Weekend Away In Charleston

As a combined birthday present to each other, Steven and I went away on a weekend to Charleston. Steven's mom came up to watch the boys and we had an amazing 48 hours alone! We talked for long periods of time about things that had nothing to do with our children..... ideas..... history.... it was a great weekend. Thank you Sally for being willing to watch our children (who by the way had a wonderful weekend with their Nanna).

We stayed at a great Bed and Breakfast. The accomodations were great and the breakfast was amazing.


We took a ferry out to Fort Sumter (where the first shot of the civil war was fired) and toured the remains.







We walked the entirety of the city looking at all the beautiful mansions. Here is one by the water on the battery.

This is part of rainbow row


These were like most of the houses closer to our bed and breakfast (which was on the edge of College of Charleston)

And then we spent much of our Saturday morning walking the historical part of the city and touring old churches. This was one of the highlights for me. I loved all that I learned and I enjoyed our conversations that arose from the tours.









What a great weekend away. It was the perfect amount of time - I was excited to see my boys by the time we got back on Sunday.

Thank You Steven!

I thought I should put pictures online of my husband's newest projects. The barrage of snow days has given him time to dive into some wood working projects.

Here is a book shelf that he built for Steven Edward's room. He had built one for Sam's room....and then books would start making stacks in Steven's room creating a bit of a mess once the boys started knocking them off the toy chest. Thanks!

Here you have a kids craft table I found at Goodwill for $10! The chairs were sturdy, but the top was little and very particle boardish.... so my husband took the legs and created his own top! It is a huge hit as you see. Now I can leave the boys with arts and crafts things a little more unattended and not fear stickers will end up on my dining room table. I have come to the conclusion though, that since it is beside a wall.... the first time I leave Sam with a marker he is probably going to draw all over it. Sigh.... the grey hairs begin with the second. Stay tuned to the blog, I'm sure that post will appear at some point.

And obviously.... since my SERIOUS husband has a toddler and some mounted deer antlers.... you would end up with a toddler with antlers at some point. Thanks for the inspiration Uncle Thomas.

Races, fun times, and construction

So here are a few happenings over the past few weeks. First, I turned 29..... whoo-hoo. My husband and I had a great time celebrating together at Frankie Bones (which is a great restaurant owned by some friends of ours). Some good friends also took me out for breakfast at the new Tuepelo Honey, and I got some very thoughtful gifts. Below is a picture of my boys and I celebrating with candy necklaces sent by my nanny.


I went to a huge consingment sale, and found some great cheap toys for the boys. Below you see them sporting the new Home Depot Tool set I found for $3. Steven is proving how truely useful the hard hat is in this picture.


Steven and i were signed up to run in a Valentines 5k in Black Mountain last weekend that was postponed because of our most recent battle with global warming. We ended up running the race today for my new personal best since high school. We ran it in 25:35 which is around an 8:16 pace! This beats my last race by 3 1/2 minutes (Asheville Citizen Times in September 29:18). I forgot to get a picture at the race....so here we are, post number.


And then, Steven's younger brother Thomas came in town this weekend with his girlfriend Kaitlyn. We have had a great time just being together. Below you see some pictures of an impossible croquet course they set up on our sledding hill..... there's even a bit of snow left. It was a very frustrating competition that consisted mostly of us running behind our ball begging it to stop. Fun none the less.


And Beth, there is one of the new frames. I actually ran in my new prescription sunglasses! Thanks Zenni Optical! I'm obsessed.

Zenni Optical

I am writing this post to inform all glasses wearers that there is a great site online to get your next pair of glasses (assuming you know your prescription).

Evidently after pregnancy, a woman's body is never quite the same.... in many ways I suppose. One difference for me is that my eyes no longer seemed to like my contacts. It started with me in denial.... I would have to wear glasses about half the day but would still eventually switch to my contacts by mid day. Several month and several eye infections later my husband helped me realize that it was okay for me to simply be a glasses wearer. In fact he said he liked me in glasses. So I decided if I had to wear glasses, I wanted to have several pair to choose from. So on the recommendation of a friend I checked out Zenni Optical. It's an online company that has glasses and lenses starting at $8.00! I ended up getting my first pair (shipping included) for $25 dollars. I was a little nervous that the lenses wouldn't be quality lenses or that the frames would feel cheap (based on the price). But this was not the case at all! So then I went back and ordered several other pair (one that even had tented lenses for outdoor fun!). They are quality knock off frames, but since a pair at Lens Crafters was going to cost me about $300 - I'm totally okay with knock offs. I mean.... in NY I definitely picked up a purse from China Town, so how is this really that different. Totally check it out if you need new glasses. I'm a huge fan and will NEVER go to a store again. The only down side is that you have to wait 2 weeks to get them. A small price to pay for a savings of $275.

Hope this comes in handy for someone.

Global Warming Anyone?

So, this by far has been the coldest, craziest winter for us here in Asheville in the past several years! Two snowfalls of at least a foot.... countless of 1-4 inches..... and it is currently snowing outside again. It has snowed almost everyday this week. As soon as it starts to melt, here comes another snow fall.

So my question to you is - does anyone believe that our planet is really getting warmer?Instead of people hacking into an environmental data base and finding countless emails covering up scientific evidence contrary to a political agenda, and instead of 2/3 of the weather data collection stations being shut down because they were not giving the "correct data" (in other words, data that verified their agenda), and instead of Obama's avid support of the theory............ seriously - let's just look outside or at our thermometers and make our own opinions. Please feel free to take part in my survey. Thanks!

Better than a picture mom!

Evidently I'm pretty bad at keeping up with this blog now that I'm a mother of two.... something about the only free time I have I spend doing things for me.... working out, reading my bible... not entering information in cyberspace (much to the chagrin of my mother). So here is an update so all relatives who live at a distance can see my boys. Enjoy



I got a sweet new flip video for my birthday - which has resulted in fewer pictures (but dropping my camera 12 feet onto concrete also didn't help my case much). So enjoy mom.