MerleFest 2012

>> Monday, April 30, 2012

This was our first year going. I told my husband that Alison Krauss was playing on Sunday afternoon and that I thought we should go. I had "liked" MerleFest on Facebook and saw that it is a family friendly event and kids under 12 get in free. Where does that happen these days. Not to mention they have a huge kids area with a ton of crafts and shows for the littles all for free. What sweetened our deal was last week I won tickets to go. Super cool!

Steam punk Piper

There was this awesome Steampunk hat so I had to have one of my kids try it on. Then the guy told me that it was $350. That's him in the background probably laughing at us when I said "Be very careful with that one because we can't buy it".

Sand car

This is a sand sculpture. Ah-mazing! Let's see if our girls can do this in the new sand box out back next week. I have high expectations don't I?

Bubbles

Again, SO much for our kiddos to do. We weren't even able to do it all! Next year we will start on the kids tents earlier.

Show

Fun interactive show that our girls didn't get up during one time! I enjoyed it very much as well which is pretty cool if you are a parent of littles. Sometimes kid shows are painful to get through!

Daddy's girl

Why he thought carrying his 46 pound 6 year old was smart I don't know. He will say "She was right" tomorrow :)

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I took this after people were leaving. It was shoulder to shoulder on the hill watching the fabulous bands all day long. Act after act didn't ever disappoint. The evening ended with Alison Krauss and Union Station. Her voice is angelic. Hearing Dan Tyminski sing gets your toes tapping for sure. Definitely a band to see!

The gang
The gang. So.much.fun!


Merlefest tuckered everyone out. Except Ruby.

And the ride home. I carried Ruby to and from the car in the Beco so she took a 2.5 minute cat nap and then resisted falling asleep in the van. Eventually she did but she chatted with us half the ride home which was like 30 minutes.

Again, such a great day! Not to mention everyone there is planning on going again next year! Can't wait!

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Project 366 - Week 16

>> Sunday, April 29, 2012

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A trip to the Home Depot looking for pavers and a little dreaming :)


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We also trekked all over Statesville checking out baby chicks, guineas, and ducks. Perhaps a glimpse of our future :)


Sweet sleeping babe
It was a very good day ♥


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A Girls Night Out at one of our favorite restaurants. Super fun night!


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Rainy day read. I find that we don't read as much in the spring/summer because I throw the kids outside to burn off all the energy they accumulated in the winter :) I guess rainy days are good for something other than ducks.

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A Daisy trip to Zootastic found Violet holding a snake. Piper touched it but passed on holding it and Ruby wanted absolutely no part of the reptile. I held it and I must say this corn snake was pretty darned sweet.

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My girlfriend gave me some Sunflower Sprouts that she wasn't going to be using. It was my first time trying them and I really liked them. So much that, of course, I checked out YouTube for some videos on how to grow sprouts. I see them for sure in our future :)

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You know those kids that can hula all day long. This kid is going to be one of them. I remember being able to hula hoop but I have since lost that skill. If I didn't look so ridiculous doing it I might consider practicing.

Yummy grilled pizza and playing on the deck :)

Since it was quite warm and I still am holding off with our air I grilled our Friday night pizza. So good and crispy!

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Serious laziness at Walmart. Come on people! Maybe they could have put it a little closer to my car.

I came out to find this buggy parked so ridiculously close to my van. Seriously people. You're lazy and you aren't helping my opinion of Walmart! In the past 2 years I might have stepped through their doors 1 or 2 times. I won a gift card and I am afraid I will find myself there a lot more in the next few months. Looks like we're in for a long couple of months. Ugh.

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How she rolls

>> Thursday, April 26, 2012

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She has her own style. I accept it. Somedays we match and others, well, I am happy she is dressed. Girls got issues with clothes! Serious issues! Baby doll is a must though. I can't name how many times we were running behind but she had to dress that baby. I now accept that we are always late :)

BTW, had to shove her in front of the rhododendrons so that I could say that they actually do bloom sometimes. Normally we don't get enough sun and they bud but don't bloom. Not sure the difference this year. Mild winter?

