Putting the Kids to Work

Before grilling wings for dinner on Saturday the Thaxton children were put to work.

Cary was "manning" the grill after creating his own bbq sauce to compete with my brother Mike's homemade version.
Carson had "doogie doodie."
Rufus and Sandy took a breather. Then there was this guy who was running around and playing with the rope swing. It's a good thing Troy is cute but his time is coming.
There was some bonding time between Carson and her Dad.
Another good Saturday night at our house.

Tech Tip: Custom Domain Name for Blog

Earlier this week I discovered that for a mere 10 dollars, I could create a custom domain name for my blog in blogger. I'm going to outline the steps below in simple terms.

My blog for the last year has been found at http://thaxtonfam.blogspot.com/. Truthfully, I gave exactly three seconds to the name and rolled with it. Now that I have observed other blogs for a year, I realized having more of a "handle" like VodkaMom is cooler. As a self described "web-savy mom" I decided to make this my new blog-handle. It wasn't until after the fact that I realized I misspelled savvy and have for years.

First step:
Log in to your blogger account. Click on Settings and then in the top left click on Publishing.
At the top it will have your current setting to be "Publish on blogspot.com." Below it is an option to select "Custom Domain." Click on this and a new drop down option appears.
Second step:
Under Buy a domain for your blog is a box to enter in your desired custom blog address. After entering in your name, click check availability. I tried several and they were all available. In my case, I wanted http://www.websavymom.com/. Besides the reasonable $10 a year charge, your current URL or web address with .blogspot.com will automatically redirect to the newly registered name. Translation: You will not lose any web traffic.

In addition to the custom domain name, google provides:

• private domain registration to protect against spam (they keep your personal information private)
• full DNS control and domain mangement (DNS is domain name system which is basically the way the internet is configured into words vs. IP numbers like 187.32.344.1)
• easy configuration with other google services, email, calendar and instant messaging.

(Still with me?)

After you complete the registration process, entering in your personal information and credit card information in three easy steps, return to your blogger dashboard where the whole process began.

Now, select Swith to: Custom domain and if not already appearing, enter in your newly registered custom domain name.

It may take google a little time to flip the switch on their end, don't panic if you're typing in your newly registered address and nothing is appearing. I kept hitting F5 to refresh the page on the http://www.websavymom.com/ page until it finally appeared.

Meanwhile, I created an email address based on my new custom domain name which is deb AT websavymom.com. After you register, you can create multiple email addresses. I logged in to my new email account and have all mail forwarded to my primary email account which I check every day on my computer and blackberry. I've explained how to create custom email addresses here.

If you have specific questions about anything website-related, feel free to email me at deb AT websavymom.com and I'll try my best to either respond personally or make it a post on this site.

While you're here, please select "follow me" on the left-hand side. I'm also on twitter and try to tweet every day. Click for my Twitter for Dummies post.

Be sure to come back on Fridays for Flashback Friday and link up.

Flashback Friday (part 24) - Meeting the Parents

Tim and I met in October 1998 when I was freshly out of college and he was in the Army. The following summer he met my parents for only the second time at their lake house in Bumpass, Va.

Although these pictures are from the summer of 2001, the story of the first encounter on Lake Anna is much more entertaining...now. Mid-afternoon after being in the lake for awhile, we decided to take a leisurely cruise around the lake in my parents' pontoon boat.

At one point my father asked the boyfriend of his youngest daughter if he would like to drive. Tim said yes and took his seat in the captain's chair. I was in the back and as I was walking to the front to get a drink out of the cooler asked Tim if he'd like one. I vaguely remember hearing my Dad ask Tim, "so what do you like about my daughter..."

As I reached down into the cooler and pulled out a drink, all of a sudden everything happened in what seemed a split second.

I was wet.

It was dark.

I was in the water.

The boat was going over the top of my head.

Realizing that I was between the two pontoons and the engine was coming at me, I quickly ducked under the water.

Seconds later, I came up in the middle of the lake to see everyone on board yelling at me. I called out that I was indeed okay, still had the drink in my hand but was in a daze at what just happened. Did my then-boyfriend just run me over with a boat? Yes.

As I was reaching into the cooler he thought it would be *funny* to slow down the engine which through me off balance and over the 24 inch tall "wall" at the front of the boat.

The story is funny to tell now because I was indeed okay. Now we modify Tim's answer to my Dad about why he liked me to be, "She's very funny, she's smart, **SPLASH**, she's a good swimmer..."

Tim apparantly is trying to bring me to death in Lake Anna as demonstrated Memorial Day weekend.

Here is explanation of Flashback Friday (FF) and other FF posts.

Our Beach Vacation (part 6) - Wild Horses

In the Outer Banks of North Carolina it's not uncommon to see wild horses wandering around.

