New Challenge

Now that school is back and we are back to a somewhat normal schedule and I have to get back into half marathon training again in the middle of August, I have decided to give myself a new challenge for the next 30 days - do freaking something exercise worthy everyday. And it is starting today. Luckily, I have the P90X Ab Ripper and Yoga DVDs, so on days I don't run or go to the gym, I plan on doing those. I will keep track of this here, just to make myself accountable.

I haven't run in a week. Last week was vacation and running around and then this weekend I was hit with a head cold. So I took the wimpy way out and didn't run. But I have conned my friend Wendy to run with me tonight.

We finally had a weekend where we had nothing planned. Well, Ashley did have a friend spend the night Friday night and she had swim team practice on Saturday, but that was it. I pretended I was Betty Crocker and actually made dinner ahead for tonight, made a crapton of pancakes and froze them, and did grocery shopping. I also made Ashley's birthday party invitations and got those out the door (made them with the computer and scrapbooking supplies I had on hand - free invitations rock)(I am taking Ashley and 9 of her friends to see the new Ramona and Beezus movie for her birthday). We hit the pool yesterday with friends and just relaxed. I think it was the weekend we all needed. Especially me. I had a not so good week last week for multiple reasons, so this weekend helped some.

Ashley had a great first day of school and loves her teacher. She has two weeks of swim team left and then she will have a few weeks break from activities until cheerleading starts mid August. Then dance starts in September for both girls, and Ray just signed Audrey up for soccer this morning. Which I think starts next month too. Add in Girl Scouts and piano lessons and Y Princesses, trips for both Ray and I in October and our 35th birthdays (which I am seriously having issues with even though I realize it isn't a big one like 4-0), I think our fall is all booked out. Oh, and a trip to Disney World in September when Ashley is tracked out of school. And a half marathon race in November. GAH! Typing that all out just made my head spin around....

Reason #4,295,852 why we are glad we moved from VA to NC

No offense to those still in Northern Virginia where it would take me 90 minutes to get to work 20 miles away, and here the same distance takes me less than 30 minutes. At 8:00 in the morning.

That was reason #1 why we are glad we moved from Virginia.

Another reason that we didn't even know about was how great the YMCA's were here, and the YMCA Guides and Princesses program. The Arapahoe Nation in our area is the second largest in the nation. Basically it is a program for boys and girls 1st grade through 3rd grade and their Dads where they meet twice a month for activities and such. Yes, a lot like Girl Scouts (which I am a troop leader for Ashley's troop), but it involves the Dads obviously.

This past weekend was their "spring outing" where they go camping at a campsite on a river near the coast in North Carolina. There were cabins for the kids and Dads to stay in, activities such as a zip line, archery, fishing and then bonfires and fireworks at the end of the day. I don't know all the details of the weekend, but Ray and Ashley had, in their words, the best weekend ever.

Audrey and I held up the fort just fine at home. I took her to the zoo on Saturday, and then to the movies on Sunday. I got a quick 4 mile run in on Sunday thanks to Ray's brother watching Audrey for me (I averaged 9:34 pace for 4 miles, I am getting steadily faster!!). Needless to say, both kids (and Ray) were exhausted last night. I was not and got sucked into that darn Hoarder show on TLC until 11:00pm. Tell me again why I watch this stuff?

Here's a birthday post for Ray....

This is Ray and his business partner...enjoy! Oh, and Ray is the boy...

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Beaches

Last weekend we took an impromptu trip to Myrtle Beach. We can do this because a) my parents have a house there and b) it is only a 3 1/2 hour drive to get from door to door. Very doable and a quick trip. We waited until Ashley got out of school and off we went.

Our first stop on the trip was a detour to downtown Wilmington, which isn't really a detour as it is about 5 minutes out of our way. When we were there a few months ago, we ate at Front Street Brewery one night for dinner, and we have been wanting and wanting to go back. Cheap food, good beer, and a cool restaurant make a great combination. Seriously, I had a fried shrimp dinner for $6.99, plus appetizers were half off, so we ordered chips and salsa for $1.99. The food? Amazing. Ray has ordered ribs both times, and as someone who loves ribs, he says these are the best he has ever had. The kids menu is good too and it is noisy enough of a restaurant that the girls don't have to be as quiet as you do in some restaurants.

