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 !!!!!!!

Dollhouse Frock GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

A Case of Mistaken Identity? You Decide!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Elizabethan Gardens

Breathtakingly beautiful!

Mary Claire, chasing butterflies

Our little Elle Belle, feeding the deer

Can I freeze this moment forever, please?

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!