Mama...

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.

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

Source: bellamumma.com via Jessie on Pinterest

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.


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.


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 ♥

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Project 366 - Week 14

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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?

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.

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.


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

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.

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.


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


Her best "Wow I found an egg!" pose


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 :)


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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Bully

Thanks to The Bully Project for sponsoring my writing. Visit their website to join the movement and learn more.

I remember her well. She thought I wanted to be with her boyfriend. I didn't. For most of my senior year I tried my hardest to avoid her but she made it very hard. In her car she would follow me home which always freaked me out. She never touched me but she had me very afraid she would. I thought it was all over when I graduated until a chance encounter at a restaurant and she followed me to my apartment. I had enough and told her to just leave me alone. Maybe it wasn't worth her time anymore because she thankfully did but others aren't so lucky.

Now I am a strong 41 year old woman but back then I probably had self esteem and confidence issues. If there would have been more open communication with my parents maybe I wouldn't have walked around looking over my should for over a year. Who knows. What I do know is that I am now raising 3 little girls who I never want to go though what I did. I want them to be strong and comfortable enough to come to me if something does happen. To provide them with a home that makes them feel loved and safe. I can't protect them all the time though but I will do whatever I can for them and their classmates.




Just recently a 17 year old girl in our area took her life because of bullying. My heart just breaks when I think of what her family must be going through right now and how much they are hurting. Those hateful words exchanged that brought her to the point that she didn't think she could go on. Then I wonder about the girls that were bullying her. Where were their parents? How did it get that far? A few weeks ago some kids videotaped a bullying incident on their bus ride home. The district had a Zero Tolerance policy for bullying. It is one thing to say that but bullying still happens unfortunately. It's got to stop! My favorite line from the trailer below "If we all do it together we will change the world!" That would be a very nice world wouldn't it?

This year, over 13 million American kids will be bullied, making it the most common form of violence young people in the U.S. experience. Sad isn't it? The Bully Project highlights solutions that both address immediate needs and lead to systemic change. Bully is a character-driven documentary—at its heart are those with the most at stake and whose stories each represent a different facet of this bullying crisis. Bully will be in theaters on April 13, 2012 and I believe it is a must see for kids AND parents.




I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. Find showings in your area for The Bully Project and buy tickets here.

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Project 366 - Week 13

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This hat cracks me up. It is so loud and the girls love it!



Later in the day the girls went to a tea party for their friend Rylyn's birthday. They came home all dolled up. Red lipstick too :)

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I must be crazy! Seriously! I dug out the triple stroller last week to take the girls for a walk. I about died!

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The girls have been playing all the free games that their daddy downloaded to my phone. Time for some deleting though because they have my phone now more than I do!

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Some friends that were hanging out in our garden when my husband went out to pull the weeds. Glad he found them and not me. I deal with snakes and dead animals when he is gone but it is nice to have him around to have to take care of them instead of me :)

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The ducks still come up in our yard for bread. They aren't even afraid of our dogs most of the time. Pica squeezed through the gate to get down there to eat some bread. She is the same size as those ducks!

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Piper made this during her Easter party at school on Thursday. We put him in the sun on Friday and hopefully he will turn into the chia caterpillar he is supposed to be :)

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We did the egg hunt at Rocky Mount again this year. They have bounce houses and big blown up slides. Plenty of eggs for everyone to hunt and face painting. Who doesn't love face painting? Ruby lol :)


The girls love hotdogs and for whatever reason I haven't had any in my house for a really long time. The church that hosts the egg hunt had hotdogs and cheese puffs for everyone to eat. It has turned into a tradition that we go every year now.

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Project 366 - Week 12

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Big day at the zoo! Ruby's birthday party. It was so much fun. Kids were still wound up afterwards :) Check out that look on Ruby's face!

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Just my boring lunch lol :) It is funny now my girls take pictures of their food as well. Leftover chicken salad from Rubarb's party and a salad. Hit the spot! Girls had the exact same thing. I love that I don't have to be a short order cook with my daytime girlies.

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Birthday breakfast with my girls :) How I love Panera! Another breakfast this week and it's not even my birthday month anymore. I am a lucky girl :)


This was supper. Ask me what I want oysters are usually my answer. Now if I can just remember 1/2 price night day is on Monday's not Tuesday's.

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Piper ran in the Boosterthon at school to raise money for our PTO. She hooked up 1/2 way with her Kindergarten bestie. They are in different classes now unfortunately. Piper ran 35 laps and only walked 1. I was so proud of her!

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There actually were matches for these but our girls love to be "mix-matched". They crack me up. When this was taken it was like 83 degrees. Socks really? "We're cold." Um...OK.


Birthday gift from my girlfriend. Love the Vintage Pearl! Love Leslie ♥


V also had her art show at preschool. Dress up pretty and show mama & daddy what you have been creating. It is such a fun day for them. We have been having a bit of a struggle with V this week. Lots of crying and not wanting to be/stay at preschool. This same thing happened last year around this time. I don't know exactly what is going on with her but I do know with this CRAZY pollen she is having major seasonal allergies. Along with the rest of the zoo. Maybe that is it. It breaks my heart to see her so sad :(

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I was doing a review and decided to take a shot at replicating Ruby's first birthday photos but she wouldn't look at me. In fact she was almost in tears. I took 3 shots because I needed one to write up a post and sent her on her way. Poor Ruby - such a tough life.

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Hello bandwagon! Ok truth be told I am not a trendy book reader but this one peaked my interest so I actually PAID to download this to my kindle. Still shaking head but hope it is worth it. Have you read?

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