GIRL WITH THE CURLZ

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-15T12:17:00.000-06:00

Since this week has been a little more quiet, we decided to try some play-doh for the first time. The little guy wasn't sure about it at first, but now loves it. Boy does this bring back the memories.

Hope you all are having a nice week.

Linda

Happy Valentines Day!

2012-02-14T07:43:00.000-06:00

Wishing you all a wonderful Valentines Day.

Linda

A day at the circus

2012-02-13T19:56:00.000-06:00

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. The circus was in town here so we took the little one for the first time. It was a 2 hour show and he was so good. He was mesmerized by everything.

A quick shot with mom.

Can we say no way to this. My hands were sweating just watching it.

He loved the elephants.

Oh this was a big hit too.

Fun was had by all :)

Happy Monday.

Linda

Friday Fun Finds

2012-02-10T07:39:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I was watching a little bit of the Today show. How could I not watch Kathie Lee and Hoda in the Bahamas. Heavenly. Well, on the show they were poolside and were showing bathing suit cover ups. They highlighted a company that is new to me called Echo Design. They have some darling cover ups for your spring break or summer vacations.

Have a nice weekend.

Linda

A craving for comfort food

2012-02-09T10:40:00.000-06:00

Last night I was itching for some comfort food. I thought to myself what should I make and then I thought of my mom's meat loaf. Unfortunately, after searching the house I realized my mom's recipe was back in Illinois. So a call to mom in Michigan and off to cooking. This is such an easy recipe. My mom has been making this as long as I can remember. It is so good. Or at least we all think so :) With a baked potatoe and a salad it hit the spot. Enjoy!

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (I use ground turkey)

3/4 c Quacker oats (quick one minute kind)

1t salt

1/4 t pepper

1/4 c chopped onion

1 egg well beaten

1/4 c milk

1T worcestershire sauce

1/2 t accent seasoning

2 T ketcup

2 T margarine melted

Mix all above ingredients together

Topping

1/3 C ketcup

1T mustard

Mix together add to top

Bake at 350 for 1 hour

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-08T10:58:00.000-06:00

With many making plans for their summer vacations, I thought I would share with you some photos of a place I have been many times since I was a child. It is from my home state of Michigan and is beautiful Mackinaw Island. If you have never been before, I would highly recommend it. It's a small island were there are no cars just bikes and horses. It is heavenly. I have always dreamt of staying the whole summer.

The Mackinaw bridge.

Some of the ferry's you ride to get to and from the island.

They have tons of bikes to rent on the island.

The island is only about 8 miles around so it makes for a wonderful bike ride.

The beautiful Grand Hotel

And lots of horse drawn carriages on the island.

Hope you enjoyed.

Have a nice Wednesday.

Linda

Spring is in the air

2012-02-07T11:16:00.000-06:00

Are you ready for spring? Well if not, head on over to Preppy Princess and they'll help get you in the mood. Look at some of these fabulous things that are in. Oh my word I Love them all!!

They have the cutest darn cell phone cases.

Can't go wrong with a nautical wristlet.

Have a nice Tuesday.

Linda

Marbles Kids Museum

2012-02-06T12:40:00.000-06:00

We took the little one to the wonderful Marbles Kids Museum here in Raleigh again. This place is amazing and our little guy just LOVES it. We can barely get him out of there once it's time to leave. So many different and fun spaces to explore in this 2 story museum.

The splash area is always a big hit. They provide these nice aprons to wear, but good thing I come prepared a shirt change was needed after this.

A little chess anyone?

Caught trying to drive off :)

I loved connect four as a kid. Ours wasn't this big though.

I guess he's not afraid of heights like his momma. That's a good thing. Daddy helped with this one.

It looks like he's giving orders here. (ha-ha)

Thinking about joining the hockey game :)

What a fun time!! We will be back many times I am sure.

Hope you all have a wonderful week. I am so sorry for my lack of posts. I will try and get better. Having a toddler running around and one who does not like when mom gets on the computer is my excuse for this.

Linda

Oscar Party

2012-01-28T14:12:00.000-06:00

Are you planning on having an oscar party? Well if you are I recently came across a fun site called Hollywood Mega Store that sells all kinds of Hollywood items that would great to jazz up your party.

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend :)

Linda

21 Months

2012-01-26T19:50:00.000-06:00

Today our little man turned 21 months old. I can't believe in just 3 short months he is going to be 2. It is so crazy how fast it is going. He changes and learns so much everyday. I am so thankful I can be home with him to see every second :) Here are a couple shots of him the other day having fun at the mall.

This kid loves to play around in hats.

It is going to be so interesting to see how tall he is as he gets older. He is already 36 inches tall and wears a size 8 shoe. To me this seems tall for his age. How tall were your kids at this age? Hope to get his haircut tomorrow. He has so much thick hair. I guess he gets that from me. He is 21 months and this will be his 5th haircut already.

Hope everyone is having a great week.

Linda

Friday Fun Finds

2012-01-20T11:49:00.000-06:00

Happy Friday all. I am glad the weekend is here and I am glad I'm not back home in Illinois right now. Brrrr. It might be 70 here tomorrow. Yay!! Since so many are in the cold snowy weather right now I thought I would share some cheery little finds I came across over at French Bull. Perfect for spring and summer. Loving these cute spreaders and matching mini bowls.

O.K. I may need to order these salad servers to go with a pink bowl I have.

And hello how cute are these to store leftovers in? Love!!

Wishing you all a fun weekend. No big plans here. Hopefully we can get some projects done. Hubs has been working long hours lately so there hasn't been any time.

Linda

Flat Stanley

2012-01-19T11:37:00.000-06:00

For the past week, we've had fun with flat Stanley visiting us here in North Carolina. You might all be familar with flat Stanley if you have children of your own. My niece back in Michigan is now doing this in her class as did my nephew a few years ago. Once he arrived our first order of business was to give him an outfit. So we decided to dress him in an NC State sweatshirt and jeans. Well Stanley has been a busy boy this week and has lots to share with the class when he gets back :) Here are some of his adventures.

