Weekend Getaway: Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Ga.

Why was Easter so early this year? For me, Lent seemed to be extremely long, but then all of a sudden—BAM! It was Easter weekend. My parents are in the process of buying a house in Amelia Island, Fla. and we were thinking we would spend the weekend of Easter there. But of course, life never goes as planned and instead we found ourselves at a cottage on the Callaway Gardens property.

Originally I was hesitant, only because I wasn't sure what we might do with Fitz and Alex at Callaway for an entire weekend. Like with 98% of everything, I worried for naught.

Callaway Gardens, located in precious Pine Mountain, Ga. actually has a lot to offer families with kids of all ages. Since it rained off and on the entire time we were there, we didn't fully enjoy the hiking and biking trails, and the real star of the spring: Callaway's famous azaleas weren't fully in bloom yet. Even factoring that in we had an incredible time.

The cottages were fully stocked and made it so easy to transition to the weekend with F&A. Kitchen had everything you could think of, and we brought our own groceries to have dinner Friday night, breakfast both Saturday and Sunday and lunch Saturday at the cottage. Bonus!! Since they are part of the Callaway resort I didn't have to bring the pack and plays, they were already in the cottage when we checked in. I love not having to lug those things places.

Mark spent all of Saturday on the lake system fishing. I think he enjoyed some peace and quiet. His catch wasn't all that bad either.

While Mark fished my momma and I took the boys into town and browsed the shops. I fell in love with a little place called Whisk—a local Williams-Sonoma of sorts where I wish I could have bought the entire store. I found a few good finds, as I seemingly always do.

After the boys woke up from their naps we walked around the property a bit. As part of the Easter weekend celebrations, the Gardens had tethered hot air balloon rides available, and I OF COURSE couldn't pass up the chance to live my own Bachelor moment.

I'm so glad we didn't let the rain stop us from having a good time. Well, until the Easter Bunny and his weird looking green friend showed up.

After that completely traumatizing experience we trucked back to the cottage to get ready for dinner. We originally weren't sure about the food offerings in town, but spotted 153 Main Bistro shopping and decided to try it for dinner. I am very glad we did!!

A local favorite, 153 Main knocked it out of the park. We sat at a sidewalk table, which was perfect for F&A. Side note: one of my favorite things to do is enjoy a nice meal with the people I love over a great bottle of wine on a sidewalk. Known for steak and seafood, all three of us chose various meat dishes. I really enjoyed my bistro steak. Momma couldn't stop raving about hers either. F&A completely devoured the fried green tomato and okra plate we ordered as a starter.

This restaurant was a pleasant surprise in Pine Mountain and should not be skipped! You can call ahead to put your name on the list—seats fill up fast on Saturday and Sunday.

We enjoyed Easter Sunday mass at Christ the King and followed it up with brunch in one of Callaway's ballrooms. It was a buffet style brunch in a ballroom, so not out of this world but not garbage either. 

After brunch Mark and I just weren't quite ready to leave and decided to walk around the famous Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center.

F&A absolutely LOVED seeing all the plants and swirling butterflies. Another activity on my list that should not be missed!

All in all, I would say Callaway is a great getaway.

DIY Angel Gabriel

One of my favorite things about teaching Faith Formation, besides sharing my faith with the kids obviously, is coming up with fun and informative lessons. Sometimes it can be a real challenge to find things that aren't too babyish or labor intensive—I've been overwhelmed by Pinterest more often than not. BUT, as with the Thankful Turkeys we did before Thanksgiving, I came up with these simple Angel Gabriels and it worked really well for our class of 26 six and seven year-olds.

We made these after our first Advent lesson, when I felt like the kids had a good grasp of not only whom Gabriel was but also why he is so important to us. I love this craft because it is super easy and super cheap to create in bulk. A lot of times I find awesome crafts on Pinterest, but they require seven different specialty products and when you're trying to create 26 of them it gets expensive. The only downside to this craft is the toilet paper rolls that make the body. Usually I send out an email to parents and have everyone bring one in. Otherwise, everything else needed is basic. Relatively quick too!

