NEED YOUR HELP

We have a tree in our yard that is producing tons of these little things. We cracked it open and it had what looked like lima beans inside...about 3 of them. We have no clue what these are and neither does our neighbor. Any ideas?

HISTORY LESSON

I recently watched a documentary about Americans’ Martin and Gracia Burnham. They were captured by an Islamic rebel group in the Philippines, while celebrating their anniversary. They, along with others, were held hostage for over a year. Sadly, Martin was killed on the day they were to be rescued.

During the documentary, Gracia spoke of one day when Martin was forced, by the Islamic group, to sing our National Anthem. They heard, by radio, of the events that happened in America on 9/11 and the Islamic group was mocking us. Gracia said Martin’s heart ached for America, and with tears streaming down his face, he sang The Star Spangled Banner with all his heart. Gracia said that even in his current situation, his thoughts were with his home and the tragedy that occurred here. He stood up and got through the song while their capturers laughed and mocked him the entire time. That, folks, is what you call a hero.

Now, fast forward to this past weekend…Will and I were watching the Olympics as Phelps won a gold medal to add to his collection. Our president was in the audience watching the event and we felt proud when our National Anthem was played right there in China. But, we were shocked when someone cut it off before the final words were played out. We are sure that was not an intentional move.

As we sat there, we started talking about teaching Willis the words to the National Anthem. We both started singing it to him and both realized that during certain parts we were sort of singing without forming words and then singing the words we knew really loud. I was pretty embarrassed that we didn’t know each and every word.

I immediately looked up the words and we sat there singing that song over and over until we had the words down. Yes, it sounded like of one those American Idol auditions that they use to show how badly people sing, but we didn’t care. And, guess what? Willis now sings, “Oh, say can you seeeeeeeee….” He hasn’t gotten any further, because I think he just loves to say “seeeeee” and then start over.

My point about this blog is that every American should know the words to our National Anthem. I challenge you now to try singing the song. Yes, right now. Go ahead….I’m waiting.

Did you know all the words? If so, that is great! If not, you might feel a little embarrassed like Will and I did. Actually, we felt a LOT embarrassed. We talk about our soldiers a lot and all that America has faced to date. We should have known those words, but when you don’t sing it every day, you forget. We did. We know them now though, and we are proud of it too!

I would like to print the words for you here. By the way, if you don’t know what the word rampart means…we didn’t…here is the definition—A type of defensive wall consisting of a low earthen embankment topped by a parapet or palisade.

Now, stand up, put your hand over your heart and sing LOUD…I want to hear you right here in South Carolina. And the next time you are at an event where this is played, I want you to sing each and every word as loud and proud as you possibly can!

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Also, check out this link—if it doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, then I don’t know what will---

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSiRUSjSJnQ

CLEMSON DAM

Our attempt to find a bike trail night before last didn't pan out. We were told the general vicinity of the trail, however, we never found it. We ended up on a 5 mile long dirt road with no end in site. We just kept driving and driving in an attempt to find an end. After driving for what seemed like an eternity, we came up on a dam. There were beautiful views out there. We walked around and saw the sights and then headed back home. Of note though--even though we were in a very beautiful, peaceful place, it was partially ruined by a drunk fisherman who decided to pee...a river...right in front of us. We both decided that was one tough bike workout...getting the bikes in the Jeep at home and then not taking them out, that is. Will had to work last night, so maybe we will try again tonight. Wish us luck!

ARMSTRONG WANNABES

Yesterday, Will and I set out to buy mountain bikes. We went to a professional cycle shop first, where we were given loads of information about what size bikes we needed, maintenance, cost, etc. The cheapest bike they had for us was $350. That was more than we wanted to invest for a first bike. Our goal was to buy some cheaper bikes, test out the trails, and make sure we were really going to stick to this.

So, we headed over to Wal-Mart. They didn’t have any bikes for our height. We went to Target next and found two in our size. Because I am only 5’4”, my bike literally looks like a kid one. It is so little and reminds me of a smaller version of what Pee-Wee Herman would ride. It is a pink Schwinn. It was $169, which is also more than we wanted to pay, but Will’s bike was on sale for $84 so we felt like we got a good deal.

