Friday, April 30, 2010

Thurs. POD


For some reason, I just felt inspired to take pics of the kids this evening. Tripp had on this black and gray shirt that had orange numbers on it and Libby was wearing black shorts with a gray camisole...they just looked so cute together and were being goofy and sweet all at the same time. Of course, most of the pictures were not perfect because Tripp had bug eyes or his tongue out or something like that! This shot I thought was just great, but the weird part is there is a mattress in the background that just bugged the heck out of me. Libby said it made us look "trashy" and I was just dying laughing at that because those were my sentiments exactly...yet here the picture is posted for my little blog world to see!

Now, why is there a mattress standing up behind them you might wonder? It is because my husband decided to undecorate my old office which had this lovely little antique bed in it with a black toile coverlet, etc. and instead put a honking huge massage chair in it's place! Now, I am thinking about putting the old bed up in my craft room area as a daybed or something. So that is why the mattress is sitting up against the wall in the kid's den.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Happy Hump Day!



Wow, what a pleasant day! I had fun working on my Project Life album, getting the journaling cards and photos from last week in there. I also sanitized the upstairs bathrooms and did a few other household chores before heading off to teach. I always call my hubby so I can speak to the kids for a few minutes after he picks them up from school (since I am at work by the time they get home). Today, my son was elated to share his Mid-Quarter Progress Report with me. This is the first report since he began the Focalin for his ADHD on March 26th. You may recall from a previous post that his last report card left A LOT to be desired. If he weren't an incredibly smart kid-I'd not even be bringing this up, but we knew he wasn't reaching his potential. This progress report is much more indicative of what we expect from him.
He got a B in Language Arts, Science, and Study Skills, but got A's in Math, and Social Studies! His Math comment was this "WOW! He's moved to the accelerated group." Science comment "He's doing so much better!!" Additional comments were: "Tripp has amazed me these past few weeks-focused, organized, motivated. Keep it up!"
This just made my day (whole week really) and he is so proud- I just had to share!

The second picture is of the amazing sunset we had this evening. You never see the same one twice and they are a sight to behold.

Project Life Slideshow week 16

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Family Time

So, I spent the entire afternoon looking at all the awesome blogs of other folks doing Project Life. Namely Project Life Tuesday over at the Mom Creative. What a great group of talented photographers! I was feeling a little sad that I no longer have little pre-schoolers-instead I have kids that are almost as tall as I am and that I can no longer hold in my arms. (Well, I can, but not too comfortably). At any rate, we were hanging out on the couch after watching our nightly episode of The Wonder Years and I grabbed the camera to try to snag a few pictures. The ones I took were not the best, but we were having fun and it is pretty obvious on all of our faces, so that is worth remembering and adding to our book. Laughter and snuggling is the best way to end the day!

Project Life Tuesday Week in Review













I could really use some ideas for more pictures, so if you drop by from Jessica Turner's blog, please leave a link to your blog so I can go check out your pictures, too. Have a blessed week and thanks for dropping by!

Couch Potato




My hubby and I have a few shows we like to watch together...24, LOST, and Fringe. Unfortunately, we are very far behind in all of these series so we are trying to catch up on episodes one show at a time and are dvr'ing them each week as they come on. Last night we watched double episodes of 24.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Sun. POD



Today was part 1 of dance class picture taking day. There were 5 classes scheduled to attend. They were all coming in early and therefore finishing early which was a wonderful treat since the weather was so beautiful and I didn't want to be stuck inside all afternoon. I was ready to unwind with a glass of wine, a stroll around the yard, and some TETRIS playing. My hubby just put a new version of this game on pc that he downloaded from here. I am a total Tetris junkie and have been since the early 90's when I used to play it on some sort of game system-maybe a Playstation my boyfriend at the time had. My son, who was on another laptop right beside me, said he bet I was the only person in the world who drank wine while playing Tetris so I just had to have that for my POD!

Sat. POD




Libby had 2 friends sleep over after the dance and Tripp was spending the night away, so we had a leisurely morning in our pj's. After Tripp was picked up and the other girls dropped off we went to a late afternoon showing of How to Train Your Dragon in 3D. It was really cute and a perfect way to spend a lazy, rainy Saturday afternoon.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Thurs. & Fri POD's






My Thurs. POD is a shot of Kevin Arnold from the Wonder Years. We have begun watching this series as a family and usually see two episodes a night. The kids are both really enjoying it since he is 12 at the start of the show. I think they have already learned a lot historically about this time in American history. It is so nice to have shows that the entire family can enjoy watching together. You know it used to be like that when I was a kid because there were only 3 channels and everything that came on at 8:00p.m. seemed family friendly. Not anymore, so we have always found our favorite shows to share with our kids-we did The Little House on the Prairie series with them years ago.

