interested in hosting a party or even a catalog party! This would be a great one stop place for Christmas gifts! Hint, hint!

A little Monday morning fun

If you remember Showbiz Pizza Place, you'll love these videos! They are awesome!

Decorating for Fall

I've been doing a little fall decorating around the house. Here is a picture of my corner hutch. I just removed the top doors and painted the back the same color as my walls. I really think I liked it better prepaint, but I think it is too late to do anything. I need opinions. Should I paint it another color or continue on with the current color?
OOps. Never mind the green that you see behind it! Guess I need to pull it out away from the wall and paint the whole wall, huh?

Some of my online friends have been painting their monograms onto pumpkins. I felt a little inspired myself tonight.


Here is a picture of my Roman shades we just had made for the kitchen. Even Jason loves them!

Fall Parties

I am hosting a Taste of Home party Saturday morning and the October Andalusia Junior Woman's Club meeting on Monday night. I am having so much fun compiling my menus! I'm telling you---it's been too long since I've been able to cook.

For the party on Saturday, I'm probably serving:
Either a Grits Casserole or an Egg/Sausage Casserole
Biscuits with Pumpkin Butter
Smoky Brown Sugar Bacon
Breakfast punch....looking for recipes if anyone has a great one

For the meeting on Monday night:

Meatballs in a sauce (I haven't decided which one)
Antipasta Salad
Blue Cheese Log
Bruschetta
Bacon, Cheddar, and Ranch Pita Chips (I have the best recipe for these!)
Pumpkin Roll
Apple Cider

This is my latest QVC impulse buy and I've been just itching to use it


If anyone out there in blog world would like to attend the Taste of Home show, let me know. They have products that are very similar to Southern Living at Home.

It's been a while....

Since I've last posted a blog. Our lives have slowed down considerably with the end of soccer season and, thank goodness, the election. Ahhhhhh...... now we can breathe and even better, sleep at night! Phew! Things have been crazy crazy around here. I'm so glad I can begin cooking dinner again. No more knocking on doors or sitting at the soccer field! A friend of mine told me about E-mealz, www.e-mealz.com I tried to inbed the link, but blogger is acting wonky tonight. At first, I thought it was silly and really pointless, but I've enjoyed seeing the mealplans for the week. How it works is like this:
1. You choose how many people you cook for on a nightly basis (for us that would be two, William requires his own special menu)
2. You choose which plan you want, according to grocery store or diet restrictions
3. Voila! A weekly mealplan is given to you, complete with a shopping list for needed ingredients.
Tonight we had Chicken Tender Parmesan with Penne Pasta. Tomorrow night will be Beef Hoppin' John. I've always prided myself on the delicious meals I cook for Jason (sounds conceited I know, but I really don't mean it like that), but lately, I've been at a standstill for ideas. E-mealz has given me fresh ideas.

I've just returned from Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Oh my. I so did not want to go see this movie, but William has begged and begged for the last two weeks. Jason had a deacon's meeting tonight, so I told William he and I could go see it. He woke up this morning at 6:30 asking if this was Beverly Hills Chihuahua Day. He started freaking out around 6:00 tonight because he thought we were going to be late. Poor child, he knows his momma is always running behind. He asked at 6:30 if we could go "check out that Town Square." So we did. I wish I had taken my camera. All I had was my phone and it does not take high quality pictures. William sat in front of the fall display on the square and arranged Lady (the Build a Bear dog that was chosen to attend the movie with us) and a rubber turtle that was also invited along. It was really too precious. This is the child that despises having his picture taken for anything. And natch, I didn't have my camera.

As I mentioned earlier, the election is over. Glory Hallelujah! And, Jason won! It was a close race to say the least. We appreciate all of the prayers and words of encouragement we received from everyone along the way. Thanks y'all!

