'Ello!

(Regarding the title...I hope someone that reads my blog has seen the Labyrinth, you'll be able to hear that a very specific little voice in your head saying, "'Ello!")

Hello! We are here!!!

Wahoooooo!

We left Saturday night and arrived Sunday morning, phew! What a ride!

I don't know how Charlotte did it, but she was able to resist the lull of the car ride, she stayed awake the whole way. It took us almost 3.5 hours exactly, with one stop for gas for the U-Haul.

After being here almost a week, the verdict is in...

we love it here, already!

The first day we were here we did some driving around, then we kinda chilled on the 4th because this blew in:

We weren't really expecting them to shoot off fireworks, but guess what!?

They did.

And last minute TRAVIS (yes, I'm putting it all on him) decided to go, I mean, last minute.

9:30 to be exact and by the time we got there the fireworks were over, and then guess what happened...

we got stuck in the after-fireworks traffic!

Yep.

Ooooooh man, fun times!

After that lovely storm, I woke up to this the next day:

We had .5 mile visibility, completely clear is 10 miles (which is what Hampton Roads was) 

Neat, huh? I love fog, when I don't have to drive in it of course!

And then we were graced with this lovely sunset:

And now all of you followers and lurkers are free to be mad at me because those are the only photos I have from down here so far.

My "shutter-release button finger" is warmed up now and I can't wait to start posting pics of our awesome adventures here in teeny, tiny Whitsett, NC!

Sidenote: I am alllll ready for my first Pancake Sunday down here! Can't wait to post it, and also I'll be adding a new post (I'm thinking Wednesdays) so keep an eye out for that too!

Oh Hai!

I've been gone.
for a long while.

But I'm back! 

ZOMG!

But then I'll be leaving again for a short while

But I'll be back again for a long while!

ZOMG!

(again)

So I want to share with my adoring stalkers (and lurkers too, you know who you are) what is going on

We (the girls and I) are moving down to live with the hubster!

Woooooo!

I am so excited to start a new adventure in a new place where I am a complete stranger and I can make up anything I want about myself and nobody will know because, well...because I'm a stranger!

We leave next weekend so I only have a short amount of time to build an elaborate facade...I have one part of my story already figured out:

new friend:

 "Oh hai, Fancy McDangerpants (my new name). I noticed you have a scar on your neck, where did that come from?"

Fancy McDangerpants (me):

 "Ahh, yeah...once, when I was on vacation at Jurassic Park, I was playing flag football with some Velociraptors and one accidentally cut my neck open with its super long sickle claw that they use for piercing vital throat organs. It's all good though, we're still friends. In fact, we still laugh about it over the phone every once and awhile."

new friend: 

(BTW, my new friend is Jackie Chan!)

I'm still working on a story about how I found the girls on the side of the street when they were just little eggs and I hatched them in my Quaker Dinosaur Eggs oatmeal because, how else are you supposed to hatch eggs? PSH!

There has been some other stuff going on in my life as well...Charlotte had her dance recital...she cried. There's really nothing more to say about it than that.

I'm not really sure what will become of the art group. We'll be moving into an apartment, so doing art with two young girls in a rented space will be new to me! A learning experience for sure, maybe the art blog will be about my journey with tricks for apartment living or maybe I'll just end that blog...haven't decided yet!

Alright, I think that was update enough. 

I really enjoyed this time we've spent together, it's been too long. I don't know why I stopped seeing you in the first place...guess we just needed some time apart. I may or may not see you before we move, but I'll be seeing you in less than a couple weeks for sure with another update :)

Wordless Wednesday: The Mystery Plant

5-A-Day Books: Week 5?

I'm pretty sure this is week 5 already. I haven't posted in awhile but I have been doing the challenge still, even though I think I missed a week in there somewhere.
So for week 2 we read The Sleepy Little Alphabet, Charlotte has that book down pat! I love it!

She does mix up a few of the letters still but I think they are reasonable mixups, a few she's too busy thinking ahead and reads the letter that comes next. She's really thrilled about being able to read the books, and even though we haven't read this book everyday since week 2 she can still read the whole thing when asked.
During week 3 (which I didn't post about) I didn't really choose the books, the books chose us. The girls got some fantastic new books for Easter and they immediately became a hit, especially 2 of them:

and

Of course the girls wanted to read these books often because they were brand new and they love getting books, but I didn't realize how much they were really enjoying them until Charlotte picked up Art & Max one day and read it straight through without stopping...my jaw dropped. To top it off at bedtime the same day she read all of Interrupting Chicken. I couldn't believe it. I had no idea she was retaining these books, it always seems like she isn't paying attention. And you have to believe me when I say I had no idea that she knew the words because if I even thought for a second she might know them I'd have the video camera at the ready. The other 2 books that chose us were:

and

Blue Hat, Green Hat offered me another surprise but not from Charlotte...from Lexi!

That sweet little high pitch squeak is her saying, "Oops!"

I couldn't believe when I saw her "reading" the book. This reading 5 books a day for a week thing has me sold, I'm telling everyone!

Another surprising thing that's come out of this challenge is that I've noticed Charlotte is more confident with trying/wanting to read. Instead of, "Mommy, can you read this to me?" I get, "Mommy, sit down so I can read this to you!" I've caught her reading to Alexis in their room and I even found her reading books to some older girls at the library. Eve's dropping I could hear her making up a story from what she saw in the pictures.

So without further ado, here are our book picks for this week:

I chose Sandra Boynton because Alexis seems to really respond well to her books, the next two books rhyme and the last two books have repeating words. I can't wait to see what this week brings!!!!!

Don't forget to join the challenge!

Pancake Suday 5.8

Mother's Day Pancakes!

These are just your basic plain-flavored pancakes

but with a twist

It's Mother's Day today and I wanted to make the girls some special pancakes

Charlotte was wonderful enough to sleep in so I was able to make almost all of them before she woke up!

I even made bacon to go with them 

YUM!

:)