The Paper Road | A steady journey along an undeveloped road

Randstorm

By AnnaSmith on April 29, 2012 in Family

We have been in a whirlwind of fun and celebration. Although Rand’s real birthday was last Friday, we partied today with lots of family and a few close friends. Photos to come later (I think I have promised a lot of photos lately…Texas, Easter, Rand’s Birthday…)

In the meantime, here’s a video we made for Rand. It took me a LONG TIME to make it. While iMovie is a breeze, I just wanted to watch all the clips over and over and had a hard time cutting any of them out. I don’t even think I used a quarter of the video footage we have of Rand. ENJOY!

Happy Birthday to Rand

By AnnaSmith on April 20, 2012 in Baby, Family

I’m sitting here with the baby monitor beside me (we got to bed a little late tonight, but hey, we had some celebrating to do!) It is almost 8:03 pm, the official time that Rand was born and our lives were changed. We love this little guy so much and are so proud of the sweet boy that he is.

I’ll post more pictures later, but here’s the best one today: Rand out on Grandmommy’s back deck eating cake and ice cream. Although you can’t see her in the picture, this smile was for Grandmommy (I think he was thanking her for cutting him such a big piece of cake with all the colorful icing).

Easter People

By AnnaSmith on April 20, 2012 in Faith, Family

When my father died suddenly in 2005, my mother wrote:

This I do know: Hank always said that we ARE an “Easter people” and I cling to that truth as well as the hope of being with him again. Psalm 115:16 says, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death (homecoming) of His saints.” Though our hearts are breaking, we remember that we are truly an “Easter people” as we cling to the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ through his resurrection.

While my Easter memories include dying easter eggs with my little brothers, egg hunts at my grandparents, peeps (bunnies, chicks…either way they are especially good if they are left out of the package for a day or so…), watching the black drape fall and ringing the bells at the Easter Vigil at All Saints in Winter Park, FL and now at Emmanuel in Southern Pines, my most memorable Easter was the celebration of my father’s life on March 5, 2005. And another on September 13 last year at my sweet grandmother’s funeral.

I have a lot of photos from Easter I was going to share, but I think it is only fitting to share with you that, this Easter season, we also celebrated the life of Wes’ grandmother Margaret Smith. Yesterday, Wes and I began the day with these deviled eggs for breakfast (a running joke Wes had with his family and grandmother) and then headed up to Raleigh to Forest Hills Baptist Church to celebrate her life. We ended the day at Raleigh Memorial Cemetery, where Wes’ father and maternal grandfather are also buried.

Yesterday, and always, we are Easter People.

A glimpse into the future

By AnnaSmith on April 17, 2012 in Baby, Family

They will probably be best friends. And MJ will get his license 7 months before Rand…

You can come up with some really great captions for these photos…

Bubs and Bubba

By AnnaSmith on April 17, 2012 in Golf, life

A few weeks ago at cousin Joely Beth’s 1st Birthday, Rand gave a salute to Bubba Watson. And while we can only hope that our own Bubs is destined for record breaking drives (could it be a coincidence that Bubba was nicknamed for another great athlete…last name also Smith…?), we also wish Bubba Watson all the best. We thoroughly enjoyed watching him win the Masters, as well as his recent interview on Feherty. Good stuff.

Image via ESPN

new toys, new friends, new shorts and a flower

By AnnaSmith on April 11, 2012 in Uncategorized

Rand’s new toys = anything in the house that is NOT a toy. Everyone told me this was coming and now it is here. Rand is fully mobile (army crawling) and his favorite things are doors and drawers. The tupperware drawer is his usual hangout.

Last week we took a break from the pantry and the tupperware drawer and hung out at the park with Dillon and his sweet mom, Kenzie. Dillon and Rand made a deal to hang out a lot this summer. And they shook on it.

Also, Rand just got some really cute shorts from Walmart. While I have never been too impressed with Walmart in the past, for $5, these shorts rival some Crewcuts y’all. They are really soft too. They also come in blue, but I thought the red would be fun for summer/4th of July.

