The second book, "Catching Fire" is coming out in a couple weeks. I just pre-ordered it (thanks again for that gift card, Eric!) and will be sitting by the mail box until it gets here. Will Katniss choose Peeta or Gale?!?! And what's going to happen when they get back to District 12?!
September 1, where are you!? (and while we're at it, November 20, where are you?)
Alright, so first off let's clarify that SMOKY is actually a correct spelling of that word. Looks weird, right? According to dictionary.com the word smokey refers specifically to police cars, while smoky describes all things having to do with actual smoke. This is as great a shock to me as it is to you (unless you're Chrysta and you just happen to know these things as a result of your freakish' DNA).
With that out of the way, I'll tell you we had one flippin' good time. Great place to stay, great activities, GREAT FOOD, great company, GREATAMAZINGFABULOUS food. Did I mention that the food was outrageous? It was.
We all arrived Saturday and sat around starving while we waited for Chrysta to arrive with the food. Which she did around, oh, 1 or 2 AM if I'm not correct? Yes? Anyway, we eventually ate and we liked each other a lot more after that.
Sunday we laid around catching up and eating food (this will be a theme). Jerry and Sam - both triathletes (the former getting ready for his 2nd Iron Man), decided a scenic bike ride was in order. They left at approximately 10 AM and returned about 8 hours later. At which point we all went on a lovely waterfall hike. It was described to us as family-friendly. Meaning, if you place your children in a headlock the entire way they will narrowly avoid falling to their deaths over the sheer cliffs that lined the entire trail. In fact, while hiking the trail we happened upon a man who had done just that and was sitting, bloody, in the middle of the trail waiting for the National Park Service Search and Rescue team to, well, Rescue him. Happy Sunday everyone! We stepped gingerly over him and kept trekking. By the top my nerves were utterly shot and I was an anxious mess. Chase, who thinks nothing of risking his life, de-robed, climbed the rocks and held himself in the largest part of the waterfall for a few minutes. On the way back down the mountain we got to stand in line while the Search and Rescue team stabilized the aforementioned bloody man.
Monday began with the first Kilgore 5k run, which was later re-named the Fanny Autrey Memorial 5k (because our finish line was in a cemetery right next to dear Fanny's tombstone). Before setting out we drove around looking for a flat course. In the middle of the Smoky Mountains. So yeah. What we ended up finding was the Great Diablo Course From Hell. My IronMan brother was driving and I was in the backseat. My sisters-in-law Christy and Sara who are half-marathoners and triathletes respectively, were all, "Oh yeah, this looks okay." I was crying and shaking. So let's just cut this description short by saying that what I ran was the Fanny Autrey Memorial 2.5k. And I have zero shame. I nearly died on that course more than once. I will add that I cruised in at 21+ minutes AFTER my IronMan brother who finished the entire thing and then pranced around for a couple minutes before saying he needed to get more miles in and proceeded to run up the Pikes Peak look-alike that our lodge sat atop of.
In order, Triathlete, Army Guy, Half-Marathoner, IronMan, Triathlete, uh, me, Marathoner/Navy guy.
After the FAM5K (wow, that looks like Fam 5K, which is what it was), we gathered the rest of the crew and went tubing on the river. That was so sweet! There were lots of mild areas and lots of areas with rapids. At one point you could paddle over to the side and jump off a rope swing. All told it lasted about 2.5 hours and was a slamming good time. Cameron and Miles were able to go with us, too! Cam even got his own tube and we teamed up while Miles rode on daddy's lap. Cam got so good by the end that he was telling ME when to lift my bum to avoid slamming it into rocks (which I did - OUCH!).
Tuesday was free day #1 and we did some additional laying around before heading back to the Park to find a good swimming hole. We found one with some decent sized rocks and Chase, Jerry and a couple of the kids decided to jump off of them. This, of course, set the scene for Wednesday.
I can't let Tuesday end without including our Iron Chef cook-off. There were so many good dishes I almost became diabetic. Mmmmm...
Wednesday. The boys had their usual golf day in the morning and when they arrived home that afternoon we decided to go jump off some cliffs. I am not usually one to do things like cliff jumping, but I figured why not. When we arrived we saw a sign that detailed exactly how many deaths had occurred at that location and advised us not to "be next." That's always encouraging.
