E

Even Cooler - Today I went to Publix. No Carrie Underwood. BUT, I did see Steven Curtis Chapman. I'm on a roll!

Everything But The... - My favorite ice cream from Ben and Jerry's. Chocolate, Vanilla, and all sorts of chunky stuff.

Elizabeth - My middle name.

"Either the situation needs to change, or your heart needs to change" - this has been echoing in my heart the past 2 years. Obviously our situation isn't changing, so I have had to work through a lot of heart changing!

etsy.com - a great place to shop!

F

Free Spirit - Sometimes I wish I could me more like this.

Family - The more I am away from them, the more I realize how much I need them.

Friends - A show that I can watch and always laugh out loud.

Fashion - I need some help here. Any takers?

G

Grimace - In second grade I wore a purple jogging suit to school. All the kids called me Grimace. I never wore it again...

Green - Our family is definitely sold out to going green. We can only do so much to our home because we are renting. We have adjusted our thermostat, changed out all of our light bulbs, are making adjustments to how much we drive, and hope one day to be able to drive a hyrbid. It has become a big deal for us. So much so that hubby is trying to figure out how to incorporate it into his career. If you and your family have not made any steps towards helping our environment, I strongly encourage you to do so. Here are some sites that will tell you how.
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/3915
http://www.lowimpactliving.com/?gclid=CO6Wxoanj44CFRIygQodcEy5Og

D

Down Right Cool - At least I think so. I met this girl at the mall today. Well, sort of. She was mainly intrigued by my little ones who were being quite friendly. After she walked away I was racking my brain as to where I had seen her before. Turns out, I had seen her on TV on a live acoustic show. She is in a band called Paramore. They are labled as a funk band, so not quite my cup of tea. She's got a great voice, though. I'm still waiting to run into Carrie Underwood at Publix. We'll see!
Dr. Pepper - Other than water, it's my drink of choice.

B

Bailey - The name of one of our cats. She is the one who loves to snuggle and greets me every morning with a purr.

Berita - This is the name my roommate in college and I would use when we prank called. We were quite mature for our age!
Big Hair Bands - Dare I say that I loved them all in high school - Cinderella, Mr. Big, Motley Crue, Skid Row, White Lion, Great White...

Becoming - I find great hope in this word. There is hope for me, as I am becoming more like Him every day.
Banjo - an instrument I would love to learn to play one day.

C

Coffee - I have my cup every morning. Not sure if I could ever give that up.

Cable TV - We finally got Cable TV after 6 years of marraige. Most days we wish we didn't have it. For us, it brings too much distraction.

Cats - If anything were to happen to Mitch, I would be that weird old lady with 20 cats. I love animals.

Carpet Head - this is what my sister called me when I was in elementary school. I fell victim to WAY too many perms. I'll show you a picture some time. Not pretty.

Country Music - I have grown to love this more and more as we have been in Nashville.

Chocolate - I couldn't have an encyclopedia of me and not mention chocolate. Yum! It's my favorite treat.

So, I have had a bit of writers block lately and have not posted in over a week. I thought I could maybe do "Menu Plan Monday," but since we are having eggs TWICE this week I figured that may be a bit boring. I was also hoping to post this great video of Jake laughing at Neily. He has the best laugh I've ever heard. But, my computer wouldn't let me download for some reason, so there went that idea! Finally, I came across a blog and got the idea for this post...

The Encyclopedia of Me.

A -

Autumn - By far my favorite season

Apples - Along with peanut butter or some really sharp cheese, they are my favorite snack

Audrey - The name of my imaginary friend when I was little

Asheville - Where hubby and I are headed for our anniversary in October. I can't wait!

Agitated - Some days I am so quick to be this way towards my kids. I need to work on that.

We had a fun weekend with my parents. They bought N this cute little tent in honor of her successful potty training. Hmmm. I'm still waiting for my present for successful potty training...

One of J's favorite past times is smashing his face against the sliding glass door. It's not the best picture, but I thought I would still share this photo capturing him in all his lovliness.

Granddaddy and Gigi are coming in town this weekend and we are excited to see them. For this round of company, I am making Crumb Top Apple Pie. It is my favorite apple pie of all time and you must try it before summer is over. It is definitely a crowd pleaser.

2 c. all purpose flour
2/3 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup uncooked regular oats
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c chopped pecans
3/4 c butter, melted
4 cups peeled, thinly sliced apples (approx. 3) I use golden delicious
1/3 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 c water
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine first 5 ingredients; add butter and stir until blended. Measure 1 cup firmly packed mixture; set aside for pie topping. Press remaining mixture in bottom and up sides of a well-greased 9 inch pie plate. Arrange apple sliced in pie plate; set aside.

Combine 1/3 cup sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a small saucepan; stir in water. Bring to a boil over medium heat; stir in vanilla. Pour hot mixture over apples; Crumble reserved topping over pie.

Bake at 350 for 42 minutes, covering with aluminum foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent excessive browning (if necessary). Serve with ice cream. Yield: 8 servings.

We had a great visit with some good friends this weekend. Our friends Kenneth and Kathleen, along with their little boy Jay, came to Franklin to hang out with us. We had some good laughs, great conversation, and watched our little ones enjoy each others company. I made this yummy dessert by Paula Deen. It's a bit rich, but good and quite easy to make. Here is a pic of Jake enjoying his. And here's a pic of Kenneth hanging out with the kiddos.

Well, we have survived the hardest part of potty training and all is still well with the Stephens. N has done well overall and now it's time to put that training into practice as we go about our normal routine. I figure it's best just to expect accidents and plan for them rather than be fearful of them. Thanks to all for your encouragement and prayers during those days where I had to search the depths of my soul to find a little more patience. No longer having 2 kids in diapers is pretty great, especially for the wallet.

Another change we are going through is J is dropping his morning nap. This is a pretty big deal for me since I have not had a "free" morning since N was born. She didn't drop her morning nap until J was 3 months old and by that time he was set in his 9am nap schedule. So we are embarking on new territory yet again. What's a girl to do?

Here are a couple of pictures from last week when my sister Jen and her little girl Elizabeth came to visit. The girls had a great time and spent most of the time giggling. It was fun to see them interact and actually play together (not just beside each other). We went to a place called Jump Zone and had a blast with Daddy/Uncle Mitch.