Amazing. For Music Lovers.

If you don't have time -- or don't enjoy -- the whole thing, fast forward to about he 5 minute mark. I promise you won't be disappointed. It is absolutely unbelievable. I love his facial expressions at 5:28.....

Almost there

The last.
Grueling.
Hour.

Thanks 30 min accident in Va.

Sent from Adrienne

Progress

Virginia--yay!

Traffic jam--boo.

Slated to be home about 6:30...sleeping in our own beds tonight.
Sent from Adrienne

WV

Rolling through the hills, Belles are ALL asleep -- much needed for all of us. Them sleeping that is. Overcast day, which is nice to keep the glare down.

Over halfway home, sigh.

Big hugs to all, even those we didn't see. We thought of you too.

Sent from Adrienne

FYI

Jelly Beans at 9:30 am is okay -- I have determined mental health trumps dental health on a long car trip.

Off the turnpike cruising along!
Sent from Adrienne

Look closely

Needed about 20 layers of pink lipgloss. I guess it's dry in here.

OHIo

1Belle sleeping, 1Belle awaking hungry, and 1Belle complaining of a large canine blocking her view of the DVD. Said canine has yet to relax, and prefers to half lay on ClaraBelle, probably outweighing her nearly 3:1.

Just entered Ohio, but looking forward to the mountain views...in about 5 hours. No offense Ohio.

Sent from Adrienne

On Our Way

11minutes into our Southbound journey, the Belles are wishing we could stay, missing all already. I'm encouraging them all to fall back to sleep, mostly so that I can. I'll write more next hour, hopefully the sun will be shining on our way.

Sent from Adrienne

24 hours later

A good sleep done, a mysterious fever come and gone, and we'll be in loving arms before most of you even read this.

But it is pouring rain.

Sent from Adrienne

End in sight...for tonight

About 45 mins left and we will relax for the day. Well, sort of. To be honest, I've been relaxed all day. Nobody climbing on me, no arguing to really speak of (thank you third row seat), sounds like a good way to end things.

Sent from Adrienne

Shhhhhh

Silent Night on the radio, silent car....

6

We are going strong! 7 hours into our adventure, and so far I'm impressed!

I must add, that the entire way the car has stunk. It smells like dog. Seeing as Scooby has a freshly washed bed, and isn't terribly smelly himself, I thought his nerves were causing him to let off some odd funk. Come to find out, it's Greta's boots! Her Ugg-like boots with that fuzzy lining are reek-diculous!!! It's almost more than my sensitive nose can stand.

Sent from Adrienne

Part 5?

Forgive if my counts are off... I've lost track.
Driving past WVa Capitol building...just finished our lunch stop. The Garmin has us just over halfway...for today. Phew. I'm enjoying myself immensely, but can logically predict frustrations in a couple of hours.

Sent from Adrienne

Part 4

Tunnel number two complete,
Welcome to West Virginia!

Christmas music on the XM, and beautiful mountains. Girls opened their dry erase crayons, Hadley is looking at her photo album, all are munching a snack of Cheerios.

Yes, they're asking how much longer, but to be expected I suppose. Just about for a DVD I think.
Sent from Adrienne

Adventure hour 3

I don't know if/when these are posting, so someone tell me via email.
We're about 20 minutes out of NC and enjoying some farm scenery in the mountains, or foothills to the mountains at least.

Sent from Adrienne

Mountains

Passing by Pilot mountain--that thing in the distance--and see more ahead. Sunny skies, good day for a drive.

On Our Way!

Let the Adventure begin! 2 hours I. And I think we are all finally settled in. I'm encouraging some shut eye, or at least some quiet time, and offering the first present in about an hour. Stay tuned!

Sent from Adrienne

Oh man was this a good dinner

I have no idea why she is holding a plastic storage container.  I am fairly certain I didn't give her the meal in this, although you never know...stranger things have happened.

Peak a boo!

Or licking the bowl, I can't remember which one.

Yum.

This was Peek a Boo for sure.

And there goes the fingers in the hair.  

