Weekend update.

After the nasty Heman-woman-haters virus and the death of a family member, we were ready for a relaxing weekend.

Friday night I went to an event with my mom.  It was fun to get dressed up, eat yummy food and drink a few glasses of wine.  I was also able to see a dear friend and that is always fun!

This photo is verification that I am an actual person.  I know that you rarely see me in photographs.  This is mainly because I hate pictures of myself.  This photo is also verification that I can't hold my shoulders back to save my life, my fingernails need painting, and I need to shave my head and just start all over again.

Saturday morning we headed to Hampstead, NC for the day.  Ryan's mom went with us.  We went down to eat breakfast with the Easter Bunny.  It was a fundraiser for my niece's school.  Cool fundraiser, huh?  I thought it was a great idea!

It just so happened that when we got there, the Easter Bunny had a flower in her hair.  Therefore, we actually ate pancakes with the Easter Bunny's sister.

The girls actually took there picture with the Easter Bunny's sister without shedding one tear.  They are growing up, people.  Can you believe it?

They had games, face painting and awesome crafts outside.  We went out and soon the Easter Bunny's sister followed.

Of course the girls stared at the Bunny playing a game.  Suddenly Caroline noticed something.

She noticed that the Bunny was in fact an imposture.  She did a small gasp and quickly turned around to inform us that she saw inside the Bunny's head when the Bunny bent down.

"I saw it!  I saw the hair!  It looked like Mrs. Arthur!"  (Mrs. Arthur is her teacher.)

I don't think she ever announced that the Bunny was a fake loud enough for anyone else to hear.  She totally ruined it for Emma though.  Emma would have never noticed the detached portion of the head on the costume.  She didn't seem to mind that the Bunny was a fake though.

After the Easter Bunny fiasco 2013, we went to visit my SIL's house and sat on the beach for a little while.

The girls and I have definitely been longing for salt air in our hair.  I could have stayed out there all day.  The breeze was really cool though and the girls decided to get in the water a little.  Their dresses got a little wet so we left soon after because they were freezing.

Saturday ended with 800 hush puppies, a half pound of spicy shrimp and a glass of wine (with ice).

Later in the evening, I met this creature...

Freak.Me.Out.

They didn't even kill him.

He is just roaming around the shop were the boys are always working.

I dreamed of spiders crawling in my ears Saturday night.

Ugh!  I still get the chills looking at that thing.

I created a poster that I need to print and send with Ryan to hang up over there.

Our great weekend ended with Preschool Sunday.  Emma sang at the church where she goes to preschool.  She is awesome and we were all so proud of her.  We had a great lunch and a relaxing rest of the day.

We are already looking forward to this weekend.

Ice, ice baby

Ice is always so pretty to photograph.

The sun came out just a bit this afternoon and I ran outside to get a few pictures.

Ice + sun= so much fun

I love this picture.

I was playing with the sun when I was taking this shot so I wasn't even paying too much attention to the tree.

I love the one little leaf in the middle hanging on for dear life.

My pillows ice over and the girls thought that was so cool.

Now, ice... please go away.  We don't like you.

BOOK LIST 2013

So far, I know I want to read:

- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

- The Shack by WM. Paul Young

- Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

- Life As I Blow It by Sarah Colonna

- The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

- Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reilly

- The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

- Jigsaw by Ted Mill Brogden

- The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

- To Kill a Mockingbird  by Harper Lee

- It Sucked and Then I Cried by Heather B. Armstrong (why have I not read this book yet?  Dooce is my favorite blog ever and I haven't read her books.  Shame on me.)

- Dear Daughter by Heather B. Armstrong

- Bossypants by Tina Fey

What other fabulous books should I read this year?  I need loads of suggestions.  I have to get through 28 books.

Bull

My Nana recently gifted me with two fire engine red ceramic vintage bulls.

Most people could care less.

But me?  I am so excited.  More than excited really.  I am superduperoverthemoongiddy.

Here's the story...

I recently went to Bonfire's with my Mom and she noticed a bull they had out as decor.

"Nana had a bull just like that."

It was ugly.

It was brown.

It was big and bucky.

In other words, I loved it.

LOVED. IT.

Come to find out there were actually TWO big, ugly brown bulls in our family.  One of which is now sitting comfortably in my uncle's dining room.  The other's whereabouts are unknown at this time.

Brandon was not giving his up.

So, I moved on.

I gave up.

"One day when you least expect it, the bull will be found," I told myself.

Well, no such luck.  However, good things come to those that wait.

BAM!

Two bulls instead of one.

Red.

Not brown.

Red!

So kick ass.

So awesome.

So me.

Nana saw them and snatched them up.

She gave them to me because she is the best Nana in the world.

I love her.

I love them.

I have moved them around a million times today.

I am going to find the perfect place for them.

They belong to ME and I couldn't be more thrilled.

My Nana rocks, yes?

Why there is no Fashion with Big

Caroline was born with guns blazing.

Eyes wide open (literally).

Ready to take on this world and not back down.

She definitely marches to the beat of her own drum.

So, when someone recently asked "Why don't you do a Fashion with Big segment on your blog too?"

I chuckled a little.

Obviously, my Caroline is NOT a dressy bessy like her sister.

She does have a few staples in her closest.

1. Cotton shirts with the occasional cardigan...

Some are Crew Cuts, The Children's Place, Old Navy, 7 For All Man Kind, Polo, etc.  She could care less.  As long as it is cotton and comfy.  She is down with it.  Dresses are a battle that I don't like to fight.

