NEW SITE!!!!!!!

This blog has officially moved to http://isthestoryof.blogspot.com/

This is my "first" blog (with all of two posts) and, to make a long story short, I have moved all my OurBiscuit posts to IsTheStoryOf due to some problems I was having updating my template for OurBiscuit and just decided to take the easy route and move everything to my old blog where I designed my new template.

So enjoy (and update your "favorites" :-) )!

Day 2

The Fitzulas came to play...yay!

Mack & little MJ "building a building"

Lilly surfer girl showing of her sweet moves!

Mack trying his hand at the boogey board...he might need some more practice :-)

Glorious!

Day 1 - Vacation...
one of the top ten greatest words in the English language.

When did he get so big? This morning, he completely selected his own clothes (jeans, his "Harry Potter Quidditch" shirt, his "cool guy" shoes, and his Durham Bulls baseball cap) and got them all on practically by himself (and then we took them off of him and made him take a shower...only after promising he could put his desired outfit back on right away). He packed his own toys for our beach trip (his toy cars and an airplane car in his Tommy Train lunchbox). And now he's napping in his carseat and looks like he's a gorilla in that that tiny thing. My mommy-heart can hardly stand it.


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Take me out to the ball game

We had a blast Friday night at an MSOC company outing to Tobacco Road and a Durham Bulls baseball game. Cam (the bossman) outdid himself and got the kiddies baseball caps and mini-bats.  (I was a little worried about the mini-bat at first, but Mack didn't clobber anyone with it!)



Posing with the Blue Monster. Richard told Mack that the Blue Monster ate all the baseballs and that's why its tummy was so big. This was a point of much concern for Mack...you can see Mack feeling its belly in the picture:



Mack even stayed awake for the post-game fireworks. 'Twas a big night!

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Anyone hungry?



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Is he incredibly modest or was this the only way I could get him in the tub? Hmmmm...



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A morning's conversation, 21st Century-style

I stayed in bed this morning to be lazy while Richard and Mack hit the road to try and score some cheap toys at yard sales. They just texted me to say good morning and tell me of their find. When I say "they", I mean that literally. "Ron" of course was Mack's first "written" word (with refrigerator magnets) a few weeks ago. I am super excited to see today that he can spell his own name, too. Here are some pictures of our exchange this morning (my guys in silver, me in green):



(I'm pretty sure that banshee was a fluke spell-correct but above is the first evidence of Mack writing his name.)









(See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1XIm6q4r4&feature=youtube_gdata_player to catch our dorky Potter-head reference here...)

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First Fruits (Garden Update)

Above is Mack celebrating our first fruits from the garden. This was about a month ago...I'm a little behind on blogging. Two of the squash plants have since gone bust (thanks squash borers) but that's OK...we had so much squash last year that we couldn't get all that excited about having copious amounts of squash again this year. Although one can never become tired of fried squash. This is Mack enjoying some fried squash that first night:

We're also enjoying zinnias (to look at), okra, basil, jalapenos, cucumbers and our first few tomatoes. And a surprise treat - some little eggplants. They're really delicious...and I bought the plant solely because I thought it looked pretty!

Now this I don't really know what to do with...pumpkins. They're really small and cute! But I'm not sure what to do with pumpkins in July.

We've had major problems with lack of rain so far this year. This past week it rained every day but, I swear, it hadn't rained on Efland in about three months before then. Our apple tree and the blackberry bushes just couldn't handle it. Mack got a couple of handfuls of blackberries from our yard but there won't be any blackberry jam or apple pies this year. So sad!

I am still loving the garden again this year. I don't know why, but wandering among plants relaxes me. Some day, my whole yard will be a garden...of pretty landscaping (not all vegetables).

Like Mother Like Son...Part 2

I posted a couple of months ago about how Mack has really started to get into Harry Potter. Well...it's official...I've created a monster. I can't go into exactly how enthralled Mack is with Harry Potter because it exposes me as a bad mother and I'd prefer to not put that down in writing. I will admit to this though - a few months ago, Mack asked me at bedtime to sing him the Harry Potter song. There is no Harry Potter song...so I had to make one up. Then he really latched on to Ron as his favorite character...so he asked for the Ron Song. Again, there is no Ron Song...so I had to make one up. And then just a couple of weeks ago, he asked for the Hermione Song (I think he felt bad that he'd been leaving her out for so long). Coming up with the Hermione Song was the most difficult of them all. I am no JK Rowling...let's just put it that way. Below are the songs. I am sure one day, he'll be over them and I'll forget the words. But for now, we sing these pretty much every night followed by Jesus Loves Me. I don't want to forget them because even though they're pathetic and silly, they're Mack & my special songs.

#1 - Harry Potter Song (to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)...the beginning of it all!

Harry Potter likes to play

Quidditch with his friends all day.

