Winter sickness, mountain getaway, and our first trip to the ER!

The McFalls had a touch of the flu go through our house last week and it wasn't pretty.  It was the first time that Elodie has been sick.  The flu outbreak in Atlanta has been so bad that one county closed their schools early for the holiday because so many kids and teachers have been sick.  I consider myself to have a pretty good immune system.  I avoid most colds and sicknesses.  If we ever do start to feel a little sick I swear by taking Wellness Formula.  You can get it at any health food store.  It has helped keep me healthy for years. Last week Elodie woke up after midnight after throwing up in her crib.  After getting that mess cleaned up and her changed I attempted to rock her back to sleep.  Then she threw up on me. Getting thrown up by a toddler is a life changer. Apparently they don't completely chew their food up.  Yuck! Graham got thrown up on next.  She got sick four more times that night!  It was a very looooooong night!  In between getting sick all over the place she was laughing, smiling, and running around.  She didn't run a fever.  After finally getting her down at 6am she slept until 1:30 in the afternoon.  I had a huge pile of footie jammies, sheets, and stuffed animals to launder. We are hoping that will not happen again anytime soon.

That weekend we decided to take a trip up to Tennessee to see Granny and the Pelham family.  We rented a cabin in the mountains and got a dog-sitter for Jemma.  As we headed out on the road Graham's phone lost service at some point, had us take a wrong turn, and we ended up driving straight through the Smokey Mountains.  Lots of windy roads up and down without guard rails.  Not an ideal driving situation with a toddler in the back.  She ended up getting carsick.  After attempting to get her cleaned up, changed, and her car-seat cleaned out we still had an hour and a half left on our trip.  (It was supposed to take four hours).  It ended up taking 6.5 hours.  Putting her back in that wet car-seat was heartbreaking.  We arrived at our cabin after dark and had a beautiful view of the stars. The drive up the mountain to the cabin was terrifying.

The next day we met up with Granny and the Pelhams in downtown Gatlinburg at a famous pancake house.  Granny said she had been coming here for 50 years.  Another thing I have learned about the South is that people looooooove their sweet breakfast. There are pancake houses, waffle houses, and donut shops everywhere.  There was a Krispy Kreme on our way to the cabin and there was traffic because of all of the cars trying to get in line for one of those "butter sticks".  That is what they taste like.  I had one for the first time when Jan my mother in-law came to visit.  Sugary butter sticks!  After breakfast we decided to head back to the cabin let Elodie nap then go see Santa and visit the Pelhams. After nap time Elodie tripped over the area rug and hit the corner of a glass table.  It was one of those times that replays in your head over and over.  She cut her eyelid and under her eye pretty badly. There was a lot of blood and tears. Since the cut was on her face, she hit her head, and near her eye we decided to take her to the Dr.  Our first trip to the ER.  Not fun! No stitches but we were glad we went.  After we got home that evening Graham got his round of the flu.  High fever and couldn't keep anything down.  So I was alone hanging out in our hot tub on the deck under the beautiful falling stars.  First trip to the mountains!  It was tough but we are going to do it again! Hope your family stays healthy this winter!

Elodie after her car sickness!

Cousin Love after the ER visit!

Wellness Formula

How to keep in touch after all these years......?

People always ask me how I have kept in contact so well with friends over the years? I have always thought of my friends as family. I love them like family. I would do anything for them. It's as simple as that. Since I have only made like one friend down here that I have seen only once I have a lot of time to reflect on the friendships I do have.  It is fun for me to reminisce about all the memorable times I have had with such amazing friends.  I talk to my family all the time so I do the same with my friends. Most of all it has been the phone calls.  Catch up, check-in, celebrate each other. Life goes by so fast these days. Memories you make with good friends are something that you should always cherish. I think all of my good friends have something different to offer me in my life and I hope I do the same in theirs. The people that I have kept in contact throughout the years have deeply impacted me and helped shape me into the person that I am today. Sounds super cheesy but it's true. I have seen many of my best friends move away and start their journey in life somewhere new. Now I am doing that same thing. Before I met Graham and had Elodie I had much more free time to go and visit my friends around the country.  I have no plans to stop but it has slowed down a bit for now. Now my lovelies can come and visit me for a bit ;) Hint hint!!!! I have this fantasy of us all settling down somewhere in the same place someday!  Lets be honest it might have to be a vacation get-away or down the road an active senior community! ;) Just feeling a bit sentimental and thankful for all of the amazing people in my life for a moment down here! Thinking of you daily Minnesota, Indiana, Florida, New York, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado! You know who you are!

JUST A FEW MEMORIES!

IT'S THE WEEKEND.......

