Project 366 - Week 18

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Cooked out yummy hamburgers, brats, and dogs on Sunday with friends. The girls swam in the still quite cold lake :) Oh to be young again.

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I almost thought about buying this. Almost. Hubs asked me if I was going to agree to go snowboarding if I did. Nope. I moved away from snow and I like my bones unbroken thank you.

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Voting day. With such an important amendment on the books I am sad that there was not more of a turnout. Unfortunate NC, unfortunate.


The whole outfit. Found those Hanna clogs at Goodwill and baby girl hasn't taken them off since. They are only 2 sizes too big but you wouldn't know it if you saw her running in them. They are adorable!

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My girls have wished and wished and wished for one of these ever since we bought that swing set. They aren't cheap though. Unless you find one at Goodwill! Score - $4.99! They played on it for hours Saturday!

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I don't NEED bread. I don't NEED bread. I don't NEED bread. To be honest my double jalapeno guacamole was delicious with the hamburger I grilled for lunch on Thursday. Check out our little clown in the background. I smile a lot during the day. I yell a lot too but I smile more ♥

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Mother's Day Tea at Piper's school. My shy girl had the hardest time getting up there and speaking in front of a room full of kids/moms. She did so great. So proud of her! It cracks me up that she used my full name since no one ever calls me that - except doctors I guess.

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Who doesn't love this show? I won this hat and Rhubarb won't take it off! How cute is our littlest train conductor? Choo Choo!

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Project 366 - Week 17

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From Merlefest. It was such a great bluegrass festival! Seriously if we can swing it I want to bring the fam every year!

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It is H.O.T. here this week. Not bad outside if you can take it but indoors at the end of the day it is around 84. Each year we have to do a little fixing on our irrigation and Monday was Matt's day to fix it. The girls always take advantage and run through the "sprinklers" when we put it on in the evenings. We finally turned the air on as well. It will probably go off again though because the high is only 80 next week :)

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Piper's peas aren't doing too bad. We aren't having a meal or anything with them and I think that the aphids have finally won the battle I was waging with them. For her it was awesome to see the seeds she planted actually produce.

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Most of the zoo loves these spicy black bean burgers. I had to make 3 of them on Wednesday for our lunch. My girlfriend, I believe, has since made black bean burgers from scratch! I might do that some night when the whole family is home if it isn't too difficult but I do love Morningstar in my freezer for a quick lunch ♥

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Stop the presses Violet lost a tooth Thursday night! Wasn't she just getting them in?


It was also the preschool's Mother's Day Tea. I got to wear my MoHop Shoes that I won last year. These shoes are adorable AND so very comfortable. I am going to find ways to wear them often this summer.

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Crazy. Beautiful. Entertaining. Friday nights at our house are so much fun!

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Super fun day! Went to a play downtown. The Elves and The Shoemaker. It was a bunch of teens that put it on and it was so great! My girls sat still through the whole thing! Totally looking into one hour(ish) long plays in the future!


and the girls afterwards. One word. Hungry.

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MerleFest 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!

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".


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?


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.


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!


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


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. So.much.fun!


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

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


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


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.


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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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

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

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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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Nutella Banana Peanut Chip Muffins. Yum!

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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

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

After a week

After 2 weeks

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.

Source: familyfun.go.com via Jessie on Pinterest

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