Alabama Game

This weekend Matt an I went to the Alabama vs. Western Carolina game. We went with our good friends April and Nathan! We had so much fun and it was the perfect weather! We started off our morning at Rama Jama's(where i may or may not have had a chocolate milkshake with my breakfast!) and then ended our long day at Dreamland! I also got to see 2 very special people Paige, one of my Pledge Sisters and really close friends! As well as Lauren, a girl I lived with in the Yellow House, sophomore year! We also ran into one o our campers, Hank, who was being escorted onto the field with Brody Croyle. did we take a picture with Brody, nope! only with Hank! While we were in Tuscaloosa I realized how much I missed the town and all the fun things to do. I told Matt that we have got to be better about going to Tuscaloosa to do things! After being in Bryant Denny he decided that we have to buy season tickets/ go to every home game next year! We shall see! All in all it was a great weekend spent with awesome friends! And I can't forget those two huge losses that Oregon and Kansas State produced to help us regain control of our own destiny! Roll Everyone is what I say to Baylor and Stanfod!!

Pumpkin Pancakes

I saw this recipe on a friend's blog the other day and since I LOVE all things pumpkin I made them! They were so awesome I have made these twice already!

Pumpkin Pancakes
Prep Time: 8 minutes
Yields: 12 (4 inch) pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour(I used self-rising the second time around and try we're much fluffier!)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice(I just shake the container 3-4 times)
2 large eggs(originally you have to separate the eggs but mine were plenty fluffy w/o beating the egg whites.)
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup pumpkin
1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:
Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.
Combine eggs, milk, pumpkin and butter; add to flour mixture, stirring until incorporated.(If you separated the eggs fold the egg whites in here)
Pour about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto a hot, lightly greased griddle. Cool pancakes until tips are covered in bubbles and edges look cooked; turn an cook other side.

I will tell you that these are not sweet! There is only 1 tbsp of sugar. I was skeptical of the taste at first but once I added syrup I was in LOVE! If you love pumpkin you will love these pancakes! This is the 3rd recipe in the month of October that I made with pumpkin: pancakes, muffins, and oatmeal!

A Star Wars Halloween!

Matt and I decide to carve pumpkins this year and by the time I got around to going and getting a carving kit there were 3 options: Angry Birds, Star Wars, or Sesame Street! So what did I do? I bought the Star Wars kit! I figured Matt would be ok with it since we just purchased glasses and coffee cups that were Star Wars! We set out to carve pumpkins today, the coldest day ever! I am glad that we could do something fun for Halloween! I love everything pumpkin. I have made pumpkin coffee, pumpkin oatmeal, pumpkin pancakes, and pumpkin muffins in the past week alone! Matt does not share my love for pumpkin as I do, but he is willing to try all my concoctions! I love Fall, but I will be getting Christmas out this weekend! Side Note: we will be in North Carolina for Thanksgiving and who knows where we will be for Christmas so I like to be able to enjoy it!!

Alabama vs. Tennessee!

This past weekend Matt an I headed up to Knoxville to watch the Tide roll over the Vols! We went to the game with Chip and Cara, while my mom and Dennis kept Eddie at the condo! We had awesome seats! Corner of the ends one right next to the Alabama Band, in front of the Cheerleaders! It was a bit chilly, but we had an amazing time! Side Note: it was Matt's first Alabama Game and we were scared he was going to jinx us!

Our Baby

I haven't posted about Waylon in a while! He has become the absolute best dog! We celebrated his 3rd Birthday September 16th! I can't believe we have had him for 3 years! He definitely keeps us on our toes, but it is so nice for someone to love you just because you took him on a walk!! I love having him when Matt is gone. When Matt came back from Knoxville we decided to start "bedroom" training. He has been sleeping in our bedroom for the past 2 months ad I love it. He only moves when we move and he usually sleeps until my alarm goes off around 6! Even though the pictures show him on the bed, he usually sleeps on the side of the bed! I just happened to snap the pic of Waylon and Matt the other morning before work, and for some reason this morning he decided there was enough room next to me for him!

Cheers to 25 Years!

So I turned 25 last week! I cannot believe that I am 25. The week leading up to my birthday was a little strange an I was not excited about my birthday AT ALL! The actual day was pretty normal. Matt got me new Costa's as well as some new Pandora jewelry. I was definitely spoiled, as usual! He also got me a Gigi's Red Velvet cupcake(my favorite!). We went and got Sumo for dinner then went to bed early! My paraprofessionals got me a cake and we celebrated with the whole class! One of my peer helpers has the same birthday so we had some Chick-fil-a breakfast and cupcakes! It was way more fun to celebrate a 14 year old than a 25 year old!! Overall it was a great birthday but I am thinking I will stay 25 forever!

