Uh-oh

So last week, little Philip and I took Thursday off to have a play day together. Naturally, he got up at the crack of dawn so we headed to Homewood park before the mad rush of big kids arrived. It was so sweet because there were about ten little boys and girls about Philip's size. I brought our camera to take some pictures but when bubbles were such a big hit with all of the children, I put the camera in the tote bag which was sitting on a park bench. The weight of the camera made the bag tip over and out went our camera, crashing to the concrete ground. After a gasp, I was relieved to see that everything was in tact. The relief was short lived when a closer glance revealed that the shutter button had popped off. Good thing we bought that extended warranty. Sadly, the camera was shipped off to camera rehab and it will not be back in for at least four weeks. We'll do our best to find ways to fill the time between now and then.

Too bad we can't share the pictures of little Philip reciting Homer's Odyseey, tap dancing, oil painting and deciphering complex Calculus equations. You'll just have to take our word for it.

Peeps

I hate peeps, always have. They are disgusting marshmallows covered with even more sugar. They make my entire mouth itch when I try them every now and then. My college friends will remember how we bit the heads off of a few packages in college and stuck them onto the Vanderbilt Towers suite door across from our suite senior year. It made it look like dozens of peeps had flown headlong into the door and stuck there. That vandalized suite door belonged to Liz's now hubby of six years, Matt Cotner. Maybe we should love the peeps after all. But for now, enjoy this little tidbit from our Birmingham Sunday paper.

Stupid Peep tricks
Sunday, March 25, 2007
KATHY SEALE News staff writer , Birmingham-Post Herald

It's not easy being a Peep.
Oh, they're cute (in a not-found-in-nature kind of way). Popular, too. But their reputation as tough little birds tempts folks to test them in ways no self-respecting candy should have to endure. Alas, we're no different. We recently hauled a box of chicks - conjoined quintuplet Peeps - to various test sites. The seemingly indestructible birds do have their limits, as you'll see from these challenge results and their corresponding viability ratings: One to five Peeps, where one Peep means it's near belly-up, and five Peeps means it's near Peep perfection.

S'MORES PEEP
Challenge - Fire at Sloss Furnaces.
Results - Sloss employee John Springer clamped tongs onto the Peep's tail, then stuck him in the 3,000-degree flame. Oops! The Peep dropped into the furnace, where the pressure spit it skyward. On the second attempt, the Peep stayed in the flame for a full five seconds before he was rescued.
Rating - (Two Peeps).
MARIE CURIE PEEPS
Challenge - Chemical baths, in a lab unnamed to protect the employee of said lab. But first, a confession: Peep No. 2 is actually three Peeps, which were placed in 30 percent hydrogen peroxide, bleach and a digestive enzyme called trypsin (think stomach acid).

Results - Hydrogen Peroxide Peep just sat there, intact, for several minutes. Bleach Peep lost an eye and could convincingly play Snow White Peep. Stomach Acid Peep met his match, although it wasn't a quick death.
Ratings - Hydrogen Peroxide Peep: (Five Peeps)
Bleach Peep: (Two Peeps)
Stomach Acid Peep: (One Peep)
CHICKEN LITTLE PEEP
Challenge - Temporary roommate to baby chicks, at Coosa Valley Milling in Wilsonville.
Results - This faux chick emerged from the sure'nough chick box unscathed - except for wood shavings that clung to the bare marshmallow "wounds" caused by separation from his Peep siblings.
Rating - (Four Peeps)
BASSMASTER PEEP
Challenge - As fish bait at a lake at Oak Mountain State Park.
Results - He lost his sugar coating, and shrank a bit. But Peep No. 2 bobbed along like a baby duck, even when we tried to dunk him. And that set park employee B.J. McDanal's mind to wandering. "You'd never digest that thing, would you?"
Rating - (Three Peeps)
OLD MCDONALD PEEP
Challenge - One-on-one with Curly, a black pygmy goat at Oak Mountain State Park's Petting Farm.
Results - Not pretty. Curly's split hoof mashed this Peep almost beyond recognition. Curly did, however, help squash the stereotype that goats eat anything. A couple of minutes went by before he appeared even remotely interest in tasting his prey.
Rating - (Two Peeps)

Author Kathy Seale also notes that at the Just Born factory where peeps are manufactured, "the Peep-eyes machines, which add carnauba wax eyes to the bunnies, chicks and such, can add 3,800 eyes per minute."

