It was a field trip!

*warning! The lighting in the pics ahead is def. less than ideal for photography.. so just bare with me ;) *

We headed down to the big city yesterday to this awesome science museum called the Discovery Place! We have actually been twice now and I have not posted any pics... can you believe that!? so some of these pics may be from our first or second visit.  This place is geared all to the kiddos with a little adult discovery as well.

In the kid area they have this huge water table that my girl loved... we all know by now she is not afraid of the water ;)

Emma and my lil sis Lauren

 

Needless to say.. she was soaking wet when we left the water area :)

My favorite part of the Discovery Part was this HUGE light bright looking thing they had. I loved my light brigh when I was younger but this one was much cooler than anything I have seen in a while.

So much fun!! I wanted to take all the pegs out and push the kids to the side so I could make a flower or something ;)

Another big hit was the wind tunnel. You were supposed to put on these super hero capes and goggles and stand in front of the wind tunnel... get the picture!? Well little E was having nothing to do with is.. soo of course we had to show her how it was done ;)

my sis.. the cutest little super hero around ;)

They also had lots of hands on expieraments for everyone to try. Here are a few of the other pics from our trip!

figuring it out!

Coolest frog ever... can you see him ;)

Derek giving E a helping hand!

 

 The pot and pan band

She had to pull herself up using this rope.. and she was crazy enough to add an extra 25 lbs

Derek rocking the pink bookbag... he carried it all day for me! He is the best :)

I hope you all enjoyed our pics from our little trip to the big city yesterday. We had a blast! I will def. be going back in the next week or two because they will be opening a rain forest and aquarium.. FUN!

Happy Tuesday Friends!! 

Weekend Snipits...

This weekend has been so full of wonderful things! I love having time with my family and there was def. enough family time this weekend to go around :)

On Saturday Emma and I took the whole day pretty much and spent it with my dad. We had him all to ourselves the first half of the day...which hardly ever happens. We just hung out and spent some time on the lake.

yes this is an unedited pic... havent had time for all of that ;)

The lake is our favorite place to be.

 After we hung out and spent the morning with Dad, Emma had been invited to a swimming party so we headed over there. I wish so bad I had a video of that girl. She just jumps off the diving board like a champ these days. I dont catch her and keep her from going under or anything anymore (however she does have a little floatie thing on). After she jumps she then proceeds to swim her happy little hiney to the ladder and gets out and does it all over again! Unbelievable if I do say so myself ;)

On Sunday I spent the day with some of my most favorite men. My dad, Derek, my Grandaddy, and my Pop.

 

from L to R my dad, grandaddy, derek, and pop!

There they are hanging out at the outside bar at my moms house.

We cooked a little, ate alot and laughed even more....

Silly Grandaddy

Check this out.. this is my Grammy "teaching" Emma to hula hoop!

 

 

my sweet momma

See! Its not just me.. we are allll a little crazy ;)

Today we spent time at the local science museum called the Discovery Place.. but that is a whole 'nother post!

But before I sign out for the night I just wanted to leave you with something to make you smile... I just could not resist snapping these pics today.. and thought you all might enjoy them as well....

                  

                                                        

Oh how I love that farmer tanned, potty training, newpaper reading, little princess!!

Fun on Fridays!

Since I have played along in the infamous Five Question Friday with the ever so loverly Mama M! So since the Friday is officially here I am going to get in on some blog hop fun :) I am also for the first time linking up with Blogging From Bolivia for a photogaphy blog hop she does called Macro!

So without dragging this out any longer... the questions this week are:

1. What is your favorite thing about summertime?

This is a hard one because I love EVERYTHING about summer time. I love that the days are longer, time by the pool, cute summer clothes, vacations, and ice cream. All of that said I think that my fav. part of summer has to be Flip-Flops! I lurve my flip flops.. I wear them every.single.day from the first day of semi warm weather all the way until I get frostbit the first time in the winter ;) Did I mention I love my flip-flops?!

2. What is your ideal retirement location (if money didn't matter)?
In a maxed out huge RV. That way I could travel anywhere I wanted to go and feel right at home. There would be no limit to where we could go and travel.  I want nothing more than to be able to travel all over the US (and Canada too now since my Kate is up there!) with the hubster and just be carefree.

aaahhh... a girl can dream right?!


3. Do you live in the same town you grew up in?
I do! I have never really left either. I mean maybe for a few months or something here and there but I was born and raised here. I love it here... perfect location. We are located about 15 +/- miles outside of Charlotte, NC So we have the small town feel with all the perks of big city life. Love it!

4. What nervous habit did you have as a child that you kicked to the curb before becoming an adult?
I guess I am still not an adult. I can't think of any nervous habit that I have "outgrown" I have always been a nail biter... guess I consider that my nervous habit!?


5. What is the most embarrassing thing that happened to you while on the job? 
Bahahahaha ... this is so funny! Can't believe I am going to tell you really... BUT..
 