Harry Potter likes to fly

On his broom up in the sky.

Harry Potter likes to play

Quidditch with his friends all day.

Harry Potter goes to school

And he thinks it's really cool.

Harry Potter likes to learn

Things about this great big world.

Harry Potter goes to school

And he thinks it's really cool.

#2 - Ron Song (to the tune of Row Row Row Your Boat)...my personal favorite and based on Mack's favorite scenes from The Chamber of Secrets and "Scary Harry Potter" (The Prisoner of Azkaban).

Ron Ron flew a car and landed in a tree

Silly Ron flew a car and landed in a tree

Ron Ron broke his wand when he landed in a tree

Oh no Ron, Ron broke broke his wand

Ron Ron met a dog who bit him in the foot

Then the dog dragged Ron down into a tree

Ron Ron hurt his foot and had to stay in bed

Poor Ron hurt his foot and had to stay in bed

#3 - Hermione Song (to the tune of On Top of Spaghetti)...definitely the worst and least accurate of the three but Mack still enjoys it nevertheless.

Hermione's a girl

A very smart girl

She likes to read books

When nobody looks

Hermione is nice

Hermione is fun

Hermione is funny

When she tries to run

And yes...I simply CANNOT wait until the last movie comes out on July 15th. Richard already bought me tickets (3D baby!) Mack, on the other hand, will have to wait until he's much much older to watch this one though. :-)

A Happy Independence Day

Grandma's Recipe

My Grandma (my dad's mother) passed away when I was in the 4th grade. I don't have a ton of memories of her just because I was so young and she lived way up in Wisconsin - a veeeeery long drive that we made once or twice a year. My main memories of visiting Grandma and Grandpa are sensory - the smell of the barn, the feeling of running through the corn field, the sound of the tractor my dad would take us for rides on, the sight of the lightning in the crazy summer thunderstorms. But the strongest memories are related to the food. Grandma would always have baked TONS of delicious cookies for us that we'd stuff ourselves silly on. She'd fix German potato dumplings and sauerkraut. Grandpa would always be making us ice-cream cones. They'd also have fresh corn on the cob for us (that I refused to eat on the cob as a child and required the kernels to be sliced off before I would touch them). It was culinary heaven - although I probably didn't recognize that at the time.

My dad has a brother and sister who we rarely see. They are still up north (Yankees!) and until recently, I'm ashamed to say, my cousins could probably have passed me on the street and we wouldn't have recognized one another. But thankfully, most of the northern family was able to come down for Jon's wedding last summer. During all the long-lost-family-time, I got to talking with my Aunt LouAnn about my garden and attempts at making pickles. My pickle-making last year failed miserably for the most part and I was sorely disappointed about it. But Aunt LouAnn told me that she still had Grandma's recipe cards! Grandma was a consummate pickler and another memory of visiting her is sampling all the many varieties of pickles she'd made. Much to my delight, Aunt LouAnn photocopied some of her favorites of Grandma's and mailed them to me.

Tonight, I used one of Grandma's recipes for the first time - Refrigerator Pickles! Made with cucumbers and dill from my garden. I haven't been able to taste them yet because they're still cooling...but they look beautiful and smell delicious! I'm so thankful that even though Grandma has been gone from this world for some 20 years now, I'm able to draw closer to her through her recipes...reading her handwriting, following her instructions, and cooking in a way that (I should have) admired as a little child. Now I wonder...does Aunt LouAnn have the recipe for Grandma's peanut butter cookies?

A few weeks ago, Mack & I were having a date-night and enjoying some grub at a new BBQ place in Hillsborough. My neighbor called to see if I could watch her son for a little while so I told her to drop him off at the restaurant since they were nearby, knowing Mack would be thrilled. Mack idolizes Nicky - he's seriously the most amazing person on earth according to Mack. Do you think Mack was excited to see his friend?


I love this picture.

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Richie's getting ready for Independence Day. It's just a matter of time before there's a big flag in the truck bed.


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Race!

I ran the Race for the Cure today. It was fun and awe-inspiring as usual. After our post-race naps, Mack wanted to dress up and get ready to race, too!



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Beach babes

The impossible finally happened! My friends and I were able to plan a weekend trip for our families at the beach. It was amazing! I loved seeing all our children playing together and then getting to hang out as adults after the little ones went night-night. Not to toot our own horns, but could these children be any more precious?!?!?!

The Perryman three:

Sweet Olivia:

Baby Parker: Goofing around:

The girls:

Accident

Sigh - so maybe (or maybe not) I will do a later post on my whole car accident saga that includes details and pictures. But for now I'll just share a little piece of it that I think sums up the main truth of what happened.

Long story short - I was involved in a car pile-up on May 6th with 31 other vehicles on I85/I40 while on my way to Charlotte. I was alone in the Fit and was rear-ended..then front-ended, then side-smashed. But I'm perfectly fine! The Fit (with only 6,800 miles on it - such a waste) was deemed a total loss but hopefully we'll have a new car tomorrow.