Will got a mirror to go on his so he can keep track of me while we ride, which I think is pretty funny. We got out and tested them in our subdivision last night. I had great difficulty with the gear thing. I don’t want to have to change gears! But, when you go up hills, it is a must. I am going to have to get Will to give me another lesson before we go out again. We are planning to try some simple trails this evening that the bike shop told us about and see how we do. It should be very interesting.

THE GIRLS

This past Saturday, Will and I met my sister and her husband—Kelli and Chris—halfway between their house in Florida and ours in South Carolina to pick up their girls. My oldest niece (Kaitlyn) is 7, the middle one (Hannah) is 5, and my namesake (Emily Lorraine) is one. We started the tradition of getting the girls when Kaitlyn was about one. We can hardly believe that she is now 7!

We met up with them around 11:30 on Saturday. We were very excited to see the girls. All 3 of them are beautiful and sweet. We loaded them up in the car and told them to wave bye to their Mama and Daddy. This part always tears me up a little, because I can only imagine how Kelli must feel to see her whole world ride off in our car with us. I realize that she needs a break from the kids, but I also fully understand how hard it must be for her to watch her heart and soul drive away.

The girls were excited to be coming to SC. Emily almost immediately started dancing to the radio. She is so laid back—a lot like Kelli. We stopped at McDonald’s about an hour down the road and took time to catch up with them over lunch. These kids are so well behaved. They always sit and eat their food like little angels. Even Emily was happy as she could be sitting in her high chair eating her baby food. I let her drink from my straw and that was just the funniest thing in the world to her.

Once we left McDonald’s, we started hearing the big question, “Are we almost there yet?” They were so excited once we finally pulled up in the driveway. Hannah was very anxious to see Bailey—our two year old miniature dachshund. She loves that dog and I always tell her that she is part owner of him. We share him with her, like Kelli shares them with Will and me. We walked in the door and when Bailey saw those kids, he went ballistic. Then…he started spontaneously peeing!

Will ran and grabbed him and the whole time he was trying to carry him out the door Bailey was squirming trying to welcome the kids….and peeing! That was a really fun way to start their arrival since it had to be cleaned up before we could unpack or let Emily do some much needed running around.

The day passed quickly and it was time for dinner. I cooked what kids consider fine cuisine—chicken nuggets and french fries. Come to think of it, I also consider this meal fine cuisine!

Around 7:45pm, Kaitlyn informed me that she wanted to watch a Hannah Montana concert that was coming on at 8. It hit me then how fast she is growing up! She is such a little lady now. While she watched it, Hannah and Emily ran around with Bailey.

It was time for bed and we made a pallet in the living room for Kaitlyn and Hannah. We set up Emily’s playpen at the foot of our bed and started getting ready for bed. I was a little nervous since this was my first night with Emily. I heated a bottle for her and rocked her. She eventually fell out and I put her in her playpen, where she slept like a little angel….until 1:00am.

I am normally a heavy sleeper, but when the girls are here, I pop awake at the slightest noise. At 1:00am, I heard a little tiny “eh”. It wasn’t even a cry, but I was on my feet standing over her playpen. That silly little girl looked up at me and started laughing! She is so sweet, especially when she is sleepy. She wants to play. I picked her up and put her in the bed with me and Will…because I am allowed to spoil her and then give her back to Kelli. She fell back to sleep immediately…until 3:30am.

She let out a little whine and I was on my feet again. I heated a bottle for her and let her drink it in our bed. She fell asleep and I put her back in the playpen. She slept soundly…until 6:00am. She made a noise, I bolted to her playpen, she laughed, and I put her in the bed with us. That little stinker knows how to play the game. She slept until 9:00am and we got up to wake Kaitlyn and Hannah up.

We fed all 3 of them breakfast and then I gave Emily a bath in the kitchen sink. She loves to take a bath and she had a good ‘ol time splashing around in the water. I dressed her and she went off to play.