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Project 366 - Week 15

>> Sunday, April 22, 2012

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A day in the lake. A day with family. A very very good day.

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Hot! This is indoors at night before we went to bed. Matt was miserable. I just can't turn on my air in April. May, ok. But April?

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I wonder where she learned this from? Probably her Daddy :)

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109/366 Nutella Banana Peanut Chip mini muffins

Nutella Banana Peanut Chip Muffins. Yum!

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110/366 Purge!

Trying to get rid of some things. I was able to get sell quite a bit but there is still so much more! How did we get so much stuff?


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Strawberry fields forever. They were so good! Like almost melt in your mouth good. I want to go back because we are almost done with our gallon already. Oh my yum!

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Why didn't I get a sandbox before? I know, I know the picture above I said we were purging and now I am buying. Such is me :) But we play so much on our deck and my girls love the beach so I brought it home from a garage sale. It was a steal!

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Hairy Caterpillar Project

>> Friday, April 20, 2012

This is a fun project that was actually sent home from school. We have been watching and watering our little caterpillar regularly and the results were just what any little kid would want. A very hairy caterpillar. I posted when we got it but I am combining everything again in this post.

What you'll need is:
4 cups potting soil
4 tablespoons quick-sprouting grass seed (we used ryegrass seed)
Small yogurt container or paper cup
Knee-high nylon stocking
Colorful ponytail holders
Scissors
Plastic bag
Bobby pin
Googly eyes
Pipe cleaner
Small pom-poms

Instructions
1. Combine the potting soil and grass seed in a large bowl.
2. Cut the bottom from a small yogurt container or paper cup for a funnel, then slide a knee- high nylon stocking over it.
3. Pour or spoon 3⁄4 to 1 cup of the soil mixture into the stocking, then slide a colorful ponytail holder over the end of the stocking to section off the pocket of soil. Repeat this process to make 5 soil-filled segments. Tie a knot in the top of the stocking and trim away any excess nylon.
4. Submerge the caterpillar in water for 10 minutes, then place it in a plastic bag and let it sit overnight.
5. Remove the bag and loop a semi-straightened bobby pin through the front of the stocking, then glue a googly eye onto each end of the pin. For antennae, cut a pipe cleaner in half, glue a small pom-pom onto one end of each half, and stick them in place.
6. Set your caterpillar on a plate by a sunny window and generously water the whole thing every other day. Your critter should sprout hair in about 4 to 5 days.

First day in the sun
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After a week
Hola!

After 2 weeks
caterpillar 2 (1 of 1)

Piper thinks that it needs a trim. Here is the actual link from Pinterest. We didn't quite get these results but maybe we just needed more grass. I plan on doing this during the summer when we have our 1st Annual Mom Camp with a group of my girlfriends. I hope the other littles enjoy seeing their caterpillar sprout as much as our family did.

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Mama...

>> Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Can you braid my hair please? I get asked this all the time. I will admit that about 50% of the time I say no. Lazy? Yep and the girls have issues staying still AND they have short hair so it is sort of hard. Since spending the night at their friend's house last week though all 3 have asked for braids daily. Daily people! I saw a blog post with this style on a little girl so I braided V's hair because I thought a side pony would be cute on her. It is.

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Then my girlfriend said that she saw it on Pinterest. Of course it was on Pinterest lol :) What isn't these days?



My girl asked for this braid the past 3 days. I obliged. One day I will be good at it :) The smile on her face the past few days tells me she thinks I am good at it.

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Then there is this one. She goes between "1 big braid" and "2. 2 braids Mama. 2." You know just in case I didn't know she wanted 2.

