The Combs Krewe

Back in December an anonymous donor gifted the homeschool group on campus with Friends of City Park membership cards. These cards granted us free access to Storyland and the Botanical Gardens and discounts on other cool things. Last night we enjoyed another perk of the membership--my favorite thus far. We were invited to the membership appreciation night at Carousel Gardens in City Park. Not only did we get unlimited free rides but we also ate free cotton candy, popcorn, and snowballs. Needless to say, the kids were pleased. I love Ryland's little forced grin. Piper finished off Ryland's cotton candy while the guys rode the ferris wheel. I am not that into rides but I was totally into the Haydel's Bakery table. I thought I was getting in line for a measly cookie (if you can call their cookies measly) and then I saw that they were serving little slices of unbelievably delicious cake. Oh. My. Goodness. Perhaps their cakes truly are worth fifty buc...

Chick-fil-a fans happy with the company's pro-marriage/anti-gay marriage stance are all posting all over Facebook. I'm seeing cute little memes and links to articles and status updates about eating at Chick-fil-a some more tasteful (no pun intended) than others. I started to post and say that I would eat at Chick-fil-a even if it were run by gay people. Because they have good food. And it's a restaurant. Where you eat food. (And also they gave me a bunch of free food!) I don't really care what's happening behind the scenes as long as everyone is washing their hands afterwards. = P How much do our beliefs and values affect where we spend our money? My family has been boycotting Kraft, Pepsi, and Nestle products because they use kidney cells from aborted human embryos to test flavorings that go into the foods they manufacture. We are pro-life based as the Biblical belief that life begins at conception and that all life is highly valued by God. So that belief has pen...

As reluctant as I am to say it there is one thing I do not like about homeschooling. GASP! I know. I sort of forget about it each year until August or so and entire aisles at Walmart become devoted to back-to-school supplies. We truly have no need for back-to-school supplies. Sadness. Jackie went back to school the same year Keeleigh started kindergarten. Check out their matching LL Bean backpacks! I have always loved the smell of a new box of crayons. But we really have plenty. I have a seventh grader now and if things were different she would so be getting that super cool locker divider and organizer with magnetic mirror. I will also have a kindergartner this year but there's no reason to buy a first backpack or a cute little lunch box. I did ask him which one he would choose if he was going away to school. He chose Spiderman. I saved the mental image in my head of him on his first day of school even though I'll never have a real snapshot of it. And "school...

Last week we got a treat...a visit from Nana and Pappy! It's always amazing how the kids don't often get to see their grandparents but they always take up with them like no time has passed at all in between visits. Even Piper climbed right up in their laps. She showed Pappy what her favorite pastime is. He was happy to oblige her with a few stories. Tuesday we took a little trip to the Botanical Gardens. Mom and Dad paused for a quick picture in City Park first. Don't you just love palm trees and blue skies? We really enjoyed the Botanical Gardens despite the fact that it was a *little* warm out. It was beautiful there. The live oaks were a favorite with the kids. Better than a jungle gym! One of my favorite parts was the pond of lily pads. They had these fantastically huge lily pads that I'd never seen before.  After touring the Gardens, we hit Storyland and let the kids play a little.  I hav...

Last week Keeleigh got creative with makeup and turned herself into a lizard! I swear she needs to be a makeup artist when she grows up...she did all of this with regular makeup from my makeup case. Check it out: ''

When Keeleigh was little, my mom bought some of these awesome Tupperware cups. She used them often and they were so durable that they all survived until Jathan was old enough to use them. At that point I requested my mom buy us another set since I knew Ryland and eventually Piper would love them, too. I'm pretty sure we had at least 8 cups like these. Somehow all but two of them have completely disappeared! I'm not sure if friends have accidentally taken them home with them after visiting with us or if my kids have accidentally left them at a friend's house or on the playground but I miss them. = ( Have you guys seen them around anywhere? We're missing a blue one, a yellow one, a green one, an orange one, and a pink one. I'm pretty sure these have been discontinued by Tupperware (and they are sort of out of my price range at the moment anyway) so I'd love to get them back!

1. TMI So, I remember the weirdest things but one brief conversation I had over 10 years ago stands out to me. It was high school and like all high school girls I had friends, enemies, and frienemies. One of my then-frienemies (we've grown up since then!) was friends with one of my enemies. Standing by the lockers one day, frienemy walks up and says in reference to enemy something like, "She shares too much information. Sometimes it's almost like, 'Hey, guys. I just farted.'" Of course, at the time I ate this up and laughed at her expense but over the years it's been a little reminder that more often than not I need to shut up. Just shut up. I've often been tempted (and have too often given in to the temptation) to over share. I think the Internet feels far safer than it really is. I need to remember that. 2. Friends...or Stalkers? Speaking of "friends", I have 321 of them. I know that number is much higher for many of you, but ...

I have a long history of crazy insane dreams. Judging from last night's samples, I'd say that history is sure to continue. I think I had three dreams which I tried and tried to remember but only one stuck. My mom and I had been selected to go on a trip to the moon as part of a reality show. Oddly enough, my mom was completely okay with this. I, however, was experiencing some apprehension. We were going through several training exercises one of which was riding a truck up a spiraling roller coaster-like track straight up into the sky. I didn't know how I was going to do it. Apparently Jackie had already been to the moon, so he was trying to give me a little pep talk. He seemed to think it was no big deal. The dream ended with me overcome with thoughts of fear and inadequacy. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, I thought. I should be happy!  Usually I can relate my dreams to something happening in my life. My brain goes ninety to nothing all day long and I often...

One of my Pinterest boards in entitled "Sew Crafty." This week I actually got around to making a few things from that board as well as my second ever pattern project. The boys got new superhero capes made from men's t-shirts that I got from the SWAP shop. Super duper easy and cute even if you leave them un-embellished. Of course, you could always applique their favorite superhero symbol on the back. This was my pattern project...a new skirt for me! The pattern was $1 from Walmart and I'd gotten the fabric for free so this was a really great, frugal project. I was even happier that it came out well because this skirt has POCKETS which is an awesome thing in case you didn't know. I had a good bit of fabric left over so I decided last minute to make Piper a little pillowcase dress to match Mommy's skirt. Didn't we look cute Sunday morning? = ) Piper got to wear her new dress on her very first day in the big girl class at church! ...