Never be hungry!

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Thirteen great family places in TN and GA

1. Georgia Aquarium - the worlds largest saltwater aquarium.
2. Six Flags Over Georgia - another staple in Atlanta. If you go make sure you ride the 'Scream Machine' and the 'Georgia Cyclone' both are wood roller coasters.
3. Rock City - located in Lookout Mountain this is a neat natural site to see. You can see seven states from the overlook. Can you fit in fat man squeeze?
4. Ruby Falls - another great natural site in Lookout Mountain. Travel deep into the rocky earth to see a natural waterfall and crystals.
5. Creative Discovery Museum - a great place for the entire family to play. They have different stations for all ages from infants to teenagers. Even Mom and Dad will have fun playing!
6. Dollywood - a staple of Pigeon Forge. This park used to be Silverdollar City. Dolly Parton has expanded it into a mega amusement park and now also has a water park just down the street. This is a great place to visit during Winterfest at Christmas when the night is lit up with over a million lights!
7. Ripley's Aquarium - another great aquarium for the family.
8. Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum - each location has something different. Ripley's houses some of the worlds best oddities.
9. Atlanta Zoo - a wonderful large zoo. Be sure to arive early and wear good shoes. This zoo is very large (and a little hilly) but something that the kids are guaranteed to love!
10. Chickamauga Battlefield - a great place for the history buffs. You can see actual battle cannons still in the fields. There is also a visitors center telling all the history of the battlefield.
11. White Water - a huge water park located in Atlanta. The park offers special areas for the young infants away from the older children which is great. Make sure to take LOTS of sunscreen.
12. Gatlinburg - a great family vacation spot. Lots of sightseeing, great food, great shopping and more. This place is great for both summer vacations and also in the winter when you just might see some snow!

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Blue Ridge Mountains (WW)

Blue Ridge Mountains

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Pinwheel Sandwiches for Kids

Here is a simply and fast recipe that you toddler is sure to love!

Trim the crust off 2 thin slices of bread; white, wheat, rye, your choice. Overlap the edges slightly and then flatten them with a rolling pin so that they join together. Spread your filling on the bread then roll up like a jelly roll. Cut across into thin rounds.

Some fillings that you can use are; peanut butter and jelly, cream cheese and jelly, egg salad, chicken salad. The options are endless!

Lazy Day!

Well today is a lazy day for me. Nate has gone to school today and I'm sitting here trying to fix my website design. I wish that I had the money to hire a designer but I can't afford to spend thousands of dollars for web design.

If any one has suggestions on a site designer that does good work at a reasonable cost please let me know. I want to get my site done asap. I submitted it to flatlinewebdesign.com for review and it was determined that my site need much coding help. I've been using yahoo sitebuilder but evidently its as stupid with html as I am lol.

Hope you all have a great day and be sure to stop in tomorrow for Recipe Tuesday. I've gotten some great new recipes for babies and toddlers that I can't wait to share with you.

No photos please!

Having fun at the playground!

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Do you live in the Ft. Collins, CO area?

If so I might have something of interest to you. My friend Erin who is a wonderful photographer is from that area. I was reading her blog tonight and saw this:

Faces of 2007!

A fun opportunity to have your child photographed by E. Tyler Photography! I am currently looking for some new models for my website and promotional materials.

If you would like to receive:

*A free session
*One free 8x10 print
*10% off print orders within 30 days of your session

Please contact E. Tyler Photography at etyler@etylerphotography.com (or use my contact form on my website). Inquiries must be received by March 30, 2007 and sessions must take place between March 1st, 2007 and May 15th, 2007 to qualify. A model release is required to be signed before the session begins. No further compensation other than what is written here.

I will be booking only a limited amount of sessions for this opportunity. I will be taking multiple bookings especially in the newborn (two weeks and under) category and the teen/senior category. Please be sure to share the news with friends who you think would enjoy this opportunity. For more information about how E.Tyler Photography works, please see the website (http://www.etylerphotography.com). Thanks again!


Hope that some of you might be able to have your photo taken by Erin, I promise you will not be disappointed!

Fettuccine Alfredo - Olive Garden Style (RT)

I love going to Olive Garden and getting the Fettuccine Alfredo. Now I can save money by making it at home!

Ingredients for Sauce:

1/2cup butter
8oz pk cream cheese
1 pint heavy cream
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (preferably fresh)


Directions for Sauce:

In a medium saucepan, melt butter.

When butter is melted, add cream cheese.

When the cream cheese is softened, add heavy cream.

Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

Simmer for 15-20 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan.

Serve over hot fettuccine noodles

You can also add cooked chicken, broccoli, shrimp, lobster, or anything else that you'd like.