Supplies
Toilet paper roll
White and yellow construction paper
Basket style coffee filter
Scissors
Glue stick
Stapler
Writing instrument

Directions
Take your white construction paper and fold it into thirds, ripping at the folds. This will serve as the covering for the toilet paper roll body. Wrap the white paper over the roll and glue in place. Using your writing instrument (some kids used crayons, some used pencils, I used a pen) make sure your Angel Gabriel has a face!! For the wings, take a flattened basket coffee filter and fold it in half. Using a stapler, attach the coffee filter to the prepared body to create wings. Make small cuts along the ridges of the filter to give your wings some depth! Taking the yellow paper cut a small circle for the halo, gluing it to one side.

Thankful Turkey Craft

This year in Faith Formation has been a challenge to say the least. Maybe it's all the full moons? Anyway, it seems like this class has forced me to look outside of the box more than ever before. One of the many reasons I love teaching first grade is that they are just old enough to sit through a lesson, but still love to do crafts!

The Sunday before Thanksgiving week is always hard. This year, most of the schools are out for the entire week, so we won't have a lot of kids that attend class. The ones that do have, for the most part, already checked out of learning. I felt daunted trying to come up with something for an hour and forty-five minutes! Then inspiration struck: I love these little turkeys, I think they turned out precious.

 They are so INCREDIBLY easy. Now how I got the large amount (and array) of paint samples from Walmart wasn't so easy, but as my momma always said, "Where there's a will, there is a way." I wasn't techincally doing anything wrong, but it felt like I was? Anyway, I "overgrabbed" what we ended up needing so at least I don't have to feel awkward again next year?

All you need for this craft is construction paper, a writing instrument, three paint samples, scisorrs and glue.

Cut a piece of brown construction paper in the shape of a circle; we used a roll of masking tape as our circle pattern. Cut four smaller circles out of white and blue or green construction paper for the eyes, for layering the eye color on top of the white; orange construction paper in the shape of a triangle works for the beak. Glue the eyes and the beak to your circle; all you have to draw is the mouth and you've got the turkey body!

My favorite part of this craft is the feathers. For our Faith Formation class we used a white board to list all the things we could think of that we were thankful for like the Holy Spirit, St. John the Baptist, Pope Francis, our families, schools and the military. From the list each child was responsibile for copying down one item to each of their three feathers. We used pencil and they were hard to photograph, for the example I used a Sharpie and it worked much better. But I wasn't about to pass out 26 sharpies, so the pencils worked just fine. In real life you can see them fine. Crayon does NOT work on the paint samples however.

To make the feathers, simply cut a rounded edge triangle from the paint strips. Most of the kids didn't do so hot at the rounded edge, but I think the sharp corners look just as cute! Once you have your feather shape, copy your thankful item to the top, then glue the feathers paint side forward to the turkey body.

Voila! You have a super sweet, super easy Thankful Turkey. My personal favorite is little Clara who wrote "St. Therese; Toys; Candy". 

Friday Favorites: Halloween 2015

No one can ever accuse me of not going all out for holidays, even if it is last minute. I really need to just realize that October for the foreseeable future is going to be crazy. With Fitz and Alex's birthday in the beginning and my huge week-long work show in Kentucky in mid-October every year, the Anderson house AT BEST is going to be Halloweenified in late October.

Nonetheless, I got it done. That's what counts right?

Here's my Friday Favorites for Halloween 2015:

I love this glittery eyeball garland I got last year at Michael's. I was worried it might not hold up, but I think it turned out super cute. Ignore the one dead sunflower. As Mark would say, any excuse for the glitter.

Originally I was disappointed I didn't have six matching placements, but I have to say, I like the funkiness it adds.