On our vacation earlier this month we loaded 12 people into Tim's truck and went to the four wheel drive only area of the beach in Carova, NC to hunt stalk observe the wild horses. These horses are descendants of Spanish mustangs which survived shipwrecks over 400 years ago.

All of the kids were in car seats in the cab of the truck and rest of us were piled in the back. At one point the older boys spotted a boat on the horizon.

Tim heard, "What the hell is that boat doing?"

He turned around to ask Brendan, 4; Jake, 5 and Troy, 2 1/2 who said that. Without hesitation, Brendan said it was Troy! Hilarious.

We were cruising around and not seeing any horses which was frustrating the kids so we parked and walked around on the beach. Then a horse was spotted walking towards us. We loaded up quickly and drove in it's direction.
He didn't pay us any attention and kept on walking.

We even saw dolphins swimming in the water with black pelicans cruising across the water looking for a quick meal.It was another beautiful day in the Outer Banks.

Our Beach Vacation (part 5) - The Bob-Father

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my father-in-law is quite the character. On vacation two weeks ago in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, it was an unwritten mission of everyone in the family to harass Bob as much as possible.

He was bombarded with daily attacks of water balloons, water guns and on one particular afternoon, frozen marshmellows.

Kayla learned from her mom, Julie, who orchestrated most attacks that it was always helpful to dress the part. Her arm says "Papaw is going down." Bob/Papaw tried to take a break from the harassment by hiding relaxing in the hot tub.
Near the end of the week my fellow conspirators and I took turns walking out with a specific BOB t-shirt on. I was first, I kept talking to him, moving around to get him to read my shirt. No luck. It wasn't until I was joined by Julie and Angie that Bob caught on and read all of the shirts.

Bob's wife Deb (we have the same name) had received a "Bob's Babe" shirt for mother's day but didn't know we all had our own Bob shirts. Mine said "S.O.B. Sweet Old Bob," Julie's said "Whatever you do, don't piss off BOB." and Angie's said "Try not to be jealous, we can't all be like BOB."

We all gathered around "The Bob-father" for a picture. Hilarious. I believe his response to it all was I'm gonna punch you in the face. Wonder where he learned that wonderful expression?

Tech Tip: Who Needs Photoshop?

I have had access to Photoshop for years but it wasn't until experimenting with Ree Drummond's aka The Pioneer Woman's actions last year that I became more knowledgeable. At some point this month I will be losing access to Photoshop (boring story) so after I mourned the news, I decided to look for something online that would allow me to touch up my photos and have a little fun.

I found picnik.com. According to their website, "Picnik makes your photos fabulous with easy to use yet powerful editing tools. Tweak to your heart’s content, then get creative with oodles of effects, fonts, shapes, and frames. It's fast, easy, and fun." They also allow you to easily save your photos to twitter, facebook, your website, etc.

The great part is you can experiment with their software for free and it's only $25 a year if you want to upgrade to the premium services.

I took this picture on Saturday of Troy standing by our whiskey barrel pond holding a small alligator. This is SOOC (straight out of camera).

This is after I did a few quick touchups and played in picnik.com. I love the difference because the focus is now on Troy's face and pursed lips.

What do you all think?

Flashback Friday (part 23) - Tubing on the James

Fact: It's legal in Virginia to be in different bodies of water on a non-motorized craft and drink alcohol. (However, PSA from an actual tubing/canoeing company which is why we do the trip on our own.)

Good thing because for many summers in a row, about 20 of our friends would go tubing down the James River, south of Charlottesville, with about 30 tubes.

What was in the extra ten tubes? Coolers full of beer and food.

We always strategically leave a car at the bottom of the river at a designated spot and everyone else piles into cars and drives to the top entry part of the river to launch our tubes.

In 2005, this was a picture before we left our friends Katie and Eric's house to caravan to Scottsville. Tim, Carson, me, Cary, Eric and Medium Jason (formally known as Big Jason) from left to right.

Here was an action shot while on the river of Katie, Carson and Tim.
If our leisurely trip is going to fast on the river, we pull over and have a "rest stop" to drink jello shooters eat some food.

Once we get to the spot to leave the river. Everyone hangs out by the trailer that carries the tubes while the designated drivers go back up to the top of the river to get the cars. After we get back to Katie and Eric's house, a March Madness-like bracket of beer bong breaks out. CC and I were partners and didn't do so well although we were most creative with our hats.

Medium Jason and Cary tried to take us but I think fell short. If you ever get a chance to go tubing with friends, please do so. The year before this trip we had a group that was twice as large and twice as wild. One couple even brought their jack russell terrier who had her own tube.

Here is explanation of Flashback Friday (FF) and other FF posts.

Our Beach Vacation (part 4) - Crabs.