Back on the road and to my parents house. Saturday we got up, ate breakfast and headed to the beach. The only public beach access we know of that has decent bathrooms is at Myrtle Beach State Park, so we always go there. We might take our chances next time as the line to get into the park was crazy. We stayed for almost 4 hours, and would have stayed longer, but we were out of drinks and no water and lots of sun isn't good. Back to my parents house, I took the girls to the pool in the neighborhood while Ray rested (he had run 5 miles that morning, my lazy-butt had not).

We always have to hit Broadway at the Beach while there for rides and some shopping. I had $40 in gift cards/coupons for Build-A-Bear, so the girls both got a bear and we only had to spend $.97.

At this point, it's almost 8:00pm, and neither one of them had napped, so home and bed. We were actually amazed at how well behaved the girls were with the amount of activity in the day and no nap. Especially for Audrey.

Sunday started off kind of bad - Ashley was stung by a bee at the playground. She was fine, but now if she even remotely hears a buzzing sound, watch out. She is petrified. We did a little bit of tax-free shopping at the outlets and then went for a round of mini-golf where Ashley hit the craziest hole in one I have ever seen. The ball went off course, hit some rocks, bounced back, hit a wall, and then rolled into the hole!

We headed back towards Raleigh around 2:30 to get home to the evil dog (see yesterday's post) and get the van cleaned up before the week from hell. Not really from hell, but this week starts cheerleading for Ashley, two day trips for me for work, open house for Ashley's school, and we have family coming into town this weekend. Send bottles of wine now.

Pictures

Sometimes it takes me a few weeks to get pictures off my camera. And by then I have forgotten what is on there, like this gem of Audrey:

Not sure what she's doing...

And then I will find random pictures of people's houses. Even though Ray thought that this camera I bought 2 years ago was a big waste of my bonus money from my prior employer, he sure seems to like to use it to take pictures. Huh.

And then, I find ones like the next one. One I didn't take, one I missed out on when I was in Chicago. Another *real* gem of Audrey.

Sometimes it pays to get the pictures off my camera.

The Fun Never Ends

This past holiday weekend had its ups and downs.

The ups? Hanging out with the kids, a cookout with friends, getting stuff done around the house.

The downs? Ray's car died at church (how inappropriate). I had driven it to church with Ashley so that I could teach her Sunday school class, which ended up being a private lesson for Ashley since no one else showed up. Ray came up an hour later for service and as I tried to leave, the car wouldn't start. So we went home, got a neighbor to drive Ray back with jumper cables, and Ray promptly drove the car straight to Advance Auto for a new battery.

Then there was the musical beds we played all weekend. Friday night, Ashley ended up in our bed saying her stomach hurt. About two hours after that, Audrey shows up without a shirt on and different pants then what she went to bed in. Come to find out, she had an accident in her bed and was attempting to change her clothes when she decided to come get me. So off I went to clean her and her bed up, and her and I slept the rest of the night in the guest bedroom.

Saturday night, Ashley had a friend sleep over, and again at 4:00am, Ashley was having troubles sleeping and her and I ended up in the guest bedroom. I didn't want her waking up her friend.

Sunday night brought Ashley up again saying her stomach hurt, except this time she decided to throw up all over the guest bed when I tried to get her to go to sleep. Not fun. We don't know what was wrong, she didn't throw up again and ate fine yesterday. We are going to limit her sugar intact since she seems to have an intolerance to sugar that we found out about last year. We have been slacking on watching what she ate, and now we are probably paying the price. She was actually supposed to go to school yesterday, but I kept her home instead.

Let's hope this week goes a little more smoothly.

Trip

It was the middle of winter, and Raleigh was hit with a few snow storms that I did not approve of. So Ray broke out his laptop, checked the number of Hilton points we had, and we booked a few weekends away (thank you credit card usage). It was something to look forward to as we had the coldest winter here since we have lived here.

One of those weekends was this past weekend. We booked a stay at the Hilton in downtown Wilmington, NC (not Delaware, which confused me as I looked on the internet to see if the minor league baseball team was playing this weekend and was looking at the Wilmington, DE team, not the NC team).

