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Smilebox: It's my new thing

2011-05-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

I don't know how I did it or where it came from, but somehow I downloaded a smilebox application from some website somewhere...and I have been hooked ever since. I know it feels like I have been sending these things out every five minutes or so to the poor grandparents and aunts and uncles. I'm hoping when they get sick of them they'll just tell me to stop. They are just so easy to make and even the kids can do it, which they have...yet another track out activity!

Create your own photo slideshow

It's BAAAAAAAACK!

2011-05-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

Remember some time ago I made an attempt at a yard sale blog? That didn't get very far, did it? Well, I've brought it back to life...and hopefully I will have the will and the time to keep it going! My plan is to post something new each day...so head on over to www.yardsalemommy.blogspot.com and check out my favorite yard sale finds from the weekend!

Hope you had a great mother's day!

Springtime in Carolina

2011-05-01T18:43:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a good weekend and enjoyed the sunshine. We sure did! There's nothing like a warm Spring evening in Carolina.

Wet T Shirt

2011-05-01T05:07:00.000-07:00

Can you believe this baby likes to take a SHOWER???

Track Out: Time to Catch a Fish or Two

2011-04-17T19:48:00.000-07:00

We are loving having off a few weeks during such a beautiful time of year. Although we are currently relaxing at Grandmama's house (cold here by the way), we had a fun first two weeks of track out.

Time for walks in the secret garden (who says she's bald?!?)

Staying in our pajamas all day!

Time to catch a fish

or two!

Time to borrow a dog

and pretend she's ours

We're working on important subjects, like hula hooping

and just enjoying the moments together, like this rare shy smile from our social butterfly!

Make a Wish!

2011-04-13T11:48:00.000-07:00


8 candles on the cake!


Make a Wish! Mary Claire turned 8 on April 1st. Happy Birthday sweet Mary Claire!

You are our sunshine, our only sunshine...

2011-03-31T17:01:00.000-07:00


Dear Charlotte,


You are our sunshine...


Our only sunshine...

You make us happy

When skies are gray.

You'll never know dear

How much we love you

Please don't take

Our sunshine

away!

Happy first birthday, sweet Charlotte! We love you!

Orphanage Obsession

2011-03-29T19:32:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason, our girls are fascinated with the idea of orphanages. Whether it's because of Walt Disney (do princesses EVER have mothers?) or because the only books we read are books like Heidi, we always seem to have parentless girls on the brain. Ask anyone who has ever played American Girl Dolls with Mary Claire and they will tell you--there are always little girls without mom and dads involved.

This week (and it is only Tuesday mind you) this issue has been brought to my attention and I thought it would be cute to share little windows into the girls' souls through their writing and drawing. First, Mary Claire had a field trip to see a play this week (I have no idea what the play was about), and when they returned to school they had a follow up activity to draw a picture of something they saw themselves doing in the future. Here is Mary Claire's picture:

Mary Claire says this is her when she is grown up telling Chinese orphans about Jesus. Wouldn't that be fun if she were a missionary one day?

And here is a story Ellie brought to us tonight. She has been using some of her free time to work on it for the last few days (my girls love to write stories in their spare time!). It was a really great story that made us chuckle many many times. Again with the orphanage theme. Maybe you'll get a chuckle out of it, too! May none of you ever get sent to a grown up orfinidg, as it may make you cry "most bitterly"!

Dear Johnny...and other Parent Teacher Conference Musings

2011-03-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to a Parent-Teacher conference for our little Elle Belle, who now at 6 is not so little anymore. I won't share all the details but I was bursting with pride when I walked out of that classroom!! It is so nice to hear good things about your own child! Her teacher shared this cute little letter with me and I thought I would share it here. I especially love the ending! (PS--the handwriting is not so good, but she is a lefty after all and is terrible at forming her letters!) The assignment was to write a letter to Johnny about the word flower using transition words. There were no other guidelines or instructions. Elle has a great teacher--I don't remember learning transition words in kindergarten!!!

Learning to walk isn't always easy!

2011-03-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

Sweet Charlotte decided to try walking today with her baby stroller walker. But as you will see, it's not always easy.

Happy Girl

2011-03-11T18:16:00.000-08:00

I seriously have the happiest, smiliest baby ever. How blessed am I?

Baby Shower Blanket Cake--A Fun Diaper Cake Alternative!

2011-03-10T19:53:00.000-08:00

There is something in the water because both Aunt "Buhlissa" and Aunt Christina are expecting little boys very soon! It was fun to celebrate with Aunt Melissa at her shower a few weekends ago. I wanted to do a diaper cake for her (it was one of my favorite things from Charlotte's shower) but she isn't using disposables...but it turns out that any ol' baby gift can be made to look like a cake!

It was a very fun centerpiece as guests arrived!

I loved these shoes...for a second I wanted a little boy so he could wear them. But only for a second.

The girls made edible bird nests as favors (the nursery is woodland-creature themed! so cute!). It was the messiest craft EVER. I do not recommend it. They loved having a part in the baby shower preparations, though!

Mama's Girls

2011-03-09T18:51:00.000-08:00

With Charlotte, Bennett finally got a daddy's girl...it was a long time coming. But these two...they are mama's girls through and through.

Baby hearts Spaghetti...

2011-03-07T20:19:00.000-08:00

Charlotte LOVES LOVES LOVES spaghetti...

and eats it by the handful. She's usually double fisting it, too!

American Girl Doll Book Club Meeting #1--Meet Felicity!

2011-03-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

If you know my girls, you know what they love: American Girl Dolls! My girls play with their dolls literally every day. Kit, Felicity and the gang go to school, get dressed for horseback riding and tea, get adopted from orphanages and ride scooters selling eggs pretty much daily around here. Our love for the dolls stemmed from a love of the books...of which we have read just about every one. At least twice.

Let me back up for a minute. When I taught middle school, I was priveledged to be a part of a monthly mother-daughter book club. The girls in the group were the kind of girls I wished I was in school: smart, cute, funny, and confident. They were sweet and kind and had awesome mothers. Best of all, they liked being with their moms! I knew that one day if I had girls, I wanted to be a part of a mother-daughter something with them. So after a middle of the night idea, our American Girl Mother-Daughter Book Club was born.

Our first "official" meeting was this weekend, and Meet Felicity was this month's selection. We started the evening with an American Girl craft of beaded rings while we waited for all of the girls to arrive. Once everyone got here, we circled around the living room and took a silly Meet Felicity quiz which made the girls giggle and got us ready to talk. Ellie then used her kindergarten "retelling hand" skills to have the girls go over the basic ideas of the book. Then each girl randomly picked a discussion question to talk over with their moms. The questions ranged from, "If you could trade places with any character from the book, who would it be and why?" to "How is the main character's life different from yours?" Each girl did a great job answering their question and it was good practice gaining confidence in speaking in front of a large group!

Next, we talked about the spices Mr. Merriman might have sold in his shop. Felicity was sent for some ginger for the ginger cakes her mother was planning to make that day, so we played a little "bridal shower" style game of smelling different spices to see if the girls could figure out which one was ginger. This was fun and everyone guessed correctly. The prize--homemade authentic ginger cakes made by Laura! These were so yummy...and I got to keep the leftovers! They lasted about 2 minutes when we discovered them Saturday morning. Bennett gobbled them up and demanded I get the recipe and make him more asap. Maybe you could post that recipe Laura?

The main craft for the evening centered on each girl making her own mob cap. In colonial times, these were used to keep girls' hair clean (and out of the way) when cooking, cleaning, and playing since they didn't take baths as often as we do today. Bennett was sweet and cut out all of the circles and I glued the lace around the edges and snipped holes all around the fabric. Each girl "sewed" a ribbon into the slits and then the moms custom fit the caps to the girls' heads. Voila! A new piece for the dress up bins!

The night concluded with the girls playing until 10pm (gasp) in the American Girl wonderland upstairs. I think everyone had fun! Next month: Meet Kaya

Mary Claire with her finished mob cap

The girls hard at work...yummy ginger cakes await

One of the cutest little mob cap girls

These girls were the envy of all in their costumes!

