Saturday, December 29, 2012

No Cable.

We are approaching a year without Cable or Satellite TV. Have I ever mentioned that?

Well, we fired our cable company at the end of December 2011 because it was an obvious way for us to save money. This is when Bobby got the job to move us back to North Carolina, and at the time, we had thought that he was going to have to move before us, and we had to find way to save money. So, that was one of the things that helped us do that.

A year later, we are still without cable, or satellite. We get over-the-air free channels- so we get the local news and NBC and CBS, and PBS, and a few others. And then we also subscribe to Netflix and Hulu, for about 8 dollars a month each.

We have a blu ray player and Bobby has hooked up a computer to our TV, so we can watch some shows that we miss, that aren't available on Netflix or Hulu.

I can't tell you how much I don't miss the high price of cable or satellite. That first month or two last year was tough.. when I was getting used to being "without" but now that some time has passed, I don't even remember what I was missing.

If you are looking for ways to save money in the new year, I highly recommend going this route!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Posing.

So, we flew to Boston Thanksgiving week. We spent the holiday in New Hampshire with my whole family. It was a nice visit. The first time I have flown in 4 years and the first that Emily and Allie can remember. They were much smaller when we flew last, obviously.

If our flight wasn't so early in the morning, I would have done well with a drink (or two) to take my edge off. I didn't show my nervousness, for the most part, as I didn't want the girls to feel my tension.

Luckily, they were oblivious to my fears - so much so that Emily, as the plane was taking off - yelled, quite loudly and excitedly - "Mommy! Look! We ARE FLYING! Look HOW HIGH we ARE!! MOMMY! We are sooOOooOOOoooo HIGH OFF THE GROUND!! YAY!!! YAAAAY!!! THIS IS AMAZING!!!" Everyone around us chuckled as I dug my nails into the seat, looking at Em with a slightly forced smile, saying, "yay!"
ha! Good Times!

We spent an afternoon walking around Boston, ate some yummy food, picked up a souvenir or two.

And trust me when I say that every picture we took of them - they posed like that.


see?

see?
Memories!

Monday, December 3, 2012

The Yarn Kitchen and a visit with Santa

First off - I want to share with you some things that I love...

This adorable nesting bowl set is by theYarnKitchen.
There are a lot of colors and styles to choose from too!

And how amazing is this cowl??

Secondly, and drumroll please, for a momentous occasion... we saw SANTA!!

A momentous occasion because Allison hasn't willingly sat on Santa's lap since she's had a say in the matter - since she was a baby. But, her friend did it - and Allison suddenly found the courage!
Emily, however, hasn't had a problem with seeing Santa. She gets a little shy, but she manages to answer his questions and wish him a Merry Christmas.

I don't know if you can tell that he has a cast on his foot, probably a fight with an elf - I just hope it heals in time for Christmas!

in other news, school starts today for my girls after a 3 week break. I am ready to tackle my very long to-do list. I love love LOOOOOVE my girls, absolutely, without question, a never-ending undying love - you get the point - but, boy.. do I not get things done when they are home! :)

Wishing you a happy week!

Monday, November 19, 2012

The Porch.

I couldn't be more happier to write this blog post. Our Porch is done. Here it is:

We have some work to do in the yard in front of it, but that can wait for a while.

We missed every outdoor furniture sale and now you can only find regular prices online, for the most part. There isn't any outdoor furniture to be found in stores at the moment.. so, we will probably wait until markdowns next August to buy new furniture because I will NOT pay 1500 for outdoor furniture. no way no how.

So, for now, a futon and some folding chairs will just have to do! :)

So, while the porch is narrower than what we hoped, it will definitely serve its purpose and we will get a ton of use out of it.

Just in time to enjoy the cold weather.
:)

Friday, November 2, 2012

Green

This has not been a good week for me. There was a death in my family, Allison got a cut on her chin on the playground at school, and I had to head to urgent care this morning for a terrible cold that I can not shake. After my round of antibiotics, hopefully I will be feeling better soon.

To get me out of my own head, I thought I would find some green things. Green is my favorite color.
Beautiful Necklace
Beautiful Bookmark
Beautiful Coat

Wishing you all a good weekend!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Halloween Preview

My Evil Queen (doesn't look so evil) and my Little Bo Peep.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Monday, October 15, 2012

The tooth fairy came...

....last night!!
Allie woke up yesterday morning with her tooth missing!