He also made a stop at the state capitol.

And of course had to look around downtown Raleigh.

Well that night was a bit chilly so after all that we went to Escazu for some dark chocolate hot chocolate and probably the best chocolate I have ever had.

I tried the honey cinnamon caramel and the hubs tried dark chocolate mint. Oh my gosh they were so good and so was the hot chocolate which is made from real chocolate not powder. We will definitely be back.

And our little one had fun drawing at the little table they had.

Our next adventure took us to North Carolina State University. This is were the hubs graduated from so we had to have this on the list.

The bell tower.

We also had fun at Pullen Park where Stanley got to take his first train ride.

The park even has a carousel.

Stanley had fun, but the little one was not quite sure about this.

After all those adventures Stanley wanted a treat so we headed to Gigis cupcakes

Super yummy!

And to round out his week, a hockey game!!

It was a fun week, but unfortunately Stanley has to go back to Michigan next week to tell all about his adventures :)

Hope you all have been having a great week.

Linda

Semi-wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T10:09:00.000-06:00

A few months ago I thought I would get on the coupon wagon and start a binder. I was using some of them up until the holidays hit and then time got away from me. I just never found the time to cut out new ones and add them to my binder and then it seemed every time I was out I forgot my coupons. So needless to say I have lots of expired coupons. Well there is no need to throw all those coupons away. I came across a site where you can send your expired coupons to military families to use. They can use expired coupons up to 6 months past their expiration date. The site is call Coups for Troops. I am getting them ready to send off and am glad they will be of help to someone. Hopefully now that things have calmed down a bit I can replenish the coupon binder and get better at using them in 2012.

Have a great day.

Linda

Happy 2012

2012-01-03T12:29:00.000-06:00

Happy Tuesday. I hope you had a wonderful new years. We got a sitter new years eve and actually did something we haven't done in about 2 years, went to a movie. Hubby picked, so we saw Mission Impossible. It was a good movie though. After the movie we went to dinner and then to a really fun party. I got a new iphone this season and of course walked right out of the house without it, but I wanted to share a few photos of the party. The theme was the arctic circle. This was a big house and there was probably 150 people there. The place was packed, but so fun. Look at this snowman they made on the fireplace wall of their family room. I think they said it took 531 milk jugs to make and then they had lights behind it.

Isn't it cool?

Here are a couple shots with people in them so you get a better idea of how big it was.

Here is an igloo they built outside also out of milk jugs.

Oh I wish I would have had my phone so I could show you more pictures. The house was gorgeous all decked out and each room was a different country. And as you came through the entry there was this big arch that said Arctic circle. So fun we had a great night.

Wishing you all the best in the new year.

Linda

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T07:45:00.001-06:00

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas.

Linda

Christmas Village

2011-12-24T08:00:00.003-06:00

Happy Christmas Eve :)

Since we will all be heading to my brother and sister-in-laws house after mass tonight, I thought I would share a few pictures of the christmas village my sister-in-law sets up each year. Oh my gosh it has gotten so big that my brother had to build this 4 tiered corner unit to hold it all. Isn't it pretty? I love to look at it, but I don't think I would have the patients to put this all together & take it down each year. Glad she enjoys it. She puts it in the corner of their formal dining room.

Now my sister-n-law puts up 5 trees, but I wanted to show you just 2 of them. First she LOVES purple and this one is in their breakfast nook in the kitchen.

Next is their tree that snows. Yes snows. Sorry these are the only pictures I have of it. Pretend snow falls down from the top and then catches at the bottom and starts all over. It's very pretty when you are sitting there. Our little guy is going to love it.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas

Linda

A Nautical Christmas

2011-12-23T07:50:00.001-06:00

If you read my blog you know I love anything nautical. Well I have been slowly collecting nautical christmas ornaments in hopes I could do a full nautical tree one day. I don't quite have enough ornaments for a full tree, but I decided to do a small one for our bedroom this year and love it!! It is so fun. My son loves it too and goes in our room several times a day to look at it. He even gets upset if I haven't plugged in the lights yet. I don't think I will be able to fit anymore ornaments on this tree, so if I collect a few more between now and next christmas maybe I will upgrade to a bigger tree for the room next year. Here are a few of the ornaments. Oh I used a fish net for the tree skirt.

Have a wonderful Friday. Heading to Michigan. Yay!!

Linda

Pink and Green Thursday

2011-12-22T11:23:00.000-06:00

Oh my word have you seen this? Love, Love, Love. This is from the Palm Beach Gardens Lilly store. Found these through facebook. Now that is a gingerbread house I want to make. Do you think I can talk my boys into doing this? (ha-ha).

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend. We are off to Virginia tonight to see friends then up bright and early tomorrow to head to Michigan to spend the weekend with my family.

Linda

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-21T12:00:00.000-06:00

For this weeks semi-wordless Wednesday I thought I would share with you a little blast from the past. Here are a few pictures from Christmas when I was little. I always loved this jumper

Getting ready to go to a party with my big sis.

Here I am being oh so lady like pulling my dress up. Funny but to this day I can remember how scratchy that thing was.

Don't laugh at the outfits it was the 70's after all.

Hope you all are having a wonderful week of Christmas

Linda

Attempted Visits with Santa

2011-12-13T13:30:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas. I hope you have been enjoying the season. For us it is going by way too fast. We did squeeze in a Santa visit with the little one. We were hoping for a cute picture to maybe use for a christmas card however the little one was having no part of that. We attempted our first try at one of the local malls.

Here he is waiting to see the big guy.

The santa helpers were unable to get a good shot and this was about the best picture my husband could get. He didn't cry but he was pulling to get away. Poor thing.

They gave him santa's jingle bells but that only helped temporarily.

I wasn't planning on being in the pictures but he wouldn't sit still so I gave it a try.

He did like talking to santa from a safe distance & with mom protecting him :)

We were out and about another day and tried again. Walking up he gave santa a high five but wanted no part of sitting next to him even with mom sitting with him.