I couldn’t find them online, but I also got a few pairs of plaid shorts for $3.88. If you go to Walmart, they are on the tables in the baby boy section. They had lots of different colors to choose from. I have a feeling Rand will live in those shorts (and swimsuits) this summer.

The BIG NEWS from our house (yard) lately is that my peony finally bloomed AND it smells amazing. I got it for free 3 years ago when I ordered some plants online and this is the first time it has ever bloomed. In fact, I had no idea what color it would be and am thrilled that it is a stylish neon salmon color – very current. Hopefully we’ll get a few more blooms…

I’m backtracking slowly with the photos…eventually I’ll get to our Texas trip!

First Horse

By AnnaSmith on April 6, 2012 in Baby, Family, Out and About

On Wednesday we went for a long walk and we bumped into Frank and Shiloh (the horse) parked in front of the Pinecrest Inn. While Nina was a little skittish around the Shiloh, Rand was thrilled — Frank gave Rand 2 giant carrots to feed Shiloh! While Rand has SEEN plenty of horses, this is his first time getting to pet and feed one up close and personal! He even got a few kisses and nudges. Where else do you just bump into a friendly horse and buggy on your afternoon walk? Makes me appreciate where we live even more.

Kale Chips

By AnnaSmith on March 31, 2012 in Recipes

Yesterday Rand, Aunt MD and I strolled down to the farmers’ market and got some goodies, including a huge bag of Kale for $2.

So, last night we made some of these kale chips. They were YUMMY! Even Wes liked them…and has now decided that he loves kale.

(photos: Food Network)

You are welcome to stick to the recipe, but here’s what we did (after looking at several recipes):

We omitted the garlic and lemon
Washed the kale and made sure it was as dry as possible.
Rip off the spine so you just have the leaves. Keep the pieces on the larger side because they shrink.
Put them on a baking sheet (or several sheets) and toss with a little bit of olive oil (1-2 tablespoons)
Make sure the kale is not on top of other kale otherwise it will steam cook instead of roast/crisp up
Put in a 400-425 degree oven for 10-15 min. This step depends on your oven. Keep checking because it cooks really fast!!! Some of the larger pieces I was able to flip over.
When the kale is crispy, take out and sprinkle with coarse kosher salt. (I read in one recipe it helped to salt AFTER it cooked.
Put in a bowl and munch on while you cook dinner!

We were planning on having the kale chips as a side dish, but it cooked down so much, we ended up having as an appetizer before dinner. It was perfect!

Swinging

By AnnaSmith on March 28, 2012 in Baby, Out and About

Rand’s new favorite thing is swinging.

Yesterday Rand and I met Wes at the park for lunch. After lunch, Rand did some serious swinging. When we told him it was time to go, he started to cry. Honestly, we were so surprised – crying when he doesn’t get his way is a brand new thing – we didn’t really know what to do! So…we let him swing some more. Eventually we did have to leave so we had to walk out of the park carrying a cute little boy with HUGE tears running down his cheeks. It was so sad!

Spring break

By AnnaSmith on March 27, 2012 in Baby, Family

Wow – I can’t believe Spring is already here and Bubs is already 11 months old! Someone recently told me a baby’s first year goes the slowest of all the years ahead…oh no!

Yesterday we got some cute Easter decor (I’ve always been “holiday minimal” and my mother-in-law does her best to change that). Apparently she got this little dish at Michaels. It used to have more M&M’s in it…

And this Easter bunny rabbit, also from Michaels, is now in the foyer. Rand loves saying hi to it when we come and go.

In other Spring decor…these are some hot pink camellias we poached from our cousin’s new yard. We are so excited Brouck and Janie will be in Pinehurst for good in a few months!

Until lately, we’ve been spending lots of time outside, but the pollen has finally won out.

Bubs has spent lots of time in the tub lately too. Teething diapers are the worst. We have lost a few pairs of pjs and have taken a few less naps in the process. But we’ve survived so far.

This past weekend we went on a little “spring break” (i.e. a break from all this pollen!) ourselves to Austin, TX to visit Uncle James and Aunt Samantha. In preparation for our trip, I’ve been watching THE ENTIRE SERIES of Friday Night Lights.

