Scrapbooking and Planning

Well, I finally got the guitar shaped cake pan to make Hayden's b-day cake in a couple of weeks. I looked online at a lot of different places, and finally figured that with shipping, I would come out about the same as just buying a new one. This year his party is at Chick-Fil-A, which is free and has an indoor play area. His August birthday is hard in that way, b/c there are only so many indoor places to have a party and most of those are super expensive. When he gets older, he'll be having more low-key stuff, but for now it's fun to do something bigger for him. It's exciting b/c this year he actually understands that his birthday is coming and we will have a party for him. He is so excited about the guitar cake already just from looking at the cake pan. I can't wait until he sees the actual cake!

In my latest project, I have started trying to catch up on Hayden's scrapbook. I printed about 100 pictures at Wal-Mart the other day, so you can tell how behind I am on it. I finally got everything organized and worked on about 5 or 6 pages today. I am not a real pro at scrapbooking, so mine usually turn out mediocre. I just don't want to spend that much time working on it, nor do I want to spend as much money as it takes to make it look really super nice. I noticed that a couple of the pages I did needed some extra umphhh, so maybe when I'm feeling better tomorrow I can work on it again. I'll get some more pictures posted soon!

Professional Pictures!

We had some pictures taken by my good friend's husband, Steve Wood, while we were in Birmingham last week. Here are a few of them. Hopefully I will have some more soon!

Guitar Fun in Hoover

We are back from Hoover after spending the night on Tuesday in order to go see Roger Day at the library. In case you didn't know, Hayden loves music. I know that most all toddlers do as well, but Hayden has a guitar (which is in reality a ukelele) that he plays and he actually knows how to strum. It is his prized possession and he rarely will let another child play with it.

He has a favorite children's singer and his name is Roger Day. He lives in Franklin, TN, but grew up in Birmingham and often performs at schools and libraries around town. We have his DVD and have been watching it for at least 2 years. Hayden is so obsessed with the guitar that he actually started using a clothespin as a capo. We didn't know where he got that from until one day when we were watching the Roger Day DVD with him and noticed that Hayden would do everything with his guitar that Roger did...for example: moving the capo from the end to the strings, putting it down at the same time, strumming and jumping at the same time, etc. We had not even noticed the capo!!! We finally broke down and got Hayden a cheap capo at Target one day, and he keeps it on his guitar all of the time to look professional. It is really quite hilarious to watch him play and dance and now he's started making up songs. He made up "the feet song" and "the head song" one day, but I digress.

So, we went to this concert and Hayden had a blast. My friend Traci was there with us with her kids, Sara and Sam. I took his guitar b/c I knew that he would want it there with him. Well, all of the other little kids kept wanting to touch it and take it away from him. Traci's daughter Sara (who is older) kept asking if I wanted her to help with the kids bothering Hayden. It turned out that he didn't need any help! He was NOT going to let some strange kid play his guitar!!! Both of the little kids had a great time in the mini mosh-pit in front of the stage. And, afterwards, they got to meet Roger Day! We had been to two of his concerts last year, plus I worked one of his shows at the library, so he actually remembered Hayden. Of course, last year all Hayden would say was "Day, Day, Day" and point. Ahhh, what a difference a year makes.

5 YEARS YESTERDAY!

So, we have been married for 5 years! I cannot believe it. Time just flies by so quickly! We went to Stone Mountain on Thursday for a quick overnight trip. I had not been in years (so long that I really couldn't remember it), and Dave had never been. We stayed at the Marriott Evergreen Resort and had a package deal that included champagne and chocolate covered strawberries (yum!), a couples massage (excellent!), dinner, breakfast buffet, and a king-sized suite! The bed was so comfortable, we literally slept like babies and wanted to take it home with us.

When we got to Stone Mountain on Thursday, we stopped and ate lunch at a neat little German restaurant in town before entering the park. It really reminded me of being in a restaurant in Germany! We decided that for our 10 year we are going to save the money and go to Europe. Anyways, we split the sausage platter for 2 and each had a dessert (I so blew my diet). Dave had raspberry cheesecake and I had apple/raspberry pie. After that, we headed to the hotel to check in. Our room was fortunately ready, and we went on up. It was at the very end of the hallway and we joked that we wouldn't be surprised if a little boy on a big wheel rolled down any second.

Our massage appointment was for 3, so we just hung out in the room for a while. There were thunderstorms anyway, so it was nice and relaxing. After our massages, we got ready for dinner while waiting on our champagne and strawberries. We had already eaten some of them when I realized I didn't get a picture. Oh well... We had dinner at The Commons, which was really good. It was also a nice photo op b/c it sits on the lake.

After dinner, we headed to the lawn to set up for the laser show. We enjoyed people watching while we waited, and then we were really impressed with the show! It was amazing!

The next morning we got up and ate the breakfast buffet, which let me just say would be a total rip off if not part of a package. There is no way I could eat enough breakfast to make it worth the price! It was an awesome spread, but still...come on. After breakfast, we hung out in the room for a few minutes and checked-out. We headed to the village in Stone Mountain and walked around for a couple of hours looking at the little shops. I bought some delicious jams and jellies for my parents and some vidalia onion salad dressing and pickled asparagus. I know it sounds gross, but it's good and Hayden likes it too! We then had lunch and headed home. We had to stop at the courthouse in Atlanta for Dave's work, and we were home by 2! Overall, it was a nice getaway and great for us to be together alone for a little while. We really need to find a regular babysitter over here! Thanks to Grammy and Deeda for letting Hayden entertain you while we were gone!

Rooster Hair

Hayden often wakes up with crazy hair, but this morning was hilarious! Dave named it "Rooster Hair". Judge for yourself.






This was such a great picture of Dave that I had to post it.

Happy 4th!!!

Our first 4th in Georgia has actually been fun. Last night we went to the city's 3rd annual fireworks. We got there around 6:45. There were a ton of people there! They had a hot air balloon, helicopter, bouncy things, live music, and concessions. We had already eaten dinner, so we headed straight onto the football field and picked out a nice spot to put our chairs up. It was a nice afternoon b/c around the time we got there it became overcast. I was glad we didn't have to sweat it out. Dave took Hayden to do some bouncy stuff to kill some time and mostly we just hung out and watched everybody. There were quite a few hicks, but a lot of normal people as well. The fireworks were really comparable to Birmingham and we were quite impressed. It was also our first fireworks as a family, so that was really exciting. Here are a few pics from last night.

One of my oldest friends got married this past weekend in Birmingham, so Hayden and I (along with another friend, Carrie) hopped on the interstate and stayed the weekend. The wedding was at a beautiful place called the Carraway-Davie House in Mountain Brook. The food was excellent and I totally blew my diet, but it was actually worth it! Since we were in Birmingham anyway, Carrie and I along with another friend, Misty, planned a girls' weekend at Ross Bridge. We really had a great time just hanging out together and going to a movie! The swimming pool is excellent so I finally got to lay out without interruption. Where was Hayden, you ask? He was staying with Gramma and Pops in Hoover. He loves it b/c Uncle Charlie and Uncle Chris are there and he gets tons of attention! The only regret I have is that it was a day short for me, but that's okay b/c Dave and I are off to Stone Mountain next week for our 5 year anniversary! I can hardly believe it! So, anyway, here are a couple of pics from the wedding this past weekend, one of Hayden after playing in red dirt, and one of him wearing my shoes. He's obsessed with shoes, and it doesn't matter whose they are! Blackmail will be sweet one day...