When I first started my Nanny"ing" job three + years ago I was getting ready for my wedding. My boss at the time was really into being fit and all kinds of exercising type stuff. So it was a perfect match. We made a work out plan that we did everyday while the little one napped (it was before E) Soo we were on like day two of our "plan" and we were doing crunches. Well I was trying really hard to seem in shape and was like "yea.. I got this" then it happened... right in the middle of one of my crunches I FLUFFED! I could not believe it! I was SOOOO embarassed. We both started to laugh extremely hard and it happened again!! I could have rolled over and died right there on the spot.
 
Oh it was sooo embarassing!
 
Alright well there ya have it my 5QF.. embarassing story and all! I hope y'all have a fabulastic weekend!! We will be spending ours wrapped up in family. My dad is coming into town today so we will be soaking up every minute with him :)


Now onto Macro...

I am just starting to get into these photography blog hops.. they are alot of fun! Here is my pic for the week

 

We were visiting our local botanical gardens and a light rain shower decided to visit with us. I got busy and snapped this shot.. I thought it turned out pretty neat!

 

If you would like to join in head on over to Blogging From Bolivia and link up!

My First Before/After

My buddy Courtney has been trying to get me to join in on the blog hop fun for a few weeks now. I must admit I have been a bit resistant because my editing skills are far from where they need to be. I am still a newby at all this photography stuff :) So be easy on me!

This picture was taken while we were on vacation this past weekend.. we headed up to the mountains and had alot of fun playing in the creeks.

                                                                          Before

After... 

 

I did not do too much to this picture. Just lightened it up a little but and messed with the color a smidge. Actually think I may have given it just a touch to much saturation now that I look at it on here. I am a work in progress though :)

I took this picture with my Canon Rebel XSi and edited using Photoshop Elements 8 (that I got this past week.. going to take a while to figure that one out!)

Thanks so much for stopping by and hopefully things will get a little more interesting as I learn more!

If you want to head play along head on over and link up!!

 

Weekend Getaway

This past weekend (yes I realize it is now Wednesday and I should have posted this a few days ago.. but.. well... I have no excuses! Better late than never right?!) we headed up to Boone, NC and spent the weekend in my Aunt and Uncles precious little mountain cabin.

The cabin was wonderful.. has its own little private drive, tons of beautiful flowers, and was set right in the middle of the mountains. Beautiful!

 

Everybody was all smiles!

We spent alot of our time just exploring the area around the cabin. Emma did not care where we went or what we were doing she just wanted to be outside. Its like she knew there were no cars so we would not fuss about where she was walking. She loved it!

D was still in his work clothes.. but there was no time to change clothes.. miss priss was ready to go!

We also spent alot of time down by the creek near the house. Rock hopped a bit and just enjoyed the moment.

Skipping rocks.. well trying to anyways ;)

It was a perfect weekend getaway... we may be using it has a hideout a little more often ;)

what would YOU do?

Im baaack!

This past weekend we headed to the mountains for a short little two night get-away. We had a wonderful relaxing time. Creek stomped a little bit, found a cool private park, yummy suckers from the Mast General Store... well more on that later ;)

As most of you know I became a SAHM just a little over a week ago. It is very exciting for me but a tid bit scary financially.

Soo last week the family I nannied for was overseas on a family vacation  and today was their first day at daycare and "school"

Tonight I get a call from my old employer saying that her youngest daughter S is running a fever and will not be able to go to daycare tomorrow. Everyone was betting on how long it would take her to call me.. but one day!? WOW that is nuts.  So where I run into a bit of a dilemma is that I am all about the extra money (Heellooo we are broke!) and DH is all about I dont think it is smart to expose Emma to unnecessary sick germs etc etc.

What do you think? I am scared to burn to many bridges because I am afraid then she wont call me for babysitting ya know.. but I also feel like I need to honor my husbands concerns as well?!

Give it to me! Your Honest opinion here ;)

Five Good things....

I have not been a good bloggy friend lately and have missed alot of blog hops! Today I am going to join in with Miss Keely and do the "Thursday Five"

All you have to do to play along is list 5 things that made you happy this week then head on over to her blog and link up! Easy Peasy :)

1. This week is the first week of me being a SAHM! I am really enjoying it so far. We have filled our day full of fun activities and lots of snuggles. Its the best.

2. We are heading out Saturday to go to the mountains and celebrate the Hubsters Bday. We are really excited to get away for a couple of nights. Emma loves the outdoors so I am sure she will love it up there.

3. Little E is learning to swim and is doing great. She is already jumping off the diving board and swimming to the ladder (with a little help of course ;)

4. I am all caught up on my laundry for the week. This is major! Like never ever happens..so relieved to not have this huge mountain of clothes staring at me everytime I enter my room.

5. This is the big one.. you ready?!!? I just got asked to do my first photo session!!! Now if you know me at all you know that I am def. not a pro in the photography biz but I am gradually getting a little better. I will be shooting a mother to be. So if you know of any good ideas or blogs that may have good ideas please let me know! I am very nervous but soooo excited :)

Well thats my week.. how about you? What were some good things that happened around your house this week?