Thanks Mom and Dad!

My parents are on their way this very minute to stay with us for the weekend. Today I'm grateful for them-they are wonderful grandparents and are going to brave it tomorrow evening and watch the kiddos while we go to Dan's company Christmas party. We are so glad that we moved to be closer to family...it's been nice for Harrison to know his grandparents so much more and for Brady and Jack too! Thanks Mom and Dad. There will be Sweet Corn Bisque with Crab waiting when you get here!

Grateful Day 4

Today I am grateful for the wonderful healthcare policy that Dan has through his company. We recently found out that Brady's surgery was $18,000 and we didn't pay a dime for it. We only paid $150 for delivery of Harrison as well as the twins. It also covered 100% of the fertility treatments we went through including IUI's (6 of those), IVF (1 of those) and all ultrasounds, testing, monitoring, injectible meds, not to mention the injectibles I was on during pregnancy which cost about $700 a month-for 9 months...I am so grateful that we have really great healthcare because I know there are people that don't have any at all. I think it's a travesty...but that's a discussion for another day.

Beautiful City

Today I'm grateful for the beautiful city I live in. It's full of history and southern charm. Everytime I'm downtown I feel so happy that we moved here. It really is wonderful here....

Grateful Challenge Day 2

Today I am grateful for my health. I ran 3 miles this morning and could have gone more...I am grateful that I try to take good care of myself to be a good role model for my children. That's it...short and sweet!

Christmas Music...anyone?

I LOVE me some Christmas music. For those of you who have XM, they are playing 4 stations with Christmas music....there's a classical station, traditional station, jazzy station and somewhat country one. I'm in Heaven everytime I get into the car. The music just puts me in the best mood.

Our house is almost decorated. The tree is up with lights, just not decorated yet. For some reason, it makes me not want to leave the house when it's all decorated. I'm such a nester though. I do, however keep looking for areas to decorate...hmmm.

Quite a busy week here. This morning I took the twins for their second flu shot-they were great. We headed to Target for lighted garland, of course all was sold.

This Saturday night we have Dan's work party at The Francis Marion Hotel downtown. I'm so excited for a night out of dinner and dancing. I love an excuse to dress up. I am wearing this dress in black.

I also have an appointment to get my haircut on Saturday. I'm REALLY thinking of going bold this time. I'm so tired of my same hairstyle. I was thinking of growing it out for "Locks for Love", but the length is already bothering me. I know I've said I was going to do it before...but this time I might really do it. Everytime I see a picture of "the Katie Holmes do" I say to myself, that's how I want it. I'm really inspired by this picture.

On the otherhand, I do have red hair and I can visualize myself with LONG, RED hair. Think Julianne Moore...in this picture.

Oh the things we women go through...I know, I know, cut it-it's only hair...but then again it's MY hair. Thoughts?

Thanksgiving Recap and Grateful Challenge

Today begins my "30 days of Gratefulness"....First of all, Thanksgiving was wonderful, of course I ate way too much and my sweet Harrison hardly ate anything...except for a piece of pumpkin cheesecake. The picky eater is even pickier these days...I'm about to pull my hair out. Go figure that he loves dill havarti cheese. Found that out yesterday...maybe he's got a sophisticated palate.

The race was great! There were over 4,000 runners. It was a cool and crisp morning and a very spirited crowd. Finished my best time ever, just over 26 minutes. Not stellar, but my best time for a 5K. Had to rush home afterwards, shower and make it to my sister's for the Thanksgiving feast.

We watched the big game, Clemson vs. Carolina, on Saturday night and I made the Spaghetti Bolognese from the Williams-Sonoma catalog. It was pretty good-my niece had 2 helpings, my picky eater ate none....It was definitely a nail-biter of a game, but thank goodness we pulled it through and got the bragging rights back yet AGAIN!

So, here's to Day 1 of my Grateful Challenge...Of course I am so very grateful for my beautiful family. I honestly never could have dreamed that I would be a mother of 3 little adorable boys. My cup is overflowing with blessings. I am so grateful that I have 3 healthy children and an amazing, supportive husband.

Gobble Wobble 2007

Tomorrow morning I'm running the 2007 Turkey Day Run or "Gobble Wobble" downtown. I love turkey trots, they are always so fun! After that we are headed to my sister's for our Thanksgiving feast. My contributions are Pecan Cheesecake Pie (from this month's Southern Living), sweet potato casserole, scalloped corn and cranberry-pear bellini's. Here's wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

I guess I'm a ROCK STAR!

Last week my sweet husband was in San Diego for 4 whole days...(he doesn't like me to announce that he's gone until he's back at home). My mom came for the first night, but the rest of the week I was on my own with the children...all 3 of them. I never, ever thought I'd be able to handle it on my own, but I survived! However, by Friday night I was officially done. Dan could not have gotten home fast enough. It made me realize what a great helper he is around the house and we definitely missed him. I am so grateful for my sweet husband and wonderful family. Thanks for all you do Dan-and thanks Mom for coming over and helping out so I could take Brady to the doctor.