I guess we will have to wait a few more years. At 19 months he was not going for it.

Linda

Brighton Collectibles

2011-12-06T13:55:00.000-06:00

Oh I am so excited, Brighton Collectibles is opening a new store by our house. I have always thought they have such cute things. I can't wait to go.

Have a great evening all. We will be off to the country club tonight for my husbands work party.

Linda

One long week

2011-11-29T09:45:00.000-06:00

First I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Sorry for my lack of posts, but it had been crazy busy around here. Lots has been going on this past week. We just arrived back in NC last night after driving 2,600 miles during our week away. Oh my word we could have practically made it to the west coast. We left NC and headed to Michigan, then Michigan to Illinois, Illinois to Michigan, Michigan to Illinois, Illinois to Michigan and Michigan to North Carolina. I wish I was kidding. That wasn't how we had planned it, but unfortunately that's what we had to do. Our little guy did wonderful. I guess starting him out traveling at 4 months old has paid off. Can you believe a 19 month old who can travel in a car 2,600 miles and do great without the use of movies or videos? Toys, books and his music really helped and of course stopping every couple of hours to change him and let him stretch really helps too.

When we left, our plan was to head to Michigan for the night then off to Illinois for 2 days and head back to Michigan for the rest of the week. Well plans changed once we got to Illinois. We had so much to do when we got to Illinois including doctors appointments, pack things to take back, see relatives etc. On Tuesday before Thanksgiving I now had 2 of my doctor appointments. First before I left North Carolina I found out I was pregnant. I tend not to get too excited until around 4 months because of what I have been through over the years and the fact I have had a miscarriage before. I did get blood work done in NC and yes I was pregnant however my numbers were going up but not doubling like they should. The doctors here sent me for a stat ultrasound because they thought I might have an etopic pregnancy which luckily I did not. Well long story short my ob/gyn wanted to see me in Illinois for my 8 week appointment and ultrasound. On Tuesday when I went there was no heartbeat. So needless to say this was sad news to get right before the holiday. My doctor doesn't feel you should have to sit and wait for your body to pass this, so he scheduled a D & C (which I have had before) for the Friday after Thanksgiving. So we left Illinois Wednesday to head to Michigan as planned, but had to drive back Thanksgiving evening for my surgery on Friday. All went fine and we headed back to Michigan on Saturday. Though we had bad news we had a very nice time visiting with our families and feel very blessed that everyone is healthy. We are especially thankful to have our son who is the sweetest thing and know if God has a sister or brother planned for him some day it will happen.

This week I think I just want to stay home and not go anywhere. We have lots of unpacking to do and hopefully can put up some christmas decorations. After last week I am just phycially and emotionally drained and hope to get some much needed rest in too.

Have a good week all.

Linda

Cookbook Sale

2011-11-14T10:38:00.000-06:00

Are you needing a new cookbook or maybe shopping for one for a Christmas gift? Well Taste Of Home has some of their cookbooks marked down to $5. Yes $5!! What a bargin.

The Candy Cottage

2011-11-08T10:01:00.000-06:00

One of my purchases over the weekend was this adorable, reusable & washable candy cottage.

When I saw it I thought what a great idea. And it's not just for Christmas. They have so many great ideas to use this all year round. Check out the little beach cottage.

And here are some examples for Valentines, summer and Halloween.

With the little one only being 18 months I thought we will have many years ahead of us to have fun with this. All you need is canned frosting and candy or whatever you would like to use to decorate it. How easy is that. Now it is $34.99, but I figured by the time I would buy 3 gingerbread house kits which run about $10 each I would have just about paid for it. And I love that you can use it for all different seasons not just Christmas. Be sure to check out their website. What a great gift for your own kids or for anyone you know with kids.

Happy Tuesday.

Linda

Weekend happenings

2011-11-07T10:32:00.000-06:00

Hope you all had a nice weekend. I actually got to do some shopping this weekend. I feel like I haven't gone in so long. I first started on Saturday by going to A shopping spree

I had a great time and found some adorable things. I will show you tomorrow something that I picked up that is perfect for the holiday season.

I continued my shopping spree on Sunday and headed over to the Tanger outlet in Mebane, NC

where I picked up a few more things and got a couple of Christmas gifts out of the way. Hello look what I spotted. I couldn't believe they had a Vineyard Vines. Loved it!!

Have a great Monday.

Linda

Semi-wordless Wednesday

2011-11-02T20:10:00.000-05:00

Buzz, buzz. We all had such fun taking the little one trick or treating for the first time. He is totally into bees and he loved his costume. Unfortunately, it was raining but we still took him to about 5 of our neighbors. He was tuckered out after that.

Hope everyone had a happy halloween :)

Linda

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T14:14:00.000-05:00

Wishing you all a very safe and Happy Halloween.

We will have a little bee in the house tonight. Buzz, Buzz.

Linda

Semi-wordless Wednesday

2011-10-26T09:35:00.000-05:00

Since Halloween is just a few days away, I had to share a picture me and my sister in our costumes one Halloween. I was Barbie (ha-ha) and she was a gipsy. Fun memories :)

Have a great Wednesday.

Linda

Weekend Recap

2011-10-25T21:40:00.000-05:00

Our little guy had a fun packed weekend. It first started by going to our neighbors hockey game. Sorry for the bad pictures I was looking through plexiglass. He had so much fun and did not want to leave. We will have to take him to see more games. He absolutely loved it. Maybe we have a future hockey player on our hands.

Then we made a quick trip to the pumpkin farm. Always a good time when he gets to ride the wagon.

Hope you all had a nice weekend too.

Linda

Semi-Wordless Wednesday: A Day At The Fair

2011-10-19T08:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we took the little one to the North Carolina State Fair. Tuesday was the perfect day to go, not too busy and it was 80 and gorgeous out. We only stayed 9-12 because the little one was getting super tired. Overload on the stimulation with all the people watching, animals, rides, games, music etc. We definitely didn't see everything since this is a huge fair, but 3 hours was plenty.

Checking out the baby chicks with daddy.