Number 3

2011-03-06T04:20:00.000-08:00

Make no mistake, folks, this is a happy smile on the face of Number 3. It's been very nice to have Mary Claire's Valentine's candy bag on the floor of the pantry for the last two weeks. While I cook dinner, Number 3 spends at least a half an hour sorting through the cards and fun dip pouches and lollipops. A harmless activity...until she managed to wrestle off the wrapper of a dum dum this evening and got her first taste of a sweet tooth. She didn't look this happy when daddy took the dum dum away, however.

Number 1

2011-03-06T03:37:00.000-08:00

Number 1 bounced into the car one afternoon recently declaring, "I did it mom! I'm so proud of myself! I was so brave! I can't believe that I actually DID IT!" A little nervous about what I was walking into, I cautiously replied, "What did you do?!!?" Number 1 answered, "I wore my {fake} glasses in my school picture!" and handed me this beauty. She loves this picture. So I do, too!

Number 2

2011-03-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

Of all my girls, #2 (as she is often called) has the bluest eyes. They are SO blue. No photoshop here, ladies. And that 6 year old smile...love those missing teeth!

Back in the fishbowl

2011-02-14T10:56:00.000-08:00

In the words of Frosty himself, "Happy New Year!"

You may have been living in your new year for 35 days or so, but I'm just starting mine. It's been my first winter with 3 kids, so we have been sick for literally 6 weeks. No one told me about this! Thanks friends. Happy to report we are all better and this is the first day the girls have both been in school and I haven't received a "your child is sick" phone call from one of their teachers. But I guess there's still time. Sigh.

While you all have probably been making headway on your resolutions for a month and a half, mine begin today. Goal #1? Blog more! I was a much better photo-booker and keeper upper with family members when I was a good blogger...so I have vowed to be consistent. Fishbowl, here we come.

Now that I can check blog post off of my to do list for today, I'm going to go put the Christmas boxes in the attic.

We're Thankful

2010-11-25T19:18:00.001-08:00

Playful Hues Thanks Thank You 3x5 folded card

Make a statement with Shutterfly custom thank you cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Do you Shutterfly?

2010-11-21T17:20:00.000-08:00

If you know me, it's no secret that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Shutterfly. In fact, at every birthday and Christmas there are sure to be photo books by the cake or by the tree for the girls (here's one I did for Mary Claire!) and calendars for our relatives. I even hosted a Shutterfly party earlier this year to share my love of all things Shutterfly!

Every year, we always choose Shutterfly Christmas Cards. This year will be no exception. Not only are they the best styles, best colors, and best photo layouts, they are more affordable than a lot of the other companies out there! Plus, if you don't want to have them shipped or are in a hurry, you can get Shutterfly cards at Target! This year's holiday cards are better than ever, as they have introduced a line called "story cards." These cards allow you to put in information about your family, more than just the simple Merry Christmas greeting. From bullet point highlights to detailed timelines, the new story cards allow you to make your cards more personal, plus you can update family and friends! I love this! I've picked out a few of my favorites, one of which may wind up on your doorstep. One of my favorites is the "What a Year" card. I love that you can include a few paragraphs of family info plus there is room for three pictures!

I am also always impressed by the image quality on all of their greeting cards. We usually send Valentine's Cards to relatives too, but this year I used a different company because I got them for free. However, when my package arrived, I was very disappointed! I had grown accustomed to Shutterfly's excellent picture quality, and this other company paled in comparison. I won't make that mistake again.

If you have time, check out the Holiday Card Collection for 2010. They are super cute and super fun! And if you're up late and can't sleep and love cute fat babies, take a look at Ellie's first year photo book and Mary Claire's first year photo book and tell me who you think this cute, fat baby looks more like!

She's so cute...

2010-10-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

But today I wish she would just take her nap.

White as Snow

2010-09-21T09:25:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday our little Ellie was Baptized. She was adorable and read her testimony and favorite verse to the congregation. Unfortunately we didn't think about the fact that she would start out by being nearly fully submerged underwater, so her big piece of paper was over her face the whole time! It was very cute though. Her favorite verse: "For it with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Praise God for her courage and her desire to be baptized! Here are some pictures from her big evening:

You're invited to...

2010-09-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

My new blog! Don't be shy, anybody can visit. In fact, I'm looking for a few good followers. Life gets kinda quiet around here in the Wise household during the day when my chickens are out of the coop and I'm looking for some friends to join me on my money-making, money-saving journey! So if you are interested in my Saturday morning shenanigans (and more!), visit me at Yard Sale Mommy!

Tea Party!

2010-09-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

There's no doubt we are blessed with a wonderful (and big) family on both the Wise and Mooneyhan sides. Last month, Aunt Christina and Aunt Melissa hosted an official tea party for the girl cousins on the Wise side. Needless to say, the girls had their bags packed oh, about 5 minutes after they opened the beautiful, hand-made tea party invitation. So, we dropped the girls off for a girly tea party weekend with their Aunts! Read all about it at Aunt Melissa's blog.

A Christmas Tradition

2010-09-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

Seems like every time I have a baby girl one of these pretty little numbers shows up on my doorstep (you know, magically, like elf on the shelf style). I'm not complaining. These smocked ornaments are beautiful, and each one of my girls now has one! Charlotte's name is so long you can't see that there are two little bears on either side of her name. Precious! Now the girls really feel like she is a member of the family. And how nice to start thinking about Christmas in September!! Oh no. I totally want to play Christmas music today!! But I'll restrain myself...until the usual November 1st!!

My excuse

2010-09-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

I had a baby!

And that...

is my...

excuse!! Isn't she dear?

This post is dedicated to my mother in law. Rumor has it she still faithfully checks my blog after over a year of no posts. So Lynda, if this is really true and you really are my one faithful reader left, please leave a comment!! Get Dad to help you!

Whose kindergarten class is it, anyway???

2009-06-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

Elle and I have been spending a lot of time in kindergarten lately. Mary Claire's teacher lets Elle come when I help with centers, and recently I have been teaching every Friday morning in her class and Elle is my "helper". We've been there so much sister certainly feels like she is one of the gang. All the kids love her and want to stand next to her in line.

This post is dedicated to Heather

2009-06-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my friend Heather, I've been trying my hand at the coupon thing. So far it has been pretty fun. I've been getting so much stuff for free and loving it! It's almost like a game to play. Anyway, thanks for the inspiration Heather. The above groceries only cost me $7.38 total. I know you serious couponers would only have paid $0.38, but seven bucks is pretty good for me. Now the question is, will we be able to eat 60 pop tarts before they go bad??

One girl's trash...

2009-05-29T11:23:00.000-07:00

Is CLEARLY another girl's treasure. Since Bennett has been traveling so much, I've had the girls all to myself a lot...even sometimes on the weekend. A couple of weekends ago I brought the girls yard saleing with me. When I first told them about their predetermined Saturday morning plans, all I heard was moans and groans. To entice them into being good sports, i.e. bribery, I promised a movie in the car (we only do that on MD trips), pop tarts and spending money. Complaints immediately turned into cheers! The night before, I set out the supplies and filled the girls purses with $5 in quarters. Don't you just love their little bags? My dear friend Kathleen sent these to the girls for their birthdays. I even laid out their clothes the night before (pink and green to match their bags of course!) so that when I woke them up at 5:45am we would be ready to go.

For 5 hours we shopped till we dropped. I actually don't think I have ever stayed out so long--usually I try to make it home for Bennett's classic chocolate chip pancake breakfast. But the girls never once complained, even though they were in the car for 5 hours! And Lady and the Tramp only lasted for 90 minutes of that. I was so impressed with them!

I think they really did have a great time. I get so excited when I go to yard sales, it might have rubbed off. They would get giddy when we would land on a house that clearly had girls. So here is what they bought with their spending money. It was very interesting to see what each picked out.

Ellie's treasures: 2 books, polly pocket airplane, two pet shop animals, a treasure tin, a stuffed dog with a leash. Favorite find for her was definitely the dog leash.

Mary Claire cracked me up. She was really only interested in breakable things she could display on her nightstand. Her loot: one ceramic horse (this has got to be the ugliest thing I have ever seen! They wanted $2! I tried to talk her out of it but MC would not have it. We negotiated the price to $1. They should have paid us to take it!), one precious moments manger scene (it was broken! she HAD to have it!), three littlest pet shop animals, and a rolling backpack (not pictured, she takes it to school). MC only spent $4. She bought all she wanted.