So we hiked up to the spot and jumped in:) My first jump was nearly fatal, I'll admit. I lost my nerve just as I was jumping and ended up kinda falling. My husband and brother were NOT happy, but I resolved to try again. It looked VERY high from the top but once you were at the bottom it looked manageable.
Chase, Jerry and Scott all took turns scaring the daylights out of me by jumping off higher rocks or doing backflips off the cliffs (and asking me to TAPE their almost-deaths! WHO DOES THAT?! "Hey honey. I'm going to try to kill myself. Can you make sure to hit the record button on time?!"). Anyway, it ended up being a freaking good time.
Just FYI, we're meeting with our insurance agent (Bro-in-law) tonight to discuss more life insurance. Not kidding.
Bird Bird and Carl about to launch
My brother, Scott. He can fly planes and go to POW training but jumping off of cliffs is a little scary.
Thursday was Girls Day Out (a much-anticipated day by all the females over the age of 12). We hit Gatlinburg for some window-shopping and people-watching. Good things to do in Gatlinburg - lots to see:) We mostly just enjoyed being together. I'm blessed to have sisters and sisters-in-law who are just rad. I just love being with them.
That evening the real party began with Kilgore Idol. I've already posted some videos of the event but let me tell you it was AAAAAAA-Mazing. Who knew we had so much raw talent in our family? Mom and Dad even joined in the fun! Sara earned some serious UMC bonus points when she appeared looking like this to sing Pat Benatar. Ooohhhhh yeah.
Friday was the last real day of the reunion and a free day. We started by hitting Ober Gatlinburg to do the Alpine slide and some other rides before heading back to the cliffs for some more jumping. After everyone returned for jumping I served Heart Attack Chili for dinner followed by Coronary Cupcakes. Mmmm...
Saturday it was time to pack up and head west. A horrendously sad day. I'm not going to bother giving you the details of our 15 hours in the car. You can probably guess.
But it was totally worth it:) Love my fam.
And I don't mean just by the fact that I exist (Chase can assure you that my very existence has embarrassed him many, many times).
Here's sister Chrysta attempting to sing The Rose. She was rocking some sappy affectations when other sisters Cathryn and Alyssa (Bird and Lylla) had to show some "support."
If you ever wondered if I was afraid of making a complete idiot of myself, wonder no more. Behold, Kilgore Idol Karaoke Night. If anyone has the video of me Kanye West-ing it into Bird's finale please let me know. Until then, you'll just have to make due with my version of Respect by the venerable Aretha Franklin (who I sound JUST LIKE, right?!).
because it was AWE.SOME.
But today I'm in serious need of some laughter and light-heartedness. And these little youtube videos fit the bill nicely, thank you.
Yesterday was Mama Rawlins' birthday. She turned an age that I will not specify out of my great love for her. But I will say that she was 20 when she had Chase. And he will be 30 in February. But that's all I'm saying.
So to mark such a momentous occasion we had a little party. We originally thought about doing a BIG to-do; you know, whoop it up Texas-style. But the sons reminded the wives that their mommy isn't really one who loves attention in that manner. So we put our party planning books away and focused on something smaller. A surprise dinner - family only! - at Logan's Roadhouse. We got a little room in the back so the kids could all have freedom (freedom which included Chase allowing Miles to wield as many as THREE STEAK KNIVES at a time, but that's another story). It was nice. T-Bull was surprised and seemed to enjoy herself. A good time was had by all.
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*As usual with my brood there is always a Story. The story behind the cake is this: I ordered a beautiful custom cake for Tori. We brought it home and set it on the counter. Miles went down for a late nap and I took Sophie into her room to play. A few minutes later, Chase came in looking serious, got down on the floor and gripped my shoulder. Looking right in my eyes he said, "The cake is destroyed. I don't know what else to tell you. I don't know how to say it any other way." Apparently Cameron had wanted to either hold it or take a look, we're not sure. But he pulled it off the counter and it landed top down. After scraping it off the floor it looked like this.
Anyway, with only about an hour until we had to leave for the restaurant I called Jen to tell her what happened. She made a few suggestions, but we both figured we'd have to just get a generic cake. As I was scrubbing icing off the floor, though, I got a call from Brian. I guess he found a Walmart in the area who could do it but he had to get there fast. And they couldn't do any writing or anything. BUT, he got it done! I like to think there was probably some charming smooth-talk from Brian. There usually is.
There's no real purpose to this blog (note to reader/self: am in love with the use of italics in blogging. There's just nothing better to drive home a point...too much? Okay, yeah.). But I'm nothing if not an excellent sharer.