I would have loved to take that big watermelon home with me. Yum!

Look at the size of this.

Aren't the little piglets cute?

I did not ride this. Are you kidding me.

I did ride this though with Kyle. He is totally into bee's or as he calls them buzz, buzz's!! He loved it!!! I don't have a picture of us on it since my husband took video instead.

Now I don't care too much about riding fair rides, but this was my favorite ride when I was a kid. The himalaya. Oh my word did my sister and I have some great times laughing on this. Fun memories.

Komen had a pink truck there.

It was a good time. Boy the little one slept hard last night. He was worn out.

Have a wonderful Wednesday

NC State Fair

2011-10-15T10:05:00.000-05:00

The North Carolina State Fair started this week. We got our tickets, but I'm not sure when we will be going. My husband has lots of things he is working on this weekend and both my boys are sick with colds. I have never been to this fair before, but the hubs has wanted to take me for several years. We have just never been in town when the fair was going on. He says it's not like the hometown fairs I am used to. So this year we will all get to go. Hopefully, we can squeeze in a pumpkin patch trip this weekend if we don't go to the fair, but I will have to see how everyone is feeling.

What are your weekend plans?

Linda

Lands End Find

2011-10-14T07:33:00.000-05:00

Since I have been planning all the organizing I want to do, I can't help but love these cute storage totes from Lands End. They look perfect for magazines next to the bed.

Wishing you happy shopping and a wonderful weekend.

Linda

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T00:30:00.001-05:00

What is the little one so excited about?

This!!!

I went out to water the mum and this little guy greeted me. Does anyone know what kind of snake this is? Well I quickly ran to get the little one who was just waking up from his nap. He was so excited. He loves snakes and loves to make hissing sounds if he sees anything that is long like a snake ie: belt. Fun day for our little guy.

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Linda

Fall Tag

2011-10-11T21:05:00.000-05:00

I was tagged by the lovely Kate at Nautical By Nature to list my 5 fall goals. Sorry I am so late on this. Things have been crazy down here. So here we go.

1. Organize!!! This is by far our longest stretch here in NC and I really want to take the time to go through and organize, get rid of things and redo some things. I have completed some, but moving slow with the little one running around and a husband who is dragging his feet on getting rid of things (ha-ha). Go Mom Inc has some great ideas and I love her videos. She also has checklists for the different seasons that are helpful as well.

2. Plan my weekly meals. You all who do this really inspire me. I definately put dinner on the table ever night, but I kind of wing it. All works out just fine, but with the toddler the planning would help the grocery store runs.

3. Scrapbook. This is a big goal of mine. I am so far behind with this, but I really want to get the little guys stuff done asap.

4. Plan a murder mystery party. Hubs and I really think this would be fun. If anyone has done one before I would love to hear how it went.

5. Explore more of NC. Lots to see and do down here. Hope we get to some more places before we have to head back.

I would love to hear your fall goals so feel free to play along.

Linda

Game Day

2011-10-08T09:27:00.000-05:00

Heading to the NC State game today. They are playing Central Michigan. Not my college but my nieces. I'll be cheering for the wolfpack though since that's my hubs school. Should be fun. We are taking the little one for the first time so we probably won't stay the whole game. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Linda

Semi Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T10:04:00.000-05:00

Flash back to the 70's this week with a picture of me playing with the Barbie camper.

Did any of you have this? My sister and I had lots of fun playing with this.

Have a nice Wednesday.

Linda

Target Find

2011-09-27T14:12:00.000-05:00

Gotta love the dollar bin at Target. Look what I found for $1. I had to get it with the polka dots.

We actually picked up an extra one to make a Halloween surprise for our neighbors. The picture makes it look small, but they are pretty good size. My hubs wants to put some wine in the one for the neighbors.

Happy Tuesday,

Linda

17 Months Old

2011-09-26T20:53:00.000-05:00

Our little man turned 17 months old today. Where does the time go? Here he is showing off his belly button after his bath tonight :)

Hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Linda

A Day at the Museum

2011-09-25T17:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we headed to the museum for our free museum day that I posted about here. We decided on the Marbles Kids Museum. We had so much fun. Kyle just loved it!! What a cute place for the little ones. It is a museum geared towards kids 10 and younger. I wish I would have taken more pictures, but we were having too much fun watching Kyle play. Here are a few shots from our day.

An ambulance with a stretcher in the back. It was too cute.

He loved this.

And of course the water was a big hit. They had little plastic aprons to wear, but Kyle was already wet before we got that on him.

He loves lighthouses so this whole display was one of his favorites.

At the big ship he went right for the anchor. Luckily the hubs was able to get a quick picture before he was on the move again. This one is for you Nautical by Nature :)

If you are ever in the Raleigh, NC area I would highly recommend stopping. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Linda

Breakfast for the guys

2011-09-16T08:57:00.000-05:00

This morning I was up early making breakfast for my husband's office. Each day the guys take turns bringing in breakfast. My husband only has to do it once every 2 weeks so not too bad. Most of them just buy something, but today my husband wanted to do something different, so he asked me to make one of his favorite breakfast casseroles. Now we don't make this very often because as you can see it's not exactly diet food, but it's perfect if you are going to have company and it's easy to prepare.

Here is the recipe.

Sausage, egg and hash brown casserole

1 1b. sausage (I like to use Bob Evans original recipe sausage in the tube. Also the recipe doesn't call for it, but I cook my sausage before putting it in the dish)

9 lg. eggs, slightly beaten

3/4 c milk

1/4 c. melted butter

24 oz. pkg. hash browns

8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Layer sausage on bottom of well greased 9" x 13" pan. Add milk and butter to beaten eggs and pour over sausage. Add hash browns and top with shredded cheese. Bake 1 hour.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Oh the hubs just emailed me the casserole was a big, big, big hit with the office :)

Linda

Pink and Green Thursday

2011-09-15T09:56:00.000-05:00

For this weeks Pink and Green Thursday, I thought I would share with you some adorable things that Lands' End has out this year. Here are some of my favorites. I am loving all the pink.