2.  Merrell Tennis Shoes

She picked these out.  She thought the toggle was super cool.  The fact that they are waterproof is even more cool.  She will jump in a puddle in a hot minute.  "Look Mom!  Waterproof!"  Yeah, but your jeans are not sweet child.

3.  Launch Slouch Boots

Big got these for Christmas and they are already scuffed so badly.  Damn scooter.  She loves them.  She says they are "com-fort-a-ble".  Therefore, she wears them.

4.  Pants/Shorts

Girlfriend loves jeans, khakis, and athletic shorts.  She HATES leggings and skirts.  Let's not even talk about tights.

So, in short, Big isn't into glitter/glitz/glam (thought she does love a peace sign).  She has a few key pieces and they all equal comfort.  She has her own sense of style but in a much different way than Bug.

Both girls are always dressed cute.

The girls are just so different in so many ways.  Fashion just happens to be one of them.

I guess since Bug doesn't express herself in so many words, clothes are her way to express herself.

Big expresses herself in words and she has NEVER been short on them.

Fashion with Bug {13:2}

This is also one of Bug's favorite outfits.

 

She normally wears a skirt AND leggings with it but she didn't mention the skirt yesterday morning and I didn't bring it up.  Ha!

 

 

Shirt: The Children's Place

Leggings: The Children's Place

Shoes: Uggs

 

 

She insisted that I curl her hair.  She also requested her purple sparkle jacket and pink & purple bow.

 

 

This kid loves animals.  She loves dogs, cats, goats, pigs... you name it, she loves it.

There is a black and white dog that has been roaming the neighborhood during the day.  While we were taking pictures yesterday morning, she came to visit Bug.

It made Bug's whole morning!

 



She is not trying to bite Bug's face off.  She loves Bug so much she tries to lick and kiss her over and over again.  Gross, I know.

 

The dog is not very fond of me because I am constantly yelling at it to get off Bug.

 



 

 Bug wouldn't come inside to get her backpack and snack.

She HAD to stay outside with black and white dog.

Then she let black and white dog get in my car.

Gross, I know.

I yelled.

Black and white dog hopped out.

We sanitized hands, faces, etc.

We were off to school.

Don't you worry though.  Black and white dog came back for an afternoon visit.

 

That Bug makes me smile. 

Old Christmas

If you are close to me, you know I am superstitious.

I am OCD on top of that.

In other words, I am crazy.

If I forget and I have to come back in the house to get it, I have to sit down and cross my legs (superstitious).  I have to cross and uncross them 3 times (OCD).  Do you follow?  It is strange.  I can't help it.

Anyway, my great grandma Reba was superstitious as well.

There is this thing called "Old Christmas".  I have always heard the term but I just did a little research and found out what "Old Christmas" is.

You can read all about it here but in short, in 1582 the Julian calendar was replaced with the Gregorian calendar.

However, Protestant Europe kept the old Julian calendar for almost 200 years longer than everyone else setting them back 11 days when they switched calendars.  Therefore after the calendar switched, Christmas was moved back from January 6th to December 25th.

These protestants raised hell claiming the 11 days had been stolen from them.  Blahblahblah.

North Carolina was oblivious to all of this calendar changing/loss of 11 days.  (Opps.)

So, North Carolina was still celebrating on the old Christmas date, January 6th.

And so "Old Christmas" was born when we started celebrating with the rest of the people on December 25th.

According to the website, some people don't remove ashes from their fireplaces during those days because they were superstitious.

Then there are those crazies like me that will not wash my sheets from Christmas (Decemeber 25th) to "Old Christmas" (January 6th).

If my Grandma Reba told us not to do it, we better not.

To be on the safe side we've carried on with the tradition.  My Mom, Aunt, and Nana will not wash our sheets.  What have we got to lose?  We don't have to wash sheets AND we don't have bad luck.  It is a win/win.

Washing sheets between Christmas and "Old Christmas"= bad luck

That is not something I have ever wanted so I do everything in my power to keep luck on my side.

So now that you understand "Old Christmas" and know that I don't wash sheets during those 11 days, today was the day I could finally wash these babies that we got for Christmas...

1600 thread count.

Smooth as silk.

Merry day after "Old Christmas"!

Here's to a good nights rest on a super soft, *fresh* bed.

Sweet dreams.

Fashion with Bug 2013

If there was ever a little girl who loved clothes, it is Bug.

She gets more excited over clothes than toys.

These are her two favorite things right now...

1st favorite... Sparkly peace sign outfit

Shirt: The Children's Place

Skirt: The Children's Place (similar here)

Boots: Ugg

2nd... Sparkly outfit with Emily

Bug is excited about her first day back to school!!

Food.

Shew.

Christmas Eve is over.

Christmas is over.

The trees were down the day after Christmas.

Boxes were taken to the trash dump.

Brown family Christmas in Harkers Island is over.

We have eaten.

And eaten.

And eaten.

The number on the scale is scary.

New Years Eve is over.

We ate... a lot.

New Years Day is over.

School started back today.  As much as I was ready for it, I dreaded it.

I thought preschool started Monday... it didn't.  It started today.  Emma wasn't there.

January 2nd is almost over.

I will upload pictures eventually.

I will share Christmas stories soon.

But tonight, it is over.

The day is done.

I am laying on the couch, watching DVRed shows and movies.

I am also reading The Diary of Anne Frank.

Goodnight world.

See you with my still-full-belly tomorrow.

(Did I mention how much we have eaten in the last week?)

I hope you all had an awesome and FULL Christmas and New Year.