It was a fun morning. Mary Claire says she wants to go every Saturday, but that isn't going to happen. I hope she is not upset in the morning when she wakes up and I am not there!

The Hitchhiker Waxes Philosophic

2009-05-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we purchased two "hitchhiker" bikes, little half bikes that attach to our bikes. This has opened up a whole new world for us! The four of us have been exploring ever since...believe it or not, there are parts of our neighborhood we are now seeing for the first time! The girls love it, and are so content and happy on the back, and can choose to pedal and "help out" or sit back and enjoy the ride. There is one drawback, however...I am not such a great biker, or maybe I am just extremely out of shape, but Mary Claire likes to ask deep questions while I attempt to get the both of us up hills. Yesterday, she asked, "Mommy what if one day I am a widow?" (Can you tell we recently watched The Sound of Music?) My response was, pant...pant..."Do we have" pant...pant..."to talk about this NOW?"

All By Herself

2009-05-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

Mary Claire for some time now has been asking to make dinner herself, from start to finish WITHOUT my help. The girls always help joyfully with dinner, but for some reason that hasn't been quite enough.

Recently, I allowed Mary Claire to make a chicken dish we enjoy from start to finish. She did the measuring, mixing, coating, oven door opening and closing and everything else the chicken needed. Then she and Ellie set the table, found next year's velvet super fancy Christmas dresses hidden in the back of their closet, got dressed pretty for Daddy, and the three of us waited patiently at the table then surprised him when he got home (we actually do this every night!).

The chicken was excellent, and Mary Claire did a wonderful job. You can see she was very proud of herself.

A Joyful Noise

2009-05-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

With a Grandma and two Aunts being piano teachers in the family, finding a piano to have in the house has been a must for us. Recently we found one being given away for free on Craigslist, and we jumped on it. With the help of a friend (thanks KN and KN!) our house has been filled with joyful music ever since it moved in.

Playing the piano has become a daily activity around here. It's cute to see the girls make up their own songs, and funny that they are always hymnal-like. I love it and remember doing the same thing as a little girl.

Mary Claire starts piano lessons in a week. She is looking forward to it!

It's just what they do...

2009-05-12T04:30:00.000-07:00

It's fun to have girls, and I must say that Spring is the favorite time of year around here for mine. In our Secret Garden, clover patches abound and after school hours are spent frolicking in these instead of thinking about homework (and yes, there is homework in kindergarten!). I must say, it is nice for mommy...I end up resting and watching from under the shade trees while the girls pick huge bouquets for our table. I guess that's just what little girls do. One day I thought I would grab the camera and document the fun.

I snapped these pictures, but later when I downloaded them I was very dissapointed. I'm convinced after a winter night of leaving the camera in the car in -10 degree temperatures that my camera is vengefully taking poor pictures! Of course it couldn't be operator error!!

I ignored these pictures for two weeks. Until this weekend when LH gave me a photoshop tutorial, and I went to work. Now I steal moments all day long tweaking and playing with my pictures. I sense Bennett from time to time poking his head around the corner checking me out sitting hunched over at the computer, then I hear him snicker as he heads down the stairs.

I'm pretty excited about learning this program...I feel like all my pictures can be made pretty no matter how bad they are. Thanks LH! Though I still need more lessons...still can't quite get layering and need to work on that retro look LH and sister in law Melissa do so well.

But for now I'm happy making my beauties look even more beautiful!

Brrr...the Beach!

2009-05-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

We took our family beach trip a little early this year to save a little money. Early April turns out is a very cold time to be at the beach!! Plus a very windy time too. Even though it was chilly, we still had a good time. Sand is sand whether you have to wear a snow hat or not, high winds are great for kite flying, and the hot tub is always open for some fun. It was nice being with my parents, too. Here are some pictures from our trip:

Bennett taught the girls how to play Monopoly. They loved it--it was a highlight of the trip!
Good for math skills too!

We did have a couple of warm days. These were fun.

Ellie has her pirate face on here.

The ferry ride was a favorite for Ellie.

Mary Claire, watching her kite (while feeling a loose tooth!).

Papa is always full of fun.

The bachelor's got nothing on Bennett and his ladies.

Here, fishy fishy!

2009-05-01T18:01:00.000-07:00

Growing up I loved to fish. I don't know why, but I did. Wanting to share this love with the girls, I took them to Aunt Vallie and Uncle Jeddie's last week for a little fishing trip. It was so fun!

The night before we left we spent an hour with our Barbie fishing poles learning to cast out in the Secret Garden, and they were GREAT at it. The day of the trip we stopped in Wake Forest to buy worms (after an unsuccessful yard search) to the amusement of several good ol' boys in Keith's Bait and Tackle convenience store.

After a yummy Aunt Vallie meal, we walked with the goats through the pasture to the pond.

We had extra hook baiters on hand, too. Along with my Aunt and Uncle, my cousins Kyle and Jamie showed up to help!

Mary Claire caught her first fish in about 30 seconds. Can you tell how excited she is?

Can I hold it?

Soon after, Elle caught her first fish. She was amused when I asked her if she wanted to hold it.

The girls caught about 25 fish in an hour and a half. As soon as the worm was dropped into the water, the bobber would disappear and the excitement would begin! My uncle's pond is literally FULL of fish who have not seen a free meal in years, and we fooled them all! I don't think they will ever be able to fish anywhere else though--they are super spoiled now. I can't even imagine the frustration I will have to deal with when they don't catch a fish every five minutes!

We can't wait to go back!

Ava's Adventures

2009-04-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

Before Bennett left for a work trip to Wisconsin last week, Mary Claire declared she wanted to pack Daddy's bags so that she could pack him a stuffed animal to sleep with. "Ava," one of our favorite stuffies, wound up in a new land. Everyday, Ava would send a report about what she was doing with Daddy in Wisconsin. The girls enjoyed getting emails from Daddy and were full of giggles each time they saw her picture pop up!

Ava arrives at the job site.

Ava didn't know Indians lived in Wisconsin!

Ava hard at work. It was noted, however, that Ava DID NOT like the coffee.

Ava watches it start to snow and wishes she were back home in sunny NC.

Ava is ready for bed.

Ava contemplates eating some pie.

Ava had a busy week!

A Change...Can Do You Good

2009-04-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

For a week straight we have had ladders and paint cans and little men in white suits decorating our nice little home. It was time for a change. Here is our house, January 2007:

Our house, freshly painted 2009:

I love it!

The Wise Easter

2009-04-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

Easter at the Wise Family was a ball as usual. The kids enjoy each other so much. As you can see, none of them are very far apart in age. My kids are so blessed. It is not always the case that your kids have any cousins their age. My kids have 11 cousins to play with when you combine both sides. How cool is that?

Here are the Wise cousins, in order from youngest to oldest. They look so happy here.

You won't find Ellie and Charity more than two inches apart at any given moment when they are together. This picture was taken DURING the egg hunt!! I kept telling the girls they would find more eggs if they would just SEPARATE! They are truly BFF.

My dear sweet Mary Claire, perched on grandpa's wood pile tenderly examining her loot. I love the way her feet cross!

We love Ellie's eyes.

We also love Aunt Buh-lissa, and her camera skills. Check out other BEAUTIFUL pictures of our Easter on her photo blog !

18 pounds!

2009-04-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

Our lives have been very busy lately, and I intend to post about our travels, but on Friday we traveled close to home and picked a few strawberries. Well, 18 pounds of strawberries to be exact. But at $1.00 a pound, who could beat the price?

Trying out the strawberries was the most fun. We ate a ton!

My strawberry girl...which one should I pick?

The most thrilling part of the farm--the scary broken-armed mannequin!

Ellie was proud to have found a four-leaf clover!

TEXT ME

2009-03-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

I was intriqued this valentine's season when so many of the conversation hearts said things like "whatever" and "text me." Seriously, text me?? Aren't conversation hearts popular with the 3 yr to 9 year set, not the cell phone carrying types? What do 4 year olds know about "text me"?

You can imagine my surprise when my I caught my preschooler this morning pretend texting Daddy. Where did she learn how to do this? I only learned myself to text message 3 months ago, and it takes me so long to punch one out I rarely do it. Obviously, she picks up more than I realize.

Or is Daddy spending too much time with the iphone?

