Hog Day

Hog Day is an annual festival in a town called Hillsborough just 15 minutes north of us. It has BBQ (although I am still getting used to NC style!), live music, craft vendors, lots of inflatables for the kids, and an auto show.

Although we are new to the area...this was our second visit to Hog Day. Back in 2006 we came to visit our friends Kenan and Bridget and their new baby boy, Michael and we all went to Hog Day. Here is the proof:



Can't believe I found this picture! The funny thing is we both look pretty much the same 6 years later. Aside from the fact that we both have 2 more kids!

But, back to this year's Hog Day. We bought Carter 5 tickets for the inflatable toys and he had a blast. When we had just 2 left...we decided to go find Daddy and Ben and share a ticket with Ben. Here are the boys using their last 2 tickets.





After all of the bouncy fun we grabbed some BBQ and found a grassy spot to enjoy some music. 

Carter enjoyed sitting with mama...but Ben...oh Ben...just ran in circles non-stop. Quite the little entertainer.



He finally gave out and sat down to enjoy the show.



Looking forward to more Hog Days in the future!

Strawberry Picking

Once again...I am behind. But, once again...I am here to play catch up!

So here goes.

We visted a local strawberry farm last week and sent the boys to the fields with empty boxes.



Carter worked hard on picking strawberries...



Ben worked hard on putting the strawberries in his mouth!



But at the end we had a couple of boxes full of strawberries ready to take home and enjoy.



But first we had to stop and enjoy just a few more...



Once home...the boys got to washing.



And then to making...



No pictures of the strawberry ice cream or strawberry and watermelon sorbet...but they were yummy!

PS...I highly recommend wearing red shirts to go pick strawberries!

Our Temporary Home

I know several of you have been interested in our new home so I thought I would take you on a little tour. 

For a short term rental that we had to find in just a couple of days it is really fitting our needs very well.  We are comfortable...the boys are happy...and we unpacked the last box yesterday!  Woo hoo!

Here is a quick tour:



Living Room (I am standing at the front door)


Looking from the Living Room to Kitchen (and Dining to right)


Now looking back to Dining Room


Standing in Dining Room looking toward Front Door
We were having friends over for dinner and I snapped these pictures just before they came so Adam was busy getting something ready.
(you can also see a door that is cracked open just next to the front door...that is the playroom/office)


Washer/Dryer just off the kitchen. I find this really convenient! Laundry is done much faster than in Richmond when our w/d were in the basement. The door on the other side of the w/d leads to the garage.


Looking from the corner of the kitchen toward the front door. Half bath on right.


This is the first floor Master that is just to the left when you walk in the front door. (You can see Carter watching for his friends to arrive out the window.) We are using it as a playroom/office. But we are using the master bath and closet down here and just sleeping upstairs. It is working surprisingly well. When I am getting ready or drying my hair Ben just sits and plays in the playroom. So far so good!


Speaking of Ben...
Another playroom/office view.


Our bath...absolutely LOVING the double vanity. We may never want to leave this place!


The boys are sharing a room and doing great! This is Ben's side...


And Carter's side...


The boys have their own bathroom just outside their room. After Carter waking us up several nights in a row to go tee-tee we got him a night light and encouraged him to go all by himself. Well...he LOVES his new night light and more importantly his new Independence. We make him go tee tee just before bed...but the past few nights we have heard his door open less than 10 minutes after we say night night so he can go tee tee again. It's the little things.


And finally our room.

So there you have it...a quick tour of our new home. Nothing like having company over to encourage a good clean and final unpacking!

Dancing and Reading

First up...Dancing:



And now storytime by Carter:



Enjoy.

Pinned It & Did It: Mother's Day Flower Hands

First...a belated Happy Mother's Day to all mamas. I have been blessed with a caring and selfless mom as well as a generous and loving mother-in-law who have shown me continuous love over the years despite my many faults! I am also blessed to have so many friends that are mamas that teach me new lessons in motherhood every day. And I also consider myself blessed by my four grandmothers (two of which have passed and I count my in-laws as my own) who are wise and caring and so supportive.

And now, I have the joy of being the recipient of Mother's Day love and fun too! My boys pampered me with sleeping in...and when I came downstairs they were all busy in the kitchen making blueberry muffins. Yum. There were sweet cards...and loving flowers picked out from the Dollar Store. Ben's choice...Birds of Paradise...quite a bouquet in the dollar store version. :) Adam said they were there picking out cards (you just can't beat the 2/$1.00 price!)and Carter looked around and saw a wall of flowers and said "Let's get mommy flowers!" so they each got to pick out a stem for me. So sweet. By the end of the day all of the flowers and leaves had been pulled from the stems...but they were pretty while they lasted.

So...on to the blog title. I have decided to start a new series of posts called "Pinned It & Did It". For those of you that are unfamiliar with Pinterest...I think of it as my online stack of magazine clippings. You know how you come across a page in a magazine that inspires you for whatever reason? A good paint color? A new recipe to try? A vacation spot to check out? Well, with Pinterest, when you are browsing the Internet and find something you want to remember for later, you just click a button to "Pin" that picture to one of your Boards. Here is a snapshot of my Boards:



And here is a snapshot of some of my pictures in the Playroom Ideas Board:



Pinterest is great. I feel like I can toss that stack of magazine clippings that is getting dusty on a shelf. I can also browse the Boards of all of my friends that use Pinterest and see what inspires them.

On the other hand...Pinterest can be challenging. You see all of these people doing all of these great ideas and you think...how do they have the time? or why didn't I think of that? It is easy to compare yourself to the perfection ideals that Pinterest creates and feel that you fall short. Still...I choose to come back and I  "pin" away. Why? It is fun. And my "pins" can't collect dust on the Internet. :)

So...I am here today to show you my first "Pinned It & Did It!" I did a quick search for Mother's Day crafts and found this adorable handprint flower from Skip to My Lou:



Here are my supplies:
Poster Board White(cut into small squares)
Green Poster Board (for stem & leaves)
Paint and Brushes
Stick On Magnets
Scissors
Tape




We painted hands...



Cut out our stems and leaves...



And then taped our flowers together...



I decided to get them laminated so they might last a little bit longer... And I added the boys' names and ages...


According to the recipients this was a hit!

our first week

We have been in Chapel Hill for a full week now and each day we feel a little more settled.

Here is a quick rundown on the week mainly by pictures...

The boys enjoyed the moving process...



Especially the horn of the 18 wheeler!



We were in a hotel from Saturday night through Wednesday morning. The boys did great. This is our first dinner in Chapel Hill at the hotel.



The hotel served a good breakfast each morning and even served dinner Monday and Tuesday night...I could get used to that!

Adam took the boys to the Home Depot across the street from the hotel...



We have explored several new playgrounds...



We have played chase and rolled down hills on campus...



We have quite the unpacking crew...



Adam took the boys on a bike ride and they found empty baseball fields. The boys ran laps and slept GREAT that night.



We have enjoyed walks in our new neighborhood...



We visted our new library and checked out some new books...



We went to our first Durham Bulls baseball game...



And the boys had their first cotton candy...



Second children get to do everything sooner!





We visited our new farmer's market...



Had some fresh squeezed lemonade...



And got to play on the firetrucks next to the market...