This Old House

I hate to sound ungrateful and I truly appreciate all we have. I do not appreciate, however, bad wallpaper (or any wallpaper for that matter). We have an awesome lake house and love spending all of our free time here. BUT...we bought it furnished and "as is" and agreed to leave it "as is" for a few years until we had the time and effort to redecorate. Well, the time has come. I could not stand living with someone else's furniture and terrible decor for one more summer. As luck would have it, Rob agreed with me! So I hired a painter, ripped down the wallpaper, ordered furniture and ordered new hardwood flooring. I'm giddy. Simply giddy. Here is phase one. Floors are not installed yet but here's a little sneak peak of the wacky wallpaper and multi-colored kitchen before and after.

There is a lot more to come! 

Our Big Girl and her Big Future

Last Friday was a big day. Madeleine "graduated" from Preschool! In a few short months (weeks, really) she'll be heading off to Kindergarten in her cute little uniform and bringing home homework. I've really been looking forward to this step. I like this age where she is reasoning with me a little better - even if her reasoning is still way wrong I'm at least grateful we can attempt to reason (unlike a hot tempered boy I know). 

Here is Madeleine and Austin just before her "moving on ceremony". She wanted to wear something special so she asked to a pretty necklace given to her by my Aunt Kathie. I know she would have loved to see M wearing it. 

 Getting her diploma!

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She got her diploma and we were so happy for her, she loved the idea of graduating.

Of course Grandpa brought Madeleine gorgeous roses from his garden. It's always nice to get flowers from your Grandpa!

Grandma gave Madeleine a Kindergarten workbook to practice skills over the summer. She was very proud of her book.

There are so many cool, fun, silly pictures but can't fit them all here. Please check out the link to the side for her recital and lunch photos!

Marge the Barge II

Introducing Marge II

Rockin the Hawk

Not many posts about Austin these days. Here's the boy rockin the mohawk today. Coolest kid ever.

Lost and Found

Marty was lost yesterday. After I realized I could not find him anywhere I then noticed he was not wearing his electric fence color AND his name tag had fallen off. Fabulous. The kids and I called for him all over and I finally found him in the jungle in the back of our house. And he wouldn't come out. This is how we stood for some time. Can you see him?

The kids finally coaxed him out. This dog is nothing but trouble. 

Mother's Day Weekend

Madeleine's class had a "Mother's Day Breakfast" for me at school. She made a very pretty tile (or hot plate?), gave me a paper flower and wrote a book all about me. Then she sang a few songs for all the moms. How sweet!!! 

Clearly we can see Madeleine was focusing on what was important - her art. Or was it my smile?? Hmm?

A little performance from the class. The video is in the video bar to the right. 

Austin made me a beautiful wooden jewelry box that he painted all by himself! In it he had a Fruit Loop bracelet or as he called it, "a eaty bracelet" and told me he had to eat it for me. Ah, for the best. But I love my new jewelry box!

After class we all went to the lake for a little Mother's Day relaxation. We had to leave earlier than normal on Sunday because I was treating myself for Mother's Day...my best girls and I had tickets to see Wicked at the DPAC. It was a great story and I wouldn't mind seeing again in closer seats (!!!).  While I was there, Rob was across the street taking the kids to their very first Durham Bulls game! They had a GREAT time. Fun weekend! 

(and yes we will be getting rid of the Roethlisberger jersey!)

Straw-ba-ba-ba-berry Strawberry Shortcake!

(In case you missed it...the blog title is the Strawberry Shortcake cartoon theme song)

Madeleine's class had a Strawberry Picking field trip at Vollmer Farms. We got to pick fresh, red, juicy, organic strawberries straight from the flower. Madeleine knew just the right ones to pick and they were delicious!

 She got back on the hay ride and could not wait to dig into the berries. Yum!

She and her buddy Alex sat together. I think there is a little "love connection" going on with these two. He's a sweet, sweet boy. I approve! 

ConGRADulations!

On Saturday May 1st Brigid received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology with Honors from North Carolina Wesleyan College. An achievement she as been working very hard for, Brigid has been working full time and attending classes in the evenings for a few years. I'm tired just thinking about it. She graduated with honors and we are all very proud!   

Although he was very proud and impressed with Brigid's hard work, when it came time for the commencement speaker to begin Dad was prepared.  Who wants to listed to Senator Kay Hagan talk about herself when you can listen to the Whiner Line in Boston!

Videos

I finally figured out how to use You Tube and our Flip video camera. I will be posting all of our videos to my You Tube Channel - "cfknc". You can subscribe or see it HERE or just check the link on the right side of this blog.

See Ya Suckas!

Just returned from a lovely weekend at the beach with my bestest friends. This was our third year going and probably the best one so far since we were able to leave a day early and stay a night in Wilmington first before heading on to Topsail.  

This is me heading out to the beach. What you can't hear was me saying "see ya suckas!" and my tires screetching as I pull away.

We stayed at a "friend of a friends"house in Wilmington and when we arrived he had a cheese tray, desert tray and wine waiting for us. What service!

On Friday we enjoyed a stroll along the river boardwalk, had lunch at the Front Street Brewery then a round of beers on the boardwalk. Cheers!

We headed to Topsail Beach on Friday afternoon and on Saturday we were lucky enough to catch three dolphins playing and swimming along the shore. I have a great video of it but uploading is not working so here is a photo taken by Tracy (aka Cotton Eye Joe).

Cotton Eye Joe