Horseback Adventures

We headed to the mountains for day 2 of spring break. Another sleepover with cousin Connors! Both girls had birthdays in January and we had not yet celebrated together. Nandy had not yet given a gift to girls either so she planned a horseback trail ride through the mountains. We had a 1 pm ride scheduled and packed a picnic to have at the top. The horses were so pretty! Maggie got a painted horse named Cherokee. I had Sundance, Connors Eldorado, Kendrick Dusty, Wilson Rocky and Nandy had Boston (until she traded after lunch with Connors). The day was perfect and sunny with a breeze. It was a fun trip up the mountain and great views from the top. We also explored several caves up at the top which was neat! Fun birthday experience for Maggie and Connors!

Staycation 2012

We decided to to a bunch of day trips during spring break and visit museums around our state. So on day 1, Maggie and I headed to Charlotte's Discovery Place. We had a ball exploring a new venue and just being together. Maggie had a new "Smash" book to record the week's trips and include photos of our adventures!

Easter Weekend

We enjoyed all our family the weekend of Easter! On Friday, my niece came and spent the night with Maggie. The girls dyed eggs and helped to make our dessert of funfetti cake inside hollowed out dyed eggs. The dessert tasted good- all 6 of them- but was a pain to make in a million ways! Hard to get the egg out a tiny hole, hard to wash out, hard to refill with batter, messy to bake, and hard to make look presentable! But the girls had fun so it was worth it. Then Saturday the girls went to an egg hunt in the morning, played all day and we cooked out Saturday night with Harper's side of the family. Sunday morning I had a breakfast before church for my parents and mother-in-law. We had yummy sweet potato biscuits with country ham, fruit, and bagels with coffee and tea. Church was lovely and then we took lots of photos in the courtyard. Nap followed church, read on the porch for hours as Harper watched the Masters then a run with Oliver. Great day with many blessings. Oh so grateful for our family!

Maggie's first art show

Maggie participated in an art show at our favorite bakery- Delicious! In her art class, they all drew pictures of cakes and then they were displayed at Delicious. It was very exciting and her big sister came home from college to see the show too!

Valentines 2012

This was most positively my BEST Valentine's holiday ever! It started on 2/11 and went through 2/14. It involved multiple dates in multiple cities and many gifts for me! So what else can I say but that my husband rocks!! It started on Saturday before Valentines when Harper and I headed to Chapel Hill to the basketball game. We had a fabulous brunch beforehand, went to the game then had lunch afterwards with our Kate! We also did a little sports shopping! harper bought me a new Garmin sports watch with GPS to track my milage and much more! I also got a new running tights and a hot pink long sleeve running tee for our Valentine Massacre Marathon Relay on the 12th. Nothing says "I love you" like running a relay marathon in the 20 degree weather! But it was so much fun!! Then on Valentine's Day, my husband bought me a Valentine card (which he never does) and it had a gift card to Anthropologie in it! We also went downtown for a lovely dinner at Bin 33. I had made my traditional chocolate window cut out cookies with rasberry jam inside for him. These cookies take hours to make and then only make 10 so it is a labor of love! I had a valentine's dinner of chicken pies for the girls with heart pie crusts on Monday since our oldest was home for one night. And then helped Maggie make adorable owl Valentines for her classmates. It was a wonderful holiday in so many ways!!

Ear Piercing AGAIN!

This time it was for my youngest. My baby! She could not possibly be old enough to get her ears pierced. But she is- according to her! According to Maggie, she is probably the last 3rd grader who doesn't have her ears pierced. I don't really think so, nor do I cave to peer pressure. So we had a family meeting in which M. explained why she wanted them pierced and we told her what was involved and showed her videos on youtube about piercing (that is the important step because if you pick the right ones, your child will NEVER want to get anything pierced!). We decided that Maggie had been very responsible with her retainer so we would let her get her ears pierced. In our family we have a tradition of Harper whisking the girls away to get them done without my knowledge (but really I know and send the camera). Well, we could not do with this with our third because her older sister, Lilly, told her all about it and how it was a scam because "mom really knows". Thanks Lilly. Anyway, so we all piled in the car and went to Claire's- the piercing mecca-to get Maggie's ears pierced on the Sunday before Valentine's Day. She had studied the earrings on the website and knew exactly which ones she wanted. They had no line and two girls ready to pierce at the same time. That seemed a little scary to me but Maggie was okay with it. Maggie did great! She did not even blink or flinch! And she looks so much older. I want her to be small again! This new pierced NINE year old is growing up way to fast!!!

Epic Holiday in December

We went on another Norwegian Epic Cruise. This time to the islands of St. Maarten's , St. Thomas and Nassau with my parents for their 50th wedding anniversary! We went the week before Christmas which was a real treat to be in the sun on a boat instead of rushing around doing the final preparations. I got most everything done before I left so I was FREE!! We got sun, ate wonderful meals, read for hours and worked out every day! We went to shows, the comedy club, gambled a little and saw the dueling piano players several nights. We had 4 room, all with balconies and my parents, mine and the girls all connected. It was a fabulous get away! Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! We docked at 8am on 12/24 so then drove back in 12 hours to be at home for Santa!

Maggie Turns NINE!

We had a fun birthday party at one of those inflatable play spaces for Maggie. She had a special shirt made by big sister Kate with glow in the dark paint! We had it on a teacher workday with girls and BOYS and got the "glow package" so the games would be under black lights. It was fun and over in 1.5 hours!! The second part of the party was a sleepover for 4 friends. But that was not that much fun. In fact I would say it was HELL! They screamed, raced around, got into squabbles and stayed up until 2 am! YUCK!! Even Maggie said that the sleepover was disappointing. We will not be doing that again next year. Maybe one friend can spend the night but no more!!!! Then on the actual birthday, I fixed Maggie beignets for breakfast and we had the family over for Delicious birthday cake and all went to a movie. It was a fun birthday for my baby girl! I cannot believe she is nine years old. This is absolutely the last birthday- she cannot move into double digits!!

New Year's Stars

I ordered beautiful, handmade glass stars for my girls for Christmas but due to overwhelming demand they were delayed and became New Years gifts. They are so beautiful and made by Kurt Knudsen in Chapel Hill and you can find him on Etsy here www.etsy.com/shop/KurtKnudsen. I got a sunny yellow one for my sunshine girl Maggie, a lovely turquoise one for Kate at UNC and a purplish one for Lilly. The funny thing is that I LOVED the purple one and my dear friend sent me one just like it for Christmas! So our stars are hanging and bringing us joy in the new year!

Christmas Celebration 2011

Christmas went by in a blur this year! We traveled the week before, then spend 12 hours at home on the 24th then left to hit both grandparents and return on the 26th. Whew! I am tired! It was so nice to have us all together again though. Glad to have Kate home for more than overnight! My homemade gifts for the girls are not yet completed but will be soon. I did have Maggie's owl ready on Christmas Eve and Lilly's cabled scarf that matches the fingerless cabled gloves I knitted last year will be done this week! Kate wants socks instead of a scarf so they won't take nearly as long! The cousins had a great time together. They got the #1 parented hated toy- Figits. So far the Figits have only been played with on Christmas Day- hooray! Harper and I are continuing the exercise regiment wherever we may be! On boats, and more! We saw a family movie on New Year's Eve, We Bought a Zoo, and it was fabulous! We have done lots of family cooking together and generally enjoyed each other. It will only last until Sunday then we will be down a daughter but up a dog! 2012 is shaping up to be a good year! I hope to appreciate each member of my family more and tell them everyday! Be thankful for all that you have!