Egghead

I originally planned to title this post "The Newest Member of Our Family"...but that seems somewhat inappropriate considering I'm writing about our new grill and not Baby D! :)

My mother & I took a trip to Atlanta back in October, and while we were there, we visited the Big Green Egg Factory store. One of her patients told her that the factory store sold re-furbished Eggs and she wanted to check them out. I had no intention of buying anything, I was just along for the ride. They didn't have any of the re-furbished grills in the store that day, but we looked around anyway and sampled some of the food they were cooking (which smelled/looked/tasted delicious)!



There must be something about me that screams "sucker" to salespeople, because before I realized what was happening I was at the cash register paying for a new grill with all the accessories. The salesman convinced me that this would be the perfect Christmas gift for my husband. He made a comment that the grill would benefit me most because I wouldn't have to cook as much. SOLD!! {Sidenote that we really needed a new grill -- we hauled our grill down to our tailgating spot for the last football game and it all but fell apart during the ride to & fro. It was one of our first purchases as a married couple, $120 from the scratch & dent section at Lowe's 7 years ago. It had seen better days.}



It wasn't until later that I started questioning my decision...our old grill was gas, would Graem really want a charcoal grill? Not to mention we don't usually give each other big ticket Christmas gifts. And how in the world would I hide the thing from him for 2+ months? And what if he decided to replace our old grill before Christmas?? I found reassurance in my decision by reminding myself about a comment that a friend of ours made to his wife on the day he got his BGE...he told her it was the best day of his life. Strong words!

All of those things worked themselves out, I think Graem figured out at some point that I had gotten him a new grill, but I don't think he knew it was a BGE. At least he acted surprised. :) Thankfully he doesn't refer to Christmas Day 2011 as the best day of his life, but he has admitted that its hands-down his favorite gift ever and that I should never try to "top" it because that would be impossible.

And I have to admit that the salesman was right when he told me that I wouldn't have to cook as much, considering Graem is pretty much obsessed with the BGE. He cooks something on it every weekend and at least once during the week. So far he has made ribs {twice}, steaks several times, burgers, a pizza, pulled pork {twice}, pork loin {twice}, several different chicken recipes, and even a chicken pot pie! I had planned to make chicken pot pie one night and he said he would like to try cooking it on the Egg, since you can use it as a convection oven. It turned out really good! They claim you can bake a cake on it...I don't understand why you would do that but I'm pretty sure my husband will try it at some point.

Everything has turned out good...but the ribs & pulled pork are the BEST -- better than I've ever eaten in a restaurant. And the pork loin he makes with a blackberry sauce is one of my favorites. The steaks have been good too...of course being pregnant I haven't been able to enjoy mine medium rare, so that is something I'm looking forward to after Baby Duncan makes his arrival!



One of the delicious side dishes he prepared for us this weekend: prosciutto wrapped asparagus, to go with the pulled pork and ribs. {A little heavy on the pig during that meal, but at least we had something green, right?}

One More Thing...

...I meant to write about this in my earlier post. Have any of you heard of or read The China Study?



I haven't read the book (yet) but I've been told that it's been known to turn folks into vegetarians. My carnivorous husband is currently reading it. I once prepared a meatless dinner and Graem commented that it "looked like a good appetizer." In his mind its not a meal if it doesn't include meat! This should be interesting!

Knoxville

It seems like forever ago, but weekend before last Graem and I headed up to Knoxville for the Carolina game. I won't bore you with all the details of the weekend...details would mean that I would spend most of this post complaining, and I know yall don't want to read that! Instead, here's a quick recap:

Knoxville is nice, especially if you like hills (they don't call it rocky top for nothing).

Neyland Stadium is the pits (this is where my complaining could get really out of hand...suffice it to say that I'm thankful that rocky top is not home sweet home to me!).

We won (yay!).

I ended up sick on Sunday, and I'm still not entirely sure if it was a reoccurence of really bad morning sickness, or we overdid it on Saturday, or I picked up a GI bug.

The leaves on the drive up and drive back were beautiful.



Tailgating on the water looks like fun!


We tailgated most of the day with our friend Blake, who works for Colonial Life in Nashville. This picture of Graem and Blake cracks me up...