Have a wonderful Thursday.

Linda

Halloween gifts

2011-09-13T14:27:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the little guy and I headed to the mall and ended up stopping in Bath and BodyWorks . I have been receiving their emails lately showing off the Halloween things they are getting in. I enjoy making up gifts for some of our neighbors so I thought these would be perfect to add. The little lotions on the ends have the cutest names for Halloween.

Linda

1st carnival

2011-09-12T21:23:00.000-05:00

This weekend the church was having a little carnival/fair and our little guy road his first ride by himself. We were cracking up the whole time because he could have cared less about mom and dad.

He was so happy when more kids were getting on and he had a passenger.

Hope your weekend was a good one.

Linda

Nautical Finds

2011-09-10T13:49:00.000-05:00

I completely forgot to post the pictures of my nautical finds during my sisters visit. All were found at Christmas Tree Shops for dirt cheap prices. I couldn't believe how inexpensive everything was. Too bad the store is not closer than an hour and a half.

These trays look small in this picture, but are actually big. $1 each. Can you stand it? They are perfect for carrying things to the deck.

Placemats for the deck $1.29

Loved these bowls. $1 each. I was dying over the anchor ones. The pink and green one is of course not nautical, but loved it to match a pink pitcher and glass set I have.

Table runners $5.99. I couldn't decide so I went with all 3 for that price.

I couldn't pass up nautical napkins and these are actually a set of fake sand dollars. I thought I could put them in a bowl or jar with shells since I don't have any real ones. Still deciding.

For the last year or so I have been collecting nautical ornaments because I eventually want to do a little tree with an all nautical theme. These were such a steal. Of course once I got home I thought to myself why didn't I get more of these to use as napkin rings. I could kick myself for not thinking of that at the store. They are probably gone now.

Well I hope you liked my finds. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Linda

Semi Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-07T10:09:00.006-05:00

I know with kids going back to school many of you are getting excited for the fall season. Yesterday I received the new LTD Commodities catalog and since this was the Harvest catalog there were many fall items for very reasonable prices.

I may have to order this Gooseberry Patch book myself. Only $7.95

3 pc towel set only $5.95

Set of 2 Thanksgiving block signs $5.95

3-D wooden scene $11.95

Set of 3 solar pumpkins $12.95

Solar harvest sign $11.95

Have a great Wednesday.

Linda

Weekend Recap

2011-09-06T21:51:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. We had a fun time at the coast. We set out Saturday morning to one of my husbands favorite spots which is Oriental, NC. A small sailing town that my husband loves to put our wave runners in at. He was very sad we couldn't go wave running, but the little one needs to be older for this. It was such a beautiul day on Saturday. The town was still cleaning up from the aftermath of Irene. On our jouney there we saw many trees down and obvious flooding but the Neuse River looked beautiful.

Little one had fun sitting in the adirondack chairs.

And I enjoyed watching the sailboats.

After relaxing a bit and having lunch we headed to the Minnesott Beach ferry.

Crossing the Neuse River.

Coming into Atlantic Beach.

Little one had fun staying in a hotel for the first time. Two days was just perfect. He had a ball swiming in the pool and of course playing on the bed.

The next day we headed to the beach. He had a ball playing in the sand, looking for shells with mommy and swimming in the ocean for the first time with his dad.

After the beach we headed to the cute town of Beaufort, but unfortunately didn't stop since the little one fell asleep in the car. We have been many times before and would recommend it if you are in the area. After that we headed out to Harkers Island to check on the boat rides out to see the Cape Lookout Lighthouse. Well we could get the ride out, but we would have to wait 3+ hours to get back and knew the little one wouldn't make that. So we will add that to our future list.

For dinner Sunday we had to head to a place that my husband and I have been to many times. They have been in Morehead City since 1938.

Little one had fun looking at all the fishing boats after dinner.

All in all we had a great time and it was a wonderful way to end our summer.

Linda

Free Museum Day

2011-09-02T14:16:00.000-05:00

Smithsonian Magazine is offering free museum day. We printed our tickets here.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend. We are heading to the coast.

Linda

New Haircut

2011-09-01T10:17:00.000-05:00

The little guy was in need of a haircut again. His 3rd one and he is only 16 months old. He takes after me I guess. He didn't get my curls, but definitely got my thick hair. We had an appointment with our lady before we left Illinois, but unfortunately, the wonderful Miss Debbie got the flu. So the other day I spotted this kids salon down here in NC. Kyle had so much fun sitting in the fire truck. The only time he cried was when we had to take him out of it.

I can not believe our little guy is 16 months already. I feel like I was just in the hospital having him like a couple of weeks ago. It is crazy how fast it goes by. He is only 16 months but is already 31 inches tall and 30 pounds. He towers over some of the 2 year olds. My husband was 6 foot by the time he was in 8th grade so we will see if Kyle is on the same path.

After the haircut and a few errands we headed to Bahama Breeze for dinner. .

We had such a good dinner. Now I know I hardly ever drink now with the little one around, but I ordered one Mojito (so good) last night and jeez I thought my husband was going to have to carry me out of there (ha-ha). The hubs said I'm a light weight. I guess I have to work up to this again.

Have a great day everyone.

Linda

The Posh Palm

2011-08-29T08:31:00.000-05:00

A while back I had won a giveaway Miss Ashley was having over at Sweet Southern Prep. Thank you so much Miss Ashley. I was super excited!!! I had won a blog makeover with the very creative The Posh Palm. Thinking of ideas was hard, but after a while I thought I might like a nautical design, so I gave the very talented Jennie a list of nautical things I liked and she came up with some suggestions. I can't wait to see it. So stay tuned my new design will be coming soon. Please be sure to stop on over to The Posh Palm. Jennie has done the cutest designs. Not only does she do blog designs but logo designs, Etsy banners, custom character Illustrations and website designs just to name a few.

Have a wonderful Monday.