William's Birthday

I am very tired tonight, so I'm going to submit a short post. My precious baby turned six years old today. Where has the time gone? We started out the morning with Mickey Mouse waffles and a birthday candle.
His face lit up like a Christmas tree. His eyes got huge when he came into the kitchen and saw his gifts and a Happy Birthday banner. In his most precious voice, he whispered, "Is this for me?" His eyes were full of such amazement. I'm crying again just writing about it.
After breakfast, we got ready for school and stopped by WAAO, where he went on the air with Nana and Mr. Blaine to pull the birthday winner out of the hat. We had prepped him ahead of time that he could not win.
I dropped him off at school and then picked up his birthday cookies from Mrs. Chrissie. His class was so excited when I arrived with cookies and Capri Suns! I got so many hugs! Mrs. P. had given him a birthday sun visor (made from cardboard) and he had a special birthday chair. The smile never left his face! By the way, he wore the visor all day...even to his soccer game, where he had to take it off.
After his soccer game tonight, we went to Larry's BBQ with Nana and Big, Grandmama and Papa, Aunt Tootie, Uncle Jimmy, and Miss Anna. He had his favorite meal, a grilled cheese and corn on the cob, and a birthday cake from Sugar Rush. Yum yum!
His favorite gift was a Webkinz Skunk that he named White-Black. All the way home from Larry's, he talked about the pros and cons of White-Black v/s Black-White. Upon entering our name of choice at the Webkinz site, we were told that we could not use either name. ??? Do they think it is a racial slur? Very strange. He finally settled upon Stripey. Yeah, he's very creative.
So much for a short post, huh?
We leave tomorrow for the beach. He said he did not want a party this year, just a "Vacation Party with mom and dad." You better believe I let him have his way on that one! He is so excited about eating at his favorite restaurant, The Crab Trap.
We are making it a short trip and just staying one night. Ah, the joys of living back in South Alabama. Those quick trips to the beach. His choir class is singing in church Sunday morning. He is already asking if he can wear that cardboard visor. Hmmmm... should be interesting here on Sunday morning.

Fun Times

On Saturday, William and I went bowling with a couple of his friends and their mom. The night before, we went to Wally and William bought foam visors and Lightning McQueen stickers to use to decorate the visors. William took his a step further and added a post it note to his visor. Yes, a post it note. On his hat. Here are a few pictures of the boys at the bowling alley and then later, watching Ratatouille at the Sonic.

Hannah Kate Special Collection

I know a lot of my postings all seem to focus around clothing...Maybe instead of The Jewells, this blog should be called Terri's Worldly Obsessions.

I know a lot of you are familiar with the trunk show line, Hannah Kate. It is based in Birmingham, AL, so it is semi-local and is owned by the lovely Andrea Brown. As with most trunk show lines, HK has two selling seasons, Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer. You attend the show, customize your order, and then wait 8-10 weeks for your precious clothing to arrive. HK has started a new line that is called Hannah Kate Special Collection. I placed an order on Wednesday, Wednesday people, today is Friday, and my clothing arrived this morning! It is all so cute! There are several items to choose from, so check them out! This is what I picked up for William:




And this with blue sleeves

A few things about William plus musings on lovebugs

I may have mentioned before that we are having the hardest time getting him to complete his work....in kindergarten! What does this mean for our academic future? My mind flashes forward every afternoon to a future of biology, calculus, and physics. Eek!

I picked up William from school Wednesday afternoon and we were driving down the road as this conversation begins....
William: Mommy, do you have fits? (What?)
Me: What do you mean?
William: Do you have fits with me sometimes? (?????)
Me: No, I don't guess so.
William: Well, Mrs. P. (his teacher) said you were going to have a fit when you saw my work from today.
Me: Hand me your backpack.

I went in and spoke with Mrs. P. yesterday. I told her about the above conversation and she laughed and laughed. She told me had told her that he didn't want to do a worksheet. She sent it home and said for him to complete it there.

I told her that Jason has been threatening to call her and recommend that she send Willam to Mr. H. (the assistant principal) or to make him sit in the hallway by himself until he completed his work. She said, "I wouldn't do that to him." I said, "Mrs. P, he has got your number."

That little stinker can be so charming that you completely forget you are supposed to be getting onto him. Ah, the Only Child Syndrome.

Any advice from anyone out there? If so, I would love to hear it.

William had a soccer game last night, but I missed it because of the Shabby Apple party. He scored his first goal. And I MISSED IT! Jason called me during the game to tell me about it. This is the first absence I have ever had at his soccer practices or games!

Okay, randomness here....
What is the deal with the lovebugs?!? Anyone that lives in South Alabama or NW Florida knows exactly what I am referring to! They come out every year at the end of the summer in swarms. If you don't wash them off of your car immediately, they will be on there forever. Seriously. William calls them roaches, which is disturbing on a whole other level. I would hope that he would be a little more freaked out by roaches swarming around us.

I am so excited about fall arriving next week! I am ready to start decorating! I pulled out my wreath and garland last week, but I would love to have something for the front of the house like this:

I am trying to find some great urns to use for the base. Anyone have any ideas?

I have a new favorite chip. If you haven't tried the new Tostito's Multi-Grain chips, you must do so immediately! I don't know how healthy they actually are, but I figure that since they are multi-grain, they must be a little better for you than straight corn chips. Mmmmmm...... so good!

