Thank goodness it's washable!

Summer Recap

Where the heck did this summer go????  I had such a fun, amazing summer with my two girls (and my sweet hubby, can't forget about him :).  I'm so glad I decided to keep the girls out of daycare the whole summer.  I'm sad that now I'm back at work and they're back in daycare all day... but, such is life.
Here are some of my accomplishments this summer.  (I like to put them all in one place so I can feel like I was productive :)

• Painted/redecorated two bathroomspainted the guest bathroom
• Got my whole coupon system in place (and saved, on average, 45% on my groceries this summer!)
• Went to the mountain house 3 times
• Went to Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill
• Went to Hilton Head Island
• Went to a few movies in the theater (it sure has been a while since I've done this!)
• Read several books, which, if you didn't know, is a great accomplishment for me!  I read:
• Heaven is for Real
• Water for Elephants
• Little Earthquakes
• The Choice
• The Help (in progress!)
• Had a professional wedding album made (6 years later... better late than never?)

One of my goals with Sydney was to do a lot of "school" type work with her, so that she was continuing to learn when she wasn't at school.  I had printed off all of these worksheets that involved things like tracing numbers and letters (something she is a little too young for), circling the bigger item/smaller item, finding certain shapes, counting, etc.  While my goal of having a set time daily of doing school work didn't pan out, she did do these worksheets sporadically.  However, I found that what was more successful was to just talk to Sydney and teach her things that way... ask her questions, show her things, repeat things over and over.  I'm proud to say that these are some of her accomplishments this summer:

• almost staying in the lines when coloring.
• stating her birthday.
• counting (she has made it up to 70!  However, a lot of times she mixes up thirty/forty/fifty etc. and does them out of order.)
• knowing her full name, my and Stephen's full names, her address, and the city and state she lives in.
• turning on her CD player and pressing play. (this is random, but I was amazed- it's hard to do, even for me!)
• playing on my iphone and knowing how to get to the camera to take pictures of herself!
• knowing which way is left and right.
• having manners... this girl is the queen!  She corrects everybody when they don't say "yes, ma'am" or "no, sir".  She says "please" and "thank you" and "May I...". 
• Knows her letters and letter sounds.
• Can sound out how to spell words... for example, I would say "pig" and break down each letter sound, and she would tell me what letters spell the word!
• Can write some letters- H, S, O, U, and C.

I'm sure there are a hundred other things she learned... this girl is one smart cookie.  I didn't really think about what all she knows until I got the curriculum for her next class- she's starting early for the "3s" class (which will be kids who are going to be a grade above her, but with a September birthday, she's close enough and more than ready to move on)- and the "A Beka"curriculum for the year included learning their letters (which I assume means writing them, too) and counting to 30.  I'm thinking, this girl has already got this down! 

And sweet Taylor has accomplished so much this summer- when she left daycare last May, she wasn't sitting up, holding her bottle, moving herself places on the floor, feeding herself, etc.  Her teachers couldn't believe how much she's grown and learned over the summer! 

So, I rate this summer very successful.  I wish it would have lasted longer, but the kids come back on Monday so reality is certainly back!

Resemblance?

I'm not kidding you when I say this... I have had around 15 people (not just people... perfect strangers!) tell me that Taylor looks like a Cabbage Patch Kid doll!  It's getting to be quite humorous.  It all probably started about 3 months ago.  Some people have commented on Facebook to various pictures of Taylor saying she looks like one... others have been totally random in public- at restaurants, in stores, etc. 

So, I thought I would compare...  What do you think?



Wow, I think I actually see it!

Red-Head!

Check out how much red Taylor's hair has in it!  In the sunlight, it is amazing to see- it almost looks like I highlighted her hair.  (Don't worry, I didn't... yet.  I'm waiting until she gets on Toddlers and Tiaras and then... bring on the hair dye!)  The camera doesn't quite capture what it's like, but you'll get an idea.  Stephen's mother's father had bright red hair, so it must be coming from him.  I'm curious to see what color hers ends up being!

Mini Home Makeover

Two projects I was determined to do this summer involved two of our bathrooms... the half-bath downstairs, and the guest bathroom upstairs.  The downstairs bathroom was something we had painted right when we moved in... we wanted a cheery yellow with sage green accents.  It kind of had a country feel.  Oh, and the "cheery yellow" turned out to be an "IN YOUR FACE SUNSHINE YELLOW!" in the small bathroom.  So, after about 5 years, I was ready to move on.

I'm a sucker for blue.  Good thing, because now 4 rooms in our house are blue. :)  We had a good amount of paint left-over from when I painted the kitchen nook , so I used that to paint the half-bath.  I bought a bunch of dark brown accents... a shelf, pictures, new handtowels, new soap dispenser, etc.  All from places like Ross and Kirklands, so I got great deals.  Stephen and our neighbor put up crown moulding.  I wish I had before pictures, but I don't... but here are some after ones!

The addition of crown moulding.

Moving on to the upstairs guest bathroom... our guest bath was horribly designed.  It's not a big space, and they put a door separating the sink area from the shower area, and it was so tight that you could really only shut the door if you were standing in the shower.  Stephen took the whole door out, and we painted the door frame, so now it's like one big room.  We hadn't done any painting previously, so the walls were still that builder-beige.  I wanted a neutral color, in case I ever wanted to change up the shower curtain color.  I painted the walls a really nice looking tan, and bought some accessories to match in with the brown/light torquoise blue color scheme.  Check it out!

A view from the hallway...  no more second door!

Here's a better look at the wall color.

So glad these are done with!  I'm trying to convince my handsome, smart, sweet, wonderful husband (Stephen, are you reading this?) to get a professional painter to paint all of our walls in the house this color... it's so soothing, and the perfect shade that's not too light and not too dark!  We'll see if that happens...

Calling all flower experts!

I have this plant in my garden that has grown to be a pretty good size.  Now, my thumb is far from green, and I hate to admit this, but I have no idea if this is a plant or a weed!!  I have done a lot of planting/replanting over the years, so I have no clue if this is something I planted or  not.  It does fill in the corner of our garden pretty well, so I've just left it.  If you happen to know if it's a keeper or not, will you please let me know?  Many thanks. Don't want the HOA chasing after me. ;)

Summer Vacay

Stephen, Sydney, Taylor, and I ventured to Hilton Head Island last Friday to meet up