IPhone Dump

I know I have not posted since May... But we have been super busy! Which I would rather be than doing nothing here is a plethora of pictures from our summer off of my phone! We spent the month of June riding back and forth from Knoxville to McCalla with a some weekends in Dadeville mixed in! July was started out at Camp ASCCA with some of the greatest people/friends on earth. Plus we made some new friends and are so grateful for them all. When Matt finally got to come home for good we spent 7 days at the beach with his family! Apalachicola was my most favorite place to go when I was growing up and I was so glad to share it with Matt and my in-laws! August came way too quickly which saw me start Volleyball season and shortly after school! I started my 3rd year of teaching at Hueytown Middle School! I am so blessed to still have a great job with great people! August was over really quickly and now we are almost halfway through September! We are so excited about Fall and Football! We have already bought tickets to one Alabama game and we are hoping to go to at least 2 others! Hopefully the Tennessee game in Knoxville! I turn 25 this week (eek!) and I am hoping to continue to blog regularly! We have 6 more volleyball games and ten the second week in October I have softball tryouts! That's right! I have to channel my inner Richard White (my high school coach). I am so excited to start molding young softball players to help them play at the next level! Fall is busy but my absolute favorite time of the year!!

Is It Really May?

Ok so I am a total slacker when it comes to blogging. I am going to be honest: I am really not doing much that is exciting since Matt is not here. I am not saying that I don't have anything to do, it is just not that exciting! Most of it revolves around school and I can't blog/share pictures of that stuff. April in Bullets: - My mom and I sent Easter with Nickel, Russ, and the girls. We were able to see Scarlett play softball and help Nickel in her yard. We enjoyed a low key Easter Sunday with baby chicks! - The weekend after Easter I went to Dadeville to celebrate one of the Fab 5, Holland and Garrett's wedding celebration! I was reunited with the entire Fab 5, which is always good! - The last weekend in April I had a 3 day weekend, so Waylon and I headed to the Lake! It was awesome to just wake up, put on my bathing suit, grab a book, and head to the dock!it was a great way to bring in May. - I read all 3 Hunger Games books. I quickly became obsessed! I still haven't seen the movie, but I definitely will watch it as soon as Directv gets it! - I finished ALL of my IEPs! Wahoo! Technically I have to hold on next week, but it is for my student who is exiting Ex. Ed. because he is aging out. May in Bullets: - I was observed by my professor from Auburn University Grad School... Let's just say I did it and it is over! - Jennings the Cat had kittens!!! 3 precious little babies. - My tomatoes are taking over my walkway! I have little tomatoes on all of the plants! I am struggling to keep my peppers from getting eaten from little buggies! - Mother's Day weekend is coming up... I will be spending it with some of my favorite girls in the world, my nieces! Nickel and Russ are going to Darlington, SC for a race. My mom and I are keeping the girls! Other than the above I have been missing Matt like something fierce! I am hoping to go up there one day during Memorial Day and visit! One night would be worth the drive in our books! If I don't see him then, I will not see him until Father's Day weekend!!!!! Which is WAY TOO LONG!!!!

Kendall Boggs Fine Arts and Crafts

I don't know if y'all read many blogs, but one of my favorites is http://kendallboggsfineart.blogspot.com/. She is an artist out of Atlanta and she makes some amazing pieces of art. I also love her DIY projects! This week she is having a give away of one of her beautiful Wedding Dress pieces. Check out her blog and all her wonderful art!

Container Garden

I have finally planted all of my tomato plants (8 to be exact), herbs, and peppers!! I am ready for a bountiful harvest! I have 8 different kinds of tomatos, 3 different bell peppers, 1 jalapeno pepper, cliantro, basil, sage, rosemary, lavendar, spinach, and broccoli! Everything is in a container and lined up along our walkway to our front door! I am so excited to see how they do. We are expected to have a light frost tonight/tomorrow morning, so I am working on covering my plants with newspaper to keep the frost off! Enjoy the pictures! I hope you will plant your vegetables, now that the frost is over! Be Sure Your Plants are Bonnie's!



Because We All Know Someone.....

With Autism, that is.

I know someone very special to me on the Spectrum. my 8 year old niece

Carley.



Carely with her American Girl Doll

I know a lot more children/adults with Autism, but Carley is my first niece and we formed a bond while she was in my sister, Nickel's belly! Carley is also the reason I became a Special Education Teacher.
April is Autism Awareness month! You will probably see a number of Autism "things" going on during the month of April to promote our awareness of Autism and the children who are diagnosed with Autism every single day.
I have recently become a Stella and Dot Jewelry Stylist. During the month of April, Stella and Dot will be selling a special "Shine" Bracelet and our "Sole" Bracelet. Every time these bracelets are sold Stella and Dot will give 20% of the proceeds to Autism Awareness. So if you want to support Autism Awareness and Autism Research please contact me (mmw913@gmail.com) or you can go to my S&D website: www.stelladot.com/molliemcmillan.
I hope you will at least take a look at the bracelets! They are really trendy right now and will go with anything!
These pictures are really bad, but go to my website and check them out!!