Wasting Our Time...and Yours

I have to admit, I've joined the owl craze. I'm avoiding buying up little owl knickknacks to decorate with, but man it's hard. I blame this guy for making owl so darn appealing, but I've made a mental note that if I am ever petting an owl and someone is getting it on film, I better make sure I have a good manicure.... Funny stuff.
Well, that's a half an hour I should've been doing something way more productive...like  reading a book or something.  Ahhh internet.  Where would we be without you?

 Thankful once

 Thankful twice

 Thankful three times full of life

Thankful four and thankful five...

I am not in the mood to rhyme, 

Happy Thanksgiving!

What Awesome Looks Like

              Just in case you were wondering, THIS is what awesome looks like:

It's hearing the cheer of your girls as you're running a 10k

                                            and finishing first in your age division.

Pound Puppy

Okay Scooby, you've been in our home for 7 months now, no more of this 'but remember the cold cruel concrete of the humane society' eyes. Get off.

Bored? Send a postcard.

If you click on the link above, it will take you to a website called Postcrossing.  Here you can register (it's all free) and join up to send and receive postcards from all around the world.  You sign up and can request to send up to 5 postcards at a time.  The site will send you give you a users name and address.  After someone has registered that they have received your postcard, then your name gets put in the mix to receive one from another random user.  It's really neat.  What I love best, is that they give you stats of how far your postcards traveled, including totals of all of your sent postcards.  They also have maps that show you where in the world they've traveled with lines from where you are to where they went.  Obviously the teachable moments here for a classroom are plentiful, but honestly I mostly do this for myself.  The postcards always end up in the postcard collection in my classroom, but this is just a quick and easy side hobby I really enjoy.  And best of all, it is very inexpensive and has no time restraints. I  don't agree to send a postcard, until I have it in my hands ready to go!

Poseur

I don't remember ever seeing a picture of me posing like this when I was little. Certainly not inherited. And she has much better fashion sense than I do even now. Although the scarf was my touch....

Low Rank

Granted, things at home have seemed a bit frustrating lately, and the Naught and Nice list was brought out the second the Halloween bags were emptied (figuratively speaking, yet not too far from it). The tension in our house was evident when Big Belle wrote at school "I am thankful for the Indians who died". Clarabelle's classroom, decorated with 'I am thankful for mommy, daddy galore'....At least one member of the household gets a nod as ClaraBelle is thankful for her doggy. I'm assuming it is not the one she just asked if we could throw in the garbage because he was so old....

Sent from Adrienne

Sneak Peak

 It was Christmas card picture day, and what a great day 30 minutes it was!  Only one  -- okay, occasionally two -- belles required marshmallow bribery, and no marshmallows turned up visible in any photos.  However, there were a number with odd mouths and contorted lips....  But thank goodness for digital photography!  Just think, not too long ago I would be stuck with those forever, and problem would have used two rolls of film.  Well, not really.  I'm far too frugal for that.  I didn't take the best camera I have, and I think you can tell.  And these were just silly edits that I made.  I can't show you the good stuff though, those are just for the Christmas cards!  So enjoy your holiday photo preview -- or, maybe this is all you get if you aren't on the Christmas card list!  

Nah, after the cards go out I'll post the rest of the ones that didn't make the cut.  There were actually a lot of cute pictures both all 3 of them together, and separately.

Revolving Frame

In my kitchen. My goal is to include seasonal decor and family pictures. I love how it turned out, but I think I need one more because it just isn't enough for the wall.

Personalize a free slideshow design

Like Drugs...

...it must be the candy...or the mere thought of a nibble.  Because in all of three of these photos, Big Belle AND ClaraBelle both ASKED and WANTED to have their pictures taken.

Together.

In the same shot.

Like relatives.

G'morning

Her future's so bright...she's gotta wear shades.

Fate

I was looking for a pair of black boots for a while now. I've found many, but haven't wanted to pay the price. I saw a pair at TJ Maxx, LOVED them, and so did my wallet. They had my name all over them...literally.

Happy Halloween

And I bet you were expecting a picture of the Belles.
No southern Halloween here, This is pure Michigan Halloween weather!
>

Boo

As in boo hiss. This is what a double ear infection feels like.

