Tuesday's with Dorie

Okay I know i'm behind! I have made all of the December selections but just haven't gotten around to post them. When I had time, I didn't have the pictures. Anyways the Real Butterscotch pudding and the Tall Cheesecake were both very good! The pudding went with Curtis to work and I gave the cheesecake to my boss for his bday. The cheesecake went over very well! The pudding got lost in a sea of food but the couple of people said it was good. I was just on the site and realized she doesn't have me registered (even after multiple emails) so I might just not keep up every week!

Fun pics

Not much needs to be said about the cuteness! I will say that he turned 5 months on Monday!

Tuesdays with Dorie

The selection this week is Buttery Jam Cookies gracias a Heather of Randomosity and the Girl. I used Raspberry Jam in mine, which explains the color. They turned out really well! I took them to our 2nd annual bible study cookie swap and forgot to take pics of them! So I was only able to take a picture of the one I managed to bring home. Don't the rest of the cookies look yummy! Have I mentioned I need a new camera? Sorry that it's blurry!

No Babies Were Harmed in this Photo

My, what sharp teeth you have, Allie!

Who knew that if you caught Allie in a yawn that it would create a funny picture? Unfortunately, I guess this only reinforces the stereotype that Dobermans are scary dogs. If you could only see how Allie loves on Jackson.

Tuesday's with Dorie: Sugar Cookies

Well I must say that I've never been a big fan of plain 'ol sugar cookies. That was, however, before I discovered Grandma's all occasion sugar cookies. They were chosen by Ulrike of Küchenlatein. Had I had more time I would have done something more interesting with them but such is life these days! On a side note, I hope to get a new camera this Christmas or soon after so maybe the pictures will look better!
the wierd one has cinnamon sugar on it.


PS The Linzer Sables from last week got a great review at Curtis' office. Thanks guys! I didn't make that many this week and instead froze the dough for later use.

Thanksgiving Trips

We had a busy but fun Thanksgiving! We started out in DC for my dads retirement ceremony. He retired from Active Duty National Guard and got a lot of medals and awards! He is such a hard working guy and a great dad. He's really come a long way in his life and I'm proud of him! Great job dad!

With Great uncle Bill
with Great Aunt Sue

Anyways Jackson went on his first plane ride to go to DC. We upgraded to business class (not business time!) and had a blast! He was really good and slept most of the way. ATL was very accommodating for families and security was much easier than I thought it would be. We were able to take an earlier flight and, Thank you Lord, everything just went super smooth. My friend Julie from my office took me to the airport so that was one less stressor for me and a huge cost savings! Thanks again Julie!
walking to dad's retirement in the cold!
(this is for the Callaways)

with cousins Sharon and Evie
with great grandma!

It was really cold in DC and we had to bundle the man in a snowsuit that is reminiscent of A Christmas Story (it's easy to see it in NYC pics). We went to the newly opened American History Museum and it was a zoo. It was hard to enjoy everything because of the crowds. We'll go back another day! We saw the major monuments and hit the metro back home. It was sooo cold!

The next destination was Philadelphia and West Chester. We got to spend the week with the Callaways and JWC was doted on by more loving grandparents! He's a lucky little boy! He loved Phili! WE went to Independance hall, the Liberty Bell and Reading Market - home of the chocolate dipped cookie! Yummm.

We also got to go to NYC. It was the first time I'd been there in a long time. We walked through the park, saw Times Square and saw ginormus meat sandwiches at Carnigie Deli. We rode the subway and saw ground zero. What a cool city! It would have been better without a baby but it was still fun. The man was good but he didn't have a good night after that so I think he was overloaded. Thanksgiving day we chilled and went to see the Christmas lights at Longwood Gardens. They were beautiful! The trip home was uneventful and it was nice to have an extra set of hands on the plane. Thanks to everyone who helped make our trip great!!
the train to NYC

how to travel in style through Central Park!

Carnegie Deli- where everything was big except for the eating space! We were jammed in there.
cute man!

Tuesday's with Dorie

Okay I'm back! I've missed a couple of weeks on account of having the stomach bug and then going out of town for a week and a half. This week's selection was really good! I dreaded having to work with dough at the beginning but it turned out to be easy and fun! In honor of the season I've used appropriate cookie cutters for this weeks Linzer Sables (good choice Dennis!) and boy are they yummy. At least they taste good because as usual, they don't look too stellar. I tried to make buttons on the gingerbread man but they kept breaking so I took a picture of one! They are the sandwich variety but with no raspberry jam peeking through and I forgot the powdered sugar. Oh well! I'll get the rating from Curtis' office tomorrow!

