Guess he is growing

Jackson came down to breakfast sporting the peep-toe footies. Hand-me-downs only last through so many children.

Merry Christmas!

"AMAZING! Let's go see baby Jesus."

Charlie made an excellent shepherd (seen below to the left of the tree with the blue cloth on his head) and recited his line perfectly.




Wishing all of you a very merry CHRISTmas and a joyous celebration of Jesus' birth.

Merry Christmas

"AMAZING! Let's go see Baby Jesus."

Charlie made an excellent shepherd (seen below to the left of the tree with the blue cloth on his head) and recited his line perfectly.

Riding bikes with Daddy

This is one of the sweetest moments I have seen in my life.

Stephen could go out to pick up dog poop in the yard and Jackson would be happy to be by his side. He missed Stephen so much on this last business trip, he resorted to calling me "daddy" the entire week. Not accidentally, intentionally, as if I would magically change into daddy or it would bring him home sooner.

Out of all the kids, Jackson looks the most like Stephen. Now the two are sharing hobbies. They are inseperable and it just warms my heart.

first snow

Such a beautiful first snow. Super powdery, no wind, perfect for the kids to play in.

We had to go old-school with dressing for snow, I have not yet picked up snow boots for the older two.

So we crammed Avery and Charlie into 3T snowpants, couldn't put the suspenders over their shoulders, so they hung around their hips. I then put plastic bags over their socks so their feet wouldn't get wet in their sneakers. And the fleece gloves didn't stay dry long, but the kids didn't seem to care.

Jackson at least had hand-me-down boots from Charlie, but no snowpants. So I layerd pajama pants under two layer pants under a big pair of jeans.

They had so much fun diving and rolling around.
I am heading out to get boots, better gloves and possibly snowpants this weekend so we are not unprepared for the next storm. And we are in search of a hill close by so the kids can have fun sledding.

The boys trekking


Avery's snow angel

weather outside IS frightful

I had to pull an all-nighter tonight, this morning, however you want to classify that...

We had such a fun, busy weekend that I didn't sit down to do what I needed to do for work until late.

So here I am at 3am doing my thing, listening to the wind howl and rattle our house. It is snowing and beautiful, I am so very thankful for a warm house, and that I already went to the grocery store today instead of waiting until tomorrow, but now I should say I went Sunday instead of Monday, whatever.

Stephen leaves for Colorado tomorrow. I just checked the weather, colder and snowier here this week than there. He'll have a high of 62 one day this week, nice.

I told myself I would blog about living with a traveling husband once in awhile. So many people say "I don't know how you do it" so I feel like there needs some explanation on how 'one' or I do it. I once tried to find a book about life, marriage, family with a traveling husband and came up with zero. I have since been given one book which helped a little. Not discussion for tonight though, still wondering what yonker decided the week before Christmas would make for a good sales meeting. Ok, and a little bitter that while it is 17 here, it will be 62 there.

Mid December. Instead of Stephen's UPS deliveries piled high in our foyer, they are the kid's Christmas presents. Had a few fun Christmas parties to attend, decorated the house for our first Christmas here, baked a whole bunch of cookies, took Avery to see the Nutcracker. Definitely feeling the Christmas spirit this year.

Been kind of nice writing in the quiet that is my house for another 3 hours. I know I am going to feel pretty crappy come 2pm, but for now I am really enjoying my random thoughts without kids screaming in the background.

Thanksgiving

Avery's school invited everyone to enjoy a colonial breakfast the week before Thanksgiving.

Not so terrible, but crazy

Stephen and I have no doubt the Christmas tree will have help falling sometime between today and Christmas.

A few nights ago I found the gum drawer open. The kids had been playing with flashlights which come from that same drawer, so it didn't surprise me to find it pulled out.

It wasn't until I saw shiny paper on the dining room floor that I realized Jackson had once again found the packs of gum.

As I bent down to pick the wrappers up, I saw his little face trying to smile at me from under the dining room table, only he coudn't smile because at least five large pieces of gum were in his mouth. As I reached for him, he backed up and swallowed the massive gum ball.

