Soup and Smores Party 2010

A few years ago a dream was created from my love of parties and soup. I wanted to have a soup party in the fall where friends brought over their favorite pot of soup along with a batch of recipes to share. It would be a way to sample different kinds, get tons of new recipes and get to visit friends at the same time. My vision came true last night. The first annual Soup and Smores party came to fruition. With a big fire pit out back, it only made sense to add the smores. After all, what chases soup better than graham crackers with melted marshmallow and chocolate?

We had about 30 friends join us, half being kids between ages 1 year to 11 years of age. Tyler and Carson were in heaven. The kids played outside all night. Tag, swinging on the hammock, walking the trail- eating tons of smores...

The soups were incredible- the best part was the variety :Chicken Tortilla, Duck Cassoulet, Roasted Tomato Basil, Smokey Pumpkin, Butternut Squash with Sausage and Rice, 2-Alarm Vegetarian Chili, Ghoulish, and a big salad to boot. We had a topping bar from popcorn to smoked Gouda cheese and more beer and wine that you could count.

One of my favorite lines of the night was from Tyler, who had walked me down to the bottom of the driveway to see off some guests only to realize two of his friends were still on the porch when we walked back up. He spotted them and yelled, "Oh! the girls are still here!" Two seconds later- the picture below was taken.

One of my favorite nights in North Caroline so far- I love being surround by good food and friends.

Late September

Ella Turns One!!!

Today is Ella's first birthday, and after a whirlwind trip to Tennessee to celebrate with family- we are now back home. We all went to Carrabba's in Knoxville to party (consisting of lunch and cake) and were joined by my sister's family, my mom and grandmother and Tommy's mom and dad. Ella was surrounded by grandparents, siblings, her aunt, uncle and cousins- what more could a girl want?

We had pictures made the night before (will be posted soon) and it has officially hit, I have a one year old. A six teeth, cruising, clapping, waving, da-da/ma-ma/hi saying one year old. Happy birthday Ella- we love you and could not imagine our family without you!!!!!

First Day of Fall!

To help celebrate the first day of fall, Tyler's school has asked the kids to dress up like a scarecrow today. Other than adding a pair of brown sandals, this is how Tyler just left the house. I have a feeling my glue gun and I are going to become really close friends as theme days continue...

Carson's Sandbox

I am pretty sure the breaking point for Tommy was when Carson announced he was going outside to play in his sandbox and we said okay, only to remember that we did not have a sandbox. So we followed him outside to witnessed him trying to scrap a mound of sand together from this pile left over from where we had dumped out his sand and water table a few weeks before. Pitiful right? Then this weekend struck, as did a severe sinus infection for both of us. To add to the guilt- not only did C-Horse not have a sandbox, but he also did not get to hardly go outside and enjoy these gorgeous couple of days.

After days of rest and antibiotics, Tommy woke up without a pounding headache and grabbed Carson and took off for Lowes. A few cuts with the chainsaw and ten bags of sand later(and maybe one new dump truck) I present...Carson's sandbox!

Blue Ridge Parkway

Weekend With G-Ma

My mom drove over Thursday night and left a few hours ago- so basically, we had the best weekend imaginable. Friday morning Tyler's school invited a grandparent to come and eat lunch, so we all hauled it over to his cafeteria to join him for 30 minutes. Friday night we went to eat pizza, go out for ice cream and then hit a concert in the park and let the kids play on the playground. Saturday morning mom and I went on a short hike and got back just in time to watch it rain all day. The rain cleared up for a while and we went to some downtown shops and returned to watch some football (some is the operative word- power went out and we all turned in early). This morning we all went to Lake Junaluska for tons of walking and pictures and then out to lunch. Everyone was sad to see G-Ma go.