It was a great weekend, mainly because we all love the beach so much. We checked in Friday night and walked the Riverwalk and found a yummy ice cream place. Saturday morning, we got up and headed to Wrightsville Beach and we stumbled upon a surfing competition while there. After about an hour and a half at the beach, we headed back to the hotel to clean up. We walked around a bit, had lunch, stopped at the farmer's market where Audrey decided to fall asleep while I was carrying her. The beach wears my kids out. Ashley wanted to go to the aquarium at Fort Fisher (I wanted to take a trolley around Wilmington, I was outvoted), so we loaded the van and headed out. The aquarium was great, and we got to drive through some more North Carolina beaches we had not been to yet - Carolina Beach and Kure Beach. On the way back, we stopped at a small ice cream shop in Carolina Beach (Ray and Ashley could eat ice cream ALL the time) and then got back to the hotel in time to find some place for dinner.

This is where it got a little interesting. We went to Front Street Brewery (great beer, great food, great prices), and on the walk there, Ray got something in his eye. After many attempts to rinse it out, whatever was in it just wasn't coming out. And then Audrey decided to stick a piece of a tortilla chip up her nose. Thankfully, it came out, and no, I have no idea what possessed her to do that.

Ray ended up going to an Urgent Care Sunday morning, and $235 later, the dirt was out of his eye. So much for it being a cheap weekend with not having to pay for a hotel room.

We packed up and headed to Topsail Beach on Sunday where the girls had more fun. After lunch, we headed back towards Raleigh and was back home by 3:30pm. Everyone was wiped, Ashley and Audrey both napped in the van on the way home.

This week is kind of crazy - I am attending a conference my office puts together in Greensboro Tuesday through Thursday. I am driving back and forth each day. Ashley has her kindergarten program Thursday night where the kindergartners sing some songs after the PTA meeting. And Ashley has a speaking part in one of the songs because they can "really use her strong voice this time" versus using her strong voice in the classroom where she gets in trouble for talking loudly. It was a nice way of saying "your daughter is loud, but this time, it comes in handy". Whatever works.

Friday Pictures - Earth Day (with a few Easter ones thrown in for good measure)

First up, Easter pictures. As most of you know, I like to dress the girls alike because a) I'm crazy and b) I am fostering some sort of inner peace from dressing two girls alike, unlike when my Mother dressed me and my twin BROTHER alike as kids.

Audrey had been begging to wear those shoes for weeks. I finally let her wear them. The dresses are from Crazy8s...an awesome site with great priced clothing. I always get free shipping and shop the sales.

Actually, Audrey was only happy about the shoes. She wasn't too keen on the dress, although she will only wear dresses these days and it drives me insane. Mostly because I bought her some really cute shorts that she refuses to wear.

So freaking glad I got her hair cut....but really? Does this look like a five year old?

So to celebrate Earth Day last Saturday, we hiked over the the UNC campus, specifically outside of the Morehead Planetarium last Saturday. Not only was there free stuff for the kids to do, but Kickin Grass was playing. They played the girls favorite song, Chugalug (yes, a song about drinking, but it's catchy and fast and it puts the girls in a good mood) and even dedicated the song to us. Which was nice in that now half of Chapel Hill thinks our family is a bunch of drinkers.

Yup, there was face painting with all organic materials. We can never pass on face painting.

The girls got to make some homemade chia pets (I always wanted one!) with recycled pantyhose, coffee grinds, grass seeds.

And this is Bob (a girl) and I forget what Audrey named hers. They are now sprouting grass "hair" on our back deck.

Hey look! Ray actually had the camera! And even took a picture of me. Not sure how that happened....

Friday Pictures - Warning, there are actually pictures of me and Ray in these, not just the kids

Last weekend, we went to Duke Gardens with our friends who were visiting for the weekend. If any of you live in the Raleigh area, these Gardens are beautiful. Even if you don't like Duke (the hate/love of colleges around here is quite funny, either you love or hate Duke or UNC), it is worth the trip.

Ray and Audrey enjoying the scenery.

Ashley posing, seriously, we are in trouble with this one!

Look! It's a real picture of Ray! And my other favorite thing, Diet Coke!

Me, our dear friend Adrienne, and Ray. Adrienne's oldest daughter took this picture for us.