This is the point though: Last night, we spent a couple hours at the Honda dealership lining up our new-new-Fit purchase. Richard & I were driving separately home (me in my boss' car that he was so kind to loan me when our rental ran out through our insurance) and Richard had Mack in the car with him. Mack was looking at the pictures on Richard's phone of my smashed up car and saying how sad the pictures made him and that he hopes the new car won't get wrecked. Richard said he started talking to Mack about how we should be happy that mommy was OK and didn't get badly hurt in the wreck. And...Mack said, "God saved Mommy."

Amen

I love you, too

Mackey is an extremely affectionate little guy. His is generous with his hugs and kisses, even offering them up unrequested. But he doesn't really get the whole SAYING "I love you" yet. We say it to him all the time and he knows we say it to him, like my post from February 26th shows. If we ask him to say I love you, he will and he says it in a melt-your-heart kind of voice. But he doesn't just spontaneously say it to us.

Every night when I tuck Mackey into bed, I tell him, "I love you" of course. One night last week (and I'm kicking myself for not remembering the exact date), after I tucked him in and said "I love you," Mack was silent (as usual) for a moment. But then, in a sleepy little voice, he said "I love you, too." He hasn't said it again since but I think I could live the whole rest of my life on just that one little "I love you, too."

New beginnings...the 2011 garden

I am hoping later in the year to post a begining-to-end photo timeline of our garden antics this year. But for now, here are some pictures of what's growing (not pictured here but either in the garden or soon to be in the herb garden are squash, pumpkin, cilantro, rosemary, mint, and dill)

Tomatoes (several varieties) Peppers (Jalapeno, Red & Yellow Bell) Okra Blackberries ApplesAnd pretty roses...

New Do

I post these pictures, not because they're good pictures, but because I must document what happened to my head - this is my "diary" after all. I got my hair cut about two weeks ago. I'm still getting used to it. It's not that I don't like it...it's just that it's not what I was going for and it's not really me (though it's really quick to wash and fix, which is nice). But it can look REALLY bad if I'm not careful...or when I wake up in the morning. This is the new do on a good hair-day, another Easter miracle...

A Happy Easter

There is no more joyful holiday than Easter. It's impossible to comprehend the sacrifice of Christ on the cross and his triumph over the grave...all to save a wretch like me. Words can't even come close. We had a wonderful & blessed time with our family. Mack participated in FIVE Easter egg hunts this season...and by the 5th one, he really had the hang of it. The candy was overwhelming, the fun was heartwarming, and the time spent together was priceless. Here are a few pictures and a link to even more. Enjoy!

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=armstrongmap&target=ALBUM&id=5600809955656260321&authkey=Gv1sRgCPKZotrQ-JK0QE&feat=email

Like mother like son?

Yesterday while I was at work, Richard sent me the below message. (Let me preface this slightly: I, as you probably know, am a totally dorky Harry Potter-head. We might not have a TV, but now & then, Mackey & I will snuggle up on the couch before bed and watch a few scenes of an early Harry Potter movie together before bedtime on Richard's laptop. It's a guilty pleasure we share. Recently, the 1st part of the 7th HP movie came out on DVD and Richard & Mack bought it for me that day. The DVD came with a wand that Mack really likes to play with. He will point it at me or Richard and say "Magic! Fall down." It's pretty funny but sometimes we don't feel like falling down and he doesn't like it. We had not hidden the wand but, like many-a-2-yr-old's-toys, it had disappeared for a few days amongst his other stuff. Preface complete. Here's Richard message to me:)

"Mack found the wand. He is asking where his glasses are that look like Harry Potter - that we need to go to Walmart and buy some. Right now, he's taking his clothes off so that he can put on clothes like Harry Potter. He's totally serious about it. He's coming up with this all on his own. He's not watching it or anything."

What a funny, creative little boy. Perhaps we know what he should be for next Halloween? The littlest Harry Potter...

Not a bad way to start the day

My sweet boy!


This is Mackey smiling up at me from the jogging stroller this morning at 6:45, still in his Tommy Train PJs. I am trying (maybe in vain) to reinstitute my morning workout routine after a several months' hiatus. This morning Mack woke up right after my alarm went off (for the second time - I am a chronic snoozer, it's a problem) and he was really upset that he couldn't climb into bed with me because I was leaving to go for a run. So he came with! It was nice having someone to talk to. Mack's main topic of conversation was how if a tornado comes, we have to go hide in the basement and that there will be thunder and lightening. (Sometimes I wonder if we're giving Mack more information than a 2 year old really needs...) When we got back from the run, I showered up and Richard had cooked me breakfast!

I have the two best boys in the whole wide world :-)

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