Now that's just creepy.

Soccer mom

After committing to having the roof and deck replaced, Philip's Toyota Camry was hit while he was in Guntersville making a school visit for work. It doesn't take much to total a 1996 Camry with over 160,000 miles on it so that's just what happened. Rather than put the money into repairing his car, we decided that it was time. I checked the very last bit of any cool factor I had remaining at the door and we drove out with our new (well, new to us) Honda Odyssey minivan. Little Philip is ecstatic and I must say the drive is pretty sweet. And even though we didn't pick the color, prioritizing price over most everything else involved, God did provide the ability for us to keep the maroon car tradition alive. Apparently, Philip has had four maroon cars. All by accident? I think not.

Go Dawgs!

Salmon Man

My husband has become the ultimate charcoal grillin' man. For his birthday, I got him the Weber grilling cookbook and next to the Bible, it's his favorite read. Since we had the new deck and the weather has been absolutely fabulous, we planned to cook out. He came home from Lowe's with some cedar planks and suggested that we try grilling some salmon. For those of you that know me, I am quite picky when it comes to seafood. After all, my entire family is from Mobile and across the bay in Fairhope and Daphne. It runs deep and it takes a lot to really impress me when it comes to seafood. Philip set a new standard for me. Without a doubt, this cedar plank salmon was the best fish I have ever put in my mouth. It was a honey-lime Dijon salmon on cedar planks. We have never cooked on cedar planks so we were not sure how it would turn out. I am convinced that in heaven, this is one of the really, really special dinners for the saints.

Roof and decking

Owning a home is so much fun, but sometimes it so expensive it hurts. The time had come for us to replace the old deck and the roof. The deck was weathered, gray, bowing in the middle, and all around just wasn't very safe for tiny little toes as the weather begins to turn warmer. Big Philip had even attempted to extend its life by filling in two rotten boards with an entire caulk tube of indoor wood putty. It worked in that we didn't slip on the morning frost or ice anymore on our way out the door. It didn't work in that it made the deck that much uglier. The roof's days were numbered and we knew that two years ago when we bought our little house. Replacing a roof just isn't very exciting which is why it hurts to have to pay for a new one. No one seems to notice the new roof and you want people to say "hey, looks like you got a new roof!" but they don't. It's just this silent, secretive but very necessary and expensive home repair that doesn't get noticed by anyone other than the homeowners. The more fun of the two projects was definitely the deck though. We look forward to lots of outdoor dinners and summer days on our new deck.

We Ate Vegetables!

Well, sort of. Technically we ate corndogs but Little Philip didn't catch on that they were veggie corndogs. And we ate spinach feta pizza bites but Little Philip thought it was just pizza. So technically, we finally found a way to make him eat vegetables! Albeit, an expensive way but we have to start somewhere...

Dawgs 'n Dores

Drum roll please...
Vandy vs. George Washington on Thursday. I feel a Final Four. We're coming for you Oral Roberts (seriously?!)
MSU vs. MS Valley State on Tuesday or Wednesday. MSU is #1 seed so they get to host until the NIT final four if the dawgs make it that far.

First fingerpainting!

Today, Mommy came home with some Crayola color wonder finger paint (because it only shows up on colorwonder paper rather than clothes, walls, floors, parents, etc). After some discernment on his subject and a hearty dinner, Little Philip proudly presents his first art exhibit. He calls it "wower" (translation - flower). We're calling this his purple period.