Update

I was trying to get better about posting here. I want to update the blog more frequently, but life is just too busy! I did well for a couple days there, then it came to a halt again. But here I am again, and I'll try to keep up.

There have been some super cute moments in the Gibson household lately that we have been trying to capture on video. Of course, once you actually find your camera and try to have the characters reenact the scene, it's never as good as the original. But we've done our best.

First, Bennett and Elizabeth with their first hit single, "Uncle Greg":

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Bennett and Cannon absolutely LOVE each other. Bennett loves to make Cannon laugh, and he's usually the only one that can really do it. Cannon will give me and Josh huge smiles and happy noises, but even when we try to tickle him he doesn't really laugh. All Bennett has to do is stand in front of Cannon and he cackles:

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And one that I've been trying to upload for about a month now - Bennett and his hyorn:

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I have come to the conclusion that children are therapy. When everything else is crummy, they can put a big ol' smile on your face. :) Ahhh.... I love my boys.

Makes a Mama Feel Good

I pick Bennett up from Montessori at 3:00 every day. Unfortunately, that's what time they go out to the playground in the afternoons, and I've always kind of hated taking him away right when he's about to get to go run around and have fun.

For the last few weeks it has been way too hot outside, so they have been spending their afternoons inside and I haven't had to worry about making Bennett miss his playground time. Today when I got there I peeked through the window of the door, and I saw the back door (that leads to the playground) open and Ms. Lupe holding Bennett's hand. He was first in line, and he was jumping up and down. For a split second I got really happy, just seeing him that happy, but before that second was over I realized what I was about to have to do. I braced myself for a fight. I walked in and Ms. Lupe said, "Bennett, your Mama is here." I expected a nice long, "Noooooo! I don't want doh home! I want doh outWIIIIIDE!"

Instead, he let go of Ms. Lupe's hand and mumbled under his breath, "My Mama here. My Mama here." as he made his way through the group of fellow toddlers waiting to go outside.
When got close to me, I put my hands out for a hug and he lifted his head and arms up with a huge smile. I picked him up and he wrapped his arms and legs around me and gave me a huge hug.

Heaven. That's where I was for that moment. It was so, so nice. I could have stood there and squeezed him for 10 minutes.

Might As Well Face It, I'm Addicted to Coke

Well, not so much Coke; more like Coke caps and boxes.

I have always been a big fan of saving money, and that naturally leads me to be a fan of deals and rewards. We are big Coca-Cola drinkers, since my dad worked for the Coca-Cola Bottlers' Association for almost 30 years, retiring a few years ago. Put the two together, and there you have my addiction.

For anyone that doesn't know, Coca-Cola has something called the "My Coke Rewards" program. On every Coke product, there is a 12 digit code. You sign up online at www.mycokerewards.com, enter your codes, and as you accumulate points you can redeem them for fun stuff (magazine subscriptions, movie passes, Coke gear, more Coke, etc.). I love it. I never pass up a chance to get stuff for free. I know it's far from free, but we'd be drinking the stuff anyway, so to me it's free.

So of course I keep the cap of every bottle of coke we drink, and the end of every cardboard box gets torn off before going into the recycling bin. My parents keep theirs for me, and so do Josh's parents. Greg and Cici used to give me their caps and box ends, but I think they've caught on and have started entering their own codes. Good for them.

But this isn't where I stop. Josh and I are lucky enough to get to go to several of Georgia's home football games each year with his parents. After each game, I scour the stands for coke bottles that people have left. I unscrew the tops and drop them in my pocket or empty cup. Josh and his parents usually enjoy sitting and listening to the band's post game show since Josh and Lauren were both in the Redcoats and are used to that ritual. I use this time to rack up on Coke points.

It's strangely fun for me to scan the rows, using my Coke radar to spot the caps. I have to draw a line for myself for which row to stop on, or else I'd find myself halfway across the stadium. But then it kills me to spot several Coke caps just lying there, right on the other side of my 'line,' just waiting to be picked up by the cleaning crew and dumped in the trash. Often, I break my rule and cross the line for 'just one more.' And I guess that's the problem with any addiction. You just can't get enough.

Since we have to walk almost the entire length of the stadium to exit, I usually walk through the stands rather than down next to the hedges, just so I can score a few more before having to leave.

And, embarrassingly, on our way to the car I check out the trash cans for any coke bottles with the caps still on. I don't dig through any trash cans. If you've ever been to a Georgia (or any) football game, you know that by the time the game is over, every trash can is spilling over. I only take a cap if it's right on top or lying on the ground.

And yes, I keep hand sanitizer in my purse.

It's probably still a little gross, I admit, but it's my addiction and I don't care.