Then…we had an issue. Emily started making all kinds of faces and noises. She looked uncomfortable and I wondered if she had a belly ache. Then I figured she must have just messed her diaper up so I started to change her.

It was at this point that I noticed…something…sticking out. The poor little girl was constipated and was having a bit of an impaction issue. I already had her diaper off and I was trying to help her. She turned over on her stomach and an unidentified flying object shot up like a bird and landed with a thud on the bed. Will was standing beside me and he was flabbergasted. I was very excited that she was able to rectify…no pun intended…things on her own. We had a pretty good laugh about it after it was all over. (I am writing this in the hopes that I can show it to Emily’s boyfriend when she becomes a teenager.)

The temperature has been really hot here so we spent the majority of the day playing inside. While Emily took a nap, the older girls helped me make brownies. I let them do everything and they took turns doing the steps…adding the oil, the eggs, the mix. They were really excited to be able to crack an egg. They both tentatively tapped it on the bowl and then cracked it with their hands. I laughed and dug egg shells out and we continued on. By the way, the brownies turned out really good. We all enjoyed them.

After dinner, we decided to take them to a nearby playground. They had a blast. Emily just walked around, in her laid back way, like she is an adult. She enjoyed playing and watching her sisters.

After that, we took them to an empty baseball field and let them run the bases. Hannah insisted on running from home to the pitchers mound to second to third and back to home. She is defiant that way. Will ran with them and they all had fun.

Before we knew it, it was time for bed again. Same routine as the night before, but this time Emily did not wake up until 4am. I didn’t know what to think about that. I got up every hour and put my face within an inch of hers so I could hear her breathe! I know it was irrational, but I was worried. I fed her a bottle at 4 and she slept until 9 again.

Now, this morning was going to different because Uncle Will had to go to work. Will was a big help with the girls because he loves to laugh and play. He rocked Emily, did imitations for all of them, danced with them, and just had fun getting to be a big kid. Emily clearly loves him and he was there to play with her and watch her while I did things like cook or clean the kitchen. If I needed him to get a bottle from the kitchen downstairs in the middle of the night, he did it. He helped a lot, but don’t tell him I said that or he might get a big head.

I knew it would be a bit more difficult without him here. Our house is obviously not baby proofed and Emily must be in eye’s view at all times. So…the first thing she decided to do was make a big poop mess. It was all over her, which I was used to from dealing with the other girls. That is one of the things all babies on the planet do best…poop. But, we did run into a bit of an issue.

I put her diaper in the trash and began bathing her. The older girls were running around playing when I heard this from Hannah, “Aunt Cindy, I have stinky on my foot.” Apparently some of the poop fell out of the diaper on the way to the trash and Hannah stepped in it. At this point, Bailey decided he was going to come taste some of the “stinky” off of Hannah’s foot. Emily was still in the water so I couldn’t help Hannah. I asked Kaitlyn to get her a baby wipe and she was able to clean herself up. Phew!

Will came home for lunch and then went into his office here at home to write. Emily fell asleep so I decided to leave her with Will and take Kaitlyn and Hannah to the library. Kaitlyn is a very good reader and was excited to be able to pick out a lot of books. I believe she said she wanted to get 11. It was fun to watch them run around grabbing books that they didn’t even know the title of.

When we got home, Emily was in the same position as she was when we left. She slept another 30 minutes and then was wide open again. She had a lot of fun trying to get her sisters books and tear them up.

Once Will was done working for the night, we decided that we would take the girls to Chick-fil-A and then let them play on the playground. They ate their food quickly so they could get to the playground fast and then groaned when they realized that Uncle Will and Aunt Cindy are extremely slow eaters.

We finally made it to the playground and they played hard. When we first got in there, a little 9 year old girl informed Will that he did not have his shoes off and you are supposed to have your shoes off to play in there. Will assured her that he wasn’t going to get on the slides or other equipment and she was fine with that.

There was also a little girl in there that was 17 months old, but much smaller than Emily. Her mother told me that she is just extremely small boned and petite. She came over to where Emily and I were playing with the toddler stuff and the first thing Emily did was stick her finger in the little girl’s eye. She didn’t cry, but she ran off to her mother and didn’t come back for a while.