30second Thursday

Growing up fast. Cue big smiley emoticon:

Stuck in My Head

Some people get songs stuck in their head.  The official term for that is "ear worm", which my brain takes all too literally and harkens me back to the tire screeching morning I looked in the rear view mirror and saw a tick crawling on my ear. 

Literal bugs aside, we've all had that tune -- sometimes we don't even know the words -- that we just hum or sing all day long...and sometimes in to the night.  I have noticed that my brain memorizes things very easily when things are associated with a rhythm or pattern, so it's not unlike me to have a small set of numbers or other pattern that just 'sticks' with me....not as annoying as a tune, but there taking up valuable thinking space all the same.  Space I don't have to waste these days.

I've always enjoyed poetry, so it's not suprising for me to have poems or particular lines in my brain.  Nothing heavy, and I prefer my poetry to rhyme (and with even flowing rhythm please).  (Incidentally, did you know that you can sing almost any Emily Dickinson poem to the tune The Yellow Rose of Texas?  Try it, it's fascinating.)  So to get to my point, the other morning I asked Big Belle to go get something from her room.  I don't remember what it was, but without incident she went to do it (which in and of itself is amazing).  While skipping merrily down the hall -- all 10 feet of it -- I heard her chanting "Get what you get and don't have a fit" over and over.  I thougth it was cute.  Not advice she usually remembers, but cute. 

Meanwhile, ClaraBelle was finishing her predictible bowl of Cheerios for breakfast.  Really beginning to blossom, ClaraBelle LOVES making up words.  She loves making up a lot of stuff, and is beginning to tell some very interesting stories....  The words she makes up used to just be completely nonsense words, occasionally still very babyish.  But she is slowly demonstrating some more command of the English language, and throws some words together that, while not intentionally doing so, connect quite well.  For no reason -- or none that I knew of -- she announced "Mommy, you know what?  It's a great idea like a quesadilla!"  Finding that a fascinating phrase, I was intrigued, and wanted to know what it meant.  I'll spare you the conversation, mostly because I didn't quite understand it myself, but the gist was that it had no meaning, it was just fun to say.  She likes quesadillas, but that had nothing to do with them being a great idea.  The phrase just fit. 

And so, for the past few days when I find myself having a minute to just "space out", I find my  mind coming back to this "it's a great idea like a quesadilla".  I love it!  Usually, quesadillas turn out to be a good idea.  And whatever else goes on, I'm glad to think that she comes into contact with a great idea.  So for now, I'm using this ear worm to motivate me throughout the rest of the week.  And it's working, because it makes me smile, and it makes me think how amazingly simple, yet more complex than adults can understand, that children are.  So go forth people, and as you go through your weekend, whatever you do feel confident that "IT'S A GREAT IDEA LIKE A QUESADILLA!"

Baby Games

Watch for a purposeful blink in response to a wink, and peekaboo.

ONE WORD WEDNESDAY

"HELLO"

Early Morning

Almost makes me want to get to work just for the view. There are times near-rural living has an edge up.

ANSWER

The answer to yesterday's picture post?

May 2003, Carolina Beach, NC.  It was when we eloped.  We were walking out on a pier, and a man pulled in a fish.  It was a baby nurse shark.  He offered to let Chris hold it.  Supposedly it felt like sandpaper.  I didn't touch it.  I love this picture, because it tells a story, even if you don't know the real story.  You can see the excitement and the "oh my gosh I'm holding a shark!" in his expression.  Not to worry animal lovers, the shark was released afterwards.

Rewind Monday

Let's start something new...to help inspire me.

    

Here's rewind Monday.  I show you a picture, see if you can tell how old it is.  I'll let you know the results tomorrow.  I love this picture!  And I know that someday the girls are going to think their dad is even cooler than they already know him to be, because HE'S HOLDING A REAL SHARK!!!!  I think that's pretty cool!!!!