There are two pictures for the Fri. POD. The first one is Libby (on L) with some of her girlfriends getting ready to enter the dance. This was a middle school dance sponsored by the Builder's Club. Since they are in the club, they helped decorate right after school. Then, I took them home so they could get dressed. They almost refused to go in because everyone else was dressed very casually. The girls looked so beautiful and grown up...

The last picture is of my hubby and I with some of our best friends at the restaurant Mezzaluna. We went out for dinner while the girls were at the dance. It was so nice to get some couple time with good friends because we haven't had a date night in ages!!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Quiet Time




I've had a pretty darn productive week thus far. After finishing up some household chores I took the time to indulge myself by sitting on the couch with a cup of hot tea and some new magazines. That is a therapeutic to me as having a massage or getting a pedicure sometimes. I love to have the house all to myself, especially when it's clean, and to just act as if I am a lady of leisure. Two of my favorite magazines are BH&G and Victoria.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

All Tied Up!





The kids and I went on some thrift store runs this afternoon looking for a soft briefcase satchel that Libby wanted to do a craft with. Instead we found a ton of awesome ties that Libby fashions into neck wraps. We are heading to the Lake Eden Arts Festival in a few weeks so she has been working on crafts to sell there. Each of these ties cost only $1! She plans to use the fat end of the tie for the "collar" part of the necklaces and then use the ends off the ties (the skinny part) to make into headbands. They are adorable! I'll definitely be uploading some how-to's for both of these projects and some finished images as we have time to work on them.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Project Life Tuesday

I'm getting a jump start on Project Life Tuesday for week 15 since I have missed weeks 12, 13, and 14. Here is my slideshow with all the updates. I didn't add in special pages of my birthday party so it is not really featured here except in one uninteresting photo, but rest assured I have lots of great pics from that event! Also, I have great pics of our Charleston trip over Spring Break which aren't added in either. Thanks for taking a look!

Mon. POD



What things do you have that make you smile each time you wear them?
This purse is that current "thing" for me. I got it off of etsy to celebrate winter's end. Isn't it cute?!?! It's officially my "spring" purse, since I haven't been very good about matching them to my outfit...

You can get this style purse in the fabric of your choice here.
Posted by Picasa

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Sun. POD




Finally, caught up on my Project Life. Not only have I neglected blogging as of late...I've neglected everything! As I said in my earlier post-it was a crazy week. I still haven't folded that giant pile of clean clothes that was last Sunday's POD! I had planned to do that this weekend, but instead I have been outside. My hubby got off on another yard project today which resulted in my going back to Lowe's and purchasing an additional 10 plants and planting them. Hubby bought about 6 for his project and put those in, too. It was much cooler today, but still sunny and beautiful. Perfect yard work weather. The kids have also spent lots of time outside riding bikes, jumping on the trampoline, and helping to clear out the weeds from our vegetable garden plot so it will be ready for planting soon.

Made my menu for the week and did grocery shopping early this morning. Here's what my family is eating:
Sunday-Burgers and fries, Boca salad for me
Monday-Turkey tenderloin, tiny peas, squash casserole
Tuesday-Pork chops with Fennel and lemon, Brussel sprouts, Baby carrots
Wednesday-Beef with Asparagus & Mushrooms, Mashed Cauliflower
Thursday-Salmon, Spinach salad with pecans
Friday-Kielbasa sausage with cabbage soup, cornbread muffins
Saturday-Greek meatballs, egg noodles with garlic herb sauce, French style Green beans
Posted by Picasa

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Tues.-Sat POD's







This has been an insane week back after Spring Break! I did remember to take pictures every day, but I just couldn't find any spare time during the day to blog or read my favorite blogs for that matter. I was barely checking emails which is totally unlike me!

The first photo is from today (Sat.) and it shows some of the plants that are coming up and a couple of new ones. It was a glorious day to be outside and that is just where I was. I went to Lowe's for plants two separate times!

The next photo down is from Girlz Game night on Friday evening. It was a small group, but we still had fun. No game playing, though, just chatting and munching on snacks til after midnight. I was so tired this morning!

The next picture (which is totally off in scale) is also from Friday. My dear friend, Ellen, was celebrating her 49th birthday and we had a kind gentleman take a picture of us in front of some dogwood blooms outside of our favorite restaurant, Bluewater Seafood. Unfortunately, the ground was very uneven, so it makes me look like I am even shorter than I am compared to the other girls.

No picture from Thursday-yikes!

Wednesday's photo is my $1 unsweetened ice-tea from McDonald's...almost a daily indulgence of mine.