Graham and I have always enjoyed our weekends. We loved to go see a show at First Avenue or have a nice dinner date night downtown or uptown Minneapolis. Ugh I miss Solera, Roat Osha, Nico's Tacos, and Pat's Tap just to name a few. Now that we live in suburban Atalanta without grandparents to help watch little miss Elodie things have been a bit different. If we go out we do late afternoon lunch/dinner with the babe. We have been so wrapped up in getting "house" things done we haven't done anything just the two of us lately! Last weekend we decided to have game night! Yes we are officially old and having game night! Just the two of us! We don't have any friends here yet! So after we put the baby to bed we poured some vino and broke out the good old Yahtzee game. Yahtzee is a staple game in the Vollmer household.  We play every Christmas eve.  It gets intense! Our Friday night game started with a bang! I got three Yahtzee's in a row. I texted my sister, mom and dad. I told my dad "This will never happen again"!  He replied, "You are exactly right"!!!!! Only the hubs and I were witness to my amazing skills! We ended up having an epic evening. The next night we broke out Scattergories and Jenga. Big weekend at the McFall mansion! I guess it says a lot that we can have fun together like this just the two of us. I tried to get him to admit that I am his best friend. He would not oblige. He said he would never admit that. I told him I have a long list of best friends anyway. It is an ongoing affair that I attempt to have him say that I am his best friend. He doesn't think that married couples should be best friends. I just think its funny to bug him about it!  Just keeping the flame going down here in Georgia! What do you do with your spouses to keep things exciting when you can't go out on the town? 

Night out in Minneapolis at Solera!  

Game night in Woodstock at the McFall Mansion!

Recycle toilet paper cardboard tubes????

Totally random......Do you recycle your empty toilet paper cardboard tubes?  I thought I was pretty recycle savvy. I grew up in a Recycle Reduce Reuse household.  I feel actual guilt when I am somewhere that I cannot recycle something simple like a can, bottle, plastic.  My most recent job only recycled cardboard!  It was an everyday guilt trip to throw away bottles, cans and plastic.  I saw a commercial the other day about tube free toilet paper rolls.  This is GENIUS!  Scott toilet paper makes them.  I have been recycling mine since.  I can't believe this is such a simple task that I have overlooked all of these years.  MIND BLOWN!  It's the little things these days people!

Over 17 billion toilet paper tubes are thrown away each year. That’s enough to fill the Empire State Building. Twice. By pledging to #TossTheTube for good, you can do your part to reduce the tube waste without sacrificing quality.
http://www.scottbrand.com/products/toilet-paper/tubefree

Stroller Hoarder?

I think I have discovered I have a slight obsession with strollers.  I remember before Elodie was born I looked for the best stroller that could do all the things that we wanted.  Graham wanted to be able to jog with her.  I wanted to be able to walk with her and have storage for a coffee, water, cell phone, place to hook my diaper bag.  We decided on the Graco FastAction jogger stroller combo. It was a good deal and the infant seat just clicked into place.  After Elodie was born we quickly learned that this stroller was hard to get into our vehicle and all around bulky.  Bringing it out in public was a bit tricky.  When we went to a restaurant we would ask them if they had somewhere we could park our Cadillac.  It was a bit wobbly when walking with it also.  All the accessories were nice but I found myself wanting more.

I began researching other strollers.  It seemed like such an investment to get another one.  I longed for a more compact stroller.  We definitely got a lot of wear out of this one.  But it was hard to get our big black lab Jemma and the stroller in the trunk if we wanted to take a walk around the lake.  My bestie Kristina got the Britax B-agile stroller.  The first time I saw it I had "stroller envy".  In the last year I acquired (convinced myself I NEEDED) four more strollers.  Yesterday I finally bought a used City Mini stroller.  It is similar to the Britax B-agile stroller.  We love it.  Its compact, light weight, and has all the accessories (drink holder, cooler, snack tray)!  Score!  Now we have five strollers.  We have the Graco jogging stroller, an umbrella stroller, a Chicco key fit caddy (this one is perfect when they are in the infant car seat), a sit-n-stand stroller (nope I'm not pregnant again), and the City Mini.  We also have a red wagon.  Not sure why I'm so obsessed.  I'm Valerie and I'm a stroller hoarder. Oh did I mention the previous owners of the house also painted the garage pink?

Halloween!