This year, Dollar Tree had the cutest monsters; you know the solar ones that dance in the windowsills? I saw them and had to grab them for our preschool teachers! I got up at 5am this morning and made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for the director and her assistant. So easy and so delicious! Recipe to come next week, since they would be perfect for November gatherings as well.

Halloween week at school was so fun! Each day had a dress up theme and since they are still too little to pick out their own costumes, I got to splurge and get a costume for today and a different costume for trick or treating! Can't think of anything more perfect for my set of monsters than to dress up as Mike from Monsters, Inc.

I saw this on Insta last week and knew I had to do it for my friends. I'm not sure if it really took, but I loved getting the BOOOZED baskets together and sending "Dracula's Driver" out in the middle of the night. We took ours on Monday of this week, but I think next year I'm going to start the Friday before Halloween weekend? Dropped by Dollar Tree, grabbed a plastic pumpkin, some fun Halloween cups, and threw in a bottle of wine from our local wine shop.

We're heading to Zoo Boo today with all four kids, and then planning on doing Halloween crafts and decorating the wagon for trick or treating. Saturday forecast has rain at night, and I'm crossing my fingers, toes and sending prayers to St. Therese that it holds off until 8.

Happy Halloween from the fuzzy blur that is Fitz and Alex!

Fourth of July 2015

How has July 4th already come and gone? I have no idea what happened to my summer. Last summer was a blackout blur because I was just so pregnant and so hot. And so pregnant. 

I really wanted to have a great summer. I had grand designs of reading a ton of books and enjoying the weather and grilling out constantly and you get the picture. Instead, it's been a slower, yet still faster somehow, summer. The babies are getting into everything and life is starting to change so much.

I was thrilled when Mark said he wanted to go to Atlanta for the Fourth and hang out with my family. Okay, wanted is a stretch. He said he would go to Atlanta…anyway; we all loaded into the car on Friday morning and headed to my mom's. 

We hung out with my momma and stepdad for a day and a half and then headed to my dad and stepmom's for a day and a half.

We went to the huge annual blowout bbq at St. Ives on the evening of the Fourth (both my parents and Kristen & Charles are members there) and enjoyed a delicious buffet, carnival games and the fireworks show.

I was really apprehensive about taking Fitz & Alex to fireworks at three days shy of 9 months, but like they been doing since birth, they surprised me.

Fitz absolutely LOVED the bright colors in the sky and staying up late. He didn't mind anything a bit and sacked out almost immediately once we got home. I don’t think his big cousin Anna Carolina sharing her hot dog bun with him hurt his mood either!

Alex was a different story. He really liked the fireworks at first, snuggling with his Aunt Kristen, but then the booms starting getting louder and he definitely got scared. He didn't appreciate staying up past his bedtime either and had a helluva time falling asleep when we got back and proceeded to wake up at 3am needing a little more momma lovin'.

 After a long night, we hit the pool on Sunday before heading home. The little plastic pool I got for our front yard wasn't a huge success, so I didn't know how the babies would do in an actual pool.

No, that rash guard isn't a baby crop top... who knew Squeaks would get a big ole belly?!

At first they both hated it. Then the sun started to shine aggressively and suddenly the pool water wasn't quite so cold.

By the time we left, they were two happy little clams, loving when their big cousins swam up to them and when they got to kick their little legs and pretend like they were swimming.

 I, of course, was the only one to get sunburned.

St. Patrick's Day 2015

I love me a holiday. I mean, I am all about them. Normally I decorate my door, dining room table and mantle and use fun paper plates and napkins for the duration of the holiday season. However, this year, my St. Patrick's Day stuff stayed in a box until Sunday. #fail

We've made up for it though, using my cutesy shamrock napkins for every meal since, and I was still able to teach one of my absolute favorite lessons of the Faith Formation year, St. Patrick's Day! This past Sunday the third installment of Miss Jessica's class learned all about the life and times of St. Patrick, while having some fun along the way.