Starting on Thanksgiving, I'm going to start my "Grateful Challenge" until Christmas. I saw the idea on another blog. So between Thanksgiving and Christmas I will be expressing everything that I'm grateful for, even the small things...

I love girl time!

Last night was our first official Supper Club-it was so much fun! I must admit I love girl time and it was definitely much needed...Last night the hostess served a breaded chicken breast with a mushroom and apricot glaze-it was delicious. Everyone else provided appetizers, sides, dessert and beverages. There are 12 of us in the group, so each person hosts once a year. How nice is that? The food and conversation were wonderful, too. This supper club is women only, but I know that Dan would love for us to start up a couples one like we had in VA-I miss it so much!!!

Next month I'm hosting Supper Club and am contemplating a Fig and Blue-Cheese stuffed pork tenderloin...along with Merry Margaritas (from Southern Living Nov 2004) or Peppermint Martinis-I can taste it already!

Going down memory lane...

Just looking back in time a little (9 months ago)...it really can't get any sweeter than this for me.

I feel one step ahead of the game...

We have had so much going on around here that I decided the day after Halloween to order our Christmas cards. Last year around this time, we were packing up our house, moving to Charleston, I was 25 weeks pregnant with twins and had completely forgotten about the cards until mid-December when we were not even really settled-GASP! So this year, I've decided, even though my plate is overflowing with three small (but beautiful) boys, that I will stay ahead of the game. I ordered the cutest, sweetest cards from Tiny Prints.com, googled a code for them, found one and got them on sale with free shipping. The ones I got are above...how sweet are they? My friend took some photos of us this fall...so those are the ones I'm using. It also allows space for 2 more pictures when you open the card. I figured using those pics would be the easiest thing, and there's even one of all 5 of us smiling and looking at the camera. Believe me, that doesn't happen very often.

Sweet Little Brady

Brady is doing really well despite being in surgery for 2.5 hours on Friday. He is really a trooper! I know if an adult had this surgery, they would be laid up for days. Babies are really resilient little people. I feel relieved that we have this behind us and can recover from here. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers....it meant a lot!

How could he NOT like Clemson?

All of his life, Harrison has lived and breathed Clemson Tigers. He can recognize a Tiger Paw a mile away. Every Saturday the entire Magnolia family dons their Clemson wear. Last Saturday Harrison put on his Clemson sweatshirt and decided that he didn't want to wear it and wear his non-Clemson blue shirt instead. He was whining and whining about how he didn't want to wear it....blah, blah, blah....then we heard him say, "I don't like the Clemson Tigers." Dan and I both looked at each other devastated and told him "we do not say things like that in this house". It got me thinking....what if he decides that one day he does not want to go to Clemson....oh my, I never thought of that and to make it worse, what if he decides that one day he wants to go to the University of South Carolina???? What ever would we do?..... :)

Love at first sip...

Hot chocolate at home really doesn't get better than this. I drank some of this the other night and was in chocolate heaven. It's definitely on my list of favorite cold weather things...

where have I been?

We've been pretty busy here at the magnolia household...one of the twins, Brady, is having minor surgery this week....he's fine-it's something that has to be repaired (we knew since he was born that it was going to happen and it does involve his male part). Still, I find myself worrying about the fact that my 9 month old is about to undergo surgery.

It seems like we've all had various appointments lately....dentist, flu shots, Brady's consultations, pre-op appts...when you have 3 kids and a dog, someone is always going to the doctor or vet.

We went to an oyster roast at Bowen's Island this weekend sponsored by the Jr Woman's Club, which I am a member of. It was a beautiful day and all for a great cause. I enjoy volunteering and being involved with the community and feel that it makes me a better mom.

Not much else going on. Maybe I'll get inspired later. I'm just finding myself preoccupied with Brady's surgery. Everyone please keep my little one in your thoughts this week...his surgery is this Friday.

Too smock or not?

I love the look of smocked clothing on little babies. The twins are wearing a similar outfit like this for Christmas. When we lived in Northern VA, you rarely saw babies wearing smocked outfits. I think it's a southern thing. I think it's so adorable on a baby though. We have a rule in our house (because Dan thinks they look feminine) that absolutely no smocking after age 1...well I don't have much time left. They'll be 9 months old in a few days...so giddy-up and wear out the smocking while I can. They're only little babies once!

Can you survive on pumpkin bars?

A couple of days ago I wrote about the pumpkin bars I made. Well, you can find the recipe for them here. They're from the Penzey's Spice Catalog, which is one of my favorite places to get spices. I could seriously live on those things. My husband thinks the Brown Butter Icing is too sweet, but I.love.it!!

The boys had a great time last night trick or treating. Jack fell asleep in the stroller while Dan took Harrison trick or treating and Brady just took in the sights. It was the cutest thing...Dan and I agreed it was the best Halloween yet because we finally live in a COOL neighborhood where the parents get involved too! We only had about 15 or so pieces of candy left, so that was great! The caramel appletini's were yummy too-I definitely recommend them. They would be good for a Thanksgiving or Christmas cocktail.