After making sure he wasn't going to choke, I spent the next five minutes searching for my neighbor's phone number, who happens to be a nurse. In the two minutes it took me to call her and make sure I did not need to call our pediatrician, I turn around and find this





Marker all over his face, hands and clothing.

Stephen found him pouring cup after cup of water onto the floor from the bathroom sink. Last night he was squeezing Avery's ACT mouthwash and shaking it all over the same bathroom.

HE is CRAZY. Any guesses on the date of us finding the tree horizontal instead of vertical??

Put down the pom poms

Remember all that optimism from my last post? The highschool cheerleader channeling through me? I feel prepared, blah, blah, blah. Well, I'm singing a different song today.

I think running 13.1 miles on Saturday was one of the hardest things I have ever asked my body to do. I accomplished my goal, but not without anguish and pain. I ran the whole race, YAY! But I can barely walk today, YAY!

I have likened running long distance to childbirth. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, so I was nothing but excited. Now that I know what it is like, not sure I want to ever do it again. And while I had all these plans (like many women with birthplans) to pace myself with people, I had to throw out all of those plans at mile 6 when the third person I tried to pace left me in the dust.

People have their advice and stories, but I am one of those "oh, that won't happen to me" types. My friend Aimee (who completed the full marathon on Saturday) prepped me Friday night telling me I would hit a wall at mile 10 and not want to continue. I hit that wall at mile 8. She warned me I would have bloody toes, or even finish without toenails. My bloody sock proved her right.

I did not feel prepared. It was a battle to the finish and when I did finish, Stephen had to hold me up because I was so lightheaded and nauseaus. Saturday night while trying to sleep, my legs repeatedly reminded me how much I worked them, waking me with aches I have never felt before. And even still, going up and down stairs is super painful. Fun times.

But just like I continued having children after our first, I will continue to run these long distances. I am hooked and already have my sights set on two more half's in 2011 with interest in shaving minutes off my time. Aimee prepped me that it gets addicting and that the more you do, the better you know how to train. I know she is right and it is good to know I will *hopefully* never feel this horrible after a race again. The satisfaction of achieving the goal far outweighs the temporary pain. And the achievement will stay with me forever, the pain will pass. I think once I can walk again I may even look back on this first race as my best ever. But not today.

Big thanks to Stephen who was such a support, not only holding me up after the run, but driving, entertaining and just overall managing the weekend.

Here we go

Leaving shortly for our trip down to Richmond. After 10 loads of laundry, the house is feeling back to normal and cleaner. And my running clothes no longer stand on their own.

Everyone keeps asking me if I am nervous about running a half marathon. Truth be told, I am not. Being my first long race, I have no expectations. I have a timeframe in my head based on my long training runs as well as a friend's time from a half marathon she ran last week, but I am not going to panic if I see I am slow.

My goal for this first race is to run the whole 13.1 miles. I feel prepared. Last week I ran 11 miles by myself and while it was hard, it was great. I was slow, slower than I think I should be, but I decided to throw in some hills towards the end and also didn't have to keep tempo with anyone. I know during the race I'll find people to run along side who will keep my pace where it should be.

I have come to love running. I NEVER thought I would say that. I feel like I can get away from life for a bit. I enjoy the time outdoors as well as the company of fellow runners. I have loved the training for this race, especially increasing mileage. I couldn't run more than 2 miles last spring without feeling really winded. But running with friends and using the training schedule from www.halhigdon.com has allowed me to increase slowly to the point where I am very comfortable running 6 miles. I especially love the peace I feel after a run. My mind is clear, my attitude adjusted, those endorphines sure do a body wonder.

I have a lot of good music to play during my run, many of the songs remind me of people in my life who love and support me, of great times we have had together. Not to mention they are just good ole funky beats.

I am excited to accomplish a new goal, another perk to this whole new world of running. Mentally and physically challanging, feeling on top of the world when I cross the finish line.