Linda

Pink and Green Thursday

2011-08-18T22:08:00.003-05:00

Sorry I have missed a few Pink and Green Thursday's with all this traveling back and forth but hopefully I can get back into the swing of things again. My picks this week are from a lovely site called Nantucket Notables. Here are some of my favs.

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-17T21:21:00.000-05:00

Though I don't really buy school supplies for myself anymore nor is my little one old enough yet but I still enjoy perusing the school supply isle each fall. Last night during a quick run into Walmart I spotted this darling little 7x9 notebook.

I couldn't pass it up with all the pink and green. I'm a list girl so I like cute notebooks to keep my lists organized. The hubs tries to get me to do all this electronically but after many years of working and having times when our computers would be down and couldn't do anything I enjoy my handwritten form. At only $2.47 I had to bring this one home.

Happy Wednesday.

Linda

Whirlwind Week

2011-08-16T09:46:00.000-05:00

We finally made it back to NC late last night. It was a busy week. We left NC last week, headed to Michigan then off to Illinois. We had so much to do around the house including take care of a tree that was damaged in a storm and take our car in. While in NC the neighbor ran into our car and was so nice to come over and tell us. That took 3 days but came out great. Just some minor bumper damage. We also tried to get in all of our doctor and dentist appointments and I squeezed in a dinner with friends before we left for Michigan again. Oh and of course we had lots of packing to do. Once that was all done we headed back to Michigan to celebrate my mom's 84th birthday before heading back down yesterday. Because we decided to tow our other car down we couldn't drive as fast and so it took us 16 hours. Needless to say we are all a bit tired, but the little one did great. We are so lucky he is such a good traveler. I guess starting him out traveling as a baby has really helped. Lots to unpack today. I better run while little one is napping. More later.

Have a wonderful day.

Linda

Preppy Labels

2011-08-05T15:01:00.000-05:00

Oh my word I just ordered the cutest address labels from The Preppy Lady Bug. Aren't they adorable. I couldn't decide so I ordered all three.

Are you loving them as much as I am? I can't wait until they arrive. I needed some labels for our NC house. We may be in NC a little longer than planned. My husband has been asked by a company he worked for many years ago to help them work on a project and since he is still friends with all the guys he agreed. So I will have a crazy week because we need to run back to IL and check on things, take the little one to his doctor and take care of several other things and then head back down. Oh we are going to make a couple stops in Michigan so the little one can see the granparents too. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend I am off to finish packing while the little one is napping.

Linda

A day full of first's

2011-07-29T12:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we headed to the coast to take the little one to the aquarium for the first time. We went to the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. It was small and the perfect size for a 15 month old. I have to warn you there are LOTS of pictures. I was going to do this in two posts, but didn't know if I would get a chance to do the second post so here you go.

One of the first things we saw was the albino alligator.

The thing looked plastic until it started to move.

Then there were some more alligators. This big one came right over to see Kyle. They are pretty scary close up. Glad that glass is there.

Checking out the starfish. Kyle could have touched them but wanted no part of that.

After leaving the aquarium we were so close to the Fort Fisher to Southport ferry that we thought we would let Kyle ride a boat for the first time. He loved it.

Waiting patiently to board the ferry.

It was such a beautiful day yesterday. We really lucked out.

Here is one of the ferrys we are on.

Once we arrived in Southport we headed to lunch and spotted some pelicans flying over.

The restaurant was overlooking the Cape Fear River.

On our walk after lunch look what I spotted.

Let me give you a closer look. Yay!! Nantucket is only 581 miles from here :) Gotta love it.

A view of the lighthouse on Oak Island.

A view of the restaurant we had lunch at.

A stop for me at The Christmas House while the boys waited in the car. I picked up some cute nautical christmas ornaments.

Driving over the bridge to Oak Island. Little one was taking a short nap.

His hair just cracks me up. It was windy all day. If my hair wasn't pulled back in a clip it would have been a scary sight (ha-ha).

The first time the little one walked in the sand. He wasn't sure about this. It was too funny.

Helping me find some shells.

What is this stuff on my feet?

Wind blown hair :)

He LOVED getting his pigs wet.

We had a wonderful time. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Linda

Frozen Yogurt

2011-07-25T09:14:00.000-05:00

Good morning,

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We have been keeping things low key down here with all the hot weather. I did notice this weekend that we have a ton of frozen yogurt places down here. I don't know why I haven't noticed this before, but it's the perfect way to cool down in the heat. I think we are going to have to make our rounds and sample several of these. We started our first on Saturday with The Skinny Dip.

Oh we loved it. It is a self serve yogurt bar. You pick your flavor and any of the toppings you want and they weigh it for you. It was so good we will be stopping back there I am sure. Sorry no pictures. I don't know what it is, but since I have been down here I keep forgetting to take pictures. UGH!! I even had my camera in the car. I don't remember until after something is over. I guess since we have been busy doing other things pictures have not been on my mind. I will try and get better at this. Hope you all have a great Monday.

Linda

Pink and Green Thursday

2011-07-21T14:43:00.000-05:00

For this weeks Pink and Green Thursday, I had to share with you this find my sister and I spotted by my house. A pink trash can!!! If you have to take out the trash it might as well look cute (ha-ha). This is available from a company called 1 in 9. to help support breast cancer awareness. What a great idea. Unfortunately, it looks like these are only available in our area, but hopefully it will come to more cities. What a great cause and how fabulous to drive down the street on trash day and see pink trash bins :)

As for my time with my sister, we had a fabulous time!!! So much so I forgot to take any pictures. That is not like me. I didn't even get one of her with the little one :( What was I thinking? Well anyways, we had so much fun. She had never been to NC so I showed her around and of course we did lots of shopping. One day we also went to an outlet mall and to the new Christmas Tree Shops that just opened about an hour from my house. I had never been to one of those before and thought I was going to hyperventilate with all the nautical things. Oh my word I was loving it. I definitely found some cute things. Then on to the outlet mall where my sister bought 2 Coach purses and I got one for my mom. My mom is going to love it!! Hope you all have been having a wonderful week.

