A Biltmore Blogging Adventure

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to check out the largest privately owned home in America.

Welcome to The Biltmore!

And being a Biltmore virgin, I had to take a couple of more experienced ladies along for the ride. As you can see, they were all too happy to oblige.

Smile, Lizzy & Shannon!

After a REALLY great lunch at the Stable Cafe (yes that was a former horse stall that we were eating in), we made our way to the house. Check out this view.

And here's the part where I would've shown you the amazing interiors of this mansion. Except, that Biltmore doesn't allow ANY photography inside the building. Trust me, it was amazing!

After spending a lot of time in the house, we ventured outside into the rainy mist and decided to get in our cars and drive to the winery. You know, because nothing ends a great day with friends like getting sloshed at a wine "tasting"!

On the way, we saw a couple that just got married. I just love weddings. In gardens. With spring flowers blooming all around.

We got to see lots of gorgeous flowers on the way.

And then we saw something that I really loved. There were Canadian Geese all over the grounds, but here, we came across what appeared to be a little family. Complete with goslings. Adorable!

All in all, we had a great time despite the fact that we were missing friends who couldn't come and the weather was kind of "bleh" for the entire day. We had a lot of laughs and Shannon reminded us that at the end of the day, we're all in this thing together.

For more phabulous photo phinishes, check out the Fx4 at Candid Carrie's!

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

This is Kota.

Kota was a sweet girl who we adopted from a rescue. She had the softest fur and a shy disposition. She was slow to trust people, so when we finally won her trust, it the best gift ever. She was protective of our family and very gentle with the kids. She was strong despite physical limitations. She was a true best friend that gave us unconditional love. We miss her terribly.

We've been talking lately about adding a new German Shepherd dog to our family. It's something that we're hoping to accomplish this summer. I only hope that we find a creature as special as our Kota. Those are big shoes to fill.

For other photo stories, check out Candid Carrie!

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta - The Fan Letter

Today's Fx4 post is sponsored by the letter "C". "C" is for CRAZY, which could best describe my frame of mind when I decided to regress to age 14 and write a fan letter to Robert Pattinson.

Yes, you read that correctly. I wrote a fan letter to Rob Pattinson...and I liked it.

It was a 2 page, typed letter. A letter talking about how much I admire his musical chops and acting prowess. A letter explaining our common issue of "diarrhea of the mouth." A letter explaining why he & I would be such good friends.

And I didn't just stop at the letter. I sent a card too. A witty card. A card that will stop him in his tracks and make him say "I need to talk to this incredibly fun girl."

And now I wait.

Rob, can you hear me?

For more Foto Fun, check out Candid Carrie!

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

My, what big feet you have!

I snapped this shot of the A's and our friend E when we had lunch together last week. This sculpture was right outside the restaurant. The girls & I had a good laugh about these big feet in the grass.

For more bigger than life pics, check out Candid Carrie!

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

Allow me to introduce you to Big A's best friend. His name is White Baby. He is well-loved as you can see. He's more of a dingy, beige baby right now. This particular morning, he was covered in the orange Fruit Loops that Big A doesn't care for in her cereal.

Anyway, back to his name. I get more strange looks from people about this bear's name, which result in my feeling like I need to explain where it comes from. So, let's review.

When Big A started talking, she referred to all of her teddy bears as "babies". When we figured out that she had too many "babies", we started asking her what each one's specific name was. Being incredibly intelligent, she named them based on what color they were. So, we have red baby, blue baby, purple baby, green baby, etc.

White Baby was her absolute favorite (as you can see). She took him everywhere. And so, I have told this story MANY a time when an unsuspecting person asks her what his name is. I don't know if it's because we live in the South, that we get these strange looks, but alas, it's a way of life for us now.

And so, I salute White Baby today on the Fx4. He's brought so much happiness to my girl and I'm hoping that he brings even more in the years to come.

For more Friday Foto Fun, check out Candid Carrie!

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

Little A loves to pose for the camera

Big A shows her gangsta preschooler look

For more Friday Foto Fun, check out Candid Carrie!

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta - Christmas Through the Years

I swore that this year was going to be different.

That I would get the cards out on the 1st of December. (Didn't happen)

That we would get the tree up and decorated on the day after Thanksgiving. (Nope)

That the presents would be purchased and wrapped already. (Yeah, right)

So, let me get away from the holiday madness for a moment and remember some non-stressed times.

Big A's second Christmas. Those spoons and bowls survived until Little A came along. It's amazing how much destruction 2 little girls can heap upon toys.

Little A's 1st Christmas and the last Christmas we had with our original "kids", our dogs. Man, I miss those furballs.

And the Rock City Enchanted Garden of Lights. This display is my favorite one to visit every year. The gingerbread house looks good enough to eat!

Ah, I feel better already. Hope your holiday is a little less maddening today. And for more stress-free fun, check out Candid Carrie!

The Anniversary Recap: The Fx4 Edition

Two weekends ago, hubby & I celebrated 12 years of marriage. It's so hard to believe that we've already been married for more than a decade. To celebrate this milestone, we left the kids at home with a team of sitters, while we drove south to Hot-lanta for 24 hours of kid-free fun.