Tuesday's photo is of a favorite restaurant of mine, Never Blue, in downtown H'ville. I went out with some of the PTC officers and teachers after our meeting that night.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Mon. POD



I finished the book, One Second After, by William Forstchen last night. The book is about EMP and fallout from a terrorist strike in our country. The setting is a small town north of Asheville called Black Mountain. It made the story much more intriguing simply because it was somewhat local. The book has made me want to start buying extra emergency goods every time I go to the store! Most Americans really would "crumble" if we lost all power and had to resort back to living like the pioneers did. Makes you think...
Posted by Picasa

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Sun. POD




I had several goals for Spring Break, one of them being to get caught up on my laundry. I did tons of laundry and left it sitting in the theater chairs waiting to be folded. I had all day today to work on it, even thought about trying to find a good chick flick to watch and bust it all out at one time, but that never happened. I pretty much sulked about all day since it was the last day of break.

After looking over the calendar, I felt pretty overwhelmed by the next 7 weeks. Dance recital is Saturday, May 29th, but there are a million other things that me and my family have going on between now and then. I know the time will fly by and that is part of the problem. I feel like I need a few more weeks to get ready-yet at the same time I am counting down til summer break.

I have been at a strange crossroads regarding my business this year. I realize that my children are only here with me for a few more years and I am tired of not being home with them in the afternoons. I love working, I love what I do for a living and all the wonderful little girls I get to teach everyday, but I miss my own kids terribly. That is why I am considering going back to school for my teaching license. I am trying to figure out how to do that and still work and be able to take care of my family at the same time. Thinking about all of this makes me a little nuts and one of the other things I had hoped to achieve during this break was a real plan for how to go about this. Unfortunately, that never happened either.

I feel a little bit of dread about the break ending and what I have to do over the next few weeks, but the good news is...I LOVE MONDAYS! I am one of those rare people that do and I am sure that what seems overwhelming tonight will all seem conquerable tomorrow!
Posted by Picasa

Sat. POD

 


Oh, I know this is not a great photo but it will serve as a reminder of our Mediterranean-style dinner party the Chet's had this evening. Unfortunately, one other guest isn't in the photo since they had already left and we didn't get a photo of us all sitting around the table enjoying the wonderful food, either...

Our menu consisted of hummus and pita chips, cheese with honey, walnuts, and crackers for appetizers. The meal was Mousakka, Gyros, Greek Salad and a couscous salad. It was so yummy! We also had an assortment of pastries, including baklava.
Posted by Picasa

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Fri. POD

 


Those camellias I was a little worried about after the dusting of snow at the end of March seem to be just fine!
Posted by Picasa

Friday, April 9, 2010

Thurs. POD




The photo above shows a the remnants of a home that exploded approximately 2 miles away from where we live. The sound actually woke my husband up-he said the house shook and the windows rattled a bit, but it still didn't wake me up. This is kind of old news, as it happened back in March, but today my daughter and I happened to remember it when we were driving home from Target and decided to detour off the main road to see what it looked like. It appeared to be a pretty good sized home on a lovely lot surrounded by flowering trees and Leyland cypress'. The foundation is the only thing remaining and the entire contents of the home are blown to bits and lying about the yard (and even pieces remain in the neighbors yards). I guess they cannot clean up the mess simply because it is still under investigation.

Here is the link to the article in our local paper about it.

It was a rainy day that was spent mostly inside after the shopping trip so not much to photograph...

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Wed. POD




After a great night's sleep in my own bed, I awoke ready to another lovely spring day. I enjoyed a little quite time out on the porch with a new book I bought while in Sylva. A book by Sarah Ban Breathnach (the author of Simple Abundance and Something More) titled, The Illustrated Discovery Journal-Creating a Visual Autobiography of Your Authentic Self. I am looking forward to playing with this more.

My hubby asked me to help him pick out a countertop for this remodel he is doing and has been left in charge of. So after dropping my car off for some service work, we went to the jobsite and to Lowe's. I had to go in the garden center while there and ended up bringing home a bunch of phlox to plant on a rocky slope in our yard. It was on sale for $3.33 each so I had to do this right now!

I came home and planted them all. I spent more time deadheading some plants that have already started growing again. I am worried about my Spanish Lavendar and was also disappointed to find out that one of our loveliest perennials, the Lantana, from last year isn't hardy in our Zone 6/7 area, yet it was sold to me at my local Lowe's! I'll have to pay much more attention to that this season if I buy much more from there...

It was a great day to be out in the yard, and the entire family was almost the entire day. Libby and I even got out on astronomy book at the end of the day and took a walk in the dark to try to identify some of the constellations. Tripp was having a ball playing nerf war with the neighbor's grandson.

Now, if I could only find a way to do all of my inside chores while outside!!!
Posted by Picasa

Mon/Tues POD's


I apologize for being a bit of slacker about my daily posting over the last week, but this is the first time I've been on any type of vacation since starting this project and I really think vacations need to be as "techno-free" as possible. For that reason, I have not been online much and definitely not taking the time to upload pictures.

