Hannah Potty Success

Just an update on Hannah potty training - she has been "going" for several months right before bathtime. But, yesterday and today she has pretty much gone all day. She did not have any accidents yesterday and she didn't have any today until this evening. So, I have decided not to buy any more diapers. I am going to start her in pull ups when my last package of diapers is out. She is doing such a good job and I am making it a habit that when Emma goes, she does too! I have added "potty training Hannah" to my summer to do list.

The Virginia Living Museum

I have a summer list of places to go and today we did one! My mom, Lindsay, Andy and us went to the Virginia Living Museum. They have a temporary butterfly exhibit that was so cute. They also had lots of fish and outdoor life. They really liked seeing the big water exhibits, the crab, large fish, turtles, etc. Hannah LOVED the touch tank - she touched shells, a starfish, and a horseshoe crab. Then, we went to the butterfly maze where they had all kinds of butterfly activities.

After lunch we went outside to the outdoor butterfly house. They loved using the magnifying glasses and seeing the butterflies all around us. Then, we went to another indoor area where a man who worked there had a snake out. Leave it to fearless Hannah to touch the snake - a black rattlesnake! Emma, was not a fan of the touch tank or the snake. She is so skeptical and is not willing to try things like that.

loving the touch tank

cousin picture

fearless Hannah

seeing the butterfly reflection

at the outdoor butterfly house

watching the otters

But, Emma did love the otters. She thought they were so funny and I think she could had watched them for hours. They were really cute. It was indeed extremely hot so we ventured back indoors to the gift shop. Emma knew exactly what she wanted - a stuffed otter. Otto is now part of our family and she is sleeping away with it tonight. Hannah, who could not make up her mind, finally picked out a butterfly puzzle and a butterfly wind up toy. My mom bought them both butterfly necklaces too. We had a very nice day. I had to break them up once because they were fighting over the butterfly that reflected in the mirror. But, they did have a fun time.

7th Anniversary!

Last year we took a nice weekend trip away for our anniversary and Bo planned another nice weekend for us this year. We left Friday around 2:30, dropped the kids off in Wendell with bo's parents and we went to Wilmington. We stayed at the Hilton again and it was very nice. We checked in and then went straight to dinner - our yearly Melting Pot night. This year we did a late dinner and only did cheese, salad and dessert since we always leave miserably full! We liked how we ate there this year - still full, but not miserable! We went to downtown Wilmington afterwards and listened to some outdoor music.

I loooove the Melting Pot

Saturday was beautiful! We went to breakfast, walked downtown, toured the USS North Carolina Battleship (Bo's choosing, but I went along with it!), went to an adorable cupcake shop called The Pink Cake Stand - so cute and I got a t-shirt that says Hot Pink Mess! I enjoyed a mini red velvet cupcake - so good.Then, we went to the pool for few hours and relaxed.

view from our room

The Battleship we toured

After getting ready we walked to a few more shops downtown and we found a precious "sheep" painting for Hannah's room (since she loves sheep) at a local art gallery. Then, we had an early dinner at Georges - the best crab dip ever. Bo ate shrimp and grits and I had some penne vodka. We ate outside right by the river - perfect weather. The kitchen messed up some of our orders and so the manager paid for 3/4 of our meal!

Then, we went about ten minutes away to this awesome outdoor shopping town center area where the Melting Pot was last night. But, we had more time to shop around that night. Bo patiently let me shop and look around- Victoria's Secret, Sweet and Sassy (presents for the girls - found them some small, cute Dora stuffed animals), Williams Sonoma, GNC Store, J Crew and Banana Republic. Then, we went to see the movie Bad Teacher - it was so funny and I highly recommend it - teachers especially!

The highlight of the weekend was Bo giving me a surprise present. We said no presents since we were going away, saving for our house and eating out so much. But, he pulled it off again - really had no clue at all. He gave me a present in the car as we were leaving for our trip. He said he wanted me to enjoy it all weekend - the sticker on the wrapped box said Finks. He gave me a David Yurman ring to match the bracelet he gave me for my birthday. It is BEAUTIFUL!!!!

