My little party planner

Today I had one of these:

I tried to be low key about it. I don't really get into adult birthdays. This chick wasn't hearing it: {Excuse the next few pictures...taken with a camera phone by my children in a dark location...but it is all we had!}

She went into party planning mode! She went shopping today. She bought a new party dress, a cake and some candles. She got on the phone to reserve a table at The Brick and invited all the guest {our family + Kathy Hunt}. Her only requirement: the girls had to look gorgeous and the men had to look handsome in their party clothes! Tina {at The Brick} was sweet enough to decorate the table for me! She was thrilled with the party!

Banks had a great time as well:

They even had me an ice cream cake:

Debbie even fed Owen some ice cream {she would have yelled at me if I had tried to do that with Banks or Mary Reese}! He loved it... We came home and ate more cake! Mary Reese picked out a beach themed one at the grocery store today...so we celebrated again!

Then she got in trouble with her Daddy! He got this face:

She called Kathy Hunt to tell her all about it! She said she would take care of him on Tuesday when she is at our house.

I tucked her in tonight and thanked her for my party. She said "Your welcome. Sorry Daddy ruined your party!" Bless her!

Thank you for all my Birthday calls, emails, texts and Facebook messages!

Family Favorite: Pot Roast Sandwich

Summer vacation is almost over...and this was my first full week back to work! This meal is super easy and delicious year round! Since I was working all day...I cooked mine all day in the crockpot on low. I left the house while the rest of my family was snoozing, so I left them one of these... ...so the pot roast would be ready when we all arrived back home. The only other thing you have to do when you get home is to sauté some onions and peppers in a little butter sprinkled with a little salt and pepper. Your meal can be on the table in less than 30 minutes! I like to assemble my sandwiches first, then toast them{that way the cheese is all melted}!

Nothing Sweeter

Another Visit = 2 More Dollars

Banks pulled another tooth last night...that makes 2 teeth in 4 days. The tooth fairy brought him $2 for his second tooth {at this rate...she might need to take out a loan}!

Family Favorite: Cheddar Squash Strata

Last week we hit up my dad's garden for some squash {for some reason the squash in our garden just blooms but doesn't produce}: We LOVE squash at our house...stewed, stir-fried, in squash dressing or in a casserole. I found a recipe for a Cheddar Squash Strata in a cookbook I received as a baby gift a few months back {a perfect baby gift in my book, especially when it is your 3rd child}. So we gathered all our ingredients: The original recipe called for whole wheat bread but I used some homemade sourdough {and I didn't remove the crust}. It also called for only a cup of cheese...you can see my measuring cup is overflowing {I ended up using 2 cups}. I love this cookbook because it has pictures of all the recipes! We all dove in as soon as it came out of the oven! Delicious and delightful!

What's Different?

Can you find what is different about this 2 pictures? If you guessed that Banks is missing a tooth...you were right! Banks pulled his first tooth last night right before dinner. He left it under his pillow for the tooth fairy. She brought him $10 {since it was his first tooth}! He was beginning to think he was going to be the only 1st Grader who had not lost a tooth!

PLM Memorial Classic 2

These 2 men {pictured with their sons} have been working hard since last year to pull off another successful Patrick Murphree Memorial Classic...

They couldn't have picked a better day {record breaking low temperature all weekend long}. Saturday morning, we registered 22 teams of golfers for a 4-man scramble... After they registered, we offered them a hamburger/hot dog lunch {graciously donated by Noel Mayfield} and time to warm up on the driving range and putting green...

At 1:00 the tournament officially began with a shotgun start. Shortly after, Erin and Banks started cruising the course...

...to restock coolers with Bud or Pepsi products {donated by Valley Bud and Pepsi of Decatur}. While I rode around the course taking pictures, accompanied by this 2 monkeys... ...who pretended they were on an amusement park ride! Jody teamed up with Tony Chachere to provide dinner after the tournament to all the golfers and volunteers... {Tony met Patrick the week of his accident.} Tony was gracious enough to drive 8 hours with his family and 2 assistants to cook a delicious catfish/shrimp dinner!

Little did he know when he agreed to volunteered for this... ...that he would have so much help! Banks took his job...

...seasoning the fries very seriously! After everyone's bellies were full, it was time for the Awards Ceremony. After the scores were turned in, the teams were divided into 2 flights. Prizes were awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place Winners of each flight. Prizes were also awarded on 4 holes for Closest to the Pin and on another hole for the Longest Drive. Every golfer's name was placed in a drawing for 40 door prizes donated by various businesses and people.

The results for the tournament:

over $18,000 grossed

almost $6,000 given away in donated prizes

88 golfers - 40 returning from last year, 48 new players

44 cases of beer

I think everyone involved had a wonderful time! Thank you to everyone who made this tournament a success! In 2 years, the golf tournament has raised enough funds to make the Patrick Murphree Memorial Scholarship an endowed scholarship!

Weekend with The Chacheres

This past weekend this incredibly giving man and his family came to stay with us:

Tony Chachere & his wife Amy {pictured behind Tony}.

Joining them was their adorable daughter Alyssa {who was wonderful with all 3 of my children}!: Tony agreed to cook donated dinner for all the golfers following the 2nd Annual Patrick Murphree Memorial Golf Tournament. They arrived into town late Thursday afternoon. Friday, Jody and Tony were tied up with preparations...so Amy and I took these 3 children...

...here... Mine haven't been all summer long...so they were thrilled! Banks and Alyssa quickly jumped in line for this slide:

While Mary Reese decided these were more her speed:

Banks and Alyssa decided they wanted to hit the other slides while Mary Reese preferred it here:

She LOVED the waves and was absolutely FEARLESS! This is the look I got when I told her I wasn't going to the 8 FT with her:

Who pouts at Point Mallard? She cheered right up when Banks and Alyssa appeared again.

We had a great afternoon swimming, sliding and jumping the waves! We headed home for a quick rest before going to David and Sue's for hamburgers. It was fun spending time with all of Patrick's high school and college friends...they are such a wonderful group of people & always make me laugh!

Family Favorite: Zucchini Bread

Last week, we made Zucchini Bread. We were hoping for some zucchini fresh out of our garden but ours were only this big:


So we resorted to the Farmer's Market. While we where there, we picked up these beauties:


I have enjoyed them in my kitchen all week long! After we arranged our flowers, I gathered all the ingredients we needed:


Then I grabbed one of my wonderful assistants...


...and we mixed our "gredients". Then we poured it in the pans and waited patiently for 1 hour until the loaves were finally done!


A certain little boy was playing outside during the stirring and baking. As soon as he caught a whiff of the bread, he headed in for a sampling:


It got his stamp of approval {only because I left the nuts out of 2 loaves}! Since we had enough zucchini for 4 loaves...we shared with the neighbors. Meet my delivery boy:


The next day I went opened the front door and found this on the doorstep:


A sweet {but totally unnecessary} Thank You note from one of the neighbors!