All in all, it was a nice little getaway and I know the boys were glad we took a trip, because they had a blast with my parents at the farm. We try to do one away game each year and I'm glad we went to Tennessee this year, but its not at the top of my list for future trips! The ironic thing is that Vanderbilt, also in Tennessee, might just be my favorite road trip for a game!

Weekend Recap

We kicked off the weekend with my nephew's 2nd birthday party on Friday night, and then my mom and I took off to Atlanta for a women's retreat. We rolled into Atlanta late Friday night, and on Saturday had a packed day of seminars, shopping, eating out, and even managed to watch a movie! Even though we go to different churches, they are part of the same denomination, and this retreat was for women in the PCA. We didn't realize what a big deal the conference was -- there were over 2,000 women there! I even ran into a good friend that I grew up with!

It was so nice to spend time with my mom, just the two of us. Sometimes it makes me feel old that I'm actually friends with my mom (ha!). Sunday morning we had a worship service, then more shopping, followed by more eating...and then we headed back to Laurens for my grandmother's 87th birthday celebration (and Kate's 20th birthday celebration!).

I can count on one hand the number of times I have left the boys at home with Graem for a weekend. He is a great father, but we all know that sometimes dads can miss details that mothers are particular about. So Sunday morning I asked Graem to send me a picture of the boys dressed for church. Before I left I laid out church clothes for them, but he insisted that he could manage. He sent me this picture...



I have to admit he did pretty good. :) Although I can't tell if it was just windy or if he didn't brush their hair? Anyway, the picture was preceded with this text (keep in mind that Sunday mornings are always hectic & we make a mad dash to get to Sunday School by 9:30):
"I don't know what to do with all this time. Read the paper cover to cover. Both boys dressed, fed & ready to walk out door for church. Don't know how I've done this! Love you!"

Sounds like he's ready to handle 3, don't you agree? :)

Happenings

I have been itching to update my blog this week but have had a hard time coming up with a subject. I scrolled through my camera looking for new pictures...and the only new ones I have are from work. While I have appraised some really interesting properties in the past few weeks, I realize y'all don't want to read about them. :) So...I thought I would do a general update on what has been going on here, sans pictures.

Mason is thoroughly enjoying his new age of 4. He announces to random strangers that he is 4, with such pride in his voice. He has told me that he is now an adult (ha). He is doing well in his pre-school class this year; he loves to tell me all about his buddies in class. I think the highlight of each preschool day is the playground -- they either go to the "big kid" playground or the "little kid" playground. He has also been meeting with a speech therapist once a week for the past six weeks and he adores her. We have seen lots of improvement with his speech. Soccer is going *okay*...he says he would rather get to tackle like they do in football.

Roper has to have a minor outpatient surgery next week for a hydrocele. So if you want to know what it is, you will have to click the link because it makes me uncomfortable...or I can just tell you that it involves his private parts...and if he ever reads this later in life I'm sure he'll be humiliated. Other than that, he is doing well and is also loving pre-school. He is so sad on the days we drop off Mason and he doesn't get to stay.

New Baby is giving me fits, but its getting better. :) My first 2 pregnancies were so easy...now I have seen the other side. The nausea has subsided a little but I still have a terrible metallic taste in my mouth and have had some killer headaches that last for days on end. I had an ultrasound last week but it was too early to tell if the baby is a boy or a girl. So...I'll have to be patient and wait for my next ultrasound on November 10...which seems forever away!

Graem & I are doing well too...we are taking a class at our church on Wednesday nights by Paul Tripp, "Getting to the Heart of Parenting." It is reinforcing so many things that we know about parenting, but it is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and routine that we kind of forget about them from day-to-day. The most important thing I've taken away so far is that for your children's behavior to truly change you have to get to their heart. The concept is straight from Scripture -- "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." Matthew 12:34. I correct my children all the time when it comes to behavior, but how often do I use those opportunities to minister to them and teach them about grace?

So hopefully this post in all black and white wasn't too boring. :) I promise to post new pictures soon.

Happy Birthday to...

...a father that knows how to have a good time...




...a man that after 10 years together I enjoy spending time with more than ever...


...the "captain" of our family...


Thank you, Graem, for being the best husband a girl could ask for and for being our boys' hero!

I love you.