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Friday, May 22, 2015

Five on Friday!

Let's be real...I think for the next 3 weeks, the only blog posts I am going to have time for are 5 on Fridays!


1. And also being real...every 5 on Friday for the next 3 weeks will be probably include a countdown till the end of the year!!! We are at 13 days till summer after today!!!!!!!!

I also want to share something more positive (can you believe it?!?!?) about my job. Yesterday was my sweet autistic boy's birthday. He is non-verbal, and while he is such a sweetheart, most of the kids have trouble forming friendships with him because he does not talk. But one of my smartest little boys has really befriended him, and is always willing to help him out. If I could have a whole class full of these two, I would. Such sweet boys, I can't even stand it. Well, yesterday, the smart boy brought in a birthday card for the autistic boy and I about cried my eyes out.


"You are my best friend. Have a wonderful birthday!" 
Bless

I hope Ella turns out like this kid, because he is seriously a teacher's dream. I need to talk to his mom...she is doing something right!

2. Moving on, our "high quality" Ikea bed broke last weekend!!! Trav was sitting up when we heard something snap! And ohhh, the whole footboard was busted. Yay. 
Some little carpenter wanted to help Daddy take it apart...


...but she wasn't so sure about getting a new bed at Ikea!


3. Also last weekend, we went to the Wells Fargo Golf Tournament!!


We had a great time, and I loved matching my girl in our Lilly for Target outfits!


We also set up a picnic lunch by the lake...I could have spent the whole day in that spot!


We only got a little sunburnt ;) 
Now accepting sunscreen (baby and adult) recommendations!!


4. On Tuesday, I had a doctor's appointment (which, obviously warrants me a whole day off, no?!), so afterwards Ella and I met up with some friends at the strawberry patch!


Ella hated it at first...


...but that all changed once she picked up her first berry!!


We went to Wise Acres, where they do not use any pesticides or harsh chemicals...so I definitely felt better about the hordes of berries Ella ate right off the bush!!


We did pay for 3 actual pounds of berries (which are already gone!), but Ella got much more for free...sneaky, sneaky!

5. Also on Tuesday, we discovered: the Harris Teeter Car Cart.


Oh man, was it a good time. Not looking forward to the next time they are out of car carts and Ella has a meltdown...what have I started?!?!

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!!! 
We are headed to Trav's sister's graduation, then parking ourselves at the pool for the remainder of the weekend!!

Friday, May 15, 2015

Five on Friday

Happy Friday friends!!!



Catching you up on what we've been up to lately...

1. EIGHTEEN MORE DAYS OF SCHOOL!!!!
I can't even tell you how excited I am that the countdown is in the TEENS!

We are doing some "fun" things at school, like last week we took a field trip to Lazy 5 Ranch (if you are a teacher, you know why the fun is in quotes...because it is always 10 times more exhausting than just being at school teaching!). 


Anyway, the kids had a blast and I really want to take Ella there this summer. Anyone been without a school group? Do you still take the wagon or do I have to drive my car through??

2. Our treadmill has been broken, so we have been taking many runs through Freedom Park lately. When we finish, Ella loves to play at this Play60 area...they have all sorts of Panthers-themed football stuff for kids to play on. I think it is relatively new because I never noticed it last year? Anyway, it's super fun! 


3. Last weekend, we went to Chapel Hill for Trav's grandma's 90th birthday! She is so young-at-heart and doing amazingly for being 90 years old! 
We had dinner at a hibachi restaurant, and Ella did so well! She was a fan of everything...the soup, the salad, the vegetables, the rice, the chicken! Girlfriend put it away!


4. I hope all the moms had a great Mother's Day! I definitely did...Ella got me an owl coffee mug, an owl piggy bank (daddy thinks we need to save more money...something about me buying too many clothes for Ella or something?!) and the sweetest owl card! We have a full-blown owl obsession over here! And she sits in her high chair and constantly hoots at all of these things!


Oh! And I didn't have to cook (Thank you, Travis, for the grilled kabobs!)!! Always a win when that happens!


...and I mean, this Lilly maxi dress?! Stop.


5. We are headed to the golf tournament this weekend! Ella has been perfecting her golf clap, and has also been perfecting her golf skills! Maybe someone will be in need of a cute caddy?!


Have a great weekend!!!

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Last Cali Recap!!!

Oh my goodness! Can you believe it?! Almost 6 weeks since our trip, I am finally wrapping up these recaps! I know you are jumping for joy right now. 

{And in case it's a slow day at the office: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V}

So here's a look at our last day in California, which we spent in Orange County. Also known as the day I (unsuccessfully) went on an insane Real Housewives hunt. 

We started the day in Newport Beach.



And I googled Dr. Dubrow's office, so of course we had to drive by that!


Then we headed down Pacific Coast Highway...


...and stopped in Laguna Beach. No LC, Lo or Kristen, but the scenery was gorgeous!