Belly Laugh

We had a great Thanksgiving and hope that all of our five readers did too. I'm sure that Kristina will make a great post to tell you all about our travels and adventures with our Man.

I couldn't wait to post the clip below, however. Jackson debuted his infectious laugh while in Pennsylvania. I hope that it makes you laugh too.

Man Art

These are the latest art projects from the man! The first is ghosts and the second we are calling bootie pumpkin! They are so cute and we can't wait to see what he'll come up with when he's older!

4 months old

Wow wasn't it just yesterday that I was writing his 3 month old post?! Time flies when you're having fun with such a cute baby! 4 month stats: 17 and a half pounds and I'm not sure how long he is but I'll get that soon!

Well we have been struck with his first, and hopefully his last, ear infection! Let's hope he's more like Curtis and I in this area and less like his aunts, who had a lot of ear infections. He was super sweet for the most part during this sickness and the only way I really knew he was sick is that he wasn't eating as much, which isn't at all like him! When my mom was keeping him he "cried in pain" once or twice for a while and Martha and Warren said he was pulling at his ear a bit. He's now on antibiotics and is on the mend. Please pray that he's over this before we go, by plane, to DC and Phili for Thanksgiving. I can't imagine having his head hurting changing altitudes. That would be tough to deal with! I'm just thankful that we got through the first sickness rather calmly and it wasn't something frantic that we had to rush to the hospital for! Drama free is how we like it in the Callaway household!

On a more fun note, he still hasn't rolled over. How is that fun you ask? He's moved right past that to other things including sitting up. He can pull himself up in a situp when he is propped up on a pillow. He doesn't stay up without toppling over for more than a couple of seconds but it's progress none the less! I know all of you out there that have more than one are shaking your heads and saying "Typical first timers!". Hey, we are easily amused! I think he will walk before he ever rolls over. Here are some pics of the cuteness!

Yesterday we got our first peice of Man art! It was a turkey with his hands and feet and soooo cute! Thanks to Donna for doing that for us. I used to do that kind of thing all the time when I taught preschool but now I know how much it actually means!


Jackson was also dedicated 2 weeks ago! It was so special to have our parents here to celebrate Jackson's dedication to the church. He was so good and everyone loved the hair as usual! He wore Curtis' dedication outfit so it was special!
Here's more cuteness and sorry Warren I don't mean you! It was great having both sets of grandparents stay for a week and keep the man. I know he loved it too!

Happy Birthday, Kristina

No, this isn't becoming a cooking blog, we promise! We just like to give our five readers a little variety, you know?

This is a quick post to send happy birthday wishes to my wonderful wife. She's simply the best at everything: being a wife, a mom, a friend. She's got mad numchuck skills and bow hunting skills. Her laugh is amazing and she laughs at just about everything. She tries to make jokes, and sometimes they're even funny. She's a great cook and doesn't give herself enough credit. She is really good at her job and is doing a good thing to impact the lives of troubled youth in our area. And she puts up with me. Add it all up and you have an amazing woman!

Here is a recent picture of Kris with Jackson. It is much cuter than the Kugelopf!

Tuesday's With Dorie: Kugelopf

Finally I was able to not butcher the look of this week's selection! This is Kugelhoph. No, I can't pronounce it either! I would call it a sweet bread. It's not as tall as the picture in the cookbook but it was good! I sent it to Curtis' office and they seemed to think it was very good. I asked Curtis to get a general rating from everyone but he didn't have it at the time of this post :) Thanks Yolanda of The All-Purpose Girl blog for chosing something that I wouldn't have even bothered with otherwise. It was time consuming for sure but the steps themselves weren't complicated. I love trying new recipes and this was no exception! I'm just glad I had a free weekend to do it and didn't have to be rushed.

Tuesday's with Dorie

Well I have butchered it again! This is Rugulah. While it sounds wierd it's actually very good! It's got rasberry jam, chocolate, and currants in a cream cheese dough. I can blame the ugly state of these on the man. He was either too cute to resist or was fussing last night, so I kept getting distracted and I rushed the presentation. My mom gave them an excellant rating. I am enjoying this group because I never would have made this on my own but I'm glad I did because it was really good.