A very, very rare shot of the four of us.

Ashley and her very best friend from Virginia, Grace.

Friday Pictures Old School

I have not downloaded pictures off my camera for some time now, and I figured you guys wouldn't want to see pictures of Christmas or Audrey's birthday again. I am embarking on a digital scrapbook project for our September trip last year to Disney, so I thought I would post my favorites, possibly again, here.

As for this year, we are going in December. I have only been to Disney once at Christmas time, and that was the week after Christmas while Ray and I were seniors at Virginia Tech. We were headed down to Miami to see Tech get crushed by Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, but on the way we stopped in Disney for a few days. I am excited about going at Christmas time and seeing all the decorations. I am just not sure if I can wait that long to go back....

One of my favorites of Ashley...taken in China at Epcot.

I think Ashley fits well as Forelle Fairy.

This is the look she gives us right before she says, "What?".


I still can't believe she sat still for all of this....

This kid has so much personality...

Thought I would throw in something pink for Valentine's Day.

I just think this is a cool shot...and yes, I know that guy.

I think Ray was over Disney at this point...

Once again, this kid is trouble...

Shots of the two of them are few and far between, so I cherish the ones I have.

Again, with the goofy-ness (get it, Goofy??)

An even rarer shot of the four of us. I think only three of these exist.

Sponge Bob, Square Pants

There is a sort of long back story to this, but the bottom line is that for YEARS, Ray has requested a SpongeBob Cake. One of our friends back in Virginia always promised him one, but they never made it.

So I decided to actually get him one this year. There is an amazing woman who makes cakes out of her home in my town, so I contacted her to see if she could do it. She was more than happy too and everything was a go. Then a few weeks ago she emailed me asking if she could be creative. She wanted to replicate the Krusty Krab. I said go for it. As long as it was cake and it was related to SpongeBob, I was all for it.

So for Ray's 33rd birthday, this is what he got:

Happy Birthday Ray

Except Ray really isn't his first name, but I am betting he would not be happy with me if I shared his first name.


Happy Birthday to the one person in the entire world who is willing to put up with me and my indecisiveness and stubborness and who knows what else.


Happy Birthday to the guy who STILL GETS CARDED because he looks that young.


It was actually 12 years ago this week that Ray and I started dating...the week we both turned 21 at college.


Happy Birthday and I love you.

Ten Years is a Really, REALLY Long Time...

Thank you for being my best friend.

Thank you for my kids, although I am a little pissed they don't look like me.

Thank you for having hair (unlike your brother).

Thank you for being driven and goal oriented, otherwise who knows where we would be now if it was only up to me.

Thank you for being understanding and for knowing me so well.

Thank you for knowing when to walk away and let me cry, and when to come back and let me cry on you.

Thank you for doing the bills and finances every month. I know that is a stress you won't let me have.

Thank you for not getting mad about that $130 in face products I bought a week ago. And if this is the first time you have heard about it, thank you again for not getting mad.

Thank you for doing the dishes, as much as you hate it.

Thank you for the last 10 years together, and here's to 10 more...

Three Favorite Things

I get really antsy when change is coming, and I think Ashley starting kindergarten is making me that way. I can't really pinpoint what I am feeling at this point. Part of me is excited, and the other part is wondering where in the hell the last five years went.

With the unsteadiness comes my inability to finish anything I have started - I can't begin to list the projects I need to finish. I am slacking in my schoolwork, I can't keep up with my personal email, the dining room still has curtains to sew from weeks, maybe months ago at this point.

But unloading pictures off my camera, I came across this one, and at this point, all that matters are these three "things" in my life. No matter what change is coming, this is my family.

Friday Pictures - Memorial Day Weekend (Yes, I realize these are late)

I finally downloaded and weeded through all the pictures from our mini trip to Virginia.

