MAKIN UP TIME

I have some time to make up for.

It has been over 75 since my last post.

Good Gracious!

2.  I have refocused myself since the end of February and have lost over 20 pounds.  I have said no to the computer and yes to my gym and elliptical trainer. I have invested my time in myself. 

3. I love my heart rate monitor. It calculates calories burned.  I burn at least 550 calories during my workout everyday PERIOD (.) That is not an easy thing to do everyday.  I keep up with my calories in and calories out daily and have found that this is the system that works for me.  

4.  We have spent some time at the beach this spring, but soccer has kept us home for the most part. 

5. The weather at the beach has been awful too.  So during Barrett's spring break, instead of sitting on the beach, we were housebound and finally got to some of our painting projects. Here she is working on a side table

6. We used Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint on the table and distressed it to look very beachy. I am using it as a nightstand now.  

7. Barrett worked an entire day on a AP Bio assignment outside on the dock  and then the wind blew it into the canal. Panic ensued and then a lot more panic and squealing ensued.....but we came to our senses....ran to the neighbor's dock and fished it out.  out the

8. I had a birthday. Barrett made my cake.  It was yummy.....blueberry lemon.

9.  I enjoyed it! 

10. My girls got me these needlepoint shoes! I love them and they are so comfy! 

11. Barrett went to 1960's theme murder mystery party. 

12. She won best dressed. She wore one of Brooke's newer dresses, my Missoni scarf that was my souvenir from my trip to Italy last year, almost matching platforms, vintage jewelry and my mom's old sunglasses. 

13. Speaking of my mom....I went onto my parent's churches website to look into getting flowers in honor of my mom for Mother's Day and discovered this picture of my parents.....

It was a picture I had never seen before....it was nice....like a little visit from her. 

14. On Easter. my dad joined us at the beach and we fried fish.  I not much of a fried fish person, but it is what he  loves to do and he is good at it.  It was ugly outside that day too.

15. We did get a long bike ride in after the sun came out that afternoon...

16. This can be spotted in downtown Raleigh.............

it is a bar that you sit at and pedal around town.  

17. Brittany is working hard. She has been working the 7 to 7 nightshift at a local hospital as part of her nursing school clinical rotation.  She has been stayed at home a lot this semester. 

18.  She also has a part time job as a nursing assistant at another hospital. She is a busy girl!

 19. BF2 joined us for dinner at the Angus Barn as a belated celebration for Brooke's birthday. Her birthday was March 8th.

20. I love nothing more than shelling while we are at the beach.  I just recently have started finding a little bit of sea glass. I hope the trend continues through out the summer. 

 21. I played Scrabble with Art the other day. He tried to convince me that "pore lord" was a word (and that the "blank" was a free space).  Last time I checked he was not a dermatologist, so he did not get away with it!

22. I hung this boat picture up at the beach house.  This was the picture that hung over my granny's couch forever! I thought it was the fanciest thing when I was a little girl. I forgot I had it in a closet here in Raleigh. It is the perfect picture for the beach house....the colors are perfect and we are decorating in a vintage style. 

23. We got this table for the upstair deck at the beach house ....

24. .....so we could sit and watch this.

25. I saved this guy...

26. I am not so sure how she does it, but #1 can make a mess of her room so quickly.  She spends so much (wasted) time up in her room when she is home putting things away. 

27. Barrett was on an Angels Among Us walk/run team. 

28. I love all of the colors!!

IPHONE DUMP

Let me catch up by dumping my iphone pictures...

these are so random, 

but such is life...

Instead of blogging, I have been sorting and organizing all of the girls' photos...

every baby, preschool, toddler, school, soccer, T ball, ballet and life portrait.

I got this in the mail...

and then went.

(just a little fun info...one of these girl's dad is a professional football payer)

One our favorite italian restaurants closed not too long ago.

The bad news is the couple who owned it divorced.

The good news is that the man opened another small restaurant very close to our house.

We have a new favorite!

I had a date with Jerry Sienfeld...

and he was great!

I have been stalking Instagram. 

Love seeing my girl!

My furry babies got haircuts...

and I made hair bows.

I dug through our cedar closet to find a dress for #3 to wear to a party.

At first she was disappointed  because I wouldn't buy her a new dress,

but...

in the end...

she was gorgeous

and 

happy.

I love hand me downs!

This red velvet dress is from my sister in law.

I have been searching for a rug for our bedroom. I cannot find anything I love enough to commit to.

I really wanted to get a sisal carpet, but I am so afraid of that natural material because 

Mr. Bubbles has several scratching posts that are made of the same material.

I can just see him thinking he had won the lottery when we unrolled a room size scratching post.

YIKES!

I think I have finally decided on getting a carpet cut and bound into a rug...

now I just have to pick the perfect color.

Another Valentine's Day has come and gone.

I am not a fan of Valentine's Day. I think it is so blown out of proportion.

I have girls.....trust me.

Art and I keep it simple.

He has been in and out of town for two weeks, but still took the time and picked out the most beautiful coral color roses.

(He is at the Charlotte airport as I type and will be home in a few hours!)

Lola wore one of the girls' old hairbows for Valentine's Day.

I am so glad I kept them all!

Barrett made Valentines for the first grade class she is an assistant in.

That was fun!

We haven't made Valentines in such a long time.

We have a mole in the yard and Charlie is determined to "get" it.

I am very very tired of washing doodle feet and mouths.

Bubbles is very very tired too....

the boy enjoys his sleep...

in front of the fire...

on the dog bed.

I guess he just gets so worn out from staring at things all day.

We had snow last weekend. 

It was beautiful.

We might have icy roads in the morning.

I know someone who would love a two hour delay!!

FIRED

After twenty three years of having the job of driving three girls around...

I just got fired!

Here is #3 leaving for school on Monday...

after a good little lecture about the roads being wet, traffic, radio listening,

speed limits, school zones and so on (and on and on).

The rules are that when she gets to school she is to call me, so that I can stop worrying.

I texted her to remind her,

just in case she forgot. 

She didn't call, but  texted back... 

I didn't even get to hear how her first drive to school went until she got home!

I have never been the kind of parent that handed over car keys as soon as any of my girls got their driver's license. For now,  #3 will only be allowed to drive to school and back.

We will continue to build and add to that as the weeks go by.  

She also will not be allowed to have any one in the car with her for a while.....

I do not care what the law says.

Tuesday we had to drop the car off at the shop to have one of the windows replaced.

Although it looks like a new car, it is not. It was previously owned, but very well taken care of.

Like with all things used, there are a few little things that need to be adjusted and fixed.

The passenger window squeaked and popped when it was rolled down, the dealer just decided to replace the entire thing since the car is still under warranty. 

They had to keep the car for two days. 

 #3 was so disappointed.

Me?

Not so much.