Victorian Baby, Gel and Talkers

This is the latest talking man! He's doing this a lot now. It seems like he changes every week now and it's really fun to watch!



I know everyone is asking "How could a mother put her man child in something so girly?" Well it's a family heirloom. It was supposed to be his dedication outfit but he's too big for it! It was the baptism dress that my grandfather (dad's dad), my dad and my brother wore. The gown was beautifully done and still in great condition. He looked like a porcelain doll or one of those babies in the scary movies, mainly because he is so pale. We'll have to save it for a future child and do the dedication earlier if he/she is another bohemith! Curtis was not at all upset that it wouldn't work! So he instead is wearing the outfit Curtis wore when he was dedicated, which is another fabulous option! We will start a new tradition.


In this next one Warren put gel in the man's hair! It could not contain the poof!

He is in control!

I encourage you all to hop on over to Trey Kelly's Blog for a quick post about the election next week. He says it much better than I can...I think he should start a chuch! I will post a scripture verse and leave the commentary to him. Please go read what he has to say and prayerfully consider Romans 13:1:

“Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.”

God is always in contol!

Tuesdays with Dorie

Yummmm chocolate cupcakes! I haven't used my cake decorating tips in a while so I had some fun with the frosting! Once again I need to figure out how to take pictures of the food because these look dumb! At least it tastes good! So far this cookbook has been good so I'm recommending it! It's by Dorie Greenspan. These I was able to give to the teachers at First Baptist Preschool so I wasn't tempted by these either - just by the batter last night while baking! Oh that was good batter :)

Tuesday's With Dorie

I have joined this baking group called Tuesday's With Dorie. We bake things from a cookbook by Dorie Greenspan. Here is my first venture. These are Pumpkin muffins. Before you say anything, I know I need to work on presentation and photographing! I made these pumpkin muffins in a pumpkin shaped muffin pan, so I figured that was a start. I did try to arrainge them to look like a pumpkin patch. Oh well, at least they tasted good. So expect weekly entries. I will say that this isn't as good as the recipe I have for pumpkin bread but they were good. Curtis' co-workers seemed to enjoy them! I think I might get them to start rating things for me.

3 Months old

Wow, it's hard to believe the man is 3 months old! It's been so great getting to know him and seeing all the changes as fast as they come. He has been a great baby so far and we anticipate nothing but the best from him! He changes every day it seems. Now he's focusing on things and reaching for and kicking the objects on his play mat. He likes watching the football games and things outside. I realized today though that we don't lay him down flat on his back very much. He's usually in the swing or bumbo seat or with one of us. He can't learn to roll over if he's never on his back! It's been fun seeing him change and it's happening so quickly! What not happening so quickly anymore is my weight loss! I'm right in that awkward stage where maternity clothes are too big but most of my old clothes are a little too small. No one ever tells you that pregnancy will require 3 separate wardrobes before it's over! Oh well - I'll survive!

On a more serious note, there was a bomb that went off yesterday at a law office across the street from the courthouse. I was at one of the high schools when it happened so I didn't hear it. We have a friend who works in that building who, thank God, is okay but it was a super scary situation for everyone. It was a crazy man whom the lawyers had a case against. Somehow that seemed like a good way to remedy the situation and instead he ended up dead. There was one law partner that was burned badly, but no one else was seriously hurt. I feel bad saying it but I'm not sad that he's dead b/c now there is no opportunity for him to be released b/c of some technicality in his case.

Anyways back to cuteness here are more pictures of my big 3 month old, 16 lb 25.5 inch baby!

Yes he really is that white! The flash bounces off that pearly skin! What did anyone expect coming from Curtis and I?!


Those cheeks are awesome!

Watching the Carolina game with Nana!

Mr. Pumpkin. This was supposed to be his Halloween outfit but it was a little short for him last week when we went to Curtis' office Chili Cook off. I love the leaf collar!

This was his first day in shoes! He has the cutest little Nike's and his track suit was perfect for the cool day out. I know I'm biased but this kid is stinkin' cute!

He's so urban in his hoodie! hahaha

Big man in his Bumbo seat - which he is a pro at now!