Firstly, you should know that during the summer months here in Texas my daily routine changes so that everything gets done before noon, when things heat up. The gym, cleaning, errands - all of it. So after lunch when nap time rolls around we've resorted to movies. One for the boys, one for me. Which brings about my point. I've become smitten with Netflix instant play. Why? Because they have so many, many BBC goodies. It's a veritable candy store for the Austen-lover in me. After stumbling onto this blog and finding the author's list of Sumptuous Literary Adaptations, I was hooked. So far I have North and South, Daniel Deronda, Under the Greenwood Tree and Wives and Daughters under my belt. And there are enough to sustain me through the entirety of the summer. Oh, netflix. How do I love thee?
Second, I keep hearing about this book. I can't make up my mind as to whether or not I will read it. The library doesn't have it, so I'd have to buy it. And that makes the decision much harder. I'm intrigued by the idea though, right? Am I? I can't tell. The best quote from amazon.com's Editor's Review is this: "But critics also pointed out that this parody shows that Austen’s novel has remained so powerful over time that even the undead can’t spoil it." Hmmm...so provocative!
Third, my boys play a lot of "good guys and bad guys" games. I fully support this. My brothers used to run around the neighborhood at night in full-on camo and face paint playing "war." And they all turned out pretty well. Anyhoo, we hear a lot of "he's a bad guy!" in our house, so Chase thought it would be fun to teach them to say, "he's the antagonist!" It's. Awesome. We took them to the mall play area a couple of days ago and they kept running up to us yelling, "He's the antagonist! Get him!"
Last, this song has me utterly convinced that Thom Yorke is not of this world. Because no earth-bound, CO2-secreting mammal should be able to come up with this kind of thing. It's just not natural. And that, that is why we love him.
Go ahead. Have a look-see. (To be continued...meaningful compversation about the evils of child labor. Feel free to watch North and South to bone up on this subject,)
So in a couple weeks we'll be heading off for our family reunion. Have I mentioned I crazyexcited? No? I'm seriously CRAZYEXCITED people!
Anyway, our original plan was to camp along the way. We do this when we are on long distance trips. I think it's glorious fun. Mostly because it means I'll get to make s'mores but that's normal, right?
So as our trip approaches I started thinking about the fact that we would soon be camping. And I started to vacillate. On the one hand, I think camping is awesome. On the other hand, I really appreciate air conditioning and a mattress while I'm trying to sleep. But what really got me thinking was all the camping gear we were going to have to bring, in addition to the rest of our vacation crap. So I started to look at hotel rooms in our area...and remembered the OTHER reason we love to camp. We like to save money! To get a hotel in a decent (not nice, just bug/nast free) place with a pool was going to be upwards of $125!!! Holy recession, Batman! I mean, Chase did just get a nice little bump in salary but we didn't plan on spending it all on a hotel room for one night!
So I went back to the camping plan. And lo and behold, look what I found!
Did you know KOA campgrounds have these little beauties? For $50 a night you can sleep in a little cabin with electricity, air conditioning, a double mattress with bunkbeds?! Plus you get all the awesomeness of camping without having to drag all the gear. We just need to pack some frozen hot dogs and s'mores materials in the cooler and bring pillows and bedding and we're home free. The kids get to sleep in the woods, have a bonfire, go swimming and have access to a playground.
Needless to say, we're tres excited!
Check this out. This is an interview of an LDS student attending Harvard. She's well-spoken, well-researched and dang it if she isn't just a big ball of cute.
Got more questions? Go here.
Not feeling creative today. But feeling the need to update.
Behold...
Ramen noodles on hot summer nights. I'd rather have the stove on for 5 minutes, than 20. And yes, I know. I'm, like, the world's most amazing mom. You don't have to tell me. Oh, and we call those "Kung Fu Panda noodles" at my house and my kids like to eat them with Tofu. Thank you, Disney.
Sophie doing her post-nap/sunscreen hair Nick Nolte impression. Dead ringer if you ask me.
Crust:
Cut together first 3 ingredients, then slowly add water. Divide dough in half, roll into two balls, cover in saran wrap and chill for at least 4 hours. Makes two 9-inch crusts.
***This is my chicken pot pie crust recipe. To use for sweet pie, add 2 T. sugar to dough and then do an egg wash over dough and sprinkle on sugar before baking.