First up, Grandma Mocha (Ray's Mom) and cousin Aiden, who as you can tell, can pull his own weight. Or in other words, doesn't miss a meal. He turned one in February.
And he weighs more than Audrey...
We attempted a family picture...
And had dinner with old friends and played "Battle of the Sexes" where unfortunately the girls lost.
The men worked hard on figuring out what to ask us.
And the kids crashed on the couch watching Scooby-Doo.
And we had dinner with new friends, where the girls rocked it like Hannah Montana.
And when I say rocked it, they did.
Oh, and I love their dog...I just can't remember his (or her) name.
Emily was so cute...
When these girls are on American Idol in like 20 years, you can say you saw them here first.
Love Abby's smile! Emily was just too quick for me to photo....
And Ashley just liked all the cool stuff Abby had.
Our last stop was Kings Dominion, an amusement park in Virginia. My twin brother met us since Ray was on his way to Atlanta at that point and I knew there was no way I could do it alone. Plus, the girls love "Crazy" Uncle Mike. This was the first ride of the day.
Audrey was beyond excited.
Somewhere there is a picture of my brother and I on this very same ride when we were little.

Uncle Mike and Ashley (the last car) on the Avalanche ride.

At least I knew who this character was...I didn't know some of the ones we encountered that day. Hey, don't judge, I am just a Disney person (although we own enough Backyardigans videos).


And I promise never to mention Memorial Day again. Pinky swear...

Memorial Day and Beyond...

On the way home from the wedding we attended on Sunday night, we heard a tear inducing story about a female soldier returning home to applause at the airport. Ray said that when he went to San Diego last month, there was a gentleman in first class who gave up his seat to a soldier. It's those stories that touch my heart and make me believe in the American spirit. God Bless all Service Men and Women today...

On an unrelated note, we are not back home yet from Virginia. I am still here, Ray is back in North Carolina. And I am off all week, so tomorrow I am taking the girls to an amusement park on the way home from Virginia. I am making my brother come with me to help out, even though it means Mike has to rent a car to do so (Thanks Uncle Mike!!).

I have grand plans for the rest of the week - really finish potty training Audrey and get rid of all sippy cups. Not sure why I do this to myself, but what the heck, may as well make the week exciting. So if my blogging this week is spotty, that's why...

Minor League baseball rocks...

This past weekend, we decided at the last minute to go to Myrtle Beach for the weekend. It was the end of Biker Week 2008, but really, all those Harley riders are pretty nice. Plus, we don't stay on the main drag, so we don't even really see them much. My only regret for the weekend was the fact I FORGOT MY DAMN CAMERA. I didn't even have my Canon Powershot in my purse.

Saturday we spent time at the beach, then headed home for a quick nap for Audrey. We were back out of the house and off to Broadway at the beach so the girls could ride some rides before dinner. This is becoming a must for our trips there, and it is driving Ray nuts. Anyway, we went to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant (where Ray orders pizza, go figure) and we were off to our very first (except not really as we took Ashley when she was six weeks old to a game) Myrtle Beach Pelicans Baseball game.

They had these seats called "The Beach" and it was like sitting on the beach complete with sand and beach chairs. The girls had a blast running around and playing in the sand while we enjoyed part of the game. We only stayed until the 5th inning as it started to get chilly and I didn't bring any sort of jacket for me or the kids.

But really why minor league baseball rocks? We walked out of there with two coupons for a gallon of windshield washer fluid and 10 coupons for free donuts from Dunkin Donuts. They were giveaways in certain innings for not letting the other team score a run and striking out someone. And we got 10 coupons for donuts because the guy at the gate said we had two small kids and we needed more donuts. I am not sure if he meant we needed more or the kids. Ashley was a little confused as she thought they were actually going to give us a donut on the way out.

All in all, it was a great weekend away. Now we have to get geared up for this weekend's trip back to Virginia to visit family and friends.

I love baseball. I love watching baseball. I love eating the food at baseball stadiums. I love minor league games because they are so freaking funny sometimes.

Friday Pictures

At some point, I will buy a book and learn to actually do things on my own in Photoshop. When I am not making curtains/enjoying the nice weather/potty training a 2 year old/having 4 band concerts in one month/entertaining houseguests. The list could go on and on and on.

Instead, I am relying on Pioneer Woman's actions that she graciously let us download off her site. Here are some examples (the first one is always the shot straight out of the camera, and no, I don't remember which actions I used on each shot...it was late last night...and Ray was waiting for me to watch Lost):

Pretty cool, huh? I am going to print some of these today, I will let you know how they turn out. Have a great Friday everyone....