I took the photo from this site, thought it had a pretty interesting article with it.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/crazy-life/200904/exercise-good-depression-whose-bright-idea-was

Even being conservative

and making the kids wear pants at least two if not three times before throwing them in the laundry basket



we have accumulated so much dirty laundry. Ten days ago the previous owners of the home came and removed their washer and dryer. I painted the laundry room and finished the first coat of paint in the bathroom to cover the builder white.

Two days later the laundry room and bath across the hall were tiled. Told to wait until this past Monday to make sure the tile and grout were fully set, we made an appointment with Sears to install our washer and dryer we have carted around with us since leaving Holly Springs. They have not been used in close to two years...

Installers arrive and tell us they can't install due to the drain pipe (for overflow) not extending far enough beyond the floor. He tells me the tile needs to be pulled up...the tile that was just put down.

So today I finally talk with the guy who installed our tile (who has built three homes) and he tells me there is no need to pull up the tile, a plumber will be able to extend the pipe easily.

Not only did the plumber extend the pipe, he was able to flip the washer with the dryer so loading wet clothes into the dryer will be easier.

Needless to say, we are VERY ready to have the install tomorrow. Ten days of laundry, including very stinky running clothes is enough.



This may be a "to be continued" if two years of storage has not been kind to our appliances!

apple harvest

About a mile away is a family run apple orchard that has been here in town for a long time. The town is moving forward with a planned road right through the orchard, taking out many fruitful, mature apple trees, and limiting the farmer easy access to his entire orchard. The road would ease Main Street traffic especially after the two concrete shopping centers are built both adjacent to the orchard. As much as I loved Harris Teeter in NC, do we really need a third grocery store in our small town?

I took the kids to pick apples, but to also meet Farmer Brown.

Love her imagination

I love this assignment Avery's teacher gives the class. She gives them writing paper with a black mark on it. The kids have to draw a picture incorporating the black mark and then write three sentences about their picture. This is so in line with Avery's imagination.
So the black mark today was this half circle. I asked Avery how long it takes her to think of something to draw and write and she said "Oh just a couple of seconds." She even includes the movement lines and the frustration symbol by the turtle's head.

 

 

I flipped through a sketch pad Avery has been using and found a three chapter book she had written. It was about a whale who was upset because his friend made fun of him. It is titled "A Whale Who Cried Dinosaur."

Such a big help

Jackson, Lucas and I ventured down to the basement this morning to clean out the corner of sell, give away, throw away. Jackson rode his tricycle for a bit and then disappeared. No big deal until I heard him drop something in the kitchen.

Came upstairs to find the coat closet open, Lucas's food container open, Lucas gobbling up every morsel, Jackson laughing and putting more food in the dog's bowl with the food scooper.

Jackson was so proud he had helped "bubba" and of course Lucas was thrilled to have a partner in crime. I had to physically pull Lucas from the container of food. Lucas is a very happy dog this afternoon.

I also opened two boxes of home goods yesterday, both with styrofoam inserts that exploded everywhere. As I grumbled about the mess I had made, I turned around to the sound of the dust buster, Jackson ready to clean up.

Every day I am so surprised at how much he understands. He is a doer, a go getter and while it is hard to parent/keep up with this type of personality, I know it will serve him well as he grows.

fluff because I am exhausted

Got a couple of heavy topics on my mind the last few days but I am not quite ready to put them into words (and *possibly* be judged). They are important topics to our family, things I believe belong here so someday the kids can read and see what their parents stood for and believed in.

But I am exhausted. Trying to juggle everything is tiring. I am still week to week on my articles, so every week I scramble to pull something together. It ALWAYS comes together, but sometimes that means Monday morning with a Monday afternoon deadline. Can make for an interesting weekend. I love my job though. I meet the nicest, most creative people and I love having something to call my own.

The half marathon in Richmond is 3 weeks away! It has been a wonderful outlet and stress reliever, but trying to get 'in' all my training miles has proven tricky. My goal is to run all 13 miles. No time in mind, but hoping to build from here for future 1/2's.