Shabby Apple

My Shabby Apple Trunk Show is tomorrow night from 6:00 until 8:00. They have the cutest dresses and accessories! There is even a little girls' line that is just precious! I am in love with a couple of the bags





I also love these dresses



And my most favoritest



Yes, I am aware that favoritest isn't a word.

If you want to take a look and can't make the time tomorrow night, let me know. I'll have the trunk until Saturday morning. If I have a dress available in your size, you can take it with you. If not, it will ship within 7 days, free of charge and no tax!

The absolute best part is that they give a portion of their proceeds to a global women's charity! Here is a quote from the Shabby Apple website:

"We at Shabby Apple Dresses love to help women dress but are also commited to helping women live as well. Thus we are supporting the fight against global poverty by partnering with Unitus-a non-profit organization that accelerates access to life-changing financial services for those at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Shabby Apple donates 5% of its net dress sales to support work in India (where Shabby Apple Dresses sources many of its dresses the textiles used to manufacture its dresses). In addition, each Shabby Apple Dresses customer has the opportunity to donote an extra five dollars to Unitus every time she buys a dress. Shabby Apple Dresses and Unitus are involved with 10 of India's most promising microfinance organizations that provide financial services to more than 1.6 million hard-working women and their families.

Every $100 donation from Shabby Apple Dresses provides at least 20 women with access to financial services - and the chance to live a life without poverty."

Remembering

William came into my room this morning as I was watching a 9/11 tribute on television. He asked, "What happened to the buildings?" I tried to explain in the most elementary way that some really bad people did a really bad thing and hurt a lot of people. He asked if the people died. I told him a lot of people did, but that was 7 years ago and we are very safe today. He then asked if any mommies died. Wow. That really broke my heart. I then explained how our very brave firemen, policemen, and soldiers worked so hard to keep us safe and to help everyone they could that day.

Phew! I'm Tired!

Sorry, no funny anecdotes tonight. I am exhausted. I've been getting up at 4:50 every morning to walk and I want to know, "Where is all that energy you are supposed to get from exercising?" I've even been walking in my goofy old glasses because there is no way I'm forcing a contact into my unopened eyes.

I don't know if everyone knows or not, but Jason and I have been trying to have another baby for the last five years. I started Clomid this month and had an HCG injection (and by an, I mean 3 shots!)yesterday, along with an ultrasound. Now the waiting game begins....again. Not to get too TMI, but the doc told me to wait until day 40 to take a pregnancy test because I already have the pregnancy hormone (HCG) in my body. I just looked at him and smiled and said, "I'll try." We'll see how that goes. Patience is not my strongsuit. Hmmmmm....maybe that is what God is trying to teach me here. I know there is a lesson there somewhere. God really likes to teach me things and show me that I don't always know everything after all. And, oddly enough, I'm always so shocked to find out that, Suprise!, I don't know everything.

I have discovered a cute line of clothing for women and little girls, Shabby Apple. These are great women's clothes that are not too skimpy or revealing, yet still very stylish. They have awesome shoes, bags, and accessories, too. The girl's line is just precious. They have mixed and matched adorable Amy Butler fabrics to make the cutest aline dresses. I will be having a trunk show on Thursday, September 18th, if anyone is interested. I already have the clothing. They sent about 30 dresses in various styles, most with a small, medium, and large. I have requested a few more that were not included in the trunk, but I don't know if they will send them or not. Either way, others can be ordered and shipped for free, if ordered from my show. They ship quickly. I returned an item last Thursday and received an exchange today.

On the William front, he is not completing his work in kindergarten. I don't know what to do! We sit for at least 30-45 minutes every.....single.....afternoon while he completes his work. And by work, I mean color sheets. Not hard stuff here, people. He has always hated to color, but I've told him you have to do this work in kindergarten. He is very easily distracted. His precious, precious teacher walked him to the car today and told me he is so sweet and so kind. Jason said that is all she could come up with because she couldn't compliment him on his work ethic! It will be interesting to see how his year progresses.

I saw this picture on another blog that I frequent. It is too cute!

Well, the City Council race for our district isn't over yet. We have 6 more weeks of campaigning. Please remember us in your prayers.

We are leaving for the beach tomorrow afternoon. William is so excited. He keeps telling the aide that opens his door at school each morning that he is going to sleep in a bunk bed with his friend Thomas. I guess we will be keeping one eye on the Gulf and Gustav and one eye on that Auburn football game! War Eagle!