Halloween used to be one of my favorite holidays.  I used to love planning my epic costume!  Now it's all about the baby!  Last year I made her a chicken costume.  This year we got a hand me down ladybug costume from Tia Anna that I decided to use because I didn't have time to plan.  Elodie wore last years costume for about 15 minutes.  Lots of pictures and plenty of tears.  This year we got hours out of this one.  I think it was because of its comfort.  Next year I will take that in to consideration when making her an "epic" costume!  Not mom of the year this holiday but she was definitely happy.  This was also the first time I lived somewhere that we had trick-or-treaters.  The thought of random people ringing the door bell and asking for candy gave me slight anxiety.  Not sure why little rug rats in costume made me uncomfortable.  But I can't be the only one that feels this way?  Right?  Welcome to the suburbs! Graham and I didn't dress up either.  I guess we need to get on our game face next year.  Abel is Elodie's future husband.  He lives in Chicago.  Last year we spent Halloween together and planned to spend it together this year also but it didn't work out!

                                                                       LAST YEAR!

THIS YEAR!

PRE-BABY

Soup Life!

I used to live by the "Live in the now" attitude.  I went to concerts, made it out for every holiday, birthday, vacation, changing of the season.  Now I have to keep another human being alive (basically two if you count my husband).  So things are a lot more slow paced.  I have to give a bit more thought to how I am gonna run my days.  I am definitely a creature of habit.  It used to be where I went out, what songs were my favorite to play with my band, drink of choice, foods I had to eat all the time!  I ate out A LOT!!!  But I ate at the same places like Roat Osha, Nico's Tacos, The Blue Door,  and Pat's Tap to name a few favorites.  Yum I miss those spots!  Well the food thing is similar.  We like food routines at the McFall Mansion.  Monday is usually steak salad, Tuesday is taco night, Wednesday is salmon, Thursday is chicken, or chili, Friday is Pizza, and the weekends are a toss up.  Things get changed around by day but we have those items a lot!  Between a mass text between girlfriends, Pinterest, sister in-law advice, and random apps I attempt to switch it up.  Lately I have been trying my hand at soups.  Last week I made a turkey burger sweet potato soup and the next day I made a butternut squash soup.  They were both a hit with the fam!  Elodie will usually eat anything.  I made the butternut squash soup in a double batch yesterday so we could have leftovers. I always change a recipe that I find online so it is a bit more simple.  I also got all the items at Aldi.  I had never shopped there before moving down here.  You have to use cash or debit.  But it is a quick in and out stop if you know what you need.  It was for sure less than $10 for everything to make a double batch.  We serve our soup with a baguette with butter and garlic or brie cheese in the oven for 5 minutes.  I love our slower paced soup season life right now!  YUM!

Recipe

Butternut Squash Soup

1- Butternut squash (cut and cubed)

2- Large potatoes (cubed)

1- Med onion (chopped)

1- Med carrot (chopped)

32oz- Chicken or vegetable stock

Sauteed 2 tbls butter in a large pot

Add vegetables

Sautee for 5 minutes

Add broth to cover vegetables

Bring to a boil

Cover and cook on low for 40 minutes

Place in blender 

Then back in pan 

Season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Top with spoonful of plain greek yogurt

I did add about a cup of kale with the other veggies yesterday also.  We had some fresh kale from a friends garden.  Not sure I would do this every time but it was delicious!

(Graham loves to put Sriracha on his.  He puts it on everything!)

Painting

My evenings have been spent painting the emerald city!  We knew moving into this house that there would be a lot of painting parties.  There was green, purple, pink, and blue!  All I have left to paint is the pink room, purple closet, and eventually the pink garage!  Who paints their garage pink?

Daily dancing!

Elodie and I have daily dance sessions.  This is one of the best parts about being home with her everyday.  I having been playing the song "Happy" by Pharrell since last Spring almost once a day.  Elodie has been really into dancing lately.  It's funny how babies develop their own moves.  Literally anytime music comes on she throws her arm up and starts bouncing!  She also pretends to sing the songs.  She looks like a little muppet and cracks me up!  Dancing and singing makes my soul happy!

Living in Woodstock GA!

My husband Graham, daughter Elodie, dog Jemma and I headed South to Woodstock GA a little over a month ago.  We bought a house and committed to living in the suburbs.  We wanted to give it a try.  Nice house, nice neighborhood, nice neighbors!  It is a bit of a culture shock.  Not necessarily because it is the south but because we are living in the suburbs.  I do hear the theme song to the show Weeds in my head almost every time I drive into our neighborhood.  I lived in Minneapolis for 15+ years.  That sounds crazy.  In our new house I do feel safe and I like the space.  I don't like feeling like I am spending the majority of my time in a car getting places.  I also miss the convenience of a great restaurant (delicious food, drinks, and exceptional service).  I am sure we will find some gems.  We may have to spend some more time in the car to get there.  Before we came down here I was bartending so it is nice to find good service when we go out to eat.  Here is our family in front of the new house!