Our Latest Project

The last time we visited my grandmother's house, we loaded up quite a bit of furniture to bring home. One thing I took was an old Magnavox radio--my Dad couldn't understand why in the world I even wanted it. I just thought it was cool and knew we could find a use for it.

We decided to turn it into a little bar. Charles worked really hard on taking all the "guts" out and building and staining new shelves and backings for the piece. I think he did a great job!

Here's what it looked like after we brought it home and Charles started working his magic in our garage...

Not too bad on the outside...

A pic of the radio side.

The back-side of the piece--the "guts" of the radio.

The turn-table.

Now for some photos of the finished product...

It almost looks brand-new!

He installed a wine rack on one side.

And installed a rack to hold wine glasses on the other side.

Smaller glasses and bottles fit inside the top.

Overall, Charles did an amazing job on this and it looks so good in the dining room! I'm glad that we found a great way to re-purpose this and have it in the house.

See Dad? This is why I wanted it!

Construction, Preschool, Bowling & Football--You Gotta Love Fall!

I haven't posted in a while--I guess I've just been a little lazy. Charles and I re-painted the kitchen a couple of weeks ago and then, the very next weekend, ripped up the old flooring. We replaced the ugly floor with great wood laminate flooring that will be so easy to take care of. The entire kitchen looks almost new! I don't have any "before" or "after" pictures--it didn't even occur to me to take any! I now have a "red" kitchen too--new cookware, plates, dishtowels, canisters, etc. I love it!

Riley started back at preschool last Tuesday and already has a head-cold. Yuck! Welcome to the new school year! She has a new teacher this year and, so far, is enjoying her and getting along well with her classmates.

A proud Riley on her first day at school last week.

We went bowling this weekend at a new "Stars & Strikes" that opened near our house and I quickly realized that "real" bowling is not as easy as Wii bowling! I was absolutely terrible, Charles was pretty good and Riley couldn't even lift the ball! I much prefer bowling in my own living room--Riley agrees with me.

As for this weekend, all I can say is, "Thank God for football!" Finally, the season starts and I'm practically giddy! Remember, real women watch football.

To the Moon...and Back

We just got back from a trip to Huntsville, AL--we had no plans to go anywhere as of Friday morning, but Charles came home with this crazy idea to just up and drive to the Space Museum there. We left at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, got to Huntsville around 7:00 p.m. (thankfully we gained an hour with the changing time zone) and we checked in to our hotel not far from the museum.

We had a wonderful supper at Landry's Seafood House--the salad we got before the main course was amazing, so simple, but so good. Charles had an incredible seafood platter and he was in heaven. We finished off the meal with Bananas Foster and Riley chose cheese cake. We were surprised as she'd never even tried cheese cake before. We soon found out that she only ordered it because when she saw it on the dessert tray it had whipped cream and strawberries. Guess what? She just wanted the whipped cream and strawberries--typical Riley.

Today, Saturday, we got up, got dressed and headed downstairs for our complimentary breakfast--we ate like kings! Riley had a huge plate of pancakes and strawberries and Charles and I enjoyed scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, coffee, biscuits and gravy and so much more.

We were at the museum not long after it opened and we spent much of the day touring the grounds and soaking up all the cool things on display there. This is also ground zero for Space Camp--one of the coolest places ever. I always wanted to go as a kid, but never got the chance to. In college, I was actually offered a job there one summer (in 1995 or 1996, I can't remember), but I turned it down when I realized my not being able to swim might be a big issue during camp. I so wish I would have just taken some swimming lessons and accepted the job--it would have been a blast!

I think Charles and I took close to 100 pictures today...don't worry, I've only posted a select few. Enjoy!

The Saturn V rocket it all it's glory.

Stage 1 of the rocket assembly.

These boosters were huge!!

Suit with a model of the lunar rover.

The last stage of the rocket--the capsule.

Riley & Charles inside a model of the space station.

A small portion of a 4.2 pound moon rock
returned to Earth from one of the lunar missions.

The actual lunar rover--so cool!

Riley in front of a lunar lander display.

Riley was fascinated with all the space suits on display.

This one ring holds the entire "brain" of the rocket.

Charles & Riley in front of some military unmanned vehicles.

The shuttle simulator used during Space Camp. To the
left we saw kids in "mission control" watching
other kids inside the "shuttle" on CCTV during the mission.

Riley got to ride a smaller version of the Moon Shot ride.

She absolutely loved it!

Riley "riding" the shuttle.

The Pathfinder shuttle.

We picked up some nifty items in the gift shop. Funny story: We were all browsing through the gift shop and Riley poked her head in a separate room to check it out. Charles asked her what was in there and she replied, "Oh, just some more space novelties." No lie--those were her exact words. Where does she come up with this stuff?

Our Little Cowgirl

Not too much to report, but I have tons of photos from this past weekend. We traveled up to Tennessee to visit and to bring some furniture back from Alma's house. We worked all day Saturday loading a U-Haul to drive back to Atlanta.

We had a great trip--especially Riley. She got to saddle up at Papa Burn's house and loved every minute of it!

Papa Burn (my dad) helps Riley saddle up.

I just love this picture--she's so happy!

She was a natural!

Here's the total cowgirl pose.

Riley poses with Papa Burn.

She was really hamming it up!

Cactus Jack (the donkey) and his best girl.

My absolute favorite photo of Riley!

For a while now, a group of donkeys have been living in the field directly across from my grandmother Alma's house. We often walk across the road to check them out, give them a bit of attention and feed them some treats.

A few of the donkey's in the field
across from Alma's house...

Riley loves to go and feed them treats.

They love to eat them!
(Pretty aggressive about it, actually.)

This red donkey was my favorite--such
a great personality and so pretty!

This little Jack is only two weeks old!

Riley was so proud of her new Crocs and all

the Jibbitz she has collected. She just had to show them off.

Riley also got to play with a new
friend--Shawn (Dennis' grandson.)

Now for just a few random shots from the weekend--Charles did a great job taking pictures with the new digital SLR camera:

The view from my parent's front yard.

The view from the back yard.

Mom's garden (looking through the gazebo).

Another view from the gazebo.

Doug's newest cabin--it even has an "upstairs!"

View from the cabin's window.

I Want That!

For the past several months (way too many for me to count), we've noticed that Riley, while watching cartoons and such on TV, will randomly shout out, "I want that!" or "I want to go there!" It can be extremely annoying--especially while I'm trying to work. Picture it: It's super quiet and I'm upstairs editing news stories and posting them online or, worse, I'm on a conference call with six people from all over the country and all of a sudden, a mighty shout rises up the hallway..."I WANT THAT!"

Lately, this phenomenon has been occurring during practically every commercial break--there's always some new and exciting toy or food product that she must have. I know, you're thinking, "Just turn off the TV." I would, but she's addicted and her watching Chowder or Johnny Test allows me the time to get some work done. (Judge me all you want--no one has accused me of being the perfect mother.)

Anyway, we've been asking her to try and refrain from making such loud exclamations all day, every day, but she continues this bizarre ritual. Charles gave me the reason after dinner this evening: He says he talked to her about this and asked her why she keeps yelling out, "I want that!" every time she sees something interesting on TV. Her answer was priceless...

Riley said, "I have to yell out like that, Daddy. If I don't, how will Santa know what I want for Christmas?"

Her logic makes perfect sense. I will no longer complain!