After dinner one night on our beach vacation, the Thaxton Family walked down to the beach to hunt for crabs. Armed with beer flashlights, nets and buckets, we proceeded to comb the beach and observe every crab hole we found. It seems we were a little early or just plain scary because there weren't many crabs wandering around. However, when one was found there was enough screaming by the little kids to make the wild horses flinch. The laughter following the screams was classic. Who knew we could have so much fun and it not cost a dime?

Our Beach Vacation (part 3) - Say Cheese

Every morning on our beach vacation in Corolla, NC, Troy, Tim and I were the first ones out of bed. By 10 a.m. we were slathered with sunscreen, cleaning the pool and ready to start the day in the sun.

I took this self-portrait of Troy and I before jumping in the water.
Cheers! Cheese!

Our Beach Vacation (part 2)

There was a favorite expression all week on our beach vacation that was heard repeatedly.

Since I was really excited on the first night at the beach house, I wanted all of the adults to celebrate with adult beverages after dinner out on the deck which included my father-in-law, Bob.

Bob is a character. He can't sit anywhere outside near the pool without one of the grandkids splashing him, dumping water on his head or throwing water balloons at him.

Well, Bob was interested in one of the NBA games on tv which was unacceptable to me. So, after a few more after dinner drinks, I went inside, got in his face and said,

"If you don't come outside now I'm gonna punch you in the face."

Yes, this is how I roll with the Thaxtons. He laughed at me of course, said something about seconds left in the game and would be out shortly.

All week long it could be heard in the house, "Pass me another beer or I'm gonna punch you in the face." or "If you don't get out of the pool now, I'm gonna punch you in the face." It was used by everyone in the family and just got funnier and funnier each time it was said.

What can I say, I'm a trendsetter.

I should also mention that Bob told me I was "officially" in the Thaxton family ONLY because I gave birth to a Thaxton son, Troy.

Here are the Thaxtons boys, Bob, Troy, Tim and Cary.But there was a great joke played on Bob later in the week that was even better than a punch in the face.

Our Beach Vacation

All week I will posting pictures of my week-long beach vacation to the Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina. I was having too much fun in the sun to even look at a laptop while it was unfolding even though I was twittering about it from my blackberry. It was nice to go back for a visit after spending a week there last year.

We were spoiled with a less than two hour drive south whereas the rest of our party had to drive 12 hours. We hadn't been down since celebrating my friend Kim's 40th birthday in March.

It's a wonderful place to vacation and unlike some beach tourist towns, the home of the Wright Brothers first flight, consists mainly of families and friends renting houses.

One of the best parts was having my stepson Cary and step-daughter Carson join us on vacation.

Here is Cary, Tim, Troy and Carson one night when we walked down to the beach.

Keep reading about our vacation here.

Flashback Friday (part 22) - Hurricane Isabel

When a catergory 5 hurricane is heading to your town you can do one of two things: batton down the hatches and ride it out or leave town.

In September 2003, Hurricane Isabel was heading up the coast to hit land in Virginia Beach. We had tickets for a Thursday night game in Blacksburg the next day, five hours inland so we loaded up The Neighbors RV and headed West. My brother was left behind with our dog and The Neighbors' "Old Dog" as she was called.

We tailgated in the wind and rain with my parents and Buck and Sunny, their neighbors at the lake, by their RV as well. Caroline and I had a good time before the game.

Two of the dogs made the trip, JD and Ricki who got into the spirit of things.As true college football fans, we were Not going to let a silly old catergory 3 hurricane stop us from watching Virginia Tech Hokies play the Texas A&M Aggies. We packed accordingly.Buck is a diehard Aggies fan and leaves Virginia for College Station, Texas in his RV with his wife Sunny, for the duration of the football season.

For this game, Sunny opted to stay dry in the RV and because our tickets weren't together, Caroline and Buck were seated in a different part of Lane Stadium. It was a battle of defensives and the final score was 35-19. Buck explained to Caroline that it was customary for all Aggie men to kiss their dates every time they scored. Caroline not knowing any better obliged the man who is 40+ years her senior. The Aggies scored mostly field goals to get to their final score of 19 which means a lot of kisses. After the game and back in the RV, Sunny informed Caroline that in the 45 years of going to see the Aggies play, she had never heard that rule before.
Silence.
Then LAUGHTER.
Mostly by Buck whose face had turned 10 shades of red. Hilarious.

As for the hurricane, we were lucky and only lost one shutter but were out of power for over a week. There were lines for gas and the only sound in our neighborhood was of the flock of mosquitos going by and generators humming. It was a quick introduction into how to live like a pioneer woman.

Ready, Set, Splash!

Troy loves the water, whether it's bathtime, in the lake, in the ocean or the ghetto pool.

Earlier this week the temperature was in the mid-90s even at six o'clock. Tim and Troy got in to cool off and it quickly because a ready, set, splash activity.

Troy thinks he's "swimming" by doing a modified doggy paddle across the pool with his hands moving forward as he walks.

See his arms moving?

I'm glad he loves the water.