spring break '08

nana and the girls stayed with us for a couple of days this week and they celebrated spring break in nashville. aside from lots of nana time for caleb, we managed to see some sights. on saturday, we went to the mall at green hills, drove around belle meade (hey, a girl can dream, right?!), and topped it off with dinner at calhoun's--incredible bbq!!! on monday, the girls and i headed to the ymca. i hit the eliptical for 45 minutes while they splashed around in the pool. i think i got the raw end of the deal on that one. we also went to cool springs for a little more shopping that afternoon. tuesday was our last day to hit the town. we went to the opryland hotel, opry mills for yet more shopping (this time, i actually made a few purchases), and the rainforest cafe for dinner. sadly, when wednesday came, nana and the girls had to leave. jack moped around the house all day and caleb was not pleased that i couldn't push him around on his lion as much as the girls did. nicki, michell, ashley, and misty, thanks for sharing your spring break with us!

easter...part one

easter at our house, or at least for caleb, began on friday and lasted through wednesday. his gran and grandad came with easter basket #1 on friday morning. he was really interested in chewing on the little people easter eggs. they had bunny ears that apparently tasted really good. later on that afternoon, nana and the girls arrived bringing easter basket #2. caleb was really excited to see them. on saturday, there was an church-wide easter egg hunt. we thought that caleb and misty would really enjoy it. however, we were 10 minutes late and all of the eggs were gone! no big deal for caleb (he just enjoyed walking around in the sunshine), but misty missed out. she was a trooper though, and managed to snag some candy anyway. unfortunately, easter basket #3 didn't officially get delivered as i was sick sunday morning. my stomach can certainly pick the worst time to act up...i didn't even make it to worship service that morning :( thanks to nana, easter lunch went off without a hitch. we didn't have coconut or carrot cake. instead, nana made banana pudding, yummy!!! i'm going to try to stage easter pics this weekend. hopefully, it will be warmer than the real easter and caleb and i won't freeze in our shorts!

random thoughts

with easter approaching, the agnew family has been on the hunt for easter outfits. caleb's has been set for weeks, but we did run into a slight problem today. he's wearing shorts, shirt, and sweater vest, so i bought some cute argyle knee socks to match. however, while trying on the outfit today (i would hate for something to not fit sunday morning), we discovered that his shorts come past his knees and meet the top of the socks! i laughed until i about cried (which made caleb laugh)...it was cute in a dorky way. despite the fact that it will only be about 50 degrees sunday, he's going to wear his new sandals. tom and i are having trouble finalizing our outfits. i think all tom needs is a lavendar (yes, lavendar) shirt...and i need a white blazer from gap. just last night, my darling husband reminded me that i really didn't need a blazer, especially one from the gap that costs $70...i hate it when he makes comments like that :P i'm having trouble finalizing our easter dinner menu. tom's mom will be bringing ham, sweet potato casserole (i love my husband, but i hate sweet potatoes and refuse to fix them), and deviled eggs for sure. and it's not an official holiday dinner without hashbrown casserole and broccoli salad in our house, so i'll definitely be making those. i was thinking green beans, my mom's "white corn stuff" (not to be confused with sweet corn casserole), and some sort of pineapple/curried fruit to accompany the ham. i cannot decide whether to make a coconut or carrot cake for dessert...any suggestions?!?

tom's a blogger, too

recently, tom has been invited to be apart of the blog, www.twoinstitutions.org. it was started by two gentlemen that tom and i had the priviledge of meeting at providence baptist church in raleigh, nc, mike hall and blake hickman. this website is chocked full of resources to help individuals support the family and the church, the two institutions ordained by God to produce spiritually mature men and women. check it out, i think that you will find it encouraging.

playdate

caleb and i had our first playdate this morning! i know, i know, good mommies would have organized playdates before now, but we've just been trying to keep our heads above water in a new city every year...ha! paula was kind enough to have 4 mommies and 4 boys (ages 9 months thru 20 months) in her home for lunch and a little playtime afterwards. the boys all seemed to have a good time...and i know that this mommy did, too. i've included some pics. the cast of characters includes, ethan (he's the oldest and showed everybody the ropes), caleb, baylor, and blaine(they're the incredibly cute twins).

sneaky food

i love to cook and recently, i have started expanding my repitoire. with my birthday money, i purchased a food processor and a cookbook entitled "The Sneaky Chef." the basic premise is to learn how to incorporate healthful foods into the foods kids love without them being able to detect a difference. because as adults and kids both know, mac and cheese sure tastes good, but has very little nutritional value. that is, until you add some pureed cauliflower to the cheese sauce. i've tried several recipes and have had good success. the tricky taco soup, breakfast cookies (the texture is more like a muffin top-yum!), and quick fixes for brownie mix are spot on. i'm going to have to tinker with the mac and cheese recipe though, i didn't find it gooey enough for my liking. i will still serve vegetables au naturale, however, if i can eat fruit in my brownies (and still have them taste like brownies), then make an extra batch b/c i want to be healthy :)

snow day!!!

friday night, we got about 3 inches of snow in nashville...and saturday morning, caleb got to go outside and "play." i use the term play loosely because when you're just learning to walk and have neither waterproof boots, nor gloves, there's not too much that you can do. despite his lack of proper attire, he seemed to really enjoy walking around. in case you were wondering, those are socks on his hands...and yes, they are navy to match his jacket. caleb will be sooooo embarassed one day :)