Thanksgiving - Pictures in Profile

Last Sunday, The Man Beast's people came for an early Thanksgiving feast. It wasn't done on purpose...but [almost] everybody got his or her picture taken - as a (semi) profile!






Until next time...

Iva Follows Suit

I read Linda's post and she read Sparky's. So I'm assuming that since I read, I have to participate. (Not really - I just like talking about myself)

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes, Iva is a family name. I was named after my grandmother. (Iva is also my mother's middle name)

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Day before yesterday - watched that Super Nanny episode where the dad died of stomach cancer (my bff from elementary school died of the very same thing - months before Baby Gurl was born *sob*.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Not so much

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes, three...I mean, two (Man Beast doesn't count...yeah....)

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Maybe

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Nooooooooo

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS. Yes

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Um, not so much, no.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Life

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? When I wear shoes, no. I choose the sans shoe look, tyvm.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I have my moments.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Fudge Brownie

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their teeth

15. RED OR PINK? Red

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My teeth

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Cheap groceries...

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Since I'm blogging, how is that going to work?

19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? None. Wearing some kick-butt white socks, though.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? See's Gourmet Lollipop - butterscotch.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Paid programming

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Red

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Boy sweat, honeysuckle, baby lotion

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Shellbell. She wanted to know what time we were crashing their place.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Again, we're talking blogs here...

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? it's a tie - hockey and reality tv

27. HAIR COLOR? Medium brown. I've grown quite fond of it. It used to be mousy. As I've gotten older, it's gotten darker...and I'm *so* okay with that. (Let's not mention the three gray hairs, k?)

Thanksgiving - Rock Band Style

Thanksgiving Day dawns bright and early for the Turtle Bunch. We venture out to Shoney's for a Thanksgiving breakfast where give our waitress an awesome tip (I pray it blesses her - after all, she did have to put up with us).

After I make the cranberry sauce, we head on to Red and Shellbell's house.

Man Beast drives..
I take pictures...
He looks mad, doesn't he? Or maybe he's tired of Mom snapping the camera in his face every five seconds? It's hard to tell with these preteens. They are so moody.

Baby Gurl - not picking her nose. I think she's picking her teeth. She's playing on her DS. Note the headphones. Do you notice a trend here? Whenever the Turtle Clan venture out together, the two in the back are typically plugged into something electric.
But they come by it naturally...
Here is our XM radio receiver. It is on The Man Beast's leg because he hasn't attached it to our dash. I kind of like it here...

Paybacks are...well, you know...Man Beast decides that I should get a mug shot, too...
I agree and eagerly play along...
No Turtle Outing could be complete without jamming to some tunes. We chose Buffett. Not sure if you can see it, but that's Margaritaville playing...quite loudly, tyvm...


This year was an experiment at Red's house - deep fried ham. Yes, down here in the south, they deep fry turkey. (Ever had it? It's delish!) Well, Papa Bear (Shellbell's papa) decided to try something new...he wanted to fry up a ham. Iva had never even bought a ham...I'm not sure they knew what they were doing when they asked me to buy it! But I did buy it. And he cooked it...


It is totally not burned...it turned out really well. So, next year, if Paula Deen decides to deep fry a ham on her Fried Thanksgiving Special, y'all be sure to remember where you saw it first.

All the Man Beasts (at last count there were four) were gently placed in the Man Cave (aka garage) with a TV, a Playstation 3 and RockBand 2. (What more could a guy want, right?) Observe...
My Man Beast (isn't he handsome...)
Shellbell's Man Beast, Red (Yes, he's sitting down while playing bass guitar. I've never seen a bass guitarist sit down, but hey, if it works for him...work it, Red!)
Shellbell's brother - I think he sat there on purpose...the lighting was horrible! You can barely make him out...but trust me, he was there...playing drums...and singing...


And last (but certainly not least) is Papa Bear...a real bassist. Notice how he's standing up? Red should take notes...
Until next time...

I [heart] DeDe's Donuts

DeDe's Donuts is a local donut shop here in SE GA. Do you see the collage? Let me explain what you're looking at (my apologies to my readers for not having y'all closer so that you could get the full experience of DeDe's).

Picture #1: Those are three filled donuts and two chocolate glazed - in a sweater box! These donuts are larger than my hand...and oh so delish!

Picture #2: Do you see that big honkin' cinnamon roll? My mouth is completely open and still I cannot bite down on the thing until I smoosh it down.

Picture #3: Think back to your childhood. Remember those plastic Tupperware plates? That orange thing in the third picture - it's a plastic Tupperware plate. The cinnamon roll (see Picture #2) practically filled the whole plate.

I've been in my city since Baby Gurl was four years old. For three years, I fought living here. Both the Man Beast and I hated living here. But eventually, the place grew on us. Sure, we have to drive an hour (about 70 miles) in any given direction to get anywhere, but this is where we call home. And we love it.

Of course, it's the local businesses like DeDe's Donuts that help.

Until next time...

A Day at the Park - in Pictures

A Baby Shower

The Kiddos were the youngest guests at the shower. It was a co-ed shower (we're so modern, don'tcha know?)

For reasons that allude me, Baby Gurl was completely fascinated by Best Friend's Mom ceiling fan.

Meet Monster Daddy (he's the cutie on the left). Meet Bean Pole, Monster Mama's baby brother (he's the cutie on the right).

This is the best friend (on the left). Every gal has one, this is Monster Mama's. BTW, Monster Mama is the cutie on the right (there were tons of cuties at the shower).

One, big happy family. Everyone with a doodle on them belongs to Monster Mama (best friend has the pink heart, boyfriend has the red heart). If you look closely, you'll see Baby Gurl in there...somewhere...