Linda

Sister coming to town

2011-07-17T10:58:00.000-05:00

I am so excited my sister is flying down today and will be staying until Thursday. Yay!! I can't wait to show her around and she is going to love all the shopping. I see some power shopping in our future or at least as much as we can do in between little ones naps.

Have a wonderful week all.

Linda

Pink and Green Thursday

2011-07-14T13:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Pink and Green Thursday!! Todays finds come from a website right here in North Carolina called Ida Claire Oh they have the cutest things. So many favorites to choose from I can't decide.

Not much going on

2011-07-13T09:43:00.000-05:00

Sorry for my lack of posts lately. I can say all that has been going on around here is projects, projects and more projects. Lots of things needed to be done down here and my hubs is trying to get as much done as he can this trip. We are having friends over for dinner tomorrow night so that will fun and my sister is flying down on Sunday and will be staying until Thursday. I can't wait!!! We will have so much fun. She's never been down here so it will be nice to show her around and of course get some shopping in.
The little one has been having a ball in the pool his grandparents got him. He just loves it.

Hope you all are having a wonderful summer so far.

Linda

Pink and Green Thursday

2011-07-07T13:56:00.000-05:00

Happy Thursday all. My pink and green finds for the day are from another new site I recently found called Carolina Clover. They have some adorable things so be sure to check them out.

Have a wonderful day.

Linda

Happy 4th Of July

2011-07-04T07:45:00.002-05:00

Wishing you and your family a fabulous weekend.

Linda

A visit to the farmers market

2011-07-02T21:11:00.000-05:00

Today we decided to go to the NC State Farmers Market. Well let me tell you it is the largest farmers market I had ever seen. I couldn't get the building in one shot so the first two shots are the main building.

It was Saturday and it was busy. There were lots of kids so Kyle had so much fun watching all the kids and babies.

This is another building next door. I purchased some moonshine jelly for some neighbors. Kind of as a joke. I wonder what it taste like?

I got a little thirsty so I tried this for the fun of it.

We had a great time. Got lots of yummy fruits and vegetables along with some delicious multigrain bread. They also have a restaurant that we'll have to try next time, but with it being so hot the little guy had enough by this time so we headed home. I was told that they are open year round and have pumpkins etc in the fall and Christmas trees for the holidays. It has spoiled me for all other farmers markets I have to say. Wow so amazing.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Linda

Semi Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-29T10:54:00.000-05:00

For this weeks wordless Wednesday I tought I would share with you some pictures from a trip we took to visit family. A few years ago we went down to Florida to visit our great aunt and uncle. They have always enjoyed flying and building planes. They live on a runway basically. The handful of homes in the area all surround the runway. They all fly and have hangers. They have 2 planes but what is more strange is that I actually went up in one. My husband about fell over when I said I would go. You see I have a fear of heights. Now flying commercial jets doesn't bother me at all, but this is a whole lot different. I told my husband the only reason why I decided to go was first I really trusted his counsins flying abilities and knew that he could get us down if there was a problem and second I felt like this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. How often will I ever get to do this? I had to go. Here is the plane we went up in.

Starting to take off.

Actually off the ground. I have to say my stomach dropped a little bit here.

Some views from the plane.

We flew over the Swanee river.

Here is the runway as we were about to land.

The hanger.

Their second plane.

You have to drive on the runway to get to the house.

All in all it was a scary but fun experience. Hope you enjoyed. Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Linda

Elizabeth McKay Sale

2011-06-28T20:01:00.000-05:00

I just received an email from Elizabeth McKay get 15% off by entering code Summer Fun. I just love her things.

Miscellaneous Monday

2011-06-27T09:03:00.000-05:00

Good morning all,

Well I wish I could say I have been doing a ton of fun things since arriving in NC, but truth be told all we've doing is projects, projects and more projects. It's getting embarrassing, I think the Home Depot staff think we now work there (ha-ha).

The little one did turn 14 months old yesterday though. I took some pictures but haven't transferred them to the computer yet. Here are a few pictures from his second haircut before we left. The kid is only 14 months and has already needed two haircuts. His hair grows so fast. I guess he takes after me with that.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Linda

Semi Wordless Wedneday

2011-06-22T08:49:00.000-05:00

Well this is the last of the Michigan Wolverine clothing for a little while. Hubs says no more of that since we're in Wolfpack country now. :)

Hope you are havng a great Wednesay.

Linda

We finally made it.

2011-06-21T17:08:00.000-05:00

We finally made it to North Carolina after a wonderful weekend. We started off in Michigan for my father's birthday and father's day. On Sunday we headed to the yacht club for a father's day brunch. The little one had so much fun at the lake watching the boats, walking on the docks and putting his feet in the water.

On Monday we headed out and along the way found this perfect little park in West Virginia to have a picnic and let the little one stretch his legs. It was on the Ohio River. It gave us a nice break from the car too.

Monday we made it to our first destination, Lexington, Virginia to stop and see some friends. We had a wonderful time catching up.

This morning we were up bright and early to head to NC. Only a 4 hour drive today. The little one did great the whole way from Michigan. We were so glad. We got the car and trailer unloaded and have lots to put away. The little one is taking the longest nap ever right now. He is tired out. We all have hardly had any sleep the last several days. I think I will sleep good tonight. Hope to catch up with all of you soon.

Linda

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T11:30:00.000-05:00

Wishing all the father's out there a very Happy Father's Day.

Happy Birthday

2011-06-17T09:00:00.002-05:00

I want to wish my wonderful father a very Happy Birthday. He turns 88 today. Luckily we get to spend this day/weekend with him in Michigan. Even though he will be getting some presents, the only present he wants is this little guy :) They are buds and have the best time together. Happy Birthday dad!! We Love You.

Pink and Green Thursday

2011-06-16T10:19:00.000-05:00

For Pink and Green Thursday I wanted to share with you new company I found at a trade show I went to a while back. It is called Studio 59. They had the cutest stuff. You pick out the necklace of your choice such as sterling silver, leather cord, satin cord etc and then pick out the pendant along with any spacer beads. I wish you could see all the cute pendants they had at the show. Their website doesn't seem to show everything.