I funny to tell about my grandmother. She came by the office to visit my sister and me yesterday morning. Now, Nanny is a one of a kind woman. She never know what she will say, nor to whom she will say it. Here is a snippet of her visit:

Nanny: I found some jeans in the road in front of my house yesterday.
Me: Eyes widening
Nanny: They might fit you or Toot (my sister). I don't think I can get into them. They are very nice jeans. I washed them and there's not anything wrong with them.
Me: Oh, okay
Nanny: Do you think Toot might want them?
Me: Oh, I don't know....
Nanny: I don't know why somebody would throw perfectly good jeans out in the road. Maybe I shouldn't have picked them up....

Hmmmmm......

And then:
Nanny: Toot, have you dated the ________ boy? (Omitting last name to protect the innocent victim)
Toot: No, Nanny, isn't he related to us?
Nanny: Oh, he's a distant cousin. His grandmother is my first cousin.

This isn't the first time Nanny has tried to set my sister up with cousins.

Kids DO Say the Darndest Things

Last night, we had a super quick all American dinner of......hamburgers! William refuses to eat any meat (other than square pepperonis???), so I thought I might let him help me patty out the meat. He immediately gagged about the meat (It looked like worms, it smelled...)and then gagged about the smell of the Lawry's Seasoned Salt. Puhleeze. I got him to very gingerly touch the meat, but he opted instead to season them with the salt. A. Lot. Of. Salt. I even tried the Spongebob/Crabby Patty reference to no avail. As we ate our dinner (his was a butter sandwich, green beans, and Mandarin oranges), we slipped a piece of hamburger on his plate. He hopped out of his seat, so offended that we would put something so vile and disgusting on his plate. Oh the horror! He was chugging down his glass of milk when I mentioned that milk comes from an animal. He said, "I knowed that already." Great grammar. I asked if he knew hamburger meat and milk both come from cows. He said he knew that (excuse me, knowed that) from watching Barnyard on Nick. Glad someone is teaching him, since the poor child's momma is leaving him to learn through television. Then, just for the heck of it, I asked if he knows where the milk comes from on a cow. Boy, oh boy. He said, "Yes," grabbed the front of his jeans with both hands and began to demonstrate how a cow is milked. Jason and I almost fell over laughing! I was so ladylike, that I had sweet tea coming out of my nose! Well, that was all it took for the Junior Performer. He was all over the kitchen, 'milking' himself!

I posted yesterday about my love for etsy and Boutique Mia. I have found another cute pillowcase type top made right here in Alabama! You can view the entire line of custom made children's clothing here. Super cute children's clothing with tons of appliques! Make sure you check out the women's Emily top



We took William to vote today. He was so funny. He got up this morning talking about how he couldn't wait to go vote...he had never done that before...it was going to be so much fun, etc. As we left the polling location, he was grinning from ear to ear and sporting his, "I Voted" sticker. I'm glad to be raising a child who is already so interested in performing his civic duty. Even if he is having to learn from Nickelodeon.

Forgive me Blogger, it has been six months since my last post. A lot has happened since then. I certainly won't try to catch up. I'll just start with the most recent.

William has started kindergarten. My little baby is now in kindergarten. He likes to remind me rather often that,"I'm a big boy now, Mama. I go to kindergarten." Sigh.......

We are going to the beach for Labor Day weekend with some good friends of ours. We are really looking forward to it. My husband is currently running for the city council in our town. The election is tomorrow. Thank goodness! This has been a stressful few weeks. I told him over the weekend that I feel like I'm always on display. We have been driving around with "A New Voice, Jason Jewell, City Council District Four" magnets on the Expedition. People just stare and stare at intersections and in parking lots. I can't go into a store without 20 people asking me how it's going. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the support, it is just mentally exhausting. We are both ready for some semblance of normalcy. If you can call our regular life normal. I really don't think there is anything normal about us.

The first Auburn game is this weekend. War Eagle! We will be cheering on our Tigers from the beach.

Speaking of Auburn, I am really wanting to get this dress from Boutique Mia

I am in love with Boutique Mia's items on etsy. I have etsy love.

I bought these three tops from her earlier in the summer

Blogging

Okay, I'm new at this blogging thing. Lately, I've seen some really great blogs from other young families like ourselves. Blogs that highlight special events in the family, individual accomplishments, ways God is moving in their lives... I'm thinking this might be fun.

Tomorrow, Jason and I leave for our trip to TN. This was his Christmas present to me. A few nights away from home to relax and recharge. I cannot wait. William is in the bed right now, snoozing away. He will spend a night with Big Daddy and Nana and three nights with Papa and Grandmama.

He is packed. I am not. I guess I should go do that.

Good Night.

T.