After we left, the older girls told me that the 9 year old pulled Hannah’s hair at some point. I told them that was ok, because Emily poked that girl’s sister’s eye out, so we were all even.

We made it to bed again and Emily decided to do a repeat of the first night. She was up quite a bit. She doesn’t really cry though, which is what is funny about it. She gets up laughing and tries to play. She is so sweet! By the next morning though, I could feel the fatigue from the previous nights of no sleeping.

As I began another morning of bathing Emily and preparing breakfast for the 3 of them on my own, I seriously began to wonder where my sister hides her superhero powers. Kelli is not a complainer. She doesn’t complain about being tired, she doesn’t complain about being sick, she doesn’t complain about caring for the girls on her own while Chris works.

On the morning that she was to deliver Emily, Will and I stayed with the girls because Kelli had to be at the hospital at 4 or 5 in the morning. We were sleeping on an air mattress in their living room and I vividly remember Kelli stepping over us carrying her own luggage bag and a car seat. It was like, “Excuse me, I’m going to have a baby now. I’m taking my stuff to the car. See ya later.” She is laid back that way. Our mother isn’t a complainer either and I thought about all she must have gone through caring for Adam and Kelli, who are very close in age, and a lot younger than me, while Daddy had to work. She didn’t go through anything caring for me, because I was the best child ever. Ha!

Back to the visit…the girls and I played all day. We took them all to Pizza Hut for dinner. Hannah was pretty funny there. She loves salad so she got a bowl of that. She also wanted a bowl of cottage cheese, a piece of pizza, and breadsticks with sauce, so she ended up with 4 plates in front of her. Emily helped me eat pasta and drank water from my straw.

By bedtime, Will and I were beyond tired. We were somewhat like zombies. We put all of the girls in the bed and I started packing their stuff up. It was at this point that I realized they were going home the next day and I started the bawling. I must have cried for an hour as I gathered all of their things. I fell into bed. Emily decided to give it to us one more time before she left and got up several times.

Morning came and we were dead on our feet. I made coffee and drank it with my eyes closed before we woke the kids. I cried on the way, but I was also ready for some rest. There are huge benefits to being able to give kids back once you get tired! I know that I will get them again next year and I am already excited about it!

AMONG THE RICH

Will and I left this past Saturday to head to Greensboro, GA. Will was there covering ACC Media Days. They hold the conference at a different location every year. This year it was at the Reynold’s Plantation, Ritz-Carlton. Wow! It was very, very nice.

We were met at the door by men wearing knickers and knee socks who quickly got our luggage out of the car and herded us into the lobby. Will just loved their outfits. I may have to get him one.

It was really spectacular there. The service was out of this world. Every single employee spoke to us. And, they tried very hard to say our name, which ended up sounding like, “Vandervet”…but, they did try which I thought was great.

Once we got to our room, which looked like something out of a magazine, we decided to tour the grounds. On the property is Lake Oconee which is very nice and they also have an infinity pool. It looks as if it has no edge and appears to run right into the lake. I just thought it was the neatest thing.

After we toured, we decided to get dinner. We ended up at a restaurant on the property called Georgia’s. We paid for this meal ourselves, and it was overpriced for us, but we figured we may as well experience it.

When we sat down, there were white linen napkins in front of us. I went to put mine in my lap and the hostess quickly took it from me and put a navy napkin in my lap that she pulled out of the air. That blew my little mind.

As soon as she left, I asked Will why in the world I got a special napkin. He didn’t know, of course. So then I became nervous wondering if I was supposed to do something with this thing that I didn’t know about. After much thought, I finally determined that they replaced the white napkin with the dark one because I had on a brown dress and they didn’t want the white one to shed on me. That is the only theory I can come up with. If anyone else has any other ideas, let me know.

Once we got the menu, we realized that we didn’t know what half the stuff was on there. We told our server that we were “country come to town” and didn’t really know what to order. She was very nice and patient and explained everything to us. I ended up with filet mignon, squash, and very classy now…french fries! Will got duck and mashed potatoes.