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As with years past, we filled out a worksheet sharing a few facts about St. Patrick. New this year was a video clip I found on some Pinterest round up, I think. It's from "up North" so my kids giggled at the narrator's accent the entire time, but it was a nice, succinct video that introduced a little of St. Patrick's history.

We made spoon saints again this year, and I finally got a picture! Personal victory!

Love this St. Patrick made by sweet KTH

The kids did great, as per usual! I was able to get all the supplies for all 22 of my kids for about $25 using a coupon at Michael's. Just my luck the paper wasn't on sale this week... I got the 12X12 pieces of green and yellow paper, then using my paper trimmer cut them into four separate pieces to pass out for the vestments. Instead of glitter this year we used metallic puffy paint and that worked out really well. There was a ton less mess.

Since St. Patrick is known for using the shamrock in the Irish countryside to teach the Trinity, and the Trinity is a concept we work on all year, I incorporated it into the spoon saint project. Just as a shamrock has three leaves but is one plant, God is three persons in one. The kids really seemed to get it—I was so proud! We wrapped green pipecleaners around three fingers and twisted them into a shamrock shape. It's so simple!

All you do is loop the pipecleaner around your first three fingers, wiggle the fingers free and bend the circles into place. Some kids struggled with this, and I ended up doing a lot of them for them, but some kids got it quickly and were able to help their friends. I loved seeing the team work!  I used the same somewhat crappy word search as I did in the past because I just flat ran out of time to make my own. It's not terrible, it's just not exactly what I would like for the lesson. There's always next year.

Hope your St. Patrick's Day is filled with all the blessings of St. Patrick, and a little Irish luck.

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

Christmas 2014

Well, we've officially survived our first Christmas as a family with four children!

It was a perfect few days. Until of course I got the stomach flu, because I have to get sick every Christmas or it just wouldn't be Christmas.

The babies really had no idea what was going on, but hey, I did it all for the pictures—and then of course forgot to take pictures!

Literally the only picture I've got of the two of them together on Christmas. #momfail

We enjoyed some lovely meals with family, opened some presents, shuffled to Atlanta, and shuffled back to Montgomery. It was eventful and uneventful all at the same time.

I've dropped the ball on keeping this online record of our daily disasters, but am going to make it a goal in 2015 to at least write down their monthly updates. (We're going to pretend I did a two month update and just skip right on over to three on January 7th. When did my children turn three months? Was I not just like the biggest pregnant person ever five minutes ago?)

Thanksgiving 2014

Before I get this started I should say one thing: I absolutely hate Thanksgiving. Between the food, I'm really not a fan of most casseroles or root vegetables, and the general do nothing but eat all day thing, it's never been my holiday.

Since I can let Mark talk me into pretty much anything, this year we celebrated Thanksgiving at our house and then headed to Atlanta to watch the Iron Bowl and visit with family. I might hate the food and the whole idea of Thanksgiving; I loved spending time with my family.

For Thursday night, it was a very Chew dinner. Everything except dessert was one of their recipes. I think the turkey turned out "okay," Mark said the dressing was incredible and the mac and cheese I've made a zillion times and is always a hit. Dessert was pronounced the best thing I've ever made. I am going to call this whole adventure a win. Though apparently it is damn near impossible to get a good picture of my children together.

Friday was low key with the drive and spending time with my Momma and Papa. Momma and I scooted out and, of course, did a little shopping while all the boys bonded.

Saturday was the big game and well, we all know how it ended. Watching the Iron Bowl with the biggest Alabama fan I know, my Daddy, is one of my favorite traditions of the Fall. I couldn't picture a more perfect day with all the people I love. Having all the cousins together for the first time was really fun!

I can't wait until F&A are a little older and they can all say "ROLL TIDE!"

Apparently Johnson kids never wear shoes! Melt my heart all these babies together.

Mountain Weekend (Blue Ridge, Ga.)