On Monday, I was lucky enough to steal away with 3 friends to a little cabin in the woods of Sylva, NC. We drove up around 1:00 in the afternoon, unloaded at the house, had a snack and then headed to downtown to walk around and explore a bit. We spent most of our time in two different book stores (one the library resale store, the other a new book store). We also had a good cup of coffee here and sat on comfy couches chit-chatting. After we toured the town, we headed back to the cabin, poured ourselves a glass of wine and started snacking on cheese, nuts, veggies & hummus. (The first photo was our first toast of the evening). For dinner, we had curried broccolli and cheddar soup with bread, pasta w/pesto, and then brownies and carrot cake for dessert with an after dinner drink. It was wonderful. We spent the entire evening out on the porch. At about midnight we decided to take a moonlit walk to a small waterfall and then continued on up the road where we laid down and looked up at the stars in complete silence-so peaceful!

After a short night's sleep, we were up enjoying coffee on the porch again and proceeded to stay in our jammies until well after lunch! (The birdhouse photo was one I snapped first thing in the morning before anyone else was up and about. )We intended to take a hike, but that never happened. Instead we talked and talked and talked! At about 3:30 or so, we headed out with a stop in mind-The Balsam Mountain Inn. This place is amazing, an old mountain inn situated right beside the railroad tracks and an old RR station. This place was built in 1905 and boasts 50 rooms, we looked in almost all of them! Each one painted a charming color and decorated to match, but in a hodge-podge sort of way that was so inviting, like staying at grandma's house...

I got back home around dinnertime and it wasn't long after eating and watching a family movie with my kids and hubby that I was snoozing on the couch. Refreshed from my day away, I was ready to get some things done around here!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Sun POD

Charleston getaway slideshow

Saturday POD


I chose this particular picture for my POD simply because it shows both children and we are at the BEACH! That was the main goal, to get to the water...

I have a complete photo journal of our trip that I will post a link to if you are interested in more photos...

Our day began with a quick breakfast at the hotel, I was tickled to find that they had low-carb offerings of sausage and omelets so I ate well. We immediately headed to Patriot's Point to cross over the beautiful Cooper River Bridge. My hubby needed to stop at a drugstore for allergy medication and the kids ended up buying these! They also insisted on wearing them and we kept laughing saying they looked like "country come to town". Next we took a drive to the end of Sullivan's Island. After that was a stop at Fort Moultrie. We took the walking tour and it was a beautiful day to be out. Tripp, who normally would have been bored out of his mind, was thoroughly engrossed and even took time to stop and read the informational signs and share some of his personal knowledge on the subject (this was all thanks to the Focalin). After, the fort tour, we found a public access to use to get out on the beach. Libby and I took a long walk shell seeking while Tripp played in the sand. Then, the swim! It was so cold I couldn't bring myself to get all the way in. Tripp and Libby had a great time though! Next, came lunch at Acme Cantina on Isle of Palms. This is one of our regular stops every time we come down. After lunch, was a quick shopping trip in Mt. Pleasant! Then back to the hotel for showers and a little rest time before heading into Charleston for dinner....

Part 2-
Found a perfect parking spot beside the marketplace and we made reservations at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. We thought the kids would like it the best although, I really wanted to eat out on a deck in Shem Creek. It was a good choice for people watching, though. We strolled through the market and around some of the neighboring shops, then got ice cream at Haagen-Daaz before leaving downtown. We were all bushed by the time we got back to the hotel...

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Friday POD




"Adventure is worthwhile"
Amelia Earhart

So Friday began our Spring Break...a much-needed week off for myself and the kids! We had a 1/2 day of school and spontaneously decided to get the heck out of dodge and to the beaches of Charleston for the weekend. My hubby and I are from the coast and every once in a while, we just have to have the sand in our toes, the smell of salt air in our noses, and the taste of salt on our lips! This photo shows us snuggled into bed after a rather late arrival to Charleston. We booked a room online in the car and couldn't find a single (reasonably priced) hotel in Mt. Pleasant or Charleston to stay in so we were all the way out in the North Charleston area, but now worries-we're on a little holiday!

Friday, April 2, 2010

April Fool's POD



Yesterday, I got to drive a group of our middle school art students on a field trip to the Greenville Art Museum. I am sorry to say that I have lived here for almost 11 years and had never even been there! I was very impressed with the wonderful exhibit of Andrew Wyeth's work. Truly beautiful and I am very intrigued by his pieces surrounding a woman named Helga who posed for him in many of his paintings. There was also another painting of a striking woman titled, Skullcap ( I think she was a fisherman, actually) that was just so real it has stuck in my mind. Her eyes were so crystal blue, she looked like the cover of an LLBean catalog. Be sure to check him out if you are yet unfamiliar...