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She's watching intently for the ducks to come. She has bread and doesn't understand why they just don't hang out at our dock waiting for her to call them. Total sweetness ♥

Sweet Shot Day

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Project 366 - Week 14

>> Sunday, April 15, 2012

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I love this shot from Easter. Their pigs were well fed after hunting for change filled eggs. Them being able to hunt and then have another activity to do right after allowed mama & daddy to sip some coffee and hang out :)

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Best.Toy.Ever! Seriously this water table has seen better days but that doesn't stop the girls from still playing with it. I am not sure what it is about water and fun but they do go hand in hand :)

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Happy Anniversary! We went and saw Hunger Games. After zipping through the first book I couldn't help myself and downloaded the second. Then it happened again! I feel so lost right now not having something to read at night. I thought that the movie was great and so did hubs who didn't read the book. 1st movie at a theater for me since I had my oldest. True story.

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The red hot poker in our front yard. I wish that these lasted like a tiger lily but nope. I enjoy them very much though when they do make an appearance every year ♥

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Pizza Hut has a program that if you read each day of the month your school will reward you with a free personal pan pizza. Since we were on spring break I decided to take them and use up a few of Piper's coupons. Pizza was excellent and just like I remembered. Service was horrific! Unfortunate.

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I love Estancia's Pinot Noir. Love it! Problem is though it is like $15 a bottle so for me it is a special occasion thing. My girlfriend Rachael got me a bottle for my birthday because she knows I wouldn't buy it for myself. Happy Friday!

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We are officially purging! Hubs got a hair yesterday afternoon and started cleaning his garage. I took pics of things we need to sell and now we just have to get it all listed. This exersaucer is old. It was a gift when I was preggers with Piperoni. It lasted all 3 girls but it is missing things now. Lucas girls are a little rough :) I guess someone decided that she still wants to play with it! That Ruby just constantly brings a smile to my face.

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How does your garden grow?

>> Thursday, April 12, 2012

Have you started your veggie garden yet? We got ours in the ground last week when it was averaging 80 degrees everyday and then this week the nights are getting cold again. I am sitting here in my home with all the windows closed because it is 46 degrees at almost 9am. What happened Mother Nature?

This year we scaled back a little and planted 3 yellow squash, 3 zucchini, 3 eggplants, 2 red pepper plants, 2 jalapeno plants, and 5 tomato plants. I also have a patio tomato on our deck as well as 2 pots with peas that I am not sure will do anything but Piper brought them home from school.

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We won't get quite enough produce to make it all summer without buying veggies but besides buying peppers we might be close on everything else. We eat a ton of peppers. I wish that I were more of a green thumb but it doesn't really come naturally for me and I tend to kill things. The veggie gardens that we have had in the past have ranged from very nicely weeded to full of morning glory after I am gone for 2 weeks in the summer. I am going to have the girls help me this year though as a sort of learning experience.

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The day that I get to pick my first tomato will make all the work that goes into a vegetable garden so worth it!

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Wordful Wednesday - Egg Hunt

>> Wednesday, April 11, 2012

I wrote yesterday about the documentary Bully that will be released on April 13. If you haven't seen the trailer check out my post from yesterday. I think that it is very important to show this to our children to teach them how their actions have consequences. It will be a must see for sure!

This weekend was our annual egg hunt at the house. Daddy did the hiding. He is getting more tricky with where he hides them but still has to put some out in the open for our Ruby.

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They hunted until they found them all. 72 in total I believe. I wanted overkill because I only allow them to hunt 10 eggs at the hunts outside the home.

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She's thrilled with me taking her pic can't you tell?

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Her best "Wow I found an egg!" pose

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and finally "Is this close enough to a smile?" That Ruby :)


I have seen so many of those little black ants around that I was afraid to put candy in the eggs at our house so we just put change. As they were feeding their pigs they didn't seem to mind :)

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It was a fun morning followed by a huge feast with friends. This week is spring break. I love having my Piperoni home with me all week. I heard myself say "I can't wait until summer!" And it's the truth!

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I am 45 years old and married to my best friend Matthew. We are the parents of 3 girls, 2 dogs, and a cat. This is the story of us, try to stay awake.
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