This past weekend Mark turned ninety, so to celebrate we went for an early bird special dinner. Just kidding! Though, Saturday was actually his birthday and me being the traveler and reveler I am, decided we needed to have a little getaway for his birthday! 

After doing a little digging around, I settled on Blue Ridge, Ga. for a little two day, one night adventure. Before I get too into the details I should explain a few things. One: Mark is a very avid fly fisherman. Like avid as in we have former record holding stuffed fish in our hallway. Two: I love to tool around in a bathing suit reading a book. Meaning, we have quickly realized that “going fishing” is a fun activity for us both.

I also enjoy all the little friends I make while fishing, like these gorgeous iridescent blue butterflies.

The drive was easy, about fourish hours each way. On the way up Friday night we stopped off in Atlanta and hung out with my parents for dinner and spent the night in the same bed under my parents’ roof, which was really weird for me. Saturday we continued on, enjoying the drive.

Apparently, and I say apparently because I have absolutely no clue about fly fishing, fish or rivers, the Toccoa River in Blue Ridge is one of the best places to trout fish in the South. Mark had a blast. We fished in a few different areas over the two days and he was able to catch quite a few. He even got some new flies at the fly fishing store. And of course there were a few fishing related wrapped gifts from home. I'm such a sucker for a theme. 

We stayed at an in-town B&B, which was perfect for us. We were able to walk to dinner Saturday night at a fabulous outdoor restaurant, enjoy some good food and good music. It was a really relaxed and fun birthday.

 Sunday we woke up to the best muffins ever and fished some more before a quick walk around town and lunch. Sadly, after we ate we were on our way home. It wasn’t nearly a long enough weekend. Blue Ridge definitely had a lot to offer, if you like being outside. The water was a little too cold for my tastes, but lots of folks enjoyed tubing down.

 

The shops in town had some very cute pieces, and we came VERYCLOSE to buying a new side table for our bedroom, but in the end decided against it. Side note: one of my biggest pet peeves is all these new “restorers” and “furniture savers.” I too can go to a yard sale, buy a table, some chalk paint and sandpaper. Doesn’t make your table worth $70 or vintage. 

For the price, distance and enjoyment we had, I see lots of quick trips to Blue Ridge in our future. Plus, you really can’t beat this view.

No Green Beer This Year

St. Patrick's Day (or St. Practice Day for the revelers that celebrated Saturday) for most people involved green beer (more green beer) and crappy food and things I pretty much earmark as an average day in the life of college me. 

I worked out at 9am on Saturday. I wore a green bikini to the pool Saturday afternoon. I GOT ABSOLUTELY TORCHED IN SAID GREEN BIKINI. It still hurts and I'm still cranky. I darkened my hair using my new favorite thing in the world, eSalon, before I went on a theatre and dinner date.

On the actual Feast of Saint Patrick, I did a little party for the baby Catholics. I spent a good bit of time last week trolling the interwebs, mainly Google; Pinterest has been overwhelming me in a bad way lately, for activities and crafts that would help convey WHO St. Patrick was and WHAT St. Patrick's Day really means to us Catholics. (Hint, leprechauns have nothing to do with it.)

Anyway, we did a word search as warm up and enjoyed donuts before praying the Breastplate of St. Patrick! The word search was okay; honestly, I will probably make my own next year.

Then we learned some quick "life and times of Patrick" while filling out this mini book. I loved this activity because my classroom has a SmartBoard and we were able to fill in the worksheets right on the screen. It was great.

Our final activity, which clearly highlights that I am infreakingsane, was creating spoon saints. I got the idea from Catholic Icing, my new favorite place in the world, who got it from Cottage Blessings.

The kids did great! I was able to get all the supplies for all 23 of my kidlets for about $15 using a coupon at Michael's. I got the 12X12 pieces of green and yellow paper, then using my paper trimmer cut them into four separate pieces to pass out for the vestments.

