Applesauce!

Again, this is one of those videos mostly for the grandparents to keep in touch. It is really funny, though. Charlotte was not a huge fan of applesauce!

The Bandit and the 10-gallon hat

My Funny Girl

This is mostly for all the grandparents out there who just can't get enough!

Baby laughter is always contagious, though!

(Sorry its so dark!)

Mystery Monday

I'm no fairy princess!

I understand that when it gets cold, you sometimes get little furry visitors that like to come in to get warm and eat all your chocolate chips in the back of the pantry. We had a few last year that met a quick end with the mouse trap and some peanut butter.

Today, however, all I wanted was a bottle of water! I casually reached into the box to grab one when my hand touched something warm and fuzzy! I nearly peed my pants! I quickly withdrew said hand only to find this:





Thank God!

Apparently the giraffe was thirsty, too!

Your neurology lesson for the day

Do you ever get sentimental?

You know how certain smells remind you of certain things? Let me tell you why that is. Two brain structures, the amygdala and the hippocampus, play an important role for the storing of memories, and the olfactory ("smelling") nerve has very direct connections to both structures (Randy is waiting on a "medulla oblongata" comment here). I feel a diagram is in order:

This is why the smell of cinnamon, cloves, or vanilla may remind you of Christmas at Grandma's when you were a kid. (For some reason, when I smell glue sticks, I also think of Christmastime--my mom is crafty!) That's it in a nutshell!

Well, the smell that got me this week was Tide and Downy--not just 1 independent of the other--it has to be both together.

I was taking my laundry out of the dryer--while it was still hot, mind you (I usually don't get to it until its cold). I piled the towels onto my bed and breathed them in deeply. I then wrapped one around my shoulders and breathed it in again. That smell is my Mama.

When I was little and would spend the night, she would put my blanket in the dryer to get it warm and then wrap me up in it on the couch. The warm embrace of that blanket felt so good to my little body. It, too, smelled like Tide and Downy.

Today, my laundry became more than a chore; it became a hug from my Mama.

I love you, Mama!

Fall

Fall is my favorite season!

Here are my 2 cuties enjoying the warm weather--while it lasts!

Garrett's Take on Politics