McDonald's anyone?

So, those of you who know me well know that a HUGE part of me seeks the most natural route in all of my endeavors....especially when it concerns diet and nutrition. Read more for a good laugh.
Here is the scenario:
Yana (my mom), Garrett and I (Jill) have been on the road traveling back from Dallas, TX since around 12pm on Sunday. As we are driving, my brother, Kenneth, calls to ask mom her recipe for Country Fried Steak. As I listened to her detail each step in this southern recipe, my mouth began to salivate (it doesn't take much these days) as I am now tasting steak, creamed potatoes, purple hull peas and mom's home-made biscuits, complete with gravy. Yes, I believe in moderation...still love my mom's home cooking!!!
When the call ended, we decided to stop at Cracker Barrell for steak and biscuits outside of Little Rock. As we neared the city around 6pm, we saw two Cracker Barrells but decided that we'd wait until we got to the other side of Little Rock b/c we knew gas was much cheaper there ($2.00/ gallon versus $2.49/ gallon). Being a huge Cracker Barrell fan, I have this handy little map that tells you where EVERY Cracker Barrell in the country is located. Mom notes that there is one at Exit 165 and we need to take exit 143....what's a few miles for biscuits and gravy, right?! So, we near a fork in the road (I30) where right is I40 (the way we need to go home) and left says 'Exit 163/ Jacksonville'. We decide to go left b/c exit 165 shoud be really close...not so much!!!!! The next exit is 1 ; yes, you read that right - number 1 !! We decide to drive a while just to see if we should happen upon a Cracker Barrell. 15 miles later, we are back in Cabot, AR where we had been Thurs. evening when visiting my Aunt Shelia. We laugh and pull over for our cheap gasoline. I give the clerk our cash and proceed to pump our cheap gas when mom walks up and asks why I am getting the "plus" gas!!!! WHAT???!!! It's a trick, a conspiracy against all those habitual people like me who just reach for the pump on the far left!! I thought every pump was the same!! So, we ended up driving 15 miles out of the way, getting gas for $2.29/ gallon and here's the kicker.....eating at MCDONALD'S!!! Our two choices were Burger King or McDonald's....tough choice, right?! Doesn't McDonald's serve "real chicken" now? Yeah. Ok, let's split a 5 piece chicken finger meal and we'll eat some good food at Katie's when we get there.
So, we get the bag and off we go....on a back road, might I add. Delirious at this point, we had a blast and drove to Memphis to stn with my cousin, Katie Harlowe, and her sweet family. Monday, I wanted to shop in Memphis, but I felt horribly nauseous. When I finally picked myself off the couch and got in the car at 5pm, I was ready to crawl up in the fetal position!!! Just outside of Memphis, I pulled over to entertain rush hour traffic with a hurling session while G is in the back crying and wondering where his mommy went. I almost survive the rest of the short hour trip home, when I see the first exit to Jackson and here it comes again...no pulling over now. Thanks to Kroger for the plastic bag! I know, TMI!!! I confirmed my assumption that is WAS the chicken when I confirmed with mom that she, too, is sick!! Food poisoning is NO FUN!!! Isn't it ironic that my first experience would be with McDonald's?!! My husband laughed...but not after taking excellent care of me!! Thanks for the chicken soup and sweet loving!! You are the best husband!!!!!! I'm not 100 percent yet, but feeling much better tonight and enjoyed a small meal.

May you and yours NEVER eat at this horrible place again!!! We joke all the time about never feeding our kids this....we are serious!! No thank-you, Ronald.
BEFORE:
AFTER:


May you all boycott McDonald's ....if not for me, for your own health!!!

we love cars, oh yes we do!....sort of!

As most of you know, whenever you buy a used or highly used vehicle for a very good price, you will definitely pay the price later....or in our case, constantly! We are so blessed to say that we do not have a car payment and are even more blessed to have such amazingly talented friends who help take that $1000, $500 and $200 quote way down! We now don't mind that we have more than doubled the cost of our used car with repairs! It's just becoming more efficient!