After some quick outlet shopping, we enjoyed a lovely lunch at Maggiano's. You might recognize the decor from a certain blogging conference that occurred recently. It is in fact the same place. Hubby actually asked if he was violating some blogging covenant by joining me here. What's really funny is that we had the same waiter and I'm pretty sure he recognized me. Of course, I didn't leave as much as a lasting impression on him as Lula did.

After lunch, we picked up some Godiva chocolate for dessert and then played video games for a couple of hours at Dave & Busters. That was a blast! We're pretty competitive and got into some serious air hockey and basketball championships.

After wearing ourselves out with video games, we checked into the hotel. This was waiting for me when I opened the door to the room.

Nothing says romance like a dozen roses and chilled champagne!

We changed and made our way to the dinner destination. It was another exciting visit to Medieval Times! Hubby & I went to one of these places on our honeymoon, so it was neat to re-visit on this special occasion. The place was all decked out for the holidays, which was gorgeous!


We feasted on roasted chicken and potatoes, vegetable soup, garlic bread and apple turnovers. And the show was great as always!

Here we are, the old married couple looking quite dashing in our paper crowns.

For more Friday Foto Madness, check out Candid Carrie's fiesta!

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

These are my little dress up divas. They like to put as many things on from our dress up box as they can. I see 2 budding fashionistas here.

For more foto fun, please check out Candid Carrie who lovingly hosts this fine fiesta every Friday!

A Week of Firsts: The Fx4 Edition

This week was very exciting here, as we had a couple of firsts with Big A. On Tuesday, she had her first "Stay Day" at school, which meant she got to pack her lunch and stay with the big kids until I came to pick her up in the afternoon. (She normally comes home at lunchtime with Little A) Big A had been looking forward to this for a while and I swear, she grew up at least a year in the 2 extra hours that she stayed at school!

The second big event this week was her first trip to the dentist. Her dentist rocks! The staff was WAY cool and super nice and they suggested that I stay out in the waiting room until she got settled. She had a few tears, but she was a champ! Here she is showing off her pretty teeth.

And I must point out that this dentist is a pediatric dentist, which I'm now convinced makes him especially qualified to pick out appropriate goody bags and toys to send his patients home with. According to Big A, he hit it out of the park. This pic shows her new Dora toothbrush and the goody bag full of traditional dental goodies, such as toothpaste and floss, as well as 3 small toys that she's really been enjoying. Oh, and not pictured is the Winnie the Pooh mylar balloon that hasn't left her hand in the last 24 hours. Way to go Dr. B, way to go.

For more Fx4 fun this week, please check out Candid Carrie, who is the best gal I know!

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta - Angie's Birthday Recap

Just in case you missed it last week, I had a birthday. I don't know how you could've missed it because I mentioned it no less than 3,105 times over the last month. But, we'll put that aside.

Ok, I'm seriously just kidding. My birthdays have never really been a big deal because my family really never made a big deal about it. So, I now overcompensate BIG TIME with my kids because I want them to feel important on their day each year. But, that's a post for another day.

Hubby bought me a cookie cake on my actual bday last week and presented it to me after I had a REALLY bad day. Have I ever mentioned my love affair with the Great American Cookie Company? Oh my. It's bad. So bad, that the cake you see below was mostly inhaled by yours truly. Which would explain why my pants are tighter this week. Bleh. Here's me being presented my cake. Yes, those are Mickey Mouse ears on my head.


I'm just thankful that hubby opted for the single digit candles. We would've visited fire danger territory if he had gone another direction. Did I mention how yummy the cake was?

So, last Friday, hubby surprised me with an appointment at my fave local day spa. I was pampered with a massage and other services. It was heavenly. And then he took me out to dinner at a local fave restaurant. It was yummy Italian, followed by ice cream at Coldstone Creamery. (This could also be a contributor to my pants issue this week) We ended the night at a local arcade where hubby kicked my arse at basketball and air hockey. The air hockey was a rematch from last year where I whipped up on him pretty badly. And suffered a pretty nasty cut and bruise on my arm for getting just a bit too wrapped up in my level of play. Did I mention I'm a wee bit competitive? And a sore loser?

It was a lovely birthday! And just for the record, I'm still holding out for a surprise party. Just one. Before I die. Please.

Now, go check out Candid Carrie for more Fx4 entries for this week!

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

Today's entry comes from the book of "Big A is an incredibly bossy big sister".

This was back in June when I showed the girls their new pool for the first time. They were SO excited about our new deck entertainment. Big A (in true big sister form) decided to give Ailey LOTS of direction on the correct form and rules about sliding down into the pool. Little A doesn't even give her lip service most time. She just ignores Big A, which drives her crazy. It's really kind of humorous to observe.

Candid Carrie hosts the Fx4 each week! Go check her out.

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

This week's entries are a trip down memory lane for me. I was cruising through the archives (of pics I have to backup before my poor computer goes to sleep-away camp for a few weeks because of storm damage) and found these little gems.

This is Little A when she was 4 months old. I love trying to imagine what was going through her mind as she looked at this stuffed dog.

And this is Big A when she was just over 2 yrs old. She's always been an artist and a ham for the camera. That smile just cracks me up.

Candid Carrie hosts the Fx4 every week. Check out her awesome blog and the other participants.