Please Excuse This Commercial Interruption

For 5 1/2 years, all Big Belle was "allowed" to watch on tv was Nick Jr.  A bevy of mostly quality children's programming that actually had some educational components to it.  Many shows were more quiet and peaceful, and even I grew to like shows like Dora that I originally found unappealing.  Fast forward to this past summer.  The 6th birthday was approaching, friends were a big part of the social scene that comes with being a first grader, and suddenly these kids' shows just didn't cut it any more.  At first it was iCarly...and several other shows on the Disney Channel.  We hear Disney and think 'how bad can it be, it's Disney!' and they aren't too bad...if you're a pre-teen.  I tried to steer her away from some of the shows I just deemed inappropriate -- with boyfriends and best friends being mean and such -- and it worked.  For a while.  Being the television police is hard.  

Enter: Sponge Bob.  I had banned him as long as I could.  He was here.  It was supposed to be a "special treat".  And that backfired.  He was/is here to stay.  And then I read an article about research that was done that actually proved that kids were dumber after watching a half an hour of Sponge Bob versus other children's programming.  Oh the horror!  My stomach dropped.

Over break I tried to introduce some other things, and while Big Belle didn't watch a ton of tv, during her rest times after lunch, I put on some Looney Tunes.  Ahh the good old days.  Were these really any better than Sponge Bob though?  Perhaps only for the fact that they contained some quality classical music. Big Belle quickly pointed out and asked "why is he trying to kill the other guy?"  It sounded so horrible when she put it that way.  

I still encourage Nick Jr. as much as I can (when the tv is on that is).  After all, there are 2 little Belles who don't need to have their minds warped by sponges that live in a pineapple under the sea.... Another thing that didn't dawn on me originally that I LOVE about Nick Jr.:  no commercials.  All of the other stations have what feels like a bazillion commercials.  I was interested in how this would affect the girls.  Would they start the "I want that, can I have that?" to all of the glittery toy commercials?  So far, I have yet to hear any comment regarding commercials.  

The other day as we were headed to school, Big Belle dutifully reported to me "Oxy Clean does a good job getting the stains out of jeans".  She had worn jeans that week, I wondered if she spilled something and her teacher was sharing a bit of advice.  And then I wondered, wow, maybe that stuff really does work well.  I've always been curious...."Did your teacher tell you that?"  I queried.  

"No, I heard it on tv."  Well, I guess those channels are more educational than I thought.

I still haven't bought any yet though.

Proud

This is Big Belle's homework folder.
Look closely:  very very closely.
You can just vaguely make out what looks to be random folder graffiti....
But lo- it's not.
It says, ever so sweetly,
Clara.
And it is her first official unsolicited "all by myself with no help" autograph.
Sure, there could've been better places to write this.  Like the paper she had 2 seconds before.  But, it's not the worst spot she's chosen while wielding some kind of marking utensil.  Go ClaraBelle.  This made me so happy.

Fun With Hair

Why? Because we can. Finally.

Back to the Grind

Big Belle and I head back to school/work tomorrow and boy is my brain tired!  2 1/2 weeks of constant Big Belle is a lot of work in and of itself.  She still remains uninterested in any toys, so her time at home is spent following me around.  The tv gave me some reprieve, but I did my best to make sure she didn't park herself in front of it, which she isn't necessarily prone to do, but you just never know.  She wants to sit down and read books, and for the most part she can, but she always wants to one up herself.  Read books she just is nearly ready to read, but not quite.  Like chapter books.    Almost, just not quite ready....

We did a lot of errands together, and I did a lot of closet cleaning.  During this time, Big Belle was always by my side.  Sometimes she was a big help.  Most of the time she kept me company, and asked questions.  The usual "why are you doing it that way, what are you doing, why..." etc.  But mostly she wanted to do mental math and mental spelling.  Which totally impresses me -- don't get me wrong! And it's GREAT for her. I mean, what teacher/mother doesn't want their child working on 5+5+2=12 in their head, and coming up with that on their own? I'm thrilled!! But at the same time, my brain has to think to double check that she's right or wrong. And while that may seem a simple feat, while you're trying to find the 2T bin versus the 9-12 month clothes bin versus whose sock could this possibly be and where is its mate? Your brain wants a one way street to focus.