We went to a show at Chastain Park a few weeks ago (my first time at Chastain - wow, what a great venue) and I did the same thing after that show. My search wasn't quite as intense as it is at Sanford Stadium, because 1) it was dark, 2) most people drank beer rather than Coke, and 3) I was with my friends and was being more secretive about it. How embarrassing. I mean, just how poor are Marcie and Josh that she has to take other people's Coke caps to enter online? I know Josh lost his job, but geez... That's what I imagine they'd think.

I was driving down Bankhead Highway one day and saw a 24 pack Coke box lying on the ground next to the railroad tracks. It was all I could do to keep driving forward. I wanted, so badly, to turn around and get that sucker. That's 20 points!

Ugh. It's bad.

Anyway, the whole point of me spilling all of this is to show you what made my night last night. Josh's parents came to visit last night. They have some really great friends in Snellville that got wind of my love for collecting Coke points and did an amazing thing.

They enabled me:


!!!!!!!!

It's Christmas in September!

What a lovely, lovely thing. And Tim, while I'm sorry that your eye sight is not as great as it used to be, making you unwilling to squint and decipher each and every tiny little code, I am thrilled to receive this box of free stuff ('cause that's what it ultimately is)!

*Okay, here we go. Please know that I do not take lightly the word 'addiction.' And because there are a few addicts out there that I hold near and dear to my heart, I want you to know that I do not condone the phrase I used, "but it's my addiction and I don't care," or the act of enabling an addict. Addiction is a dangerous thing and should be dealt with seriously and carefully. There. Felt like it needed to be said.

Cici's Zombie Cake

Greg's girlfriend, Cici (short for Cecelia) turned 31 yesterday. I'll be joining her in this 31st year in about 3 months. She and I have been talking about getting older and what 31 means. I have decided (and I think she agrees) that, while everyone makes a big deal out of turning 30, 31 is worse. Because now you're not just thirty, you're IN your thirties. You're not just standing on the threshold anymore - you're all the way in there.

It's okay, though, because I've said for a long time that 33 is going to be my year. I love that number (a lot) and I just know that my 33rd year is going to be just fantastic. You just wait.

Anyway, on to what this post is really about. Cici loves anything and everything ZOMBIE. I don't quite get the attraction, but it's not for me to get. She loves it.

I knew a long time ago that I wanted to make a cake for her birthday. I had already started looking at pictures of zombies and brainstorming when Greg called and asked me to make a cake for her and that it should be zombie-themed. I told him I had been looking already, but that my research hadn't been too intense because, quite frankly, it made me sick to my stomach. Literally.

So I found a picture of a cake that was all nice and pretty with a ghoulish zombie hand coming out of the top. I told Greg that was about as gruesome as I could get with it. I probably could've done something pretty gory and not been bothered by it- it was just all those pictures together in my face just grossed me out. I feel the urge to shudder now, just thinking about them. Not into it.

Anyway, her birthday was yesterday, and this is what I presented her with:


I'm a little disappointed in the hand; I think we could have done a better job. But she loved it, so that's all that matters. And poor Elizabeth is scared of it, apparently. I guess that means we did something right.

Flip Flop Cake

Last weekend I had the chance to make a cake for a high school friend's daughter's first birthday. I was originally going to make a two-tiered Hawaiian-themed cake with a grass skirt and a handmade sugar hibiscus on top. I even went out and bought a cutter and mold for the hibiscus so that the flower would be truly Hawaiian - not just a big pretty flower.

Well, it turns out that April's guest list got rather large and her budget didn't allow for a cake to feed that many. So she decided she'd make cupcakes for the guests and have me make a "smash cake" for Brooklyn. She sent me a picture of a cake she liked with polka dots and flip flops on top.

Here's what I did:

Labor Day Sucker

Well, we were unable to hold off on suckers until Bennett's third labor day. His very first sucker was at the Labor Day parade in '08 and his second at the Labor Day parade in '09. He definitely had a few in between that last Labor Day and this one, mostly while cutting his "hah." (And yes, that is as big a mess as you can imagine)

But, I would like to keep the tradition and at least post the newest picture of Bennett's Labor Day Tootsie Roll Pop.

Let's start from the beginning, with Labor Day '08:

Labor Day '09:

And Labor Day '10:


It's not a great picture, but he's funny about you taking pictures of him these days. If he sees you with a camera, he throws his hands in front of his face and says, "Noooooo!"

You can see that he doesn't exactly suck on a sucker. He eats it. Ugh. Here come the cavities. All that sticky sweetness stuck in those teeth. Thank goodness they're gonna come out anyway.

And we have to see a picture of the new guy at his first Labor Day parade!

(with Daddy, in the shade)