What inspires me?!?!

Kailani over at An Island Life is having a photo contest on "What Inspires You". The obvious answer is my son Nate. But when you dig deeper there is so much more that leads to that. Without the basics of life there would be nothing to inspire any of us. Without the freedoms afforded to us in the US there would be much less inspiration for us. So that leads to my photo.

I took this photo in October 2006. It was my first trip to New York and I was so excited. Coming from small town Georgia going to NYC was a huge deal. Although I didn't get to get the full NYC experience I did get to the Liberty.

Liberty inspires me because that stands for the basic foundation of all of us. To me Liberty stands for free speech (which bloggers love), freedom to wear what I want to, freedom to be what I want to be, freedom to go where I want to. So while my son is my inspiration everyday .... Liberty is my inspiration in the big picture.

Now go over to An Island Life and vote for your favorite photo submission March 9-11.

Thirteen Random Things

Sorry I'm late.

1. I wish financial aid would call me so that I would know if I'll be attending class next Tuesday.
2. I wish that I had won the Mega Millions and not my neighbor.
3. I really need to list Nates clothes that he's outgrown on ebay.
4. I want to buy a Rebel camera.
5. I am saving money for vacation later this year.
6. I don't spend any $5 bills. They all go into a jar and saved.
7. I need to update Ballyhoo Creations with new Easter designs.
8. I am trying to plan where we want to vacation .. I'm thinking another cruise.
9. I am so so so tired of stepping on stupid little toy trucks, cars, firetrucks, etc.
10. I need to purge Nates toys and donate them to the daycare.
11. I handed out several business cards today, with 2 good leads on business.
12. I landed a big commercial account for a local restaurant.
13. I am looking forward to going to the movies to see 'Premonition'

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Hiding Sleep

Nate asleep hiding under a pillow.

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Mega Millions winner in Dalton

I live in Dalton and woke up to the news that one of the winners in Tuesdays Mega Million lottery draw was won here. I rush to check all of my tickets but to my dismay I didn't win the jackpot.

I then rapidly go about calling all of my family to make sure that one of them had the ticket but .... nope none of them either. The town is buzzing with the news that a winner is here. This is big news here in my fairly small town. Media crews were all over the Favorite Market store that sold the ticket, but so far the winners name is still unknown.

Dalton is a community built around the carpet manufacturing industry so most of the people here are hard workers that work hard for their money. I hope that the winner is someone that truely needs and deserves it and I hope that they manage it well.

When I find out more I'll let you guys know!

Back to School and Funny things toddlers say

Well today I let Nate go back to school. When I dropped him off this morning he began by acting all shy (which he is not). Once he saw his friend Lucas he was good to go. I called back at lunch time to check on him and the teacher said he was doing great and that he had just laid down for a nap.

On a side note, his new favorite snack has become honey buns (I know bad bad mama). When DH woke Nate up this morning Nate asked him for some chocolate milk. Dh asked if he wanted breakfast and Nate replied "No Dad I just ate a honey bun" now keep in mind he had JUST woke up. Dh and I got a good laugh out of it, must have been a great dream honey bun lol.

Toasted Coconut Macadamia Pound Cake

Ingredients

For pound cake

• 2 cups sweetened flaked coconut (about 6 ounces)
• 1 (7-ounce) jar macadamia nuts (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

For glaze:

• 1/4 cup of water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup amber or dark rum

Directions:

Make pound cake:Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and butter and flour a 10-inch (3 quart) bundt pan.

Spread coconut in a shallow baking pan and toast in middle of oven, stirring occasionally and watching carefully to avoid burning, until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer coconut to a bowl and cool. Spread nuts in pan and toast in middle of oven until pale golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool nuts and chop coarse.

In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy and beat in cream cheese. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and beat in vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into bowl and beat just until combined well. Stir in coconut and chopped nuts.

Spread batter evenly in pan and bake in middle of oven 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes and invert onto rack.
Make glaze:In a small heavy saucepan bring water with sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Stir in rum.

Brush hot glaze evenly over outside of warm cake until absorbed. Cool cake completely.

Opinions on the new look?

So I was finally able to take time to completely redo the template for the blog. I love the idea of a 3 column and I'm glad that I finally found one that I like.

So I wanted to know if you guys like it too? I've added some new things like the feedburner, the amazon store links, the word of the day and todays birthday. I'll be adding new things in the next few days too.

LOL update on the "new fashion"

Well Tracy posted a comment on the photo of the "see through skirts" and looks like its a hoax. I got the email from my mom and thought good grief lol.

Here is the snopes link for any that might want to read about it.

Thanks Tracy!