I say I'm going back to work tomorrow, but really I am not.  ClaraBelle and Baby Belle's day care is closed tomorrow (ugh, don't get me started) and so I will stay home with them.  It's not ideal, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than paying a sitter for the whole day.  And it will be nice to give Clara Belle some quality big sister time.  Maybe I'll even have time for a real blog post.  One, you know, interesting!

Saturday

It was a good day for one of these.

Buy these...please

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Socks!

Big Belle and I are on a mission, and boy am I glad she's helping. Man (woman) was not meant to match socks alone. You should hear the sighs and "hard work" sighs coming from my partner. In fact, she just asked "mommy, did you do this when you were a little girl?"
Great pause.

"yes I did, and I really enjoyed it!!

"oh. Well, I guess it could be fun. Like when we throw socks up in the air!"

Me watching piles of socks whiz by my head.

"Mommy, are you going to help? It actually is a little fun when we find matches!"

"Mommy is blogging all this fun."

But now, mommy must intervene, as toys that have never been played with are suddenly fun--and filled with socks.

Think of me.

Beach Trip, part two

This is a much better picture than her hightailing it as far up the beach as possible, because "I don't like that big pool" was repeated many many times.  

"It's the ocean, it's not a pool dear."  

"Well, I don't like it."

Fair enough.  Sandcastles are fun too.

Boredom Busters

Here are a few things that have definitely entertained me as of late:

1) Watching Big Belle sing in her microphone headset along with Justin Bieber rockin' You Tube belting out Baby.  Definitely entertaining.

2) Enter, Clara Belle.  Determined to finally assert herself as budding "big girl" she is slowly developing her sense of want for independence.  So when she asks me if she can get her own spoon to eat her yogurt one day, I certainly say of course.  And then watch as she grabs a giant serving spoon.  But I don't stop her, because she did it herself, and it doesn't seem to bother her that the spoon is as long as her arm and the bowl of the spoon is nearly as big as her face.  She eats.  She's proud.  And, most importantly, I'm thoroughly entertained.

3) And Baby Belle.  Now past her first birthday, she's entered this second year of life head on.  Following in the footsteps of each Belle ahead of her, Baby Belle has now developed a serious dislike for sitting in the bathtub.  Don't ask her to sit, and don't try to make her sit.  unless you want to be entertained.  Yes, that's what I'm calling it.  Because I've learned that -- most of the time -- temper tantrums can be really funny. And much like her oldest sister, Baby Belle has seemed to develop the perfect tantrum at a much earlier stage than Clara Belle, but I actually think it's worked out a bit better that way.  Hopefully that continues.  All we have to do is look at Baby Belle and quietly tell her no (as in "no, don't eat that piece of dog food"  "no, stop throwing food off of your high chair" "stop hitting me!" and she goes face first on the floor.  And then pushes forward like a dumptruck.  Her face has slid across the floors of Chuck E. Cheese (gasp, I kNOW!), a hotel room (eesh), every room in our house (possibly eek depending on the day), and the beach -- hello exfoliation!  It's possible I might try to catch this on video...

4) Clara Belle learning to enjoy books, and learning to tell us books by using the pictures as guides.  It's fascinating to hear her interpretations of what she sees, and we're so happy to see her get involved and excited about learning.  I know she doesn't realize it she's doing it, which makes it even greater.

5) Watching Big Belle realize that the world is open to her on a whole new level now.  Meaning, there is very little she can not read when she is out in the world.  Posters and signs and information, she is so eager to take it all in.  She finished her first marking period of first grade with great marks.  I will refrain from giving you exact details, but if you are family and want to know just how great she did, feel free to ask.  :)  <--- I'm trying to rid myself of this horrible smiley emoticon addiction, but it's not going well....

6) Watching Baby Belle move away from being a baby.  Sigh.  I'll save that for another post.

7) I'm refraining from mentioning the great deal of cleaning and organizing that is a part of our existence.  You can thank me for not whining now.

Beach Trip, part one

Since Big Belle and I are on our Fall intercession from school and the somewhat cooler weather gives Chris a chance to not be at work a million hours a week, we decided to escape for a few days to the beach.