Room Redo

2009-03-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

The girls' new room is nearing completion! We changed the curtains and I scoured ebay for new bedding and wall art (the owl prints were personalized!). We bought pottery barn knock off collector shelves (see Ellie painting above) and each girl now has her own place for favorite books and stuffies. The clock is still cuckooing and I must say this has been the best thing ever for the girls. They are loving it. Now I just need LH to come over for a little wall mural (that's an official invitation!).

The Cartwheel

2009-03-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

The score of the yard saleing weekend was a gymnastics mat!! Ever since it took up residence on the porch Ellie has been handstanding and cartwheeling and forward rolling. She works at it until she is drenched with sweat. I'm not sure how long it will be part of our outdoor decor, but we'll enjoy it while it lasts!

Snow Day...3 inches in Raleigh

2009-03-02T11:42:00.000-08:00

Not happy about a wipe out!

First time sledding!

Pink snow bunny...

Let's catch snowflakes on our tongue!

Our handsome man

Meet Mr. Refurbished

2009-02-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

Hi! I'm Jen's "new" refurbished computer. You may think I was a great deal at Tiger Direct for only $200. Jen and Ben sure did. If you are interested in buying one like me, I would like to share with you a few bonus features you won't find advertised in the catalog:

sometimes, the mouse doesn't work!!
once you get the mouse to finally work again, the computer keyboard won't type at all! WOW!
surprise shutdowns often occur, just for fun!
and once your computer shuts down just for fun, neither the mouse NOR the keyboard will work at all!
got important emails to send? HA!
I like to sleep for DAYS at a time and won't work again until I darn well feel like it! Or until Bennett gets around to finally fixing me, he he.

Gotta go. Jen has to answer emails from last week and she's been pretty bitter towards me lately. Maybe if she'd clean up her work space I'd be a little bit more cooperative. I get no respect!

Happy Birthday Sweet Elle Belle

2009-02-12T18:50:00.000-08:00

We love our sweet girl!

Off to the Ball

2009-02-07T15:17:00.000-08:00

Tonight Bennett took the girls to a Father Daughter dance at Marbles Kid's Museum. A few weeks ago, he invited them to a Valentine's "Ball" and last week, he sent them letters from Wisconsin letting them know how much he was looking forward to it. The excitement was pretty high for this event. First: what to wear. We took a Christmas dress Grandma Wise had given them and changed it from Christmas to Valentine's. Then, we did some hair work with mama's curling iron. And finally, we practiced a little dancing. And just a few minutes along, they went off to the ball!

Bennett and the Krispy Kreme Challenge

2009-02-07T15:06:00.000-08:00

Today Bennett and Bobby ran the Krispy Kreme Challenge. It's become a tradition now. Basically, that's run 2 miles from the NC State Belltower to the Krispy Kreme in downtown Raleigh, eat a dozen donuts, then run 2 miles back.

This year, Bennett is proud to say he ate six donuts (and completed the 4 miles) as opposed to his previous record of 3 donuts. He only almost lost them once, according to his account. 12 donuts is something you have to work up to, you see. Many have tried and failed, as you can imagine.

We are proud of him!

My Funny Valentines...

2009-02-03T19:58:00.000-08:00

I love my funny valentines!

If at first you don't succeed...

2009-01-30T18:59:00.000-08:00

This is what I was going for...

This is what I got!

I'm gonna try again tomorrow.

Cuckoo!

2009-01-29T20:54:00.001-08:00

Darn that Pottery Barn Kids catalog! I get these ideas stuck in my mind and then I just can't let them go. So I've picked out a bedding set that I absolutely cannot afford and have decided to copy cat as much as I can. The room I like has a whimsical woodsy theme with little trees, owls, and birds. To go along with the theme of the room, they sold (out) a painted cuckoo clock that I thought was so adorable!

I started thinking about this clock and remembered a real cuckoo clock my dad had given to me when Mary Claire was a baby. This clock had stopped working and it was stored away in a closet. It looked very similar to this:

My mind began crafting my own whimsical cuckoo clock. I asked my Dad if I could paint the antique clock he gave me and to my surprise, he agreed! So I dug the clock out of the closet, found my craft paints and set the girls up at the kitchen table with a couple of paint brushes. We let them have at it with the blue paint and I finished it off with pink and yellow. Here's what it looked like after we were finished!

My parents were in town when the magic happened and my Dad mounted the clock to the wall in the girls' new shared room. And he got the clock to work! Now, when you set the pendulum in motion, a little bird pokes his head out at the half hour and hour marks and cuckoo's his little heart out. We are always pleasantly surprised by his announcement and we now feel like we have a new pet in the house.

It's my new favorite thing. Thanks Dad!

Bunk Beds

2009-01-29T20:39:00.000-08:00

Besides ear infections and stomach bugs, BUNK BEDS have pretty much been the big news at our house lately. For months now, the girls have been bugging us for bunk beds. And of course, after picking an expensive Pottery Barn bunk bed set out of the catalog, we told them it wasn't in this year's budget!!

But in the spirit of Aunt Christina, Bennett found the exact bunk bed set I picked out on Craigslist literally days later. And after four emails, we were the proud owners of a bunk bed set because we apparently "sounded the most desperate."

Furniture rearranging began right away. Mary Claire's bedroom is now the "play room" and the bonus room is now up for grabs.

So far, though, so good! The girls need a few extra minutes to settle in at night but overall, they feel comforted by each other and seem to need us less at night. Best of all, in the mornings they wake each other up instead of coming in my room and waking me up! I've definitely been taking advantage of sleeping in a bit. They also love having a playroom that is solely their space, and we seem to have less toys all over the house.

Now I'm on to redecorating the girl's pink room without changing the wall color. This has consumed me, of course. Keep checking the blog for posts on their room redo!

Though my first order of business is to teach the girls to make their beds...sigh.

Happiness is...

2009-01-27T19:35:00.000-08:00

Catching snowflakes on your tongue...

Eating snow right off your gloves...

Making snow angels...

Walking in a winter wonderland.

True Friends Eat Dirty Chicken

2009-01-14T20:47:00.000-08:00

Last year in the Men's Monday night bible study small group, Bennett met a guy that actually lives in our zip code. I know what you are thinking...wow, he lives WAY out there, too? It also turns out that they have more than a zip code in common: this guy has a wife and two daughters ages 3 and 5. So, we got together.

His wife (who for the sake of this blog shall remain nameless for no apparent reason, especially since she seems like the kind of person who couldn't care less that people in this world actually spend time recording mundane daily events in a time consuming way for the whole entire world to read) is pretty nice. And I see her every week at gymnastics on Mondays where at the end we part ways and go home to our empty houses since it is, after all, Monday night. So I invited nameless friend and her girls over for dinner. And they came.

Of course I would like to say that I spent the entire day preparing for their arrival and had a lovely Martha Stewart dish in the fridge just ready to be thrown into the oven, but I did not. After all, we would be arriving home after an evening of gymnastics so I was thinking that her expectations of me would be pretty low. So I was all about living up to them.

Upon arriving, all four girls scrambled up the stairs and contentedly engaged in a dance party while nameless for no reason friend and I talked in the kitchen. The menu: my cheapest and most go to recipe, Cornflake chicken, steamfresh green beans, and blueberries.

We chatted, I prepared the food, and into the oven it went. Timer was set for 30 minutes. After 15 minutes, however, 4 very hungry blonde girls bounced down the stairs and took their places at the table and asked repeatedly when dinner was going to be ready. This started making me a little nervous. I don't know why.

Finally, the wait was over and the lovely chicken came out of the oven. I transferred the pieces onto a serving plate, smiled proudly and began walking toward the children who had been staring wide-eyed for minutes now.

But something happened. I dropped the plate. Seriously, I dropped the plate. Onto the floor. And it broke into 5 different pieces. And 7 cornflake chicken thighs slid greasily across my I haven't mopped since waaaaayyy before Christmas kitchen floor.

What do I do? I thought. I have NOTHING else. No leftovers. No bread. Kids crying...hungry...needing food. I just looked at nameless friend helplessly. Wanna know what she did? She hopped up from the table, started picking up the chicken, and then she called the 5 second rule (even though by this time it had been well over 5 seconds).

And we ate the chicken. We fed the chicken to the kids. True friends eat dirty chicken.

Nameless friend is a keeper.

