Ryan Casper

Here's a dedicated fan. This is Layne- and, ues, that's with a sharpie

This last weekend, I was able to play a little bit with Ryan Casper. (Check him out at http://ryancasper.com/) He's a great country artist out here. I've never really been into country music, but I really like his stuff. I've played a few shows with him since we've been out here, and it's always a lot of fun. This was outdoors at the Mall of Georgia. It rained for a bit, and everybody ran away, but they came back. The kids were dancing and having fun. There was also a fairly large group of mentally challenged people there that were dancing and seemed to really enjoy themselves. This was the mose unprepared as a band I've ever felt, but it went surprisingly well, considering we hadn't even played a bundle of the songs prior to the show.

Ryan doing his thing

Sally was tuckered out- notice the THREE binkies

Here's a clip of the song Devil's Throwin' Darts. I wish I could have heard myself better, I'm more present in the mix than I thought. It was okay, I should have just asked to be turned up in my monitor. Anyway, it was a fun night.

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Counting

Here's a little video of Sally and I counting. She's far more interested in watching herself in the viewfinder than the numbers, but cute all the same. She's so awesome. It is so great to see her learn and grow.

Olympic Party

Last night we had a get together to celebrate the awesome Olympics.I thought it was some great fun. We had planned on watching the games, and did, but we ended up having our own little Olympic games too. My man did super well, winning gold in both push ups, and jump rope. He's so strong and manly!

We had some great food that everybody brought, I was pretty happy about our contributions. Not because I'm so awesome in the kitchen, but the means of making these particular items made me feel so satisfied. Last week, we got an ice cream maker at a garage sale. I tried it out yesterday, and the results were good- SUPER rich, but good. I also made some pizza, with pesto from our garden basil, garden tomatoes, garden onions (caramelized), and some non garden spinach and cheese. It is SO gratifying to go out and pick things from the garden and then use them. The MacPherson's brought some donuts that they frosted into the Olympic rings. How appropriate and awesome.

Oh, and that swimming race was CRAZY! I have never seen anything quite like it. Yay for Michael Phelps! Yay USA!

So, I failed at taking good pictures, but did take a couple of videos. The first is part of the push up contest. In case you can't hear, Jason announces Bill's count as 46. He's so great. The second is the barrel tossing. Bob did win this event, but this was not his winning throw, only the better footage. The men are awesome.

Diana didn't fail in the picture category- Definitely check it out at http://theluntinators.blogspot.com/2008/08/olympics-2008.html
Totally worth it.

Mexican Painter or Evil Dictator?

I've posted about Sally's love of painting. Well, this last week, she painted herself a little bit. I think she was just itching her face or something, but the results were pretty funny.

Here, she looks like Frida Kahlo, paintbrush even in hand. Only, a little more blonde. I can't believe how light her hair is getting.

Here, she made herself look like one of the most evil men ever. It's wrong that I think it's funny, but how can I not?

This and That

Sleeping Sally

This last week has been SO much better in the sleep department. Sally Rose is now usually falling asleep with under a minute of crying. There have even been a few no scream sessions. Yay!! She still puts her shoes on, as in the picture. So cute. There was one night that she was down for about an hour and then started screaming. When I went in, she started asking for her crib. I think the poor thing fell out of bed. I did let her go the crib route that night, but now she's sleeping in the big girl bed every night. Hooray!

Breaking Dawn

This picture has nothing to do with this section, I just liked it.

Last weekend, I was so excited to go and get Breaking Dawn, the latest in the Twilight series. I went to midnight "party" to pick it up. You can learn more about that event from Emily Grigg here, if you'd like. http://griggsouth.blogspot.com/2008/08/edward-vs-jacob-breaking-dawn-release.html

I finished it on Tuesday, and liked it. I thought it was very entertaining and I liked the twists in the plot. I have to admit, I cried in a couple spots. There were some things that bugged me a bit. If you haven't read it, and want to, I wouldn't continue reading this section. Not any major spoilers, but I wouldn't have wanted to read this before reading it.

I wish that everything didn't get wrapped up SO neatly. Bella ends up getting EVERYTHING. I wanted a happy ending, and I wanted Bella to be happy, I just feel like she got it all with, in the end, no cost. Sure, she was willing to sacrifice, but it wasn't needed in the end. I almost wish someone would have died or some relationship was damaged, but everything just ended up being perfect. There's also a part of me that questions whether it's wise to have this eighteen year old heroine married and having a baby and everything is happily ever after. I did relate to the baby part- a lot. I cried a few times through that. Having said all that, I really did enjoy it. I had a hard time putting it down.

Friends

So, this is Sally, and, while she is my friend, perhaps more relevant in that this was taken while playing with friends.

I've said it before, but I should say it more. I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to move here and make REAL friends so easily. That doesn't actually come naturally to me, but here, it kind of did. Having family so far away is really difficult for me. Hence my incessant phone calls to them. Having such good friends makes in SO much easier. So, thanks to all my great friends for being there for me. You probably do more for me than you realize.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a girls night out. It was fun! Here's a link to Diana's blog about it-
http://theluntinators.blogspot.com/2008/08/girls-night-out.html There's a pretty good shot of my belly in there, so check it out. Also, the first game, I think I won by 2 pins or something. We were all evenly awesome when it comes to bowling. Oh, and I could tie my shoes, just not very modestly while wearing a skirt. Thanks Diana!

Sally

Can I just say that this girl is SO awesome and fun? I love her so much and she continually amazes me. She's putting more and more words together and it's so fun to hear her talk. She's also getting into using her imagination. Right now, one of her favorite games is rocket ship, where we go to the moon. She can recognize most of the alphabet letters on a regular basis, and is always pointing letters out while we drive. She's getting better with her colors too, although, I seem to have blue eyes to her. She is so fun and so affectionate. When I ask her where the baby is, she'll lift up my shirt and kiss my belly. She pretty much rules. Here's a quick video.

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