I perfected my pirate face.  And continued my poor posture.

Look at these northerners who INSISTED on being in a photo so they could be on the blog.  HA hA!  Hi Nana and Auntie Nick!

We are so proud of Baby Belle, she is the official Salinity Tester of the Atlantic Ocean.  She made sure to chew on each seashell making sure the saltiness remained consistent.  It did, and I can verify that because Big Belle and I had our fair share of waves in our face!

More to come, stay tuned!

Hockey!

They must have it in their genes...may be they are not REALLY COMPLETE Southern Belles.... For some reason Big Belle has always enjoyed watching hockey, and it isn't even on very much down here.  Clara Belle received a hockey net and sticks for her birthday too.  So, when we saw the Carolina Hurricanes were having a fun day and kids carnival, we piled in the car and trucked on up to the 'big city' for a day of fun.  The weather was perfect, cool then warm later on.

 Bad form, we know.

 Impressive form, but left the puck behind.  When the stick is well over your head, there are numerous challenges....

Free Cotton Candy.  That's right, I said F-R-E-E!  The whole DAY was free.  I was in heaven.  I know they look like they are loving the cotton candy in this picture, but it required extensive work.  Who has to TEACH their children to eat cotton candy?  We do.  It took about 45 minutes to actually eat all of this, and they didn't even want to eat most of it.  (Thank goodness it was free.)  "It's sticky."  "It feels funny."  "It's on my nose."  

This little person did not get cotton candy, but she had fun too.  We were able to take in a practice scrimmage game and had seats nearly on the ice.  

A Great Day.

An Attempt at a Return

Have you been looking for us?

Here we are!

Did you miss us?  Let me know what you think of the new format.  I'm not too sure of it yet myself.... Stay tuned I have scheduled several posts for the next few days!

Gimme a Break

I could tell you a story about how Big Belle and I were walking the dog, talking about life, and she ended up saying that she wished she had another mommy and daddy.  I gasped, and said 'you don't want us?' and she replied, "No, I do.  I just think it would be nice to have another too in Michigan."  I think she was referring to the fact that I was telling her stories about growing up in Michigan.  Not completely sure though.

Or I could tell you about how Baby Belle loves to suck her big toe when she's on the changing table. It's cute, and something I fully intend on sharing with her children someday.

But.

I have books to read.

I have rooms to clean and organize.

I have kids to feed, dinners to plan, laundry to do (darn it, almost forgot about that load in there), and so much more.

So therefore, I will be going on hiatus.  Taking a break.  I'd say vacation, yet that's not happening right now.  But I'm giving this blog a break.  Looking for new inspiration.  Check back in a few weeks, I'll keep you posted about how long this will be....

That Time of Year

It's birthday central around here right now.  I'm up to my ears in tissue paper and gift bags (which naturally, I save and reuse.  Okay, I've given up saving tissue paper, it never looks that good again...unless it's in really good condition, in which case...yup, totally will be reused).  

Another year it is.  And yes, it's been fabulous.

A culminating action shot from last weekend's festivities.

A sneak peek at the next birthday girl's celebration this past weekend.  It was wild girly-screaming fun.  And, had I had the inspiration and energy to describe to you the party that would send even the mildest of feminists burning their bras and screaming down the street, you would've known that it was a pink, Hello Kitty, fantastic girly girl delight complete with lipstick rings.

More pictures to follow on the official big day, which is Wednesday, and then I believe this blog will take a little break.  I love it, and maybe a break will inspire me to come back, but with this new school year I have so much less time at school and I'm actually bringing work home with me, something I haven't done in probably 6 years!  And so, in order to help Big Belle with her homework, help Baby Belle with her walking and talking, give Clara Belle some much needed attention, and find some time to clean the house, cook dinner and whatever else it is I do...something has to give.

But in the meantime, somebody turns 6 soon...where has the time gone?

The One

It's amazing what you can accomplish in a year....

From this:

TO This:

FROM THIS:

TO THIS:

Can't wait to see what a year from now brings.  

Happy Birthday Baby Belle!!!