Easter Morning

Fort Sumter

Charleston Children's Museum

Recording a Mommy Moment

I have to record this quick - before I completely forget what I was doing. So, this morning I am trying to get things in order for our third trip in as many weeks. The to-do list is long today my friends. Of course the most important item is doing the laundry since I can't pack our clothes until that is done. Also high on the list - removing the stickiness, crumbs and smushed french fries from the inside of the van before Oscar the Grouch decides to upgrade from his trash can to my van! Anyhoo...I went into the laundry room and unloaded the dryer to a laundry basket, moved the load from the washer to the dryer, started the dryer and went to get a basket of clothes to wash. I decided that the boys clothes would be next because they don't require sorting - just throw them all in there. They'll be cleaner than they started! As I was emptying the basket into the washer, I thought, "Hmmm...these seem to be a lot of the clothes we wore on our trip last week. I don't know why they're in the boys hamper. I don't remember putting them there. Oh well." And kudos to me, I even remembered soap! (I have forgotten to use soap before. Who ever said laundry was easy?) Then I moved on to vacuuming a spot in the boys' room to fold the clean clothes. Now for those of you keeping track, I should have TWO baskets of laundry to fold at this point but for the life of me, I can only find ONE! How many of you have now guessed where the clean basket of clothes went??? If you said, "Back in the washing machine," you're RIGHT! Congratulations! You win a prize. The prize is a broken laundry basket (The one I broke in anger now that the laundry cycle has been extended by approximately one hour).

For more mommy moments, visit Katie's blog. She has a great post about the realities of having children!

Adventures in Orlando

After we finished at Albert Park I decided to take the boys to a park with a playground. I remembered that there was one just a few blocks away and Ed and I had been there once when we lived in College Park. We loaded up in the van and off we went. And what luck -- it was "Sunday in the Park" day. There were about five bounce houses, tons of booths and entertainers on a stage! I guess when you live in a city, there is always something cool going on. I only let the boys bounce in one bounce house because I had NO cash and technically we were suppossed to buy tickets for the booths. No one was checking...but...They were not disappointed. They had fun walking around and seeing everything.



After the park, I promised the boys some ice cream. Max pulled my head band out of my bag and was wearing it. Just a funny picture.

Nolen's ice cream face at Marble Slab...the same as Cold Stone Creamery but more expensive and older I think.

Max's ice cream face! They make it look so delicious!

Edward was out of town last week...and I always mangae to make trouble while he's gone! This time I bought some quarter inch ply at Lowe's and got to work with Ed's power tools! I used the table saw and the jig saw and cut out a few planets and a moon to hang on the boys wall. I'll have to post a picture of the finished product later...so far so good. And I still have all ten fingers! Note the safety glasses!


We went to Orlando this past weekend for our friend Wendy's wedding. I like to go back to the park where Ed and I got married whenever I get the chance. Ed had to make a short visit of it for work so just the kids and I made it to the park. They had fun running around. Max asked me, "Mommy is this the park that you and Daddy married?" It was easier to say yes than to explain that you don't marry a park, you get married to each other in a park. ha! I think this park is especially pretty in March because all of the azaleas are blooming..although I managed to not get any of them in these pics.

Little Bunny Foo-Foo

The boys made these hats and masks at school this week. I think they're really cute and this afternoon, the boys were running around the house wearing them and singing "Little Bunny Foo Foo". We haven't had much time to get our Easter activities in order...maybe we'll get to something fun this afternoon!

Bag Number 5

Has Orange Sherbet been a color for Vera Bradley??? If not, I'm using it for this purse. I love it! I think I have finally figured out how to make these purses. It is still a lot more time consuming than the totes, but I like these more and I may have a good formula for it now. The only problem with this one is that the handle is sewn on crooked. I guess that is what I get for eyeballing it! Oops! Guess I'll have to keep this one too!!! Darn it! :-)

Bag Number 4

These totes are pretty easy to make. They are cute and simple and very functional. Throw your stuff in and go!

Bowling at Rucker Lanes

We've been taking the kids bowling quite a bit lately. So much in fact, that when we went to a Super Bowl party Nolen was disappointed to learn that he wouldn't get to bowl. And he was disappointed again when he found out that NO ONE would be bowling. What kind of a name is "Super Bowl" if there is no bowling at all???

Here is some video from last week at the Bowling Alley. Max is making a funny noise after he bowls...he is pretending to be a dog. That has been the latest craze around here. Max's dog name is Spot. And Nolen's dog name is Rascal.

Spring Clean Up!

Since Spring is right around the corner, we've been trying to clean up our yard lately. Ed has been working in the back which had been COMPLETELY covered with leaves and I've started working in the front. When we bought the house we were completely in love with all of the mature landscaping and big beautiful trees...I'm still in love with it, but I don't think we thought this through! We have a minimum of 6 water oaks that drop leaves in our yard AND we raked once all winter so we've got some massive leaf piles!

Today I tackled the flower beds in the front of the house...weeding, clearing the dead stuff out from winter, and raking. We also have an issue with a bunch of left over pine straw. It seems that someone just kept adding it so its pretty deep. There are tons of bulbs in our yard...but without knowing WHAT is going to come up, I can't tell the difference between weeds and plants. We have already seen our yard sprout up spider lilies, daffodils, and some alien looking flowers awhile back. I decided this afternoon that the plants that are growing "thoughtfully" can stay and everything else goes. You may be asking, how does a plant grow "thoughtfully". Well, the things that are growing straight up with leaves pointing every which way, those are out. But I ran across some little plants that are growing in a swirly motion with a hole in the center and leaves coming out from it and I kept those because they look like they really have a plan. haha



The flower bed under the boys bedroom window before.

And after. I realize it still looks rough but the dead winter sunflower stalks are gone and I removed seven wheelbarrows full of weeds and leaves!

This area by our mailbox is looking much nicer. I'd like to get my signature wave petunias to fill in around the mailbox a little.

Daffodils that inspired me to get to work in the yard. If they are ready for spring then I need to be getting ready too! They are so pretty! We also have some more popping up along the side of the house. The woman who lived here before us had tons of heirloom bulbs from her grandmother planted in the yard. She dug up many of them to take with her so it will be interesting to see what is left.

Quiz time! For one thousand Monopoly Dollars: What is the name of this purple flowering plant? The first correct comment post wins!