Ben Dye's cabin

We headed to Ben Dye's cabin this weekend for some floating, fishing, and camping. Vito had an awesome time with his cousins, Gator and Thunder. Actually, Vito followed Gator everywhere. He became quite the explorer in the woods. Thanks, Ben Dye and Tara Dye for letting all of us come hang out!

Vito exploring...

Thunder was finished.

Gator and Vito...

Brook packing up the tent.


Pics of Ben Dye's cabin...

The shower house...

Lost Privileges

Vito has now lost his roaming of the house privilege while we're gone. This has happened three times now...

Here are a few pics from our Branson & Silver Dollar City trip. Thanks, Jody, for the awesome breakfast sandwiches and granola balls!!!

Group pic before dinner (we're all giggling b/c of the camera timer)

Riding the roller coaster, Powder Keg. Bye-bye!

Look at the sign behind us!

The Bad One

This is why Oliver wants to put Little Bit on craigslist. Brook and I threaten Little Bit all the time about putting him on craigslist. We call him "The Bad One." Here is a list of bad things he does:

Bites our ankles & toes (This is understandable; he is a kitty after all), chews holes in our clothing (He especially loves Brook's socks), hollers at the top of his lungs in the middle of the night, gets underneath the bathroom cabinet and pulls woman products out of the box, knocks over the trashcan in the bathroom and pulls everything out of it, rips up the carpet in the bedroom, constantly taunts Vito (He will walk right by Vito and when Vito chases him, he hisses and gets mad. What the heck does he expect???), he talks back to us when we tell him no (yes, he really does), and he bites his sweet brother, Oliver. Anyone want a very bad kitty??? :o) Despite all of his badness, he does have a few sweet qualities about him. He's a great makeup assistant when he's not biting my brushes and knocking my mascara on the floor!!He will also roll on his back be really sweet. He knows I will talk to him when does this.

On an unrelated note, Brook and I left Vito alone in the house for 3 hours yesterday and he didn't destroy anything! Yay Vito!!!

A Place in Heaven

When I was a little girl, my mom would sing me a song about heaven before I went to bed. She said everything will be perfect there and we will always be happy. Whenever I'm struggling or feeling depressed, I think about how happy we will be when we get to heaven and we won't have to worry about anything anymore. Here's a bible verse that always gives me hope when I read it.

"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." John 14:1-3

I hope that I can live here when I get to heaven...

or here...

Obviously, God already has a place in mind for me, but I really do love Thomas Kinkade's paintings! It is probably the closest thing to heaven that my mind could ever imagine.

Birthday Cobbler

I have the best husband! Not only did he grill me an awesome bloody steak for dinner, but he also made me the Pioneer Woman's blackberry cobbler. It was absolutely, positively, DELICIOUS! I did NOT have seconds and get a stomach ache. :o) Thanks, babe!

Here he is in action...

Here's the finished product... I think it looks just like the Pioneer Woman's version!
And here's a pic of Vito sunning on the deck...

Mediocre Tapper and Cobbler

On my way home from dance class Tuesday night, I came to the conclusion that I will NEVER be a great tap dancer. I will always be mediocre. Maybe if I were to quit my job and practice tapping for 8 hours a day like the Olympians, I could be great. Even if I practice in my garage in my spare time, I'm probably not even doing the steps correctly, and that's okay. In my dreams, I'm an awesome tapper doing a solo show on Broadway!

On this same drive home, I was thinking about my dessert preferences. I decided that I love cobbler. Any kind, but I prefer peach or blackberry. This must be a southern thing, don't y'all think? :) I would prefer cobbler a la mode over cake any day.

Not that I don't like cake because I definitely do. The best cake I've ever had was the pumpkin spice cake at my wedding. If anyone is planning a wedding out there, Shelby Lynne's cake shop in Sprindale is awesome. They have other delicious flavors besides pumpkin spice.

On a final note, Real Estate law is horribly boring and not at all interesting. That's all I have to say about that.

Snow Day

Here are some pics from last weekend. Yes, we used a raft as a sled and it worked great! This was taken at Wilson Park in Fayetteville. The big hill was packed with kids. We had a lot of fun watching them. Vito loved the snow!

Vito was tired after all of the playing.

Brook and I decided we wanted some chili on Saturday. We made it in the crock pot. I found the recipe on goodchilirecipes.com. If anyone likes chili in the crockpot, here's the recipe...

2 (16) oz cans kidney beans, drained
2 (14) oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained

2 lbs lean ground beef, browned and drained
1 large onion
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
6 oz jar sliced jalapenos (with juice)
2 teaspoons Tabasco (I forgot to add this, but the chili still had a nice kick to it!)

Add all ingredients into a Crock-Pot and set on high for the first hour; then reduce heat to low and continue to cook for 5 hours.