Presser foot 101

2009-01-11T18:57:00.000-08:00

Have I ever told you how much I love track out? Pretty much since Christmas activities have been pretty much all about Kit and Ruthie, MC and L's dolls. They are having so much fun with them and their new clothes, thanks to Grandmama and Grandma! Last week I had some fleece out to make a blanket for a gift and somehow the girls and I ended up making hats and scarves for Kit and Ruthie. The girls both learned about the presser foot on the sewing machine and each did their own "presser footing" for their girl's hat. Mary Claire even did most of the navigating the fabric on hers, too! It was really fun teaching them what to do. If it wasn't for a little Newt, I wouldn't have even thought they would have the desire to learn, actually.

Anyway, we are super inspired around here and who knows what sorts of things Kit and Ruthie will have by the time my inspiration runs out!

It's short!

2009-01-09T12:25:00.000-08:00

Today the girls went in for a haircut, and Mary Claire came out with SHORT hair! Well, short for her. She hasn't had her hair this short since she was two years old. I was so nervous. But she looks adorable and she can't wait to see how it "feels when she sleeps."

Goodbye Alexis, Hello Kit!

2009-01-08T17:43:00.001-08:00

Christmas 2007 (last year) brought a new addition to the family: Alexis. Alexis is a sweet brown haired, brown eyed little girl doll I brought home from Target to give to two year old little Ellie for Christmas. Immediately, Ellie was in love. Alexis became one of the girls, and has been Ellie's favorite playmate and plaything ever since. One year later, Alexis has been well loved and shows it--her hair is officially an unbrushable fro and she has several bandaids, no doubt battle scars from having the most ungentle 3 year old that ever was. Alexis has been with Ellie through thick and thin. Good times and bad. She has attended every family vacation, road trip, movie night, sister sleep over, and important function since she came home. Heck, Aunt April even sewed her a monogrammed nightgown. Nothing could ever separate Alexis from the love of little Elle Belle, right?

Wrong! Move over Alexis, there's a new girl in town!

Grandmama gave Ellie her first "real" American girl doll this Christmas: none other than Kit Kitteredge herself. Poor Alexis! Every since that day, our brown eyed friend has been crying her heart out face down in the corner of Ellie's room somewhere. And if you ask little Ellie, "Don't you want to play with Alexis anymore?" she says simply, "No."

December

2009-01-05T15:11:00.000-08:00

December was, of course, very busy. We started the season with a new tradition, decorating Gingerbread houses! Each girl received their own house to decorate. It was so fun and the girls got so into it. I highly recommend this activity for your kids!

Christmas Day was spent with Bennett's family. Here is a picture of Ellie and Charity. They are VERY good friends.

Aunt April sewed matching embroidered nightgowns for the girls' dolls to match the girls' dresses. They were SO cute.

A couple of days later we went to my parent's house to celebrate Christmas with my brothers and their families. Here is my sister in law with my twin nieces.

My beautiful niece Sarah.

We had a "pretend" Christmas morning at our house not on Christmas so the girls can have memories of Christmas in our house. This horse was the best money I spent this Christmas! They love it!

Zach, my nephew, the oldest grandchild, then seven granddaughters all in a row. My are we blessed!

November

2009-01-05T11:57:00.000-08:00

November was a fun but busy month for us. Here are some highlights:

Ms. Liza reading a Thanksgiving story. Aren't these kids cute? And they are SO good!

A group shot. I made the hats for everyone so I forced the picture!

My sweet pilgrim girl.

Beth and I running in the Turkey trot. It was raining but it was fun!

We hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for Bennett's family. Here are all the cousins around the "kids table."

The "Wise girls" near the cookies. That's where you will usually find us.

Thanksgiving dinner around the dining room table. The next weekend we went to my family's house for Thanksgiving, but I don't have any pictures. When I am with them, I go into lazy daughter mode and just sit around and eat junk food.

A visit with Ms. Frizzle!

I love this girl

2008-12-20T21:29:00.000-08:00

I just love this little girl. Here's why:

1. When you play chutes and ladders with her, she never gets mad when she has to go down a chute, even if she is on #97.
2. She's all about quality time. One day recently I was sick in bed and she brought me a rag. "Come on Mama, let's go clean the kitchen cabinets." So we did.
3. She sings a very lively rendition of "Jesus Paid it All" which involves Jesus painting all and washing a lot of snow.
4. She has no idea how to play with toys, but can make a mean chocolate croissant by herself for dessert.
5. Apparently, at preschool, when asked to draw a picture of anything she wants, she draws math problems.
6. Often in the middle of the night she wakes up screaming from a bad dream. Most of the time this bad dream involves Mama saying she can't have any ice cream.
7. I've never met anyone more task oriented. All day long I hear, "What can I do next?" She's happiest when she has a job to do.

Thankful to be home

2008-12-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

But seriously, ya'll, this is not funny.

A Cheerleader and a Ballerina Princess

2008-11-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

We had a great time celebrating Halloween at church. It was definitely a fun family time for us. And despite having purchased costumes for the girls, they both decided last minute just to wear something from their dress up bin! Oh well. So our little pretties dressed as a cheerleader and a ballerina princess.

Face painting was one of our favorite activities!

Mary Claire was tired after a long day at school, and she enjoyed some cuddle time with Daddy Bear.

We got there early, which was a good move. While we waited in line for the pony ride, the girls got to go down the slide (over and over again) with no wait! Ellie loved it!

PS--We miss you, Daddy!

For KKMcP

2008-11-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

So I should be blogging about Halloween, etc. etc., but this picture just seemed so much more interesting. While visiting my aunt this week, I was given a few photos of when I was about Kindergarten age. This was one of those photos. It's for you, KKMcP, since you shared yours!

Pumpkins

2008-10-31T04:03:00.000-07:00

This week we had fun carving pumpkins. Well, at least Daddy did (note the drill). At least the girls were responsible for cleaning out their own pumpkins!

Little Bo Peep

2008-10-30T04:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Nursery Rhyme Day at school for Mary Claire. She decided she wanted to be Little Bo Peep! And believe it or not, she recited all 5 stanzas of Little Bo Peep. I bet you didn't even know there were 5 stanzas, because I sure didn't. I must say, she looked adorable!

Mary Claire, waiting her turn...

Little Bo Peep, looking for her sheep

No stage fright for this girl!

I'm gonna miss this...

2008-10-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

My sweet girl. Lost her first tooth, and then lost it again. We can't find it anywhere. So we took a picture of the place where the tooth should be and put THAT under the pillow (didn't that happen to me once, mom?). Along with the note of course.

I'm gonna miss this one day.

Ladies...do NOT try this at home!

2008-10-27T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today, I was reminded by Mary Claire's kindergarten teacher that Wednesday is Nursery Rhyme day and all moms needed to have their assigned goods turned in to school by tomorrow. I'll begin by telling you that mom-help sign up was emailed out back in September. By the time I had emailed that I wanted to help, there was only one task no one had agreed to do: the cupcakes. So, I agreed to take on the ever popular task of making the cupcakes. Easy, right? Yeah, not so much.

First let me begin by reminding all of my friends that I am not a planner aheader. I am not type A, but rather B or C, or whatever letter you assign to a person that hates to have a letter assigned to them in the first place. Pretty much this tells you that I do things last minute. In fact, I do just about everything last minute. This little factor includes making cupcakes for Nursery Rhyme Day.

Now, because I have put these cupcakes off to the very last minute, and have not planned ahead to make them, I found myself in the strange predicament of not having one single box of cake mix on hand. And, with Bennett at Bible Study, I am at home with two sleeping kids, a car, keys, and money, but no babysitter. No biggie, I thought to myself. I'll just make them from scratch.

Before I go any farther with my story I know that I have some readers who have never ever ever used a boxed cake mix and would call that cheating (you know who you are!!!). But I LOVE a boxed yellow cake like you would not believe! It is my favorite! Mmmmmmmmmm......

I digress. Anyway, on to the scratch part. So I started pulling down my every-recipe-known-to-man cookbooks to find a yellow cake recipe that calls for ingredients I actually have on hand. What the heck is shortening anyway? That one threw me for a loop. But after skirting the shortening recipes, I found one that called for plain ol' butter that looked good. And easy.

HA!! Yeah Right!!