How did I miss this back when it was airing? While I admit that didn’t watch much tv pre-baby, I must have been living under a rock. While I wasn’t able to finish season 5 before we left, I’m down to 6 episodes (out of about 60!!!). I guess this is what happens when you have a child that goes to bed around 5:30 or 6pm every night and you can’t go anywhere.

Anyhow, more on FNL and TEXAS later…

Catching up on phone pics

By AnnaSmith on March 21, 2012 in Baby, Family, Out and About

A few weeks ago on a rainy Friday, I took Rand to his first concert. We went to hear Homer Ferguson (friend and organist at Emmanuel Church) and Lydia Gill (friend and my former piano teacher!) perform in the “Bach’s Lunch” series at Emmanuel Episcopal in Southern Pines. It is a cool idea – you bring a bag lunch and sit in the pew and enjoy the music. Rand was on his best behavior until Ema and Bebo showed up with silly faces and a much tastier lunch in the pew behind us…then he wanted to go back and forth!

Saturdays have been filled with fun around here…but they usually begin with a big breakfast. One of Wes’ favorite things on the planet is breakfast at his mom’s house. A few weeks ago we took uncle Sam over to breakfast too. Here we all are in grandmommy’s closet – she has it all fixed up for her grandkids!

Grandmommy’s pancakes are good and she is always lots of fun…I think we may have begun a tradition that BOTH of my boys love now.

Last weekend Uncle James flew in for a whirlwind visit. We had dinner over at Ema and Pops house. Not sure what we used to sit around and do before Rand…

Last weekend while uncle James was here we went to breakfast at the Track Restaurant in Pinehurst. Wes took Rand over to see the horses practicing. I think Rand will love horses like his Ema does.

Last but not least, we were so thankful we got to celebrate with Aunt Mary Devon getting “matched” with her 1st choice for her pediatric residency – Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem, NC! Yay!!!!! This was our first choice too…since it is the closest to Pinehurst, of course. Photos of that celebration are on the REAL camera, so we’ll have to post em later.

web surfing

By AnnaSmith on March 19, 2012 in Uncategorized

reblogged from bloom

Outside

By AnnaSmith on March 19, 2012 in Baby

If you’re looking for us…we are probably outside…

Having lunch (getting messy practicing with a spoon…)

outdoor baths to rinse off all that yogurt

Soaking up the sun

Back

By AnnaSmith on March 16, 2012 in life, Out and About

Whoever reads this is probably wondering where we have been. I’m pretty sure it was January and then I blinked and now it’s March. We’ve been up to so much I think I should just let the photos do most of the talking.

back in January…

Since it has been a pretty mild winter, we’ve been outside a lot.

In February, we celebrated Uncle Sam’s birthday…he is pretty good at blowing out the candles on 2 pies at once.

We hung out with Sam and Kristen a lot

We went to the park and did all kinds of new things like swinging in the kid swings

Cousin MJ is a pro when it comes to parks

I even took a little break from being the photographer

We had lots of play dates with friends. Last week, Ryder turned 1 and I can’t believe I didn’t take any photos of his “Hungry Caterpillar” birthday party. It was so darn cute. I’ll have to see if I can find some photos for ya.

Stay tuned…I won’t be away for as long, I promise.

Go to Harris Teeter Today

By AnnaSmith on March 6, 2012 in Couponing, Recipes

Yesterday was the 7th anniversary of my dad’s death and I thought I would maybe do a blog about him but I just wasn’t up to it so…instead I thought I’d tell you about a great deal at Harris Teeter. If you go today (I think the sale ends tomorrow, but I’m not 100% sure…new deals begin on Wednesday and not sure if this will continue after today), print out 2 coupons (link below) for $1.85 off a Birds Eye Voila!

Currently they are B1G1 Free at Harris Teeter so that makes each one only .84 Cents (normally they are $5.38 each)! Wes and I are able to get dinner for the two of us, plus lunch for me the next day out of 1 bag. We really like the Garlic Chicken. I can’t believe how good it is for the price and it only takes 10-13 min. to heat it up in a skillet (which also means you only have to wash 1 pan!)