I ended up getting a green pendant with a pink crab (which doesn't appear to be on their website yet) and the matching cord and spacer beads. It's just perfect for summer.

Happy pink and green Thursday.

Linda

Semi Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-15T09:27:00.004-05:00

Since I will be heading back to North Carolina soon, for semi wordless Wednesday I thought I would share some pictures of North Carolina's coast with you. One of my favorite places.

Currituck Lighthouse

My favorite shop in Jarvisburg, NC. A must see.

Bodie Island Lighthouse

Wright Brothers National Memorial

Beaufort, NC

Have a great day.

Linda

The color red

2011-06-14T10:21:00.000-05:00

Although I love my pink and green, for summer I love the color red and Sur La Table has some outdoor entertaining items that are just perfect for summer cookouts.

Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday. I am back to packing mode. Michigan and North Carolina here we come :)

Pink and Green Thursday

2011-06-09T12:25:00.006-05:00

Happy Thursday all. I have found the perfect site for today and if you are a golf enthusiast this ones for you. It's called Pink and Greens. Don't you just love it? They have some darling items. Check them out if you haven't heard of them before.

Have a great Pink and Green Thursday.

Linda

Semi Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-08T10:37:00.000-05:00

Today I am linking up with Daphne and thought I would give you a few shots of Savannah, GA. We had only stopped there for a few hours on our trip from Florida to Charleston a few years ago. My goal, to go to Paul Deen's restaurant Lady and Son's. You must stop if you are in the area. Oh my word it is sooooo good. It just worked out that we were in town on a Sunday which ended up being perfect because on Sundays they do a buffet instead of ordering off the menu. This way it gives you an opportunity to sample a little bit of everything. So delicious. This is definitely not diet food so throw your diet out the window a day :)

She has her store right next to the restaurant.

I hope to someday go back and spend a little more time exploring Savannah. Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Linda

Beach Bags

2011-06-07T10:10:00.000-05:00

Are you looking for a fun summer bag to carry around while on your beach vacation? Here are a few I found at 4thebeach. This site has all kinds of things for the beach including chairs, towels and beach wear. The sailboat bags are on my list.

Shoes, Shoes and more Shoes

2011-06-06T09:37:00.000-05:00

Good morning. Happy Monday to you all. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We had such nice weather here it was wonderful. Look what I spotted this morning. Oh my word I wish I had this!! How fabulous would this be. I am seriously jealous if any of you have it :)

My week in review

2011-06-04T00:01:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone. Sorry for my lack of posts this week. It's been a little hard with the nephew here for 5 days and our little one teething and not sleeping well. Needless to say I am a bit tired and have hardly been on the computer. The little one has 2 molars and 1 eye tooth that have just started to break through the gum. He is a trooper but night time has not been fun. I can't believe 3 teeth are coming in all at once. Poor little thing. He seems better today though.
On Tuesday we went to the zoo again before our nephew left. Kyle thought he looked cool in his sun hat and shades :)

He and I road the train this time. He had a ball.

We saw lots of animals but I didn't want to bore you with all the photos so here is the bear that Kyle loved.

Picture of Lake Michigan

And my very tired little sweetie on our drive home :)

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

Linda

Happy Friday

2011-05-27T17:07:00.000-05:00

(Image from Fine Stationery)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Our nephew from California is flying in and should be here soon. He will be staying with us until Wednesday. Looks like the weather might improve for us. Yay!! Hope you all enjoy your long weekend.

Linda

For all you plaid lovers

2011-05-24T10:08:00.000-05:00

Oh my word aren't these adorable. I LOVE this lamp. All these are by Jeffrey Banks at HSN. Who knew HSN had such cute things.

Nautical Finds

2011-05-23T10:05:00.000-05:00

I just LOVE when I come across new nautical things I haven't spotted before. Check out all these cuties I found at HSN. They are all calling my name. Hmmm the question, how to order all these and not let the husband see (ha-ha).

Have a fabulous Monday :)

Linda

1st Ferrari

2011-05-21T13:03:00.000-05:00

Only one years old and just got his first Ferrari (ha-ha).

Our friends from Italy sent the little one this fun birthday present. It is soooo cute. No baby music or baby sounds just cool car and racing sounds. I wish you all could hear it. It's hilarious how real it sounds. When my husband and I were visiting our friends in Italy we went to Monza and watched the real Ferrari's race so this was fun that they sent one to Kyle.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Linda

Pink and Green Thursday

2011-05-19T13:25:00.000-05:00

It's Pink and Green Thursday with Miss Trish and for today's finds I came across these little cuties at a site called Casual Living. I think they are just perfect for summer to throw on to run some errands or to run to the store real quick. They also look like they could work as a coverup as well.

Happy Thursday.

Linda

12 month appointment

2011-05-18T14:48:00.000-05:00

We took the little one for his 1 year appointment yesterday. We were a little behind with being in Michigan and all. He did great. He decided he was a big boy and walked from the waiting room all the way back to the examining room which is pretty far since the office is so big. Oh he was so proud of himself. It was too cute. We knew we had a big boy on our hands and the doctor confirmed. He is in the 100% for his height and 97% for weight. The doctor said he is the height of a 2 year old. Both sides of our families are tall so he gets it from both of us. No wonder people are shocked when they ask how old he is and I say he's only 1. He had to get 2 more shots yesterday too and didn't cry. It was amazing. He is growing up so fast.

Hope you all are having a great week.

Linda

Wrinkle Free

2011-05-16T09:51:00.000-05:00

Last year after having our little one, I quickly realized having the ironing board set up like I used to wasn't going to work. I came across my little steamer and have LOVED it.

They are inexpensive and come in several colors. I have this black one and have been really happy with how mine works. Another nice feature is that the cord retracts right into the unit.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Linda

Swinging Away

2011-05-15T16:31:00.000-05:00

The other day when the weather was nice we took the little one for a swing for the first time. He had a ball.

Hope you are all having a great weekend.

Linda