Hopefully Stephen's schedule will slow down in late November, so we are gearing up for some home projects. Still kind of living like we just moved in. Local paint store is having a sale this month, so we picked colors and are ready to go once we have a little time. Living room, Charlie's room and kid's bath are on the list. And we are going to jump on painting the laundry room before the new tile is installed in two weeks.

Stephen's job is a little high stress right now, Charlie seems to be crying at school when he is frustrated (his parents are doing the same at soccer when he insists on pouting on the sidelines), all this and just plain ole regular life is wearing me thin and keeping me from posting anything too serious (or even posting at all these last few months).

Charlie took this photo of Lucas. It makes me smile.

Memorable weekend

Visiting with family we haven't seen in quite some time and in that visiting, meeting a new member of the family and celebrating her first year of life with delicious cupcakes.

Sitting around a fire with good friends watching the kids (big and little) make smores.

30 mile bike ride with Stephen. We haven't been out riding together in a long time and I haven't done 30 miles in at least 7 years.

Playing yellow car.

Hearing Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" sung at deafening levels by every attendee at the wedding.

Bagels and Taylor Pork Roll.

Watching one of my dearest friends marry the man of her dreams.

Spotting three rainbows on the drive home from New Jersey. As Lauren said, sign of a great weekend!

time with the boys

We are finally settling into the scheduled life. I am enjoying time with the boys while Avery is in school, getting to know them better, as brothers as well as individuals. And with Charlie in preschool three days a week, I am getting some extra special time with the littliest.

Charlie hiding in the toy box, reminiscent of E.T.



Jackson taking after big brother and the love for cars.


Two pictures from this summer that I adore, Charlie with pool toes. He was such a fish, his toes would bleed from scraping the concrete floor of the pool. Didn't stop him.


Redneck toddler.

Country Fair

There are so many little towns around where we live. And every little town has their own country fair. Some in the spring, but mostly this time of year.
We went to Bluemont today and the kids had so much fun. Glitter tattoos, cotton candy, really easy children's games (with books as the prizes, didn't have to add to the Made in China pile o' crap in the house!), uncooked noodle necklace crafts, just good ole country fun.
Avery's favorite part was the honey taste testing. Jackson's the model train shed and Charlie loved the mining of rocks.

 

 

 

Curious Jackson

He is so cute, so helpful, but so curious. You know the saying "Curiosity killed the cat?" Well, his is killing me. Nothing in the house is safe, especially now that he has mastered door knobs and knows how to pull chairs to counter tops.
He has a couple of favorite drawers where he can always find trouble.
Our office desks. There are lots of fun colored push pins, paper clips and gadgets with buttons.
Kitchen junk drawer. Flashlights, gum, keys. Loves it all. This drawer doesn't close easily so I can always tell when he has been sneaking because the drawer is left open. I left him napping at the house yesterday while Charlie and I went to get Avery off the bus and came home to an open drawer, Jackson with four pieces of gum in his mouth.
Bathroom drawer. This drawer is so thin, there isn't much that fits in there. But dental floss, toothpaste, some lipgloss always entertain.

Momma! Look what I found!


Bubba (what he calls puppies), do you need to floss?


Being curious makes me tired.

There she goes

Off to first grade!


Neighborhood kids getting on bus together.


See you this afternoon!

what else would you do?

Storm chaser/meteorologist (only if I was the one out in the elements, not behind a desk).

Quotes to live by

Now that we are settled, I have taken some small steps to reclaim 'me'. I love being a mom to these three beautiful children, and being a mom has brought so much out of me I never knew I had, but I also lost a little bit of myself in the baby/early childhood stages (throw in four moves and I kind of feel like I boxed myself up long ago and didn't unpack myself until now!).


Some quotes have resonated with me lately:
Decide you want it more than you are afraid of it. Bill Cosby

Do the thing you think you can't. Not sure of author, but my neighbor made shirts with this quote for a Mother's Day fun run.