Birds Eye Voila! 22oz for .84 cents! FOR REAL.

Coupon -$1.85 off Birds Eye Voila product printable

Friday Photo Flashback

By AnnaSmith on February 28, 2012 in Faith, Friday Photo Flashback

I couldn’t sleep much last night. Partly because Wes has a cough, but mostly because I was bursting with thankfulness. And this morning I remembered I forgot to post a photo on Friday. So the thankfulness carries over to this week’s “flashback” – from the Fall of 2002 (I know one of the photos says 2003, but it was 2002!) when I was studying abroad in Italy. I felt so blessed that my 76-year-old grandparents scheduled a trip to coincide with my study abroad so they could come and visit me!

Here we are traveling in Switzerland on top of the Jungfrau (westernmost and highest peak of the Bernese Swiss Alps)…I’ve never been anywhere else where I’ve felt so high up.

And this is one of my all-time favorite photos of Bebo & Geah (aka Fritz & Betty)

One of the last days they were there we did a blitz tour of Rome. Here’s a photo of Bebo and me at the Trevi fountain right after I tossed in a coin and a wish.

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Back to School

By AnnaSmith on February 21, 2012 in life, Projects, Recipes, Web School

I feel like I’m back in school. A much more fun school though. If you’re wondering, I’m currently enrolled in the school of YouTube and Pinterest. You can learn how to do just about anything. Recently I’ve learned:

How to do an easy half-up hairstyle (check out all this girl’s videos…tons of ideas)

How to unclog a drain

How to make a teepee (we haven’t made it yet…but one day I will do this for Rand…and me…)

How to make a healthier version of a California sandwich

How to make a toga out of a bed sheet (4 ways!)

How to make something yummy with Quinoa (note: food lion in Pinehurst does not carry Quinoa.)

How to wrap wine (or beer) bottles for a hostess gift or to take on a picnic

Other things I’ve learned from the “School of PinTube” (can you think of a better name?) include:

boiling eggs perfectly

baking chicken without it getting dry

how to get stains out

how to play (just about any song!) the piano

how to install an infant car seat (Wes did this one, not me…I still have yet to learn it)

how to change the ring in the frontload washer (Wes again)

how to help a choking infant/heimlich maneuver

and so on…what have you learned that’s been helpful?

A Definition of Love

By AnnaSmith on February 15, 2012 in Faith, Family, Parenting

While there are lots of definitions of LOVE out there (especially this month), I really liked this one from Dr. Tim Kimmel:

“Love is the commitment of my will

to your needs and best interests,

regardless of the cost.”

Ever seen that one on a Hallmark card? I am currently in the middle of Dr. Kimmel’s study “Grace Based Parenting” and he suggests that parents use this definition of love to “help us choose the right thing to do when dealing with your children. It helps you make hard choices and it encourages you when the cost of loving is high.” I couldn’t agree more but I think I could apply it to a lot more than just dealing with Rand!

You’re ours to love

By AnnaSmith on February 15, 2012 in Baby, Faith, Family

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Although the Lord had planted the desire in us to have children long ago, Wes and I never knew how much we could love until Rand was born. I know it sounds cliche to say this, but it really does feel like we celebrate love every day and, quoting a new Dave Barnes song that we dedicate to Rand this Valentine’s Day…

You’re mine to love
We have all been waitin’ on you
You’re mine to love
Come into these open arms
It took some time to wait it out
But I see it now, you’re worth all the dreaming of
You’re mine to love

So go download it on iTunes right now!!!

Happy Monday

By AnnaSmith on February 13, 2012 in life, Shopping, Style

Happy Monday!

Here’s the “watching golf with daddy on Sunday afternoon” photo…

Also, a heads up. Thomas Paul pom-pom scarves are on sale today (big time!) at MyHabit.com. They are so cute. I first saw the cute pom-pom scarves on Emily over at Emphasis Added (fun blog to read!). I love the grey pom pom one and the cute flag one…

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