Bountiful Booty......

Genevieve went on her first real "trick or treating" tonight and we hit "3" houses! 3 may not seam like a lot but it is when your neighborhood is very hilly and we're all pretty spread out so it's a hike from one to the other......Whew! Lucky for us our last stop was Met's and Dave's house, a little candy for the baby and some wine for Mommy so she could make the walk back home!!!

Happy Halloween From North Georgia!!

Trip to Cagles Dairy Farm & Pumpkin Patch

I took Genevieve to Cagles Dairy Farm this morning to get in on the Dairy tours they give to lots and lots of elementary kids during the week. It was lots of fun although a 1 year old tires easily after a few seconds of the tour guides speach on how the assembly line works. Nope there were all kinds of little rocks on the ground that she needed to pick up....She did like the calves, there were lots of them of various ages, the newest one was only 4 days old "ahhh". They passed out chopped up cabbage that you could hand feed to them but most were still so young that all they wanted was to suck on your finger. A little slimy, but very cute!!

See ya!!

After the tour was complete we headed off to their little pumpkin patch and my daughter decided to try and "lift" a pumpkin. She saw one she liked, picked it up and ran off with it! "Hey", where are you going with that? Get back here!!!

Hey how did you get me to sit on it like this? Oooops! Im falling off. Here let me get back on it, uhg, uh, grunt, grunt and Omph, never mind right here will be fine! "Never Dropping the little pumpkin"!!

A Monk, a Nun and a Lady bug walked into this Bar...and,

We all went to our friends Met and Dave's Halloween party/Chili cook-off/Costume contest last night. It was a great party, lots of really creative costumes.

Like Matt's Go-tee? A little eye shadow I had handy, some make-up artistry and VOILA!! ....Just like Magic.

Genevieve had a good time, Met and Dave have lots of steps around their house and garden so we got to practice going up the steps, and then down the steps, over and over and over again until, we almost mastered them!!!

OH MY GOSH!! Are you a real Princess?

White Chili Recipe:

2 lbs lean ground Pork, Chicken or Turkey

2 cans white Navy Beans

1 Jar Tomatillo Salsa or Salsa Verde (approx 12oz) (I recommend the mild variety)

2 small cans Chopped Green Chilies

3 Tbsp Cumin

2 Tbsp Flour

1 large yellow onion

Enough Chicken stock to cover.

1. Brown the ground pork and the chopped yellow onion in the same skillet until cooked all the way through and the onions are translucent. Add the Cumin and Flour and brown for a few more minutes.

2. Put the browned pork and onion mixture into a crock pot, add all of the remaining ingredients, cover, bring to a simmer and then cook on low for at least 4 hours.

3. Top with a little sour cream and ENJOY!!!

Happy Halloween, from the Hollands!!

Playing Keep AWAY!!

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Playing keep Away!!

We only give her the pacifier when its bedtime and they are kept hidden throughout the day. Sometimes however one escaped our control and ends up amongst the toys only to be found by "you know who".......Last night she did just that, squatted down picked one up and held it high in the air as if to say "Look what I found, yooohooo"!!
She's now playing keep away with us whenever she's got something that she's not supposed to have. She holds it up shows it to you and takes off running........(little toot). Eventually she's gives it up but not before she makes you work for it. Last night was no exception with another pacifier, take a look!

Pig Tails?

Genevieve's hair is the opposite of mine. Mine is dark brown and hers is a dirty blond. When mine is wet that's the only time it will stay straight on its own, she on the other hand has the cutest curls that stick out from behind her ears. As my hair dries "on its own" it starts to curl, hers goes straight? I have a hard enough time taming my own hair!

Oh, and she hates anything in her hair such as clips, rubber bands or bows. The minute she realizes there is something in there she rubs her hand all over her head until she finds it, then pulls it out. I'm trying to let her hair grow out but her bangs are getting soo long they are always in her eyes. We tried the pony tail on top of the head but Matt didn't like that, so this is what we have. It's cute too but her hair wont curl so she's got antennas, horns, call them them what you will, her hair is out of her eyes! And for some reason she'll only let me do this while she's eating?

Matters of the HEART.....

A little background; My Mother in law "Mary Frances" who after 30 years of service, happily ended her long devoted career at Texas Instruments as assistant to the CEO and Chairman of the board Tom Engibous to retire, move to Georgia and be Genevieve's Nanny.
Since that time she has really enjoyed herself here and is positive that she made the right decision..After all, her e-mail signature reads "retired and loving it"!
Recently we found out that she has a significant blockage in one of her heart valves and is in serious need of a replacement. Open heart surgery is big news for anyone to swallow but on a positive note, she has been told by her doctors that people who have needed the valve replacement never realized how bad they really felt until after they had the surgery. Not because the surgery made them feel worse, on the contrary. It's actually because of how much better they felt, energy levels go up etc with the added blood flow that they have been missing out on all these years.
Her doctors acted fast and wasted no time. "You need to have this procedure sooner than later and by sooner we mean don't wait more than a month". That was last Thursday 10/4, she is now going in for the surgery this Thursday 10/11 at 7:00am sharp! "Man they don't mess around"!!
Her recovery time is estimated to be 6-8 weeks, I am taking a leave of absence from work to care for both her and Genevieve until she is fully recovered. Please keep her in your prayers that all goes well and she makes a speedy recovery.
We thank you for your love and support,
The Holland's

Dont Mess with My Tu-tu!!

What would play time be with out dressing up? I made this little tutu for Genevieve this afternoon and of course I enjoyed it more that she did...."ya" give her a few months she'll come around.
I don't think she had much to say about it until the tulle started getting in between her and her play car keys, then it had to go!!
I'll sneak it back on her in a week or so :)