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. Neale Donald Walsch


Going back to work, especially to writing was a HUGE step in the right direction for me. Deciding to run a half marathon in November has been another. Neither of these were on my radar a few months ago, and if you had told me a year ago that I would be doing either, I would have laughed. They are new adventures, pushing limits I love to push and I am doing them, happily.

But just this morning, while running, an old friend came to visit. I noticed a voice in my head urging me to take the short cuts to get home, a voice saying,
"You'll never make it the whole way".

As soon as I heard this, I got angry.

For too long I let my highschool English teacher's words sting,
"This is the worst piece of writing I have ever read!"

To allow myself to listen to these voices, whether in my head or aloud from others, and hold them true is lunacy. To have these voices create fear and intimidation is stupidity. I have been a stupid lunatic for far too long. I have let words hold me captive, control me, leaving me boxed up with little adventure and many limits.

I have realized that when I control my thoughts, I have more freedom to live.

things aren't where they should be

The laptop I use was attacked by a virus 2 weeks ago.
Surperiornerds.com helped me fix it

Run Amuck - 5k mud run through Quantico Marine Base

Three and a half mile run on road and trail, complete with five obstacles including two mud pits! We met up with our former neighbors from NC, two of us crazy enough to compete. It was so much fun, I felt like a kid again playing in all that mud.

The before


The after

Church cookbooks

Recently I pulled out the two church cookbooks I own, trying to find some new ideas for dinner, especially meals the kids will eat.

Before I met my sister-in-law, I never glanced at a church cookbook. I have been a slave to cookbooks put together by famous chefs.

One day said sister-in-law was was going through my cookbooks, also trying to get new ideas and mentioned how great church cookbooks are. She said "if you think about it, everyone they know is going to see this recipe and possibly try it, why would they put a bad recipe in the book?"

You know what, she was right. These two cookbooks have been my top choices as of late and I have not found a bad recipe yet.

I especially love the one my mom gave me from their church in New Jersey. A lot of Italians live in that area, go to that church and have added their authentic, ethnic, wonderful recipes.

Avery made most of this dessert tonight and I wanted to share. It was delicious and simple!

Apple Crisp
5 C apples, sliced and pared
1/4 C water
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 C sugar (you could easily go with less, but it was super yummy this way)
1/3 C butter or margarine
3/4 C flour

Spread apples evenly in a greased 8x8x2 pan. Sprinkle water, cinnamon and salt over apples. Mix together sugar, butter and flour. Sprinkle this on top of the apples and bake uncovered for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Serves 6 people.

we had so much fun

Thankfully the wear and tear of driving south on 95 in the middle of summer wore off and we had a fantastic week on the Outer Banks. We already decided what we will do differently if we plan to go again next summer. After talking with friends, two other carloads of people that we know personally were stuck in this same traffic.


We had so much fun, we didn't take a lot of photos! Mostly because I didn't want sand to ruin any of our electronics. But it was also so nice to not worry about a thing and just play. Stephen and I commented that neither one of us wore our watches all week! We went to the beach every day, swam in the pool at least once a day, ate a lot of good food and bonded.



The kids ALL took naps and slept well at night, incredible what a day of fresh air will do!

dance with the seagulls

For a little over two minutes, the boys all stood mezmorized by the surf, while Avery flitted around the beach

If you can't laugh at yourself...

was this trip worth it?

Day 2 of our family vacation to the Outer Banks. And I think Stephen and I are definitely questioning why we thought this was a good idea.

Day 1 found us in the car from 8:30am until 6pm. The drive from our house to VA Beach was excruciating. The kids did so well and were so happy to finally get to grandma's and grandpa's.

Day 2. After spending the morning with family, we said our goodbye's and hit the road for the outer banks. We were doing so well until we got to the outer banks. Traffic, again.

We find ourselves on the third floor of a condominium, I think Stephen said it is 48 stairs to get up here. It is nice, clean but very, very small. We unpack and all the kids want to do is see the beach, but it is raining.

We went out to eat and the kids were crazy, can't blame them, they've been stuck in the car for two days.