We found it under her covers!

So, the tooth fairy came last night. The girls were hoping to wake up to catch a glimpse of her.. but no such luck.

Allison did say she heard the flutter of her wings though...

...growing up.....but always my little girl.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Pajamas on the Porch

Do you remember months ago I briefly spoke about our porch troubles?

Well 3 months later - we finally have a porch... well, almost.

I won't go into the loooooong drawn out story of why on earth it took so long - but the good news is - we finally have something we can walk out onto out of the back door.

It will be finished, railing, screen, roof and all - in the next 2 weeks or so - Next week is a wash because our contractor goes on vacation, lol... figures.

Anyway, it was pajama day at school today for Em. Here she is standing on the deck - notice no railing...
And Allison and the school outfit of her choosing, and no she hasn't lost that tooth yet!
Have a great weekend, all!

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Approaching the holiday season...

Lovely Earrings.
Beautiful necklace.
Fabulous Clutch.
Wooden Napkin Rings
Check out these coasters!
Stunning Ring.
Seashell earrings.
And a whimsical bookmark.

.....Let the Shopping begin!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Some of my favorites

Nine

Right to left
One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight nine Ten eleven twelve

Losing a tooth and pumpkin time

Let me introduce you to possibly one of the last pictures of Allison with all of her baby teeth. I think she might even lose it in school today. It is dangling by very little. You can't tell it is even wiggly in this picture - but it is the middle Right tooth!
We usually carve a few pumpkins a year. Yes, it is fun for the kids and parents alike, no doubt, but the main reason is for the pumpkin seeds, of course. ;)
Doesn't my little Emily look like such the big girl??

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Joy of being 7

Happy Birthday, dear Allison. May the sun always shine warmly on your face. We love you forever, Mommy, Daddy, and Emily.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Dog Beach and can't get a handle...

First of all, I can NOT believe it has been almost a month since I posted anything to my blog. I am so disappointed with myself. I thought that surely, by now, I would have developed a nice schedule of the things I want to do - blogging being one of them - but I still have yet to get a handle of things..



So, what have I been up to?
Well, you may recall that my girls are in year round school. They already had their first break, which was a bit longer than 3 weeks. I called it "our second summer".
I was nervous about year round, even though I heard rave reviews from other parents, but I still was anxious to experience it for myself. I am pleased that the break really seemed just the right amount of time. We managed to fit in a lot of fun stuff. The picture above was taken at Carolina Beach, here in North Carolina. Jack loved it. He surfed the waves like a doggy pro. And the beach was beautiful. The water still warm, and it was just a fun time all around.

Fast forward to last week - the girls went back to school on Wednesday. And with it came Emily's tears. She did not want to let go of my hand when I walked her in. And in all honesty, me hers. But, I know she is safe there and I know she really does love it. Her teacher is wonderful and the school is great. It is just saying goodbye that catches that lump in the throat. After being with them nonstop, it is a tough pill to swallow.

So, enter the first full week back at school, starting today. Drop-off went better and I know it will continue to improve as we go on. And I am anxious to get back to a schedule working on my shop, and exploring all of the ideas that I haven't been able to execute with the munchkins under my feet. I will also be around to visit your blogs in the next couple of days. (I need to leave in a minute, I promised Emily I would come read a book to her class!)

Oh - Oh! And remember the back porch fiasco? Well.. it still looks the same. We had to cut our way through all of this red tape and now - we are waiting for our contractor who is a bit backed up... 2 months with no access to our yard from our backyard. It has been the pits.

Monday, August 20, 2012

DIY Headboard

We needed a headboard. We haven't had one since we bought our King bed 2 years ago... yes - TWO years ago. But, they are expensive, so we have held out.
So, we decided we would build one ourselves. We bought 5 pine plank boards, at roughly 4 dollars a piece. We measured out the width of the bed, as well as the length we wanted it to be from top to bottom, and created a frame using 2 4 foot length 1x2 boards and one 6 foot length 1x2 board.
we laid the pine plank boards down within the frame...
...and cut some others to fit..
The above picture is the backside of the headboard, we screwed some smaller pieces to keep the joints from shifting.
This is the unfinished front.. Coming together nice, right?
We chose a sun-bleached stain that would have a grey finish.
Allison loved being able to help out.
And now we have a pretty awesome headboard for just about 30 dollars.

Can't beat that price!