I Love This: Green Earl Grey

I am on a never-ending quest to add healthy things to my life. And I love when I can do something healthy, but doesn't feel like I am moving mountains.

•30-minutes of walking (and talking with Ben).

•Skipping Starbucks.

•A dropper-full of berry flavored B-Complex under my tongue.

•And my personal favorite... therapeutic massage.

I read a lot of health focused magazines for ideas; the easy ones that is. And I read "green tea" over and over again. Problem is I don't really care for green tea. It's a little, well, green tasting. So I was excited to find Twinings Green Earl Grey Tea at of all places... Big Lots. Traditional Earl Grey tea is my tea of choice so I thought the flavors would mask the greeniness of Green Tea.

It does!

I love this tea!

Be warned: Green Tea does contain caffeine and a day of "being healthy" could leave you with heart palpitations and a late, late night. You can "decaffeinate" your tea yourself by steeping the tea for 30 seconds, pouring off the water, and re-steeping the tea. However, you may loose the healthy you were after in the first place. I just take any "extra" energy I get from caffeine as another bonus to tea drinking.

The Tooth and Nothing But The Tooth!

Emeline has lost her first tooth and she is so excited!

It all started about a month ago when she complained about having a blister in her mouth. Upon investigating, we discovered that it wasn't a blister, but rather her six-year molars coming in on the bottom. She was thrilled about this amazing coincidence... six-years old, six-year molars! Later we found out that the emergence of these teeth was the prerequisite to losing baby teeth.

And right on cue... that first baby tooth came loose. An ever-so-slight shift that she first noticed last Saturday came a long way in just one week. By this Saturday it was downright wiggly! Breathing in made it wobble around. While showing off just how loose her loose tooth was it plopped right out into her palm.

So much for all her planning to tie string to it and yank it out with a slamming door. Or her plan to hang on to it... even if just by a thread... for school on Monday so she could get a tooth necklace from the school nurse.

She's placed it in her treasures box and it is her newest most prized possession. Funny how a lost tooth gets so much more attention and admiration than when they are doing their job in your mouth. In fact, Emeline is so impressed with this first lost tooth that she's already on the hunt for another one!

Back to School

I tried to post the summer in pictures. We did way more than got posted. Summer was really great this year!

My only complaint... and I do have one (as usual): Summer's not long enough!

Emeline and Holden went back to classes on Friday for a half day. Monday is teacher in service and Tuesday it's back to reality. Both of the kids had their reservations with back to school. Holden starts middle school (6th-8th grades). Emeline is in first grade this year; "real" school. And big brother's not there. Plus there's the bus. Holden's comes at 6:35 am... ouch! Emeline will be riding on her own this year.

But they both took day one like troopers.



Holden's bus almost passed up our stop. The bus came flying over the hill and past our driveway... only to stop short to get him. He walked on without looking back. And couldn't help but cry as he got on that big yellow box filled with teens and preteens. All on his own. I think I was just as scared as he was that day. When he got home his smile showed me how much he enjoyed it. Even though he doesn't really have any of his elementary school pals in any of his classes he seems to be eager to do back and experience this new part of growing up.


Emeline skipped the bus on the first day and I took her to class. I like to meet the person I am leaving her with rather than just ship her off to the unknown. It is total chaos at that school because I am not the only one who feels that way. In fact, more people bring their children that day than not. But we managed the parking lot... even though Emeline did suggest just going home since there was no where to park. I would have liked that myself... I am a fan of living in denial... even if I don't get to practice it often. Emeline decided by the end of the day that she really loves her new teacher, Mrs. Ferrell. She thinks her Kindergarten teacher has communicated with her new teacher so that she knows exactly what kind of girl Emeline is... hence, the PINK Playdoh on her desk. She can't wait to go back on Tuesday. Wonder if she remembered that she has to take the bus then. Probably not... she's a fan of denial too.

I still wish they were going to be home with me. August is proving to be the hottest month of the summer. Perfect for swimming at Gramma's! Guess Owen and I will get to work on our tans while they are stuck inside... learning. But I am happy they are happy with what life has handed them this 2009-2010 school year.

Let's get it started!

@ District Convention/Evansville, Indiana

Thursday night we start the weekend off right at our favorite place to dine while in Evansville... The Tin Fish. It's actually in Newburg, Indiana - an adorable little town just outside of Evansville - right on the river. The restaurant ships fresh fish and seafood in daily. The have everything... even Walleye... a rarity in these parts. Ben got oysters on the half shell and Holden was eager to try one. It wasn't his first oyster; that was in Alabama when he was about four years old. That one didn't go down as easily as this one. I guess his tastes have matured.


The kids... happy to have Granny. They'd all be on that lap at once if it was possible!


Cousin Pierce and Emeline. Best buds.


Emeline with Granny. I love her smile!


The whole gang... this doesn't happen that often. And when it does, we usually aren't all looking and smiling. But this one is pretty good... even if we aren't all looking, we all look happy. Guess 'cause we are.

Cool Site!

As a Mac user I am sometimes presented with files that I cannot open. Yes, there's Office for Mac and I have tried installing it, however, with the volume of fonts I use for graphic design it just isn't possible. Plus it only happens at the most once a month and I don't like installing programs, I rarely use... and forget I have.

So when this happened today I Googled converting a Word Perfect file to something a Mac could read. Often text documents will open on my computer, but this kept saving as a QuickTime movie. Don't ask...

Anyhow, I found Media Convert. It's free and converts just about anything to anything. I was concerned that the converted file might be some horrible disgusting image or virus, but felt pretty confident in my ability to quickly "red ball" the file (as the kids say) and my Mac's security. So I took the risk and the converted pdf worked great!

Ah... it's the simple victories in life that make life sweet.

@ Center Hill Lake

The boss had us out to Center Hill Lake for a day on their houseboat.



Heading down the slide...



And SPLASH!



Owen wanted to go, but didn't have the nerve. I didn't have the nerve for him to go either!



Owen got to ride a Waverunner for the first time. Me too! That's my boss, Bill at the wheel. It was so thrilling Owen was falling asleep!



Nice water for swimming... for Tennessee.

@ Kentucky Kingdom Part 2

While Dad & Holden were off riding the roller coasters over and over... we hung out in the kiddie area and had some high-flying fun!




There was a giant Batman to be won at the rope ladder... the only giant Batman in the park and Owen wanted it. Big brother and sister tried hard to win it for him...






But it wasn't happening...




Watching them fall (repeatedly) was worth the $10 though!


Celebrity sightings... Foghorn Leghorn (AKA the chicken) Owen became obsessed with him.



Suffering Succotash it's Sylvester!



Contrary to popular belief... I am not a bad photographer! I was unable to move back any further to get little Owen in and he would NOT take my direction.