Last night, our good friend, Daniel Cone, worked on our car for us and we are MORE THAN GRATEFUL for his service and for sacrificing 6 hours of his evening to repair our car that needs a "new something" most of the time. By this time next year, we will have replaced most of it's working components under the hood and I'm not complaining either! Our little Toyota can carry all four of us until she is ready to turn in!!
(As I later found out...these hands got much greasier!!!)
Chris and I marvel at Daniel's expertise in automobiles!! He just kept finding things that looked really bad in his professional opinion, so, of course, we agree and let him do his job! It was fun to see Chris communicating with Daniel through signing and to see Daniel teaching Chris all about our car! THANK YOU, DANIEL!!!!!!

G and I mostly stayed out of the way, but for a short while we watched, listened, and well- played with side walk chalk!!

I think she'll definitely be more efficient and reliable to get us to Dallas and back! New tires will have to be soon....sounds like a good Christmas gift to one another! :)

On the Road Again...Just can't wait to get on the road again!

It's 2pm here in Jackson, TN. G is napping peacefully while I run around the house and get everything baked, packed, and cleaned! G and I are going to Dallas, TX with Yana to Aunt Jennie's wedding shower and to stay with Uncle Hugh and family! We are excited....and a little exhausted. After such a busy 2 1/2 wks on the road with a trip to Tupelo, Yana coming to Jackson for our wkend date, a trip to Indiana, and now off to Dallas, we are going to need some much needed sleep next week.

Thank you to everyone who continues to pray traveling mercies over us. We appreciate you! Know that you are loved! And thanks to all we have visited and will visit....we love each of you so much and are so thankful to be able to visit you!

I'll update the last several weeks when we get home next week. Be ready to share in all of our adventures!

Nacho's, Anyone?

This isn't the way that I intended to get a new toaster oven.....I promise!!!!!
YES, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU THINK IT IS......REALLY TOASTED CHIPS AND CHEESE!

FYI: putting the toaster oven on Broil and walking away is NOT a good idea!!!
It was a pretty amazing fire....I should have kept it going until I got some S'MORES cooked! HA!! I'm thankful that the fire was contained in the oven; I just moved it to the porch and one glass of water was all it took!

Thankfully, G is taking a nap and so only I get to inhale the smoke! oops!!!!!!! Pray over that sweet baby!!!

So, while I was "waiting" on my nachos to get done, I was here on the computer reading our friend's blog about their current adoption of Molly from Korea. You must read it; so touching!!! You can keep up with them by clicking here. Jen and Chris will be traveling home soon with Molly. They are such a precious family and attest to God's will in their lives with every blog.

Guess I'm not having nachos for lunch....maybe a P & B sandwich is best.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BAILEY!!

We hope your day is filled with fun and laughter!! We are celebrating you here and can't wait to see you in a couple of days!!!!

We love you, Bay!!!!!!!

Play Gui-ta-rr, Play Gui-tar!!!

My boys love their guitars!! And, I (mommy) love their entertainment!! Here they are singing the famous "lawn-mower" song (written by, none other than, Little G) while entertaining me and Yana!!!

As you can see, G's bat serves two great purposes:
1. hitting baseballs
2. morphing into a gui-tar.


Thank you for entertaining me!!

Young Fun!!!

Wednesday mommy and I had the privilege of staying with Hendrick and Davis Young while Amy, Mike, and Maegli went to Vanderbilt for Burke's surgery on his hand. We got up and started rolling out the door around 7:15 am, which is pretty early for mommy and me.
The sun was pretty bright, so I kept closing and covering my eyes....not the greatest way to awaken!

We were greeted by Mr. Mike, Mrs. Amy, Maegli and sweet Burke. Just after arriving, Hendrick came running downstairs excited that I had come to play! Then Davis awoke, a little shy at first. We started our day with cheerios, banana, and milk (I had water), I even sat at the table in a big boy booster seat. It was cool outside so we waited to go outside until it became warmer. We had plenty of fun toys and three imaginations with which to play inside. In fact, I really enjoyed getting into the dog's crate and playing!! The dogs were outside so they didn't seem to mind.
Around 10 am, we set out for our adventures around the "rainforest" per Hendrick's leading.It was a lot of fun running through the forest looking for bark and fossils, too.Here, Hendrick is showing us the bark he found!!
I thought it was too fun when one of their dogs jumped up on me when I walked past her.We played on the swings, slide, boat, and wagon without abandon!Here is a pic of Davis and me swinging. Davis really likes to be pushed high!!! I was so big that I kept pointing for mommy to stand in front of me, not behind me. And I certainly did not need her to push me!! I even swayed my body back and forth like this to swing on my own.....so big!!! I also REPEATEDLY climbed the large wooden swing set on my own to slide down the big, bumpy slide where I often became airborne at the bottom....wee!!!! The Youngs have a lake in their backyard, so we walked down to it to look for tadpoles and watch the fishermen. Here, we took a quick break to sit inside the boat. Hendrick found a very small, dead turtle in there...poor little guy. He must have gotten stuck in there somehow...short life. Our adventures outside were lots of fun. We ate our delicious PB&J sandwiches for lunch and had fun drawing, reading, and playing until naptime when ALL of us (even mommy) needed a nap!! What a fun filled day! Mommy cooked some oven fried chicken, purple hull peas (thanks to Mimi & G'daddy), rice and bread for dinner. The Youngs arrived around 5:00pm and daddy joined us around 6:15pm for dinner. What great fun we had!!