45 minutes later, I have yellow cake cupcakes for Nursery Rhyme Day. 45 minutes later! Like I have 45 minutes to spare the night before LAMBS. And that 45 minutes didn't even include baking time. Puh lease!

Ladies, do NOT try making cupcakes from scratch. Use a mix. Save yourself 431/2 minutes. You're worth it.

Sisters...

2008-10-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

I was totally suckered in by these shirts. How blessed they are to be sisters!

Oh What a Night...

2008-10-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

This week we did what every other red blooded Raleigh resident did: we went to the North Carolina State Fair. It was truly an evening of firsts for the girls:

First time on a ferris wheel

First time on a roller coaster...

First time eating cotton candy...

First kiss from Daddy on a Carousel

First trip to the fried everything smorgasbord

Although I would love to tell you we tried the fried mac and cheese or fried pb and j, we settled on a funnel cake. Next year we'll be a little more brave.

More Mountain Memories

2008-10-10T09:48:00.001-07:00

Mary Claire in the fire trance...

Fireside with Daddy...

Fun with Daddy!

Forgot to get an apple picker but no need with Aunt Christina around!

The happy, good looking couple.

This, believe it or not, was a follow up to an impromptu "I love you, Ellie!"

Just the right size for the girls!

Back to Carolina

2008-10-09T08:36:00.000-07:00

Are these girls beautiful, or what??

Can I tell you how much I love track out? Since Mary Claire has been reunited with Ellie and I again we couldn't wait to get back over to the UNC Chapel Hill campus to visit with Kelly and Emily. Once again, we were treated by Kelly to a delicious meal in the dining hall, and since it was a nice day we decided to take a walk around campus. I was thrilled at this idea, but if you know my girls you know that they were not (are they seriously going to be age 8 and 10 and STILL riding around in the duoglider stroller? you bet!). Since I forgot the stroller, though, they were left to tour campus in their pink sparkly shoes.

It was really fun being on the UNC campus. The girls were so excited to see real live squirrels (how sad is that?) and we hit all of the major UNC landmarks: the preacherman outside of the student union place, the arboretum, the bell tower, and the old well. We even got to see the football players as they were leaving the field after practice.

Ellie was impressed with the size of the trees. As soon as she saw this one she ran over and threw her arms around it! My little treehugger...

While at the old well, Kelly and Emily suggested Mary Claire and Ellie take a drink for good luck. Maybe this will help them get in some day!

Ellie says, check out the cute football players behind me! I came pretty close to asking some of the guys to lift her up on their shoulders for a picture, but thought my shy girl might not like that too much.

It was a Grand Ol' Party

2008-10-06T06:17:00.000-07:00

.

So while we were driving around this sleepy little town on Saturday morning we noticed that literally EVERYONE had a McCain/Palin sign in their yard. No joke. And then we saw a sign that said "GOP Pig Roast Tonight" and we immediately made plans to attend.

We showed up ready for the party. It was great. Dried cow patties littered the picnic field. The crowd of bearded, mesh hatted farmers sat around the grand McCain/Palin RV clapping as the good ol' boy republicans shouted crowd riling political one liners from the podium. Kids were thrilled to get stickers, balloons, and fake flowers. All in the name of politics.

The highlight of the evening of course was getting our pictures taken with McCain and Palin themselves. Bennett, aka Todd, was beaming with his lady. Uncle AJ and Aunt Christina looked great next to John.

This little guy cracked us up. I wish I had gotten his autograph because one day he will without a doubt be a name we know. While we were eating our pulled pork sandwiches he was working the crowd, making sure everyone was registered to vote, and even stopped to flirt with Mary Claire. I think I even saw him hold a baby or two. What is he, nine years old??? Check out the pen in his pocket!! This guy was so serious yet so personable and I loved him. Now I know literally what it means to be a born politician.

Below you'll find Mary Claire's favorite spot--on the lap of Aunt Christina!!

It was a very 4th of July feeling party--we all felt very patriotic!

The Fantasy Hideaway

2008-10-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we left for a four day adventure in the VA mountains with Uncle AJ and Aunt Christina. Have you ever heard of Standardsville, VA? Neither had we. Turns out Standardsville is a sleepy mountain town right on the edge of Skyline Dr., just west of Charlottesville.

Our lodging for the weekend was none other than a charming log cabin on it's own acre of land on a mountain named "Lydia Mountain." The cabin, or shall I say the "fantasy hideaway," was equipped with a full kitchen, outdoor hot tub, and bon fire area.

If you ask the girls what their favorite part of the trip was, they will tell you it was the "hot pool," the aunt and uncle,

and the smores.

We had lots of exciting adventures, which I will write more about later when I am not so tired!

2008-09-30T03:58:00.000-07:00

Game of Candyland (played 3 times today!): $7.99

New Veggietales Video: $9.99

Nearly a full bag of Goldfish: $1.69

Trip to see Grandma: $130

Tracking Out: Priceless

Dollhouse Frock GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-09-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

Dollhouse Frock GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

A Case of Mistaken Identity? You Decide!

2008-09-24T17:15:00.000-07:00

It was a lovely fall evening and we took the girls out for a bike ride around the neighborhood. As we were meandering through the streets, one older couple pulled up alongside of us in their car and rolled down their window. Expecting the man driving to tell us how precious our little girls were, we were floored to find out he went to all that trouble to tell us that Bennett looked exactly like Todd Palin! Ha! At first we were like, nahhhh...but then we were like, yeah kinda! What do you think? Cast your vote in our poll!

Flower girl

2008-09-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

This evening the girls and I were outside watering our newly planted rose bushes and I decided to run back in for the camera since the sunshine was so nice! I caught the girls picking the purple mums and trying to put them in their hair. I've never taught them to do that...I'll add that to the list of things God programmed into girls that never needs to be taught. Playing with my camera, I tried to catch the moment.

Pearls on Wheels

2008-09-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend Bennett and I helped out with our church groups monthly date night where one couple hosts everyone else's kids at their house so that the moms and dads can have a night out. We were helping this time, and the host family's son is the proud owner of a shiny John Deere motorized tractor.

As you can see from the picture, the girls were all smiles in this thing. The cutest part is they had their pretend pearl necklaces on, which created an interesting mix of city girl country girl. They couldn't have been cuter. If only Mary Claire would look forward when she drives instead of looking at her sister and giggling the whole time...yet another reminder that there is a reason 5 year olds do not have licenses!

Now That's Entertainment

2008-09-16T20:47:00.000-07:00

Last week as we were driving home from Mary Claire's school, the girls spotted huge mushrooms on the side of the road in our community. So, after our milk and
cookies after school snack, the girls hopped on their bikes and we headed for the next best thing to flower picking--mushroom picking. Literally, the girls made mushroom bouquets...then filled their bike baskets full...and rode home extremely satisfied!

Don't you just love little kid fingers?

A happy girl and her shrooms...

(Pre)School Girl

2008-09-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

Ready for the big day!

Ms. Liza greets her at the door.

A Mommy eye view through the doorway.

Little Elle Belle is now officially a preschooler. And what a big girl she is! She does not want me to walk her into the building, insists on not letting me do a thing...and can't wait to go (a surprise considering her recent separation anxiety). She is actually the tallest child in her class (another surprise!) And tomorrow Mama will have two hours free, with two children in school at once for the first time (why do I feel guilty?)

Dress Up Day...A Look Back Through the Years

2008-09-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

The Halloween costumes came in the mail over the weekend, which called for a trial run of course! Let me just say that I don't really like Halloween, and never have, and was not keen on the thought of dressing up my little babies in random "Halloween" costumes! I've softened over the years, of course, once I saw how much my girls love to dress up and how much they look forward to the celebration at our church.

When the girls were trying on their new costumes, I started thinking about the costumes over the past years. It all began when Mary Claire, age 7 months, was Dorothy. Why Dorothy, you may ask? Well, that was the only thing I could think of for her to be. It was the night before Halloween and her cousin, Sarah, had her one year old birthday party the next night (yes she was born on Halloween!) and it was a costume party, of course. Being a new mommy, I balked at Halloween, went through the typical "we're not going to do that" blah blah blah. So of course, I had not planned on a costume for my baby. However, after giving it some thought, I realized that she might look back one day and ask what costume she wore for her first Halloween, and what was I going to say? Oh no! I went straight for the fabric bin and saw this fabric, which reminded me of Dorothy's dress. Without a pattern (I am SO NOT a details person) I made this little dress for her! My first piece of clothing I had ever sewn. Please note the cute bow on the side!