I need to back up and tell y’all about the server assistant first. Before the main server came, a young Asian lady with a heavy accent informed us that she was our server assistant and asked if we wanted to start with sparkling water, distilled water, or tap water. Will, who is literally half deaf, yelled out, “I don’t like water! Don’t you have coke?” I told the poor lady that tap water would be fine.

I enjoyed my food greatly, but Will did not. The duck was too tough to eat and he wasn’t in the mood to complain. We looked at a dessert menu, but passed. I guess they felt sorry for us so they brought us two little truffles—one milk chocolate and one white chocolate. They were good.

That night we attended a hospitality event held by the ACC. There were a lot of “to-do’s” there and I stood by listening to Will talk about football. At one point, he was talking to one of the bowl president’s and I had no clue what they were talking about, so I was kind of out of it. When it was time to move on, I tried to shake the guy’s hand and tell him it was nice meeting him, but we somehow missed hands and did an air shake instead. It was pretty funny…and very awkward!

We mingled about some more and that’s when I noticed something….Will had a worm on his shirt….a WORM! I do not know how long it had been sitting there, but when I tried to get it off, it started doing that inch thing that worms do and it was doing ninety to nothing toward his collar. Of course, I found it funny, and couldn’t stop laughing. We eventually got it off and decided to head back to the room.

On our way, we noticed a jazz band playing in the lobby. They had a lady singing and she was pretty good. We decided to sit and listen a while and watch the people go by. A large crowd of….um….yuppies walked by. They had that special tone to their voice that some rich people use, the men had their collars up like they were Elvis and they just had an arrogance about them. People that think they are better than those around them are a pet peeve of mine. Well, I noticed that one of them had a very large nose, but I didn’t say anything at the time. They didn’t stay long and we didn’t think anything else of them.

Well, about 20 minutes later, the entire group came back by, but one was missing. So, I leaned over to Will and said, “I wonder where big nose is.” Again, Will can’t hear and the music was loud, so he yelled out, “Big nose?!” Right then, I promise you, Big Nose himself walked right by us and I yelled back, “There he is!” The guy was oblivious to our conversation, thank goodness. It was funny. You had to be there.

Once we got back to our room, we decided to sit out on our patio. In front of the patio was a little patch of ivy or some kind of plant. In order to get off the patio, the ivy had to be jumped. At one point, I wanted to see a building that was several hundred feet away so I vaulted on over. When Will saw this, he said very seriously, “That is just great Cindy. Getting in those bushes. Now you are going to have bed bugs.” I’m not sure if he was trying to say red bugs or what, but it was truly funny.

We finally turned in. One of the things I love most about fancy hotels is turn down service. I just think it is the cutest thing for your bed covers to be pulled back for you. They also left chocolate, a flower, and a bottle of water every night. I asked Will when we got home when he was going to do our turn down service. He said he’d get right on that.

The next couple of days went by quickly as Will stayed very busy with work. I mostly hung out by the pool. It was a hard life. The only thing I didn’t get to do was swim in that lake. I really wanted to.

Overall, we had a great time. If you are ever in Greensboro, I highly recommend this place. Hopefully, Will and I can visit the resort again during their off season…after we sell a kidney.

MONKEY MUNCH

Any Jon & Kate plus 8 fans out there? I wouldn't really call myself a fan, but I do watch it from time to time. On a recent episode, Kate made Monkey Munch. I couldn't stop thinking about that stuff so I found the recipe online, made it today, and took a picture of it for you. It makes a ton so I will give my neighbor half of it. When my little monkeys (aka my nieces) come to visit, I will let them make it, which I know they will love. Enjoy!

9 cup Chex
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Put cereal in large bowl.

Melt chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter in microwave.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. (Don't forget the vanilla like I did!)

Pour over Chex cereal, put into a large plastic bag (use a 2 gallon bag if you have one) with powdered sugar and shake well to coat.

Spread mixture evenly on wax paper and allow to cool.