Thank you, Youngs, for letting us serve you!! We are so thankful that Burke's surgery went well and we will continue to pray for his recovery. You all can check updates at the Youngs blog.

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday was a fun and busy day for all of us! Daddy went "social campaigning" with our good friend, Lowe Finney, who is one of our TN State Senators. They left the house really early to eat pancakes with the friendly folk of Vale, TN (not sure of the spelling or even where this town is located - somewhere in this vincity ) and stopped at Huntingdon Heritage festival before returning to Jackson to meet us for lunch. Daddy really enjoyed learning more about the ins and outs of politics and, of course, eating some great food! Thanks, Lowe! While the men were gone, mommy, Aunt Tiffany (mommy's good friend & Lowe's wife), and I went to the local Farmer's Market where we selected some good looking eggplants, tomatos, squash, a watermelon, daddy's favorite sesame oat snacks from our Amish friends, and some beautiful Mums for the porch! Then we ate at a new Mexican restaurant, El Rodeo, just across the street from the market. What a fun morning!!!

Then it was time to pick out some pumpkins. Mommy, daddy, and I met our good friends: Jason, Carly, and baby Andi ("Ann-ee") at the Green Acres Farm in Milan, TN. We had so much fun picking out our pumkins and gourds. Andi and I rode in the wagons around the farm while our parents searched for the best pumpkins
.Andi: "mmmm, this is tasty!!!", G: "you know, pumkins are full of potassium and vitamins C and A! Plus, the seeds are really yummy!!!"
still tasting that pumpkin!! cheese, guys!!!
ok, no more pics, please!!!

There were a lot of people there and I, (Garrett), had so much fun watching all the other little boys there. Just before leaving, while daddy was putting the pumpkins in the trunk, I spotted my baseball and glove. So, we got it out and played for a while there with the ball and glove!! It was fun to be outside and I love to play with my daddy!!! We stopped by the Staders house on the way home to watch a little football and finally back home for a late nap! Whew!! Uncle Scott came over later to bring us yummy Italian dinner!! What a fun day!!! Thanks to the Fitts for joining us!!! We had a blast!
Carly, Jason and Andi Fitts

Isn't Andi a doll?!!!!! WE love her....and her parents too!!!

Aren't they just the cutest?!!!

I just received some new pics of my precious cousins, Delaney and Bailey, as representatives of Little Miss Chautauqua in the Dugger Parade. Bailey is wearing the crown in the middle and Delaney is to the right of Bailey! So precious. I can't wait to play with them reallyl soon!! Love you and miss you, cousins!!!!

New Hair

So, last week, mommy and I decided it was time for a change.

Here's our before and after shots:

BEFORE:
AFTER:

Do you like my hair cut by mommy?
BEFORE: AFTER:

So, this is the new "us." Thanks for caring!!!

One Year Ago today....

Oh my, G has grown so much in the last year....well, ok, maybe not a whole lot physically, but he is changing all the time!!

