Hattiesburg

My friend from college, Emily, invited Rebecca and me to Hattiesburg about a month ago.  Well, actually...that may not be true, we might have invited ourselves!  Either way, we went, had a blast, tore up their brand new house, and came home very tired! But, we made some fun memories while we were there!

I hope they were having more fun that this picture shows! :)

fruit right off the trees

Fun on the Farm

Stranger Danger

I feel like this is a must read as a parent.  I found it to be a good way to talk to your kiddos about this without making them too fearful!

Stranger Danger

both at 4

love these two! sara beth's pants weren't as short as i remembered, but she was definitely taller than leigh is now!

4 year old

Today was Leigh's first day of school, so we had her Back to School Party last night.  When I asked her what she wanted she quickly picked cheese sandwiches and milkshakes.  I sort of laughed out loud because I have NEVER made a milkshake!  You can tell by her face how excited she was about her special dinner!

This girl has my eyes and can't see a single thing without glasses!

Her teacher is Mrs. Julie Gordon and she has the CUTEST room!  Sam quickly made himself at home and played with the Gordon Grocery Store.

McCalara, Miller, and Leigh checked out the gingerbread house.

Leigh and Mrs. Gordon

I told her I was leaving so she could have her tea party and she gave me a thumbs up!

While Graham and Leigh were at the tea party, Sam and Jake had fun playing with some toys.

And check out this cool airplane the park has now!

First Grade

To celebrate first grade we had our annual back to school dinner.  She picked really easy stuff this year--shrimp, salad, and sprite.  Leigh and Sam were with my mother in law because we had a parents meeting at 8:30 the next morning.  It was a special time with our biggest girl!

Sara Beth with Mrs. Nowell

buddy

buddy, sam, sam i am, brother, lil' man, bud, baby--all of are names that sam is being called right now by his sisters.  they are all very appropriate--i can't wait to see what else they end up calling him!

he is the funniest little guy!  he tries so hard to play and keep up with them, and this sometimes means getting into a few "girl" toys.  however, when it comes down to it--he's all boy-- rough, tough, fast and sweet

playing dress up--notice he has on princess shoes

and then two minutes later- jumping on my coffee table

he's definitely a ham

his first line of cars

i told a friend on friday that i was no where near ready to potty train this little guy.  i knew he was ready but he was absolutely afraid of the potty!  but, that maybe i would try about christmas.  well, when i talked to her on monday i told her potty training was well under way!  monday and tuesday he had one accident, and wednesday none!  this might go down as the easiest child in history to potty train!  of course, now that i said that, we will have some major setbacks!  i am sure accidents will happen, but so far, so good! and he looks really cute in his big boy underwear!

oh, and in the above picture he was playing "daddy" and going to the grocery store.  now, zeb does go to the store every now and then, but i'm pretty sure he always wears clothes! and this little man obviously doesn't have any clothes!

Baked Eggplant Parmesan--This is a combination of several eggplant parmesan recipes.  My entire family really likes this and the girls love to help make it! It takes a little time, but is very easy!  If you like more cheese, add it.  If you like more sauce, add it!  It's very hard to mess up!

Ingredients
*2 eggs
*1 cup breadcrumbs
*3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (plus a little for the top)
*1 tsp dried oregano
*1/2 tsp dried basil
*coarse salt
*pepper
*2 1/2 lbs eggplant (peeled and cut into 1/2 inch rounds)
*tomato sauce (I like Prego traditional)
* 1 - 11/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 2 baking sheets with olive oil spray.  In one bowl wisk eggs with 1 TBS of water.  In another bowl, combine breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, oregano, basil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Dip eggplant in egg mixture then in breadcrumbs, and place on baking sheet.  Bake until golden brown on bottom (20-25 min).  Turn and repeat baking for 20-25 min.  Remove from oven.
Spread some tomato sauce to cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch dish. Layer eggplant, more sauce, 1/2 cup mozzarella. Repeat.  Top with parmesan cheese.  Bake until bubbly and cheese is melted (15-20 min).

I served this over some pasta.  Also, we had sauteed shredded zucchini. (Just shred zucchini.  Heat a little olive oil in a skillet and zucchini, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Cook until it is crispy.)