Continuing on, we also did a little drive by the St. Regis, which is where the Housewives are always going, and where Tamra and Eddie got married! 


We had a quick lunch in Dana Point, and then went down to the harbor. 


One of my cousins saw Lauri from RHOC here, but we had no such luck. At the least the boats were pretty!


After that, we stopped in a mall in Mission Viejo, where my same cousin (hey, this Real Housewife stalking runs in the family!) had seen Tamra. But again, no such luck. 

While we were in Mission Viejo, my dad really wanted to stop by the big pool there and see the Olympic swimmers. Mission Viejo has one of the top swim teams in the country and my dad figured if we were already nearby, why not?


They were actually having practice, but Ella wanted to go in! We hiked up the hill to overlook the whole facility...it was definitely a far cry from the pool I swam at in high school!!!


Then we went to see Vicki's office (spoiler alert: no Vicki)... 


...and Tamra's gym (again, no Tamra)!!!


And that concludes my exciting day in Orange County! Special shoutout to my dad for putting up with my stalker tendencies and driving me all over the OC to look for housewives! (My mom was at a conference so she didn't get to join in on the fun.)

The next day, we headed to the airport and flew home! Ella was much better on this flight home, and....US Airways didn't lose my luggage this time! (Insert praise hands emoji)



So there you have it...our whole vacation! Done! Whew!!

Friday, May 8, 2015

Five on Friday!

It's been a while since I've linked up for Five on Friday...


If you know me at all, you know that I HATE to cook. I cannot stand it. 
And now that I am a working mom, I hate it even more. I'm always searching for the quickest, easiest meals on the planet....I am talking less than 5 steps!! HA! I'm so lazy....
Here are my top 5 to share with you!



This is pretty much a small step up from a Lean Cuisine. But it requires an oven, and so I count it as "cooking." And it is soooo good! 

2. Tacos


Ground beef + taco seasoning...brown that up, then set out bowls of refried beans, avocados, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and salsa. I could get more adventurous and make like, chicken or fish tacos....but then tacos probably wouldn't be on this list! ;)



We eat this at least once a week...just pour some taco seasoning and salsa on the chicken and throw it in the oven. That's my kind of recipe.



I always forget how easy this is. I follow Pioneer Woman's recipe, except I don't do the preserves. 

5. When all else fails, we order out! 


Rusty's, DD Pecker's, and good ol' Chick Fil-A are our favorites!

Ok...send me some new easy recipes!!! Trav is getting sick of my usual rotation! Ha!

Oh and what would a blog post be without this kid?!?


Ella's favorite thing to eat...that would be PUFFS. And I don't even have to cook those!

Happy weekend!!! :)

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Ella Grace {15 months}


Well, I didn't do a monthly post last month (I know you were worried), so I figured it was time for an Ella update!


Ella, today you are 15 months old and you. are. HILARIOUS. As if you can't tell by the picture above. It is monkey see, monkey do all the time over here, and when you saw Daddy crossing his arms, it became your new favorite thing to do! 
You also love blowing kisses, giving hugs and grabbing people's faces...we are working on not doing that last one!


I actually weighed and measured you, more for my own curiosity than anything else... not sure how accurate this is but you are 23.6 pounds and 30 inches tall. You are getting to be a little chunker! :)


I know, it's exhausting doing all that growing! I had bought you a whole bunch of 12 month bubbles to wear this summer...and a few weeks ago, we realized they were already too small! So I had to sell those and re-buy more summer clothes for you! 
You wear mostly 18 month clothes, but can do 12 months if it runs big or is a dress. You can also wear 18-24 month stuff and even 2T! Whatttt...we are almost out of the month-sized clothes??!! TEAR! You also moved up to size 4 diapers when we were in California. 


You love books! They are your favorite "toy" hands down. Every night, you bring Daddy and I at least 4 books for us to read to you. You love pointing to the pictures and saying the words you know: "choo-choo (train)," "cah (car)," "woof (dog)," "neigh (horse)," "moo (cow)," "hooo (owl)"....I could go on and on. You are getting so smart!


Your favorite phrase is "ahhh done!" (All done!) You wave your hands and say it after you are done with anything and everything....meals, bath, reading, etc. It is too funny! 


You are FINALLY walking! You started getting more independent around mid-March, and by the time we went to California, you were walking all over the place! Now, you are practically running! You rarely crawl anymore...you've figured out walking is so much faster!


You hate grass. Bless. 


We moved you out of your infant car seat at the end of March (but still used it in Cali). You love your new car seat, and riding in the "cah"!! 


My sweet girl...every day is so much fun with you!!! This is one of my favorite ages so far! (Although I say that pretty much every month...I really do LOVE this age!!) Your spunky personality is hilarious and everyone who meets you just loves you (including Kyle Richards)!!
Summer is coming soon and I know we are going to have a blast!!!