yesterday the local news was predicting 5-10 inches, and they said that all flights for rdu were cancelled. at about 7:30 last night we went out to run a few errands, and there were snow flurries in the air. by the time we got back home, it was snowing and there was snow on the ground. malcolm and lucky dog were super excited!
this is what malcolm looked like when he came in from the cold, haha
it snowed more overnight, and we woke up to a nice yard blanketed with snow. i think we only got about 2-3 inches, but it was enough for the kids to play in. here is alanna's "not-stoked-to-have-her-photo-taken" face, haha
he wasn't sure what to think?!
my car misses driving in the snow (p.s. that is my old utah plate, i have a new nc one on the back)
alanna made a 2 in the snow for malcolm, in honor of his birthday
lucky likes to trot through the snow
here's what malcolm looked like after he came in today, haha. it was cooold out there!
then he stuffed his face with one of mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies, becuase after all, it is his birthday.
today is malcolm's second birthday! hard to believe it has already been 2 years, and it's impossible to imagine life without him. he is such a joy to have around, and makes our days so much brighter. happy birthday lil' man!
he must have been dreaming of a white christmas birthday, because last night it snowed! we very rarely get snow in raleigh, and this is only the second time i've seen this much since we moved here in 2005. pretty awesome birthday present from mother nature, don't you think!?
my mother sent out a box for malcolm this week, full of gifts, and a few things for us as well. she included some homemade apple butter, yum! and a disk with copies of my uncle arlund's photos from the trip we all took out to the nc mountains this september. looking at all these great photos made me remember how much fun we had (minus all the rain!), and how much i love that part of this state. i really do think it would be so great to live near asheville. it is beautiful out there.
i know these photos are like 4 months old, but i still wanted to post them here. and i also added a few photos that my mom had taken too.
malcolm's hungry caterpillar quilt - also handmade by my mom!
heading up to chimney rock
mom, me, alanna (the side of dad's head) and aunt earlene. in the tunnel to the elevator that takes you up to the top of the rock.
malcolm and grandma in the gift shop
uncle arlund, aunt earlene, mom, and dad, on the top of chimney rock. the view up there is amazing (even on a rainy/foggy day).
alanna on the hike down from the top
alanna with her grandparents
my lil' monkey (on a leash) haha
the biltmore house
alanna and i were looking at the other camera, but malcolm looks cute!
i love this photo! a couple of old duffers on an old wagon, haha :)
the view along the blue ridge parkway
swimming at the resort clubhouse, since it was so wet and rainy outside
and this was taken right before we left to head back home
these photos were taken after the kids and i left. they stayed a couple more days, the rain finally stopped, and they got to enjoy beautiful blue skies.
a waterfall you can drive your car behind?!
and oh man, am i sad that i missed this giant pumpkin! how awesome is this!?
asheville, i hope we get to visit you again soon...
i've been really bad about posting regularly on here, so i am going to try to update more often. this week has been pretty busy, nothing too exciting happened, but we seemed to be going, going, going all week long. last saturday danny's sister catherine came over to watch the kids while danny and i went on a date. alanna took this photo of malcolm and catherine while we were gone.
danny took me to see The Lovely Bones, and then to dinner at a nice thai place. i read the book back when it first came out, i think in 2003, and i really liked it. i would take alanna (she was about 7 then) to the local park near my parents house, and i would read on the bench while she played. i loved it back then, when i actually had some quiet time to sit and read a book. maybe someday i will be able to do that again :)
anyway, i liked the movie. while we were in the theater, i kept thinking that danny was probably not enjoying it, but he actually liked it too. it was pretty similar to the book, but it left a few things out, so there were some holes (like the relationship with ray and ruth). stanley tucci was sooo creepy, and a few scenes were kinda scary. i think the "heaven" scenes were a bit cheesy, except for the ships-in-a-bottle, which were awesome. but overall it was good. i thought the girl who played susie was really cute, but one thing that really bothered me, was the way that she whisper-talked. it was really hard for me to listen to her voice. i have a problem with people who talk like that. like daniel faraday on LOST. and vincent d'onofrio's character on law & order: criminal intent. i love law & order: svu, but i cannot stand to watch CI because of the way he whisper-talks, haha! i think peter jackson did a good job on the film. it made me want to read the book again.
this week is raleigh's big toy sale, the kids exchange, you might remember my post about it over the summer? this time around i sold some things, well lots of things actually. tons of alanna's clothes that no longer fit, including about 8 pairs of like new jeans. she needs to quit growing so fast. and some toys malcolm never liked or has outgrown etc.
on monday, alanna and i dropped off all of our items. i also volunteered, so i worked on thursday evening helping with the checkout process. it was very tiring work. and i am working again tomorrow night to help sort things after it shuts down. yikes.