I think Stephen and I are very hopeful the week will turn out fantastic and we can look back on these first few days and laugh. Either that or we will adjust our vacation plans next time, time will tell.

he's free

Sunday, a tornado-like storm came rolling off the mountains and left us with a little rain (finally!) and unfortunately no power.

Knew it was going to be an interesting start to the evening, as the power went out just as I was getting my hair cut. Thankfully there was still enough natural light for the hairdresser to finish, and she did reduce the cost. But was it a good haircut...

I also happen to have a deadline Monday mornings. While most of my section was finished, I had some editing as well as layout to finish and it is all done by computer. So I headed to the nearest, powered, Starbucks to finish.

When I arrived home at 10pm, still no power in town. As I pulled in the driveway I saw flashlights shining in the master bedroom. Stephen was entertaining Jackson with the light. Wondering what he was still doing awake, I soon realized he was hopped up on ice cream cake. We had celebrated his 2nd birthday hours earlier and when we lost power, decided everyone could have a second helping of cake since it was going to melt. This didn't go over well in his little 26 pound body.

He also has an obsession with balloons. We know this. Every time we go to the grocery store, he begs for one. Darn Harris Teeter got the other kids so accustomed to getting a free balloon every trip, they never got obsessed. If only we had a Teeter closer, I would go just for the sake of avoiding the balloon meltdown. Or "boo" as Jackson calls them.

Well, we got him some balloons for his birthday celebration and between the sugar and obsession with sleeping with the balloons in his hands, he was a crazy man that night.

This fateful night, he also learned to climb out of his crib.

Life.is.over

We all finally fell asleep, Charlie and Jackson with Stephen in our room, Avery and I in Jackson's room, to the sound of the neighbor's generator cranking away.

Power is back on and life is somewhat normal, oh wait...I did mention Jackson has found his freedom. So, today he climbed out of his crib at naptime and hasn't looked back. I think freedom is overrated.

Thank goodness he was bleeding

As a parent I have images that run through my mind of things I NEVER want to happen to me. Not big things, well those too, but in this case I'm talking about the little things. The circumstances where I won't know what to say or do because my child has caused a scene. You know, the moments that will be utterly embarrassing to me. Yup, it is all about ME today.

The crash. The sound of a million little pieces of glass hitting the floor. What I should have been thinking, "Oh, I hope everyone is ok." What I was thinking, "PLEASE don't let that have been my child causing that mess."

Trying to leave the Restoration Hardware outlet, Charlie pulled over a porcelain pedestal sink. I was in front of the pack with the stroller, Stephen was behind the pack trying to keep Jackson out of trouble, Avery and Charlie were in between being kids.

As Stephen was checking on Charlie, surrounded by big and little pieces of broken glass, I was consoling Avery who was upset that a) it was their fault and b) it was so loud. So at this point I am kind of thinking "are my children ok?" but the more penetrating thought is "wow, how much is that going to cost us?"

Thankfully, Charlie is bleeding. Whew, there is no way they are going to make us pay if there is an injury involved. I jest. Only so slightly.

Charlie somehow avoided getting really, really hurt. The sink, not attached to its pedestal, with the pedestal not attached to anything, fully fell over. He walked away with a minor cut on his pinky finger, Avery with a sore wrist from trying to catch the falling sink. As minor as the cut was, it was a bleeder. The management was so concerned about him and all the blood coming from his finger, that the broken sink was cleaned up without even a glance in our direction.

So here are some lessons learned.
Stephen and I will NEVER step foot in that outlet again, with or without children. We feel like they have a WANTED poster of us hanging behind the register.
Restoration Hardware will probably never place a freestanding, non-attached pedestal sink in the middle of a room.

let me save you a trip

You know those wacky travel books, where they tell you all the places to visit that are off the beaten path that sound odd, yet fascinating? Don't let them fool you. They are just odd, not fascinating.

DinosaurLand. How bad could it be? It is on Stonewall Jackson Highway after all. And it is a park full of life sized dinosaurs. Not to mention price, a very inexpensive outing for a family on a budget.