And what would be a Dorothy costume without the ruby red slippers? I worked the ENTIRE day sewing beads and sequins on these little shoes. Pretty snazzy don't you think?

2004 Those cheeks! Oh how I loved those cheeks!

2005 Elle's first Halloween. Mary Claire was in love with her bunny costume, so of course Ellie had to be a carrot. I felt compelled to hand-make Elle's first costume as I had done Mary Claire's. Except I had no orange fabric, and didn't get out much those days...again I went to my fabric bin and found white fleecy fabric and green felt. She became a parsnip! Daddy, aka Mr. McGreggor, took little rabbit and parsnip out for some treats.

2006 What happened in 2006? I don't know! I can't find the pictures!! I think they were both bunnies. We have that exact same bunny costume in sizes 18 months-4t. It is still a favorite in our house.

2007--My butterflies. Oh my how they love this costume! Best money I ever spent! This outfit is worn at least once a week.

2008--Hoping to recreate the butterfly moments, I have two little fairies. And although little Ellie makes the perfect fairy, she has informed me she wants to be a ballerina instead. I think this costume is going back (sad face).

Mary Claire loves her fairy costume, though! She's not planning to let it go.

Beach People

2008-09-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

It's not a surprise (if you know my family) that we are beach people. For the last several years, we have gone to the beach as a family not once but twice a year! I have two brothers: Cody and _ _ _ _ (he wishes to remain nameless just in case someone decides to google him or something). They have wives and kids: Cody and Renee with Zachary, Zoe, Sarah, Sophie, and Phoebe (twins), and my brother _ _ _ _ and his wife Kim and their daughter Abby. This year we headed down to the beach for an evening for pictures. I thought I would share some with you.

Me, Renee, Mom

Cody, Renee, and the Kids

The original Mooneyhans

Two cute girls in a boat

My parents with their pride and joy, the grandkids

_ _ _ _, Kim, and Abby

Just the girls

Me and my girl

I Cheated

2008-09-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

Bennett and I love car rides so much because we have many hours (usually 5 at a time) to just sit and TALK! As we drove home from the beach we discussed the ridiculous rising cost of living and the ridiculous amounts of money we (I) have been spending lately. Now in all fairness, I don't feel like I am a super duper bigtime money spender, but I it seems that although I have a monthly budget I can almost never stay within it (one time so far this year). That's pretty sad. And now that Mary Claire is in kindergarten things have gone from bad to worse. I feel like I write about 10 checks a day. So.....we decided to go on a "financial fast." Melissa, do you remember when we saw the guy on TV talk about this in New York? Basically the idea of a financial fast is that for 1 week, 7 days, you don't spend any money. None. Zip. Psshh, easy. That's a breeze. I can do that. Duh. All I have to do is stay away from Super Target and it's in the bag. Oh wait. My palms are getting sweaty. Can we change the subject?

This past Tuesday marked Day 1 of my "financial fast." I am on Day 4. And I am here to say, Bennett, that I have cheated. I have been bad. Here's what the fast has looked like so far:

Tuesday: I was so good. I didn't even leave the house other than to drive Mary Claire to and from school. We had cereal for dinner.

Wednesday: I was so good. Until I drove by Bojangles. And I smelled Mountain Dew. And chicken biscuits. Of course I soon remembered I needed stamps to mail some important things and hit the post office. Bennett had dinner at the Angus Barn (poor guy) and the girls ate pantry Kraft mac and cheese. I had cereal. Again. And Mary Claire went to bed saying, "Don't forget my walkathon money!"
-$4.39 Boj's
-$8.40 USPS
-$60.00 Brassfield Elementary School PTA
-$60 and change--Gymboree. Did I mention there was a sale? AND a coupon?

Thursday: Last minute plans--old friends coming over for dinner (remember Chewy and Natalie from our wedding?). How can I feed them without spending $? Look through the pantry. I can make chocolate chip cookies (of course, I ALWAYS have the stuff on hand for that), beer bread, and 3 pieces of frozen chicken. Not sure that will cut it for the 7 of us. No fresh fruit or veggies. To Food Lion I go.
-$20.99 Food Lion

Friday: Today. I am so tired. Both girls got up at least 2 times each last night for various reasons. I needed caffeine. And a donut. Dinner at this point in questionable but there is always cereal.
-$3.07 Harris Teeter

So there you have it (so far!) Even with trying to be so good, and not spend any money, I'm up to almost $160. Do you think less of me? HELP!!! I am going to have to try this again next week I guess.

Miss Elizabeth's Garden

2008-09-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

The Elizabethan Gardens

Breathtakingly beautiful!

Mary Claire, chasing butterflies

Our little Elle Belle, feeding the deer

Can I freeze this moment forever, please?

2008-09-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

Beachy Girl

Happy Girl

Mama's Girl

I'm still trying to blog about all of the fun things that happened this summer, but we just got back from the Outer Banks (again!) and so I decided to post a few new camera pictures. We had an awesome time. We really did. I was so sad to leave! So sad that Bennett and I called a realtor and looked at a beach house for sale. Again. Not that we can afford one, but that we are both dreamers...

The best part of the trip for me was visiting the Elizabethan Gardens (pictures to come later). Seriously, how many times have I been to the outer banks? Why have I not gone there before? Have any of you ever been there? It is my new favorite place!

The worst part of our trip had to be...let's see...oh yes, pulling back the sheets in the room the girls were staying in only to find BUGS! Alive ones! Ones that curled up and down and all around! Let me just say that's the last thing we wanted to see when we arrived at 10:30pm. UGH!

Missing...

2008-08-27T22:07:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while. So much has happened, yet nothing has changed. (Can anyone name that song?) It's 1:10am and Ben thinks I'm sleeping, so this has to be brief. I'm hoping that a newly revamped blog will motivate me to post our crazy summer. More later, he stirs every time the keys click!

The Riff Raft Club

2008-07-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

We spent the fourth of July this year with Bennett's family in Severna Park. The weekend began with a birthday party for his Mom on July 4th. Though it was her birthday she gave all the little girls a red cheerleader costume which turned out to be a huge hit. Former Baltimore Colt cheerleader Aunt April lead the squad in practice and the girls think they are all ready now to hit the football field. It was very cute, thanks Mom!

On Saturday, we went to the Grachur Club on the Magothy River for some swimming and sand playing. Grandpa delighted in escorting the grandkids from the beach to the big floating wooden "raft" out in the middle of the water. The Grachur Club has been around for literally 100 years and apparently it is tradition that whoever can swim from the shore to the floating raft officialy becomes a member of the "riff raft club." The kids were super excited to become members.

My Shark

2008-06-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

Swim Team. Not the most relaxing thing in the world, girls. It is very hard to watch your barely swimming just turned 5 year old swim up and down the lanes for a half an hour daily with you just sitting on the sidelines! So yes, I am the only mom out there carrying a (big) three year old on her hip walking her 5 year old swimmer up and down the lanes, in case she drowns! Plus there is the added stress of little me too wanting to be on the team...and the stress of not knowing any of the other moms which is made worse by the fact that I am not a very social person!

All that to say Mary Claire does LOVE swimming and she is getting better at it. She can do the back stroke, free style, and today the coach was even teaching her to do the breaststroke (gotta love swim team for the free daily swim lessons!). Every Tuesday night we have a meet, and although Mary Claire is last every time, she always finishes and we are really proud of how hard she has been working. At practice she is literally all smiles all the time, and loves being teased and thrown into the air by the coaches.

Strawberry Girls

2008-05-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

This month we also picked strawberries from a nearby farm. That was hard work! Why didn't anyone tell me that? But the work was worth it. They were the best strawberries I have ever had. And the girls got to sample the best ones while we picked. How great is it that I have two beautiful little darlings to do this with?