Blogging Hiatus!

So all of my 2 readers have probably missed me so much! Ha...I doubt it! I can truly say that it is because we have been extremely busy!
Since my last post:
-we didn't really make this public, but in January Matt was hit in the eye while he was playing paintball. We spent the last bit of January and all of February going to and from Doctor appointments and trying to get everything ready for Matt to go back to Knoxville.
-Matt went back to Knoxville, only to return for an eye appointment to find out that his retina had detached and he needed eye surgery. So we brought March in at the eye foundation in downtown having surgery. Thankfully his parents were able to come down and help us (this also allowed me to only take off 1 day at school!). The week after surgery Matt had to lay face down. Talk about no sleep for anyone! He also had 2 post-op appointments. He is now on the mend and we are hoping that at his appointment Monday he will get a great report!
-I was knee-deep in the Alabama Alternate Assessment when all of this was going on. I have since turned it all in and had all of those crazy nightmares that come with it! You would never believe that someone could have nightmares about putting things in a box that goes to California, but until you administer the AAA, you will never know!
-I helped throw Lindsey and Baby Lillian a shower the 2nd weekend in March! It was so much fun to spend sometime with my friends! We held the shower in Dadeville at Mix It Up! If you are ever in Dadeville, stop by and make some soap!
-Spring Break finally got here! The week before SB I did not think I would make it to the break. The first weekend of SB all the kid went to the Lake! We had not all been together since Eddie's christening weekend. It was the perfect weather and we spent most of Saturday and all of Sunday outside. I was sad that Matt couldn't be there. Especially since his sister and Becca were at his parents! It comes with the job, sometimes you miss things.
-On Monday of SB, mom and I drove to Knoville to see Matt and Dennis. Matt and I spent the entire day Tuesday just "being together"! We drove up to Pigeon Forge and shopped, drove into Gatlinburg to look around.
-Wednesday, Matt had to load his truck so Waylon and I spent most of the morning outside and then Matt and I grabbed lunch, then relaxed the rest of the day!
-Thursday Mom and I got up and made it back to Birmingham around 2pm.
-Today has been a day of watching it rain, walking Waylon when it isn't raining, and catching up on all my dvr!
-The rest of the weekend is going to be spent working on an IEP, washing clothes, and Matt will come home Sunday to go to his Dr. Appt.
I have some awesome pictures to post sometime this weekend! I need to get better about editing the pictures I take and then putting them on her!

Container Gardening

**Get ready for a number of posts in the upcoming months to be about plants, plant season, vegetables, etc.! Being a Plant Man's wife is something special I tell ya!**


When Matt and I bought our house the first thing that came to mind was: "Where will we put our garden?" Funny thing to think of first to most people, but when your life is consumed by plants you have to know where you are going to put them!

1. The water spicket (sp) or the hosepipe as the Northerners say is on the backside of the house by the A/C unit. This is a problem because we would literally need a 100 foot hose to reach anything!

2. There are trees everywhere! Meaning very little sunlight to reach my tomatoes...who like sunlight! We have been studying the sun/shadows for the past couple of months and discussing where the best light is.

3. I have to do all of the cold crop/spring gardening by myself with guidance from Matt, Mom, and Chip! So the garden has to be something that I can handle myself!

So.....with these factors considered we are going to try a container garden this year. We are shooting to have 4 spots in the yard with plants in them. Whichever plants produce the best/most that spot will most likely become the home to our "Big" garden that Matt has already drawn up for Fall/Spring 2013!! I am excited about a contianer garden, but I hope I can produce a lot of vegetables! One day Matt and I plan to only have vegetables from our garden and not rely on the grocery store for things like tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, herbs, etc.!

Images via Google

Those are just some pictures of what we are thinking! I have also seen some gardens in those plastic kiddy pools! That would be cool, but I don't want to complete kill my grass!! I hope you are all working on your garden plans as well! It is almost time for the Cold Crops!

Becca Turns 1!!!!

On her way home from the hospital @ 3 days!!

Baby Becca, Melanie and Nathan's little girl and Matt's first "blood niece" (as he calls her) turned one on December 30th. Mel and Nathan had her a cute little cupcake themed birthday for her first birthday. We got to spend some time with the birthday girl and some of Mel and Nathan's friends!