You kind of get the feeling of what you are in for as you pull up to the home turned business venture. From the look of the shark which is roadside, you hope and pray the dinosaurs don't look as, well, pitiful. You have driven all this way and have already promised the kids a day of fun at DinosaurLand, there is no turning back. They've got you right where they want you.

Of course the epic adventure begins and ends in the country store/gift shop. Four dollars for the two older kids, five dollars for myself. Let the fun begin.

First stop, the washed up shark by the road. Paper mache-d (sorry can't do all the symbols that word needs) in the seventies. Only feature worth mentioning, mouth open for a good photo op. "They can't all look like this" starts to play over and over in your head.

Past the dirt mound, the real DinosaurLand begins. And you guessed it, more paper mache. All of them. And all dating back to at least 1970 if not older. Avery, love her sponge-like brain, pointed out discrepancies.
"Mommy, that wasn't the real size of the Pteranodon."
"Mommy, that dinosaur is supposed to have another claw on the front of its' foot."
"Mommy, that dinosaur was a plant eater, why do they have it eating another dinosaur?"

So we wandered through all 30+ creations, not just dinosaurs, to end at King Kong. That was about 15 minutes after we arrived. Can we really kill the rest of the afternoon in the gift shop??

Thank goodness Skyline Caverns is only a 30 minute drive down the road in Front Royal. Day not totally wasted.

As we drove home, the kids just kept asking to go back to DinosaurLand. Really? They can't be serious. Ok, they are serious. I think I'll let Stephen take them back to enjoy the adventure (park).

Her escape

We tell Avery she lives in 'La La' land. She has a wild, vivid imagination and it seems like she is always there, in her own world and it takes quite a bit to bring her back to reality.
Well, now that she is reading, she has a new escape (and with two little brothers, who doesn't need an escape??). The girl is not without a book in hand, ever.




I'll keep the photo of her reading a book, naked, while brushing her teeth for the future husband.

there are days

our fish

Our children are fish, I am convinced. The pool is the new playground for the kids and they never want to get out.
Silly me, I thought there was no pool that could top our neighborhood pool in NC. I had images of being thoroughly let down when entering our town pool.
To our surprise, it is even better. And I love that Avery and Charlie are confident enough for me to let them roam throughout the three-foot deep parts, which has four slides, two floating animals, a spouting mushroom, and four dumping buckets. Charlie was a little sad that he is not tall enough to go down the big green slide yet, but I promised him he would be next year.
And Jackson, well, thank goodness the pool has life vests. I put him in one and he is crazy. Jumping in, going into deep water, loving one of the slides.
I love summer.



Avery and Charlie jumping into the pool in Virginia Beach while we were down for Gabriel's baptism.


Sleepy Jackson after time at the pool.

Talent

I am meeting some wonderful people through my job at the paper. Very welcoming homeowners (who even welcome my kids on many occasions) as well as very, very talented artists/builders/designers.
Recently I met Lynda Durham who decorative paints for a living. She is a sweet woman, and oh so talented. Out of all of her artwork that I have seen, I can't help but come back to these switchplate covers. The homeowner hated the white covers the builder left, especially because (as well all know) the eye is always drawn to those first instead of the beautiful tile/stone work.
So the homeowner asked Lynda what she could do and voila...can't even see them.





Yup, she painted them to look like the backsplash. Amazing!

hello neighbors!

As much as we love our neighborhood and neighbors, our full glass exposure to the street allowed little to no privacy.
When my friend Sheela came to visit she commented how it must be hard not to be able to come downstairs in our pajamas...and she was right, having no privacy meant we couldn't get comfortable here.



So, we found inexpensive solutions to tide us over until we are ready to do something more with the front door.

I looked all over for curtains for the side windows. I really wanted roman canvas blinds but our windows sized too small and would need to be custom made, too much money right now. And the oval glass door just lets in too much sun as well as full view of our living level.

So I found Stained Glass Appliques (repositionable self cling window designs) for the side windows and an etched glass cling for the oval by Artscape. Both were very easy to adhere and created the privacy we needed. And the side windows still allow us to see our visitors.