A visit from friends in VA

2008-05-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

May has been a busy and fun month for us. One of the highlights was a visit from my college friend Kathleen and her 3 kids. It was so fun. I met Kathleen the night before classes began our sophomore year at Maryland when she was with this guy I liked named Bennett. Kathleen claims I gave her an unnecessarily hard handshake that night, which is probably true. I, of course, immediately disliked her. So when she showed up in my art history class (what was an engineer doing taking art history anyway?), in the seat in front of me, I was all attitude. Turns out, though, although she was with Bennett that night, she wasn't "with" Bennett, so we could be friends. Our relationship began with, among other things, weekly viewing of Party of Five in her living room where we would ooh and ahh over Matthew Fox (we still ooh and ahh over Matthew Fox each week in LOST!). Now we laugh at how eerily similar we are. We found out when she was here that not only did we have the exact same pajamas, we had the same bathing suit! Anyway, that's all TMI I digress.

So of course when they visited I HAD to introduce them to Boj's (right Uncle AJ???). Is that weird? I can't get enough of that place.

Her kids are so great. There were slumber parties every night and crafts and we even went to the pool. We had fun even though it was FREEZING!

You are the best, Kathleen, I love you! Thanks for coming!

Mom and the girls...

2008-05-28T17:04:00.000-07:00

Most everyone has heard me talk of the granddaughters on the Mooneyhan side (1 grandson, born first, then seven granddaughters all in a row). Needless to say when we get together there are girls literally everywhere. For mother's day we were in Maryland celebrating Mom's birthday and I thought this was a great shot of mom and her granddaughters. From oldest to youngest, Zoe, Abby, Sarah, Mary Claire, Ellie, Sophie, and Phoebe. My dad is in the picture, too.

Gearing up for camping...in the backyard!

2008-05-28T17:01:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night Bennett took the girls camping in the backyard. They did very well and went to sleep soon after dark (dark is after 9pm though now!). They were thrilled. This weekend the dads from Sunday School

are taking all the kids camping in one dad's wooded big backyard...which means a night free for me and a night of fun for them! Everyone wins!

Busy!

2008-04-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks and I haven't had much chance to blog. We've been back to the lake, back to feed Lucy and Lucky, and taken an impromtu beach trip last weekend. Little Elle Belle is once again enjoying yard sale costume finds. Mary Claire got to hold baby chicks at NC State Farm Days. Mary Claire spent most of this week with a high fever but feels better now. It's been crazy but fun!

PS--Take note of how the Hulk ramsacked the bonus room.

Beach Blanket Bingo

2008-04-17T17:54:00.001-07:00

Tonight, during the sometimes painful pre dinner hours of 5-6:30, the girls set up a beach party in the living room with Julie and "Lexis." Mom sent the girls a box of gifts which included bathing suits for the dolls! THANKS MOM, THEY WERE A HIT! So, the excitement mounted as Ellie and Mary Claire ran up and down the stairs and returned donned in bathing suits, flip flops, and sunglasses. Then out came the beach towels and food for the picnic, of course. It was very fun and very cute. Then Mary Claire decided that the dolls should each get a cup for cotton balls, our little reward system. My kids are cute.

Lucky and Lucy

2008-04-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

This first picture is of the walk to Aunt Vallie and Uncle Jeddie's pasture. Fun to see the girls taking the same walk I've taken many times before...

Last week during spring break the girls and I paid a visit to Aunt Vallie and Uncle Jeddie. To our surprise, there were some new additions to the Stem family. The first is a goat named Lucky, born about 6 weeks ago, who has been bottle fed since birth because her mama died. Aunt Vallie has been this little one's "mama," feeding and caring for it (turns out other mama goats don't accept orphans!). Then, earlier in the week, my Uncle Willie brought over another little orphan goat, Lucy, for Aunt Vallie to raise. Lucy at the time these pictures were taken was just 3 days old. Wow!!

Mary Claire feeding Lucky.

Ellie helps Aunt Vallie feed Lucy.

As you can imagine, the girls were simply giddy with excitement over the chance to bottle feed baby goats. They loved it. Then they picked weeds and fed them to the little goats. It was so cute!

Lucy, 3 days old.

This is my strange attempt at a LH artistic picture. Somehow it doesn't turn out as nice as hers.

These were the weeds the girls picked to feed the goats.

They're growing up...

2008-04-07T12:41:00.000-07:00

THIS YEAR...

LAST YEAR...

What a difference a year makes!

Carolina Girls

2008-04-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

First of all, let me just say that I am a blessed girl. I taught school for 6 years and never had a bad group. In fact, every year I thought my kids got even sweeter and even smarter. One year in particular, my second to last year of teaching, I had the smartest, prettiest, funniest, and kindest kids I had ever taught. The cool thing was it wasn't just a couple of kids. It was like a whole class of em'. An unforgettable year.

Even cooler is that 6 years later, I still get to see a few extra special ones from this group. Two in particular, Kelly and Emily, are now freshman at UNC Chapel Hill (despite having learned 7th grade english from me). These girls are funny, adorable, and way smarter than me (in fact I think they were smarter than me when they were in the 7th grade) and they invited us to come visit for the afternoon.

The girls and I had a blast. First we were treated to a smorgasbourg (how the heck do you spell that?????? how embarrassing but I am too lazy to look it up) at the Ramshead dining hall. The food was great and they are eating way better than I am that's for sure. My girls went nuts sampling just about every ridiculous dessert offered and at one point came back with Emily from the dessert bar with just a cup of sprinkles and chocolate chips, which of course I let them eat. And this was after they had already had a chocolate covered pretzel and ice cream cone. I'm quite sure it was the first time Emily and Kelly spent a 2 hour lunch at Ramshead, but that's the way it is when you dine out with 2 little girls who have to go to the bathroom at least 6 times an hour.

After our near gourmet dining hall experience, we headed to Hinton James dorm to exert our rainbow sprinkles energy. First we caught up with one of my other former students, Jessica, who of course was as cute as pretty as she was in 7th grade. Then we invaded first Emily then Kelly's dorm room. The girls were thrilled to get up on the loft bed and try out a "fruiton," and literally we just watched them play and be cute for an hour. They giggled and tickled on Kelly's chair and futon and it was adorable. At home they undoubtedly would have been fighting but everything is different when you're at Carolina. At least that's what they say.

Pretty much we're going to start working on Mary Claire's SAT scores now. She just has to go there. She looks GREAT in Carolina blue and there's mistletoe in the trees. Magic.

Thank you Emily and Kelly! Please don't be mad at me for posting pictures of you from when you were 13 and 14/15!! I'm so proud of you--you girls are the greatest!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Mary Claire...

2008-04-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

My first baby girl is 5 this week. Seems very trite to say that it feels like just yesterday she was a wee little thing, but it's true. I have to say that I am loving age 5. Everyday I am amazed by what a sweet little darling she is becoming and I am continually impressed by some of the choices she makes and things she says! I am biased, of course, I am her mother after all...and she is still a bundle of uncorked emotions...as am I...but I love her dearly and can't get enough of her kisses.

I miss those cheeks.

The Two Bakers and My LIttle Elves...

2008-03-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

Last week the girls and I went to see a children's play entitled The Elves and the Two Bakers. It was an interactive play and both girls got to be little elves. They were thrilled, especially Ellie. When she was picked to come up, she was as excited as an adult winning the lottery! It was very fun, and it was so nice to spend the day with them doing something we all enjoyed.

Easter in Buggystown

2008-03-27T07:40:00.000-07:00

Easter in Buckeystown (Buggystown as the kids call it) was very fun. My mom fixed a larger than Thanksgiving meal, delicious, and we ate a ton. Then we gathered all 8 kids outside for an egg hunt. First we tried to take a grandkids picture since all of the girls were in matching dresses (so cute!). However, the fins (family nickname for twins) were not so cooperative. Zoe and Zachary tried to contain them as best as possible. Mom, the queen of equality (good job mom--it is appreciated) had exactly 20 eggs for each child and they were color coded. So MC found all of the orange eggs, Ellie found all of the yellow eggs, etc. It was great and my parents' yard is so big it took a while. Sophie (one of the twins) loved being outside and I was able to snap several pictures of her before the camera battery went dead (that's why there are no pictures of anyone else!)

Mary Claire also got to celebrate her birthday with her cousins. Mom got her a beautiful cake and she certainly felt special. She is very excited to be 5--this is a big one for her.

By the end of the day, the Fins stole the show. Mom gave them each a pair of sunglasses and before pajama time, they were the happiest little girls you have ever seen. It is truly fun to have identical twins in the family. I definitely feel blessed!