The glitter was an absolute F'ing disaster, but it made them happy and y'know whatever. (I'm pretty sure I still have gold glitter in my ear.) 

But in the end everyone was proud of what they made. I'm still kicking myself for not getting a close up of an actual spoon saint, but you live and learn right? There's anyways next year, because this is one craft I will be doing again. 

Friday Favorites

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 My dear sweet friend Caitlin, who is amazing and just all around a light in my life, does a series on her blog called “Friday Favorites.” (Which is where I got the image, I mean, let’s be serious I am nowhere near that illustrator inclined, but I digress.)

Our company had “Thankful Thursday” yesterday, and it made me realize how lucky I am to do what I do. I complain a lot about it, but at the end of the day, I am lucky to have the job that I do. Is it my favorite thing? No, but it’s work. And it is a work I enjoy, most of the time. Being in the thankful spirit has also made me realize how many things I consider my “favorite.” How many people I am lucky to call “favorites.” But I guess that is another post for another time.

Here’s what I have been favoriting this week:

My obsession with Maury Povitch grows with each day. Due to popular demand I have stopped live tweeting the episodes, but I think I just might bring that back. Life might be rough, but HEY!, at least you aren't 35 taking a DNA test to find out if your husband is really your brother/cousin/sister. God, I love Americans.

This past Saturday I was in Death Valley alongside my favorite Alabama fan, my father, to watch the Tide roll. I've been lucky enough to sit in the stands of some pretty incredible Alabama football games: Iron Bowl 2008, SEC 2009, National Championship 2012. This experience was like none other. Roll damn tide.

Decorating for Holidays is something my Momma passed down to me. I've started decorating my little bar area for each of the Holidays. By and large Thanksgiving is my least favorite of the choices, but I do think it came together quite nicely. I just need some apple pie moonshine to really complete the look...

The Beginning of Advent

Seems like everything in my life is busy. No other way to slice the bread on that one. JUST BUSY. I accepted my very first "big girl" job; I launched HCA (an e-zine I've been working on for months); I accepted an internship with a publishing house; I fell in love....see what I mean? BUSY. But Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year. In light of everything that has happened over the last few months, and honestly, the last year has been hellacious, I've decided to do something a little different this year. Over the next 25 days I will do one nice thing for someone. Then each day I will write about it. Reflect on how this little experiment helps me see the good in the world. Because that's what this time of year is about seeing the good in the world.

This is my list of 25 things:

1. Pay for someone behind me in the drive thru
2. Let someone out in traffic, even when it's not convenient
3. Call my Grandmother each week of the month
4. Send out Christmas cards to all my loved ones
5. Mail packages for the loved ones I won't see this Holiday
6. Smile, at everyone
7. Keep the door open for someone coming in from the cold
8. Just be there for someone who needs me
9. Randomly watch my niece to give her Momma a break, as a surprise
10. Tip excellent service 25%
11. Give blood
12. Write thank you notes for my teachers this semester that have really taught me something
13. Let someone else go first
14. Pick up some litter
15. Make a new friend
16. Say the rosary each Sunday
17. Offer someone help
18. Help someone Christmas shopping
19. Offer someone a ride home
20. Try to be less judgmental
21. Do something nice for my mean neighbor Sarah Anne
22. Go an entire day without complaining
23. Bring something special for my Stepmother this year
24. Help Momma cook Christmas Eve dinner
25. Donate $5 to the Humane Society of West Alabama for everything that is not completed by Christmas day

Some are a little more ambiguous than others, but, for the most part, I know what I meant when I wrote them. Yesterday, I decided to start with going an entire day without complaining, which was very difficult. Not because I complain all the time, but because I have strep throat! I get whiney when I'm sick! (Who doesn't?!!?) It felt good to not be constantly reminding myself, and those around me how miserable I was. I'll consider this a job well done for Day 1. This Friday is still young, I cannot wait to see what opportunity for good I come across.