The Streamer Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

The Streamer Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

Holiday Cooking Disasters

I've been inspired to blog by reading the blogs I regularly stalk follow. With Thanksgiving fast approaching, the Season of Binging is about to be upon us. I would love to hear about cooking disasters that others have had. I'll go first: I was home from Auburn for Christmas and needed to bake cookies to take to a SS Christmas party. I was feeling quite creative and had always seen sugar cookies with silver dragees on them. My mother didn't have any of those in the pantry, so I raided my brother's room and used the next best thing-BBs. I mean, they look identical, right? Luckily, my parents came home and saw the BB box on the counter and stopped me before I inflicted lead poisoning on the College and Career class of First Baptist Church. This little debacle earned me the nickname of BB. In my defense, I didn't know those darn dragees were edible-I'd always picked them off cookies!

Anyone else have a horrible cooking mishap to share?

Early Fall Happenings

We have definitely been busy lately. William is in first grade at AES and has an awesome teacher, but seriously, who at AES isn't awesome? He has some great friends in his class and he comes home everyday chock full of stories to tell. He is playing soccer again this year and is still more about the socializing than the competitiveness. Although he does like to tell friends on opposing teams, "You're going down..."
My husband, the former Opp Bobcat turned Andy City Councilman, is now 1/2 of the Voice of the Bulldogs. He is on the radio every Friday night announcing the high school football games.
Speaking of football, War Eagle! How 'bout them Tigers!?! We took William to the Auburn v. Mississippi State game last month. He had a ball!
This is the first Auburn game that we've taken him to where he actually showed an interest in football, not just the concessions.
After the game, we ran into a friend of mine from Auburn. William had a blast chasing her daughter around campus. A taste of things to come? Probably so. He also loved celebrating afterwards at Toomer's Corner. The pictures are a little blurry because they were snapped on my phone.


We spent this past weekend celebrating William's 7th birthday and another AU victory. Saturday night we watched the game at Nana and Big Daddy's poolhouse with some of our best AL friends. We were so thankful when two of our AU friends dropped by for a visit. William and Kate busied themselves with the local wildlife. Here they are trying to feed a caterpillar-

William's favorite kindergarten teacher also made an appearance-




Sunday, we entertained 12 boys at Nana and Big's pool for William's Wall-E themed birthday party. Wow is all I have to say about that. Mothers of first grade girls, LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS! This was one of the calmer moments-


Happy Fall Y'all!

Random Ponderings on Childrens' Cartoons

Did I even add the apostrophe in the correct place on childrens? I am super tired tonight, but I haven't blogged in 2 months, so this will be a doozy I'm sure. Something last week got me to thinking about the cartoons that William watches. Many of them annoy me to death, er make that most of them. He came back from his grandparents' house last weekend with the worst of them all, Caillou. I mean seriously, this child is completely bald and has the whiniest voice in the world! I cannot stand to watch one episode of this, much less an entire DVD! Thanks Grandmama! ;) Caillou's parents never get upset with him either. Not even when he caused his friend to trip and break his leg!

Another cartoon that makes me go hmmmm... is Dora. Where are her parents? What kind of parents allow their young child to roam through the jungle alone, knowing that she and her monkey friend, Boots, are being chased by a fox.

Max and Ruby is another classic example of absentee parenting. That poor Max. This show is painful to watch and I used to be that bossy annoying older sister! Really, Ruby, give him a break. Since the parents are never around, Ruby sends Max to the grocer and then is so surprised that four year old Max didn't get everything on the list!

Anyone else know of any other highly annoying children's programming? And Barney goes without saying!

Easter Dresses

Well, I had a little moment of nostalgia today as my sister and I reminsced about the importance of the "Easter Dress." Every year it was a really big deal. "Do you have your Easter dress yet?" "Wait until you see my Easter dress." Having a son, I really miss the whole thrill of the new dress. That crossed my mind tonight as I was shopping at the Mart. I found these two pieces:



My momma would just die if she knew I was sporting an Easter "dress" from the Mart.

Then again, I might wear this green dress, which I bought from a CAbi show recently. It is on pages 16 and 18 of the catalogue.

Am I the only one that still gets all caught up in the thrill of the Easter dress?