We really had a great weekend. Aside from Hannah coming down with a little something Saturday with Bo's parents it was perfect. We picked up the girls around 12:30 today and we got home around 4:30. I think it is nice to get away for just a day or two to be "just us" again. I cannot believe it has been 7 years! Happy Anniversary Bo and thank you for a fabulous weekend!

June 21st

Today was the second day of summer. It started with a trip to the hospital to see my friend's new baby boy! Luke was born last night! Emma kept saying, "baby come out of mommy's tummy!"

Afterwards the girls had their first real haircut at a hair salon. I had my hair done yesterday and Emma said she wanted to get hers done. So, I was able to get appointments for them and we went today. They both did such a good job. They basically got everything trimmed around their faces and shaped up in the back and sides.

After haircuts we grabbed some lunch and went to swim at my sister's house. Andy and the girls were so cute playing together.

Kristin and Ryan were coming back through from Charlotte. So, we went out to dinner with them and they stayed at our house. It was so nice to see Kristin! She and Ryan even watched the girls for a couple of hours today (June 22nd) while I had to run some errands! We were so sad to see them leave!

Fathers Day!

Yesterday was Father's Day! But, Bo woke up to no children at home since they spent the night with my mom and dad the night before so we could go out with Kristin and Ryan!

After they left for their trip to Charlotte we went to pick up the girls and went to Lindsay and Steve's house to grill out the swim. My dad had duty that night, so he was not there. But, the girls had a fun time playing with baby Andy and swimming. Emma was showing off all of her new skills from swim lessons.

We came home, took naps and then went to see my dad later that evening. I gave my dad a new Cal Ripken statue for his collection. The girls even played at the park nearby his station. After baths that night we finally were able to give Bo his presents. Emma drew a perfect E and H on the card from them - I cannot believe she is already writing her letters!

They gave Bo new shorts, a new Southern Tide shirt, hat and a cup that says "Best Dad." E and H are so lucky to have a wonderful father who works hard and plays hard! I am thankful for my dad who has always put his "girls" before himself and strived to make us happy in every way. Happy Fathers Day!

Hopefully more pics to come - Lindsay had a lot on her camera!

Updates

It has been a long while since I last blogged! I guess that gives an idea how crazy it has been!

Here are some picture from June 4th. I think one of the worst chores is carseat cleaning. They are such a pain to take apart, wash, scrub, and put back together. However, the girls were having a blast playing "rollercoaster" in them with Bo after we were done cleaning!

On June 6th a friend of mine passed away. She was a mom of a four year old. Although I had not seen her in many years, we still liked to keep up with each other on facebook. I was very saddened to hear about her sudden death and I took it pretty hard. I went to Elizabeth City that Wednesday for her visitation.

On June 11th I administered another ACT exam. They are very easy to do, give me quiet time to catch up on some reading and plus you get paid pretty well! Bo took Emma to swim lessons while I did that. Afterwards we went to mom's for dinner. Sunday we went to church and stayed for the church picnic.

The following days were spent preparing for the end of the school year. I don't think anyone really understands the amount of time and paperwork it takes (unless you are an educator) to close out a school year. It is so stressful! However, I said farewell to my 7th group of second graders on the 16th. We had a half of a workday on the 17th and now I am officially on summer break.

I started summer break wonderfully with a visit from Kristin Allan, my best friend from college! Her and her boyfriend Ryan were here for a night and then they are making their way down to Charlotte to see Kirby and then they are coming back here! We went to Watermans at the oceanfront Saturday night and had a very nice evening! Thanks to my mom who babysat the kids and they stayed the night!

June 3rd

I had a free Friday evening! My former cohort from grad school planned a night at Kelly's Tavern on the water. Because it is right where I work, there was no need to go home and them come right back. So, Bo got home to the kids early. I ran some errands: Bed Bath and Beyond, Babies r Us, Hallmark and Kohls! Our group stayed at dinner pretty late and really enjoyed catching up with each other. There are some that have landed jobs in their current schools and some of us (like me) still waiting. The right position will come at the right time. I am going to be very picky and not settle for anything. Anyway, Bo took the girls to my mom and dad's while he had a softball game and took this picture of Emma and Lilly in the car. Emma loved Lilly sitting with her. It was a nice night for us all!

Emma and Lilly in the car

cohort dinner reunion with a few missing!