Currently, G enjoys:
1. jumping & running
2. "dawin' (drawing),"
3. hats (esp. when he and daddy wear their hats at the same time
4. moving everything from one spot to the next - lots of organizing and "toting" as they say down in MS
5. wearing shoes that look like daddy's
6. singing his own songs ("lawnmower," "baseball") Yes, his bat doubles as a bat and a microphone
7. telling us very interesting stories complete with sound effects and lots of expression through voice and body!
8. "hop hop" - his video...yes, you all heard me right! I'm letting him watch a video ....but only 20 min. a day some days a wk!! Ah - what is happening to me??!! HELP!!
9. UNfolding clean laundry (he likes to put it away for mommy)
10. handing us various items like paper and then telling us what it says on the paper (no, we don't comprehend most of his words)
11. counting (yes, last night he did repeat every number from one to ten after daddy) he usually just counts in his own little language using the same inflection that we use.
12. walking around with the phone in his hand talking to his imaginary friends
13. playing various things on the screened porch (our fav. place to be this time of the year....other than in the mtns!!!! )
14. playing soccer or baseball with daddy in the house
15. "dawing" on the office wall (just got some chalk board paint for that area....gotta encourage his creativity!)
16. jogging in the jogger for no more than 4 miles!! this makes long runs impossible!!!
17. putting various items in his pants/ short pockets
18. fresh and dried fruit but not vegs! I hide them in spaghetti!
19. cuddling with his mommy, of course!
20. babies....very interested in babies everywhere since we came home from being with cousin Kelso.
21. Uncle Jay!! (he cried last wk when Jay was going to Wal-Mart so Uncle Jay took him along!)
22. did I mention lawn-mower!!!!??? (thank you, Yana, for the new riding digger)
23. "out" - being outside, no matter how hot it is...thankfully it is getting cooler!
24. practices pitching the baseball, running the bases and even slides!!
25. this past wkend, he and daddy watched football with Uncle Scott and imitated getting into starting position and also getting tackled....too funny!!
26. playing with his buddies at church
27. "choo-choos" (thank you, Yana, for the new wooden train set!)
28. riding in the decorative wagon that Mimi gave to us for the porch (no flowers are in it yet, G likes me to pull him and his things in it! guess we'll have to get a real one soon!)
29. reading books to mommy and daddy - simply adorable!
30. visits to the library - esp. when they have story time!!!
31. sitting on the "paani" (potty/ toilet) - with an occasional pee or poop!

I'll think of more and post it later!! I have to go to bed...Jenni will be here in the morning to lift weights!! Good night! Hope you enjoyed!

Sorry for all the baby talk in this video; I'm not sure how to add music yet....need some help in that area!!!!

lawnmower song

this word, "lawnmower," has been a favorite of G's since early June. Daddy taught him this word just before we left for Sewanee and everything, I mean EVERYTHING that has a motor is termed "lawnmower" even though he used to say "trucks and cars." Sometimes we get the sign for truck and even more rarely do we here him say "car" now. He really likes to tell everyone he meets about lawnmowers!! So cute!! I have attempted to video his song. You'll have to listen closely b/c our sd card doesn't contain enough memory to get long videos (I know mom and AK - we'll buy a larger card....eventually!!!) Notice that daddy is playing guitar in the background of one of these movies. This has become almost a nightly ritual for daddy and G. The louder daddy sings his song, the louder G sings lawnmower complete in various tones!! Enjoy these until I get a new card!!!

Baby Kelso is finally here!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO AK & JAY JACKSON AND TO BIG SIS, KAITLYN!!

We had the privilege of being with AK during her labor and helped welcome Kelso into our world. He arrived Sept. 4, 2008 at 9:15pm weighing 9 lbs. 2 oz. and was 20 inches. Aunt Anna (AK) is healing from the delivery and covets your prayers. Kelso is eating well and getting to know his new world. Daddy Jay is working hard to provide for his family and enjoying every minute with his bride and their new arrival! Kaitlyn is adoring her little brother and offers to change all the diapers! What more could one ask for? Thank you for letting us serve you! We enjoyed every minute...even the late nights and early mornings! We look forward to watching you grow and getting to know you better, Kelso!

JUST BEFORE BIRTH:

SOON AFTER BIRTH:


PRAISE JESUS FOR A HEALTHY BABY BOY, JAMES "KELSO" JACKSON!
Just look at this face - he is very expressive!

PROUD YANA WITH HER TWO OF HER THREE GRANDS!!

PROUD GREAT GRANDPARENTS, MIMI & GRANDDADDY KELSO

KELSO WITH HIS BIG SIS, CAITLYN


We love you all four!!! Thank you for inviting us to share in this special time with you!