Rainy Days

We are experiencing another rainy day here in L.A. Earlier this morning I was able to clean out the garage and sweep it! I did this amazing feat while playing t-ball with William. During a storm. It felt very Twilightish.
I am proud to say on April 2nd, that all of our Christmas decorations are stored away until next year. See, my blog isn't the only thing that has been neglected. While perusing other blogs, I found one of these fun questionaires.

1. What kind of SOAP is in your bathtub right now? Caress Tahitian Renewal, because I could really use a vacation and some renewing.

2. Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? No, although we do have nearly every other fruit in there.

3. What would you change about your living room? I would remove the lovely, lovely, lovely gun cabinet. I would also complete the stonework on the fireplace.

4. Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? They are dirty because it isn't full yet.

5. What is in your fridge? Fruit, tea, milk (of course), lots of bacon, every salad dressing imaginable, and every other existing condiment.

6. White or wheat bread? White.

7. What is on top of your refrigerator? A box of Coffee Nips and a switch. ;)

8. What color or design is on your shower curtain? Violet red with a tan stripe.

9. How many plants are in your home? 3

10. Is your bed made right now? Nope.

11. Comet or Soft Scrub? Clorox Clean Up

12. Is your closet organized? Don't even ask. My closet is beyond help, thanks to the wacky duct work that passes right through it.

13. Can you describe your flashlight? How ironic. Broken right beside me on the desk. William just brought it to me in 4 pieces. Won't Daddy have fun when he gets home?

14. Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home? Glass

15. Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now? Sweet tea, yes. In a pitcher? No. I always have a gallon of Milo's tea in the fridge.

16. If you have a garage, is it cluttered? Not anymore!

17. Curtains or blinds? Both. And Roman shades.

18. How many pillows do you sleep with? 1

19. Do you sleep with any lights on at night? Nope.

20. How often do you vacuum? As needed. Usually a few times a week.

21. Standard toothbrush or electric? Standard

22. What color is your toothbrush? White.

23. Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch? Yes.

24. What is in your oven right now? Nothing, but one of Nanny's roasts would be nice.

.25. Is there anything under your bed? Not that I know of.

26. Chore you hate doing the most? Dusting!

27. What retro items are in your home? ????

28. Do you have a separate room that you use as an office? Yes.

29. How many mirrors are in your home? 6

30. Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home? Nope.

31. What color are your walls? Tan, Green, and robin's egg blue

32. Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home? Yes

33. What does your home smell like right now? William's cinnamon roll candle

34. Favorite candle scent? Clean Cotton

35. What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now? Dill oval slices

36. What color is your favorite Bible? Black

37. Ever been on your roof? No

38. Do you own a stereo? Not anymore

39. How many TVs do you have? 4

40. How many house phones? 2

41. Do you have a housekeeper? Don't I wish.

42. What style do you decorate in? Pottery Barnish, maybe?

43. Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints? I like solids with print accents

44. Is there a smoke detector in your home? Yes

45. In case of fire, what are the items in your house which you'd grab if you only could make one quick trip? William

Blog Update.....Somewhat

Okay, okay, Mrs. Ellis and Mrs. Mack. I get the picture. Time to update the blog. Got it. We have been super busy lately. Without going into the gruesome details, I will simply say that Jason and I have started our own construction company now, after a split from his previous partner. Things have been hopping for us. We were able to keep the current clients/jobs that we had with the previous company, so there is no shortage of work. I have been having to learn Quick Books, payroll, taxes, worker's comp, etc. Things I have previously had absolutely no knowledge of whatsoever. In addition to business busyness, I was the co-chair for this year's Red Garter Revue. That in itself was a full time job.

William has been loving kindergarten. He has taken his first Accelerated Reading test, which was a 1.5 grade level. He made 100% on it. He was so thrilled! On Sunday, he lost his first tooth. He was begging Jason and I both to pull it out with tweezers, pliers, whatever we could find! Eek! We attempted to pull it several times, but the darn thing was hanging on tight! Sunday, after lunch, we stopped at Nana and Big Daddy's house so Big could pull the tooth. And pull it he did. William was ecstatic. He wanted to wait until Monday night to leave it for the Tooth Fairy because he "had to show everyone at school!"




The Tooth Fairy visited our house last night and, after a note requesting the tooth be left so Grandmama could see it, William awoke to find a gold coin, a certificate, and "5 BUCKS!"

T-Ball season is now upon us. If I can keep up the Blogging Spirit, I will post pictures soon.

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!