the perk for being a volunteer, is that you get to shop 2 days before the general public. so on wednesday, alanna and i went to see what good stuff we could find! it was sooo packed with toys, books, games, baby gear, and clothes, etc. that it was almost hard to shop, since there was so much to sort through. it was overwhelming, but we did find some great stuff. lots of new clothes for alanna that look like new, a few things still had tags attached. score! and a couple things for malcolm. this is what the toy area looked like.
we went back again on friday after alanna got out of school, and found a few more good things, including a vhs copy of caillou for a dollar for malcolm. he loves that show right now, and can even say "caillou" really good. our local pbs channel seems to have removed it from their regular schedule. bummer. but now he has a few episodes to watch at home.
while we dropped off monday, and shopped wednesday, danny took malcolm to the park. he loves to have playtime with daddy. he can also say "park" now, and he asks to go constantly. even when it is dark out. it's pretty cute. (oh, and he says "dark" now too. what a little talker!)
after playing hard, and staying until it was dark out and they were both cold, they had a starbucks date and enjoyed some hot soy cocoa together
last night, alanna was blessed with her very first monthly "gift". holy shit, i have a teenage daughter!! she didn't want me to tell danny, because she knew he would tease her about it. but i needed to take her to target to buy some feminine items, so i had to tell him why we were going so late. of course he immediately starts in on the jokes. and then, being the clever beast that he is, he starts singing "she's a lady"!! hahaha, oh man, it was so funny. and alanna was so pissed, haha (but she knew he was just teasing). when we were about to check out, i told her that i was going to take a picture of the cart full of products, but she took my camera away. she would be mortified if she knew i was posting about this on here, so for those of you who read this and talk to her, please don't let her know :)
tonight we met up with danny's mom and dad, his sister, and compton and garrett at a local chinese restaurant to celebrate his dads birthday. we had dinner, enjoyed each others company, and had birthday cake. malcolm loved when we all sang dan happy birthday. he got the cutest grin on his face. he is going to love it when we sing it to him next week! oh my goodness, malcolm is going to turn 2 in a week! wow, this year has flown by!
here is malcolm and his grandma vicky in the reflection of the toy claw machine at china pearl
as i was getting malcolm ready for the bath tonight, i hear this coming from the computer. hahaha! danny is hilarious.
yesterday i was tagged, by a fellow blogger, to make a list of 10 random things about me. thanks jessica, for choosing me, even if i was a totally random pick :) i love her blog, you should go check it out <3
it was kind of hard to decide what to list, so here goes:
growing up, i lived in the same house my entire life (for 25 years), until i got married and moved to north carolina. my mother has actually lived at that same address her entire life as well, but in 3 different houses. crazy!
my mother had me when she was 40 (my father was 46). and i was a "miracle" baby of sorts :)
when i was in elementary, i was scared to death of big rig trucks. then i saw "maximum overdrive", and was even more afraid of them! yikes! i was also afraid of the hamburglar, haha.
i do not have any living grandparents. (neither does danny). my grandma hart was the only one i really remember well, and she died when i was 15. my brother and i spent a few summers at her home in idaho, and they are some of my fondest childhood memories.
i wear contact lenses, and have since the 7th grade. i have not owned a pair of glasses since the third grade. i need to remedy that, pronto. (my eyes are killing me).
i never learned to tie my shoelaces correctly. (mom, miguel taught me wrong!) i also do not hold my pen correctly when i write. ouch.
i love being pregnant. danny and i both want one more child. but if we were to win the lottery, and never had to worry about money (and the stress that it brings), i would want to have many more children. i love being a mom.
when i was little, i wanted to be a grocery store manager. haha. when i was a teenager, i wanted to be a photographer for the national geographic. (i still sort of do...)
i like to put ketchup on bean burritos.
i love, love, love willie nelson, and i have seen him perform live four times!
and i guess i will tag a few of my friends too. so here you go ladies, make a post!
i was born & raised in salt lake city, utah. at 16 i became a single mother. having alanna truly changed my life -sometimes the worst situations end up being the best. at 24 i met danny, six months later we were married & alanna and i moved to north carolina. in 2008, after eleven years, i became a new mom again. life with a toddler & a teenager is totally crazy, but i wouldn't trade it for anything. these are some bits & pieces from our home to yours.
"hurt no living thing: ladybird, nor butterfly, nor moth with dusty wing, nor cricket chirping cheerily, nor grasshopper so light of leap, nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat, nor harmless worms that creep." -christina rossetti
this is my online scrapbook of sorts, where i save & share little bits of our day-to-day. i originally started this for my mother & family who live 2,000+ miles away, but have met some wonderful people along the way. please say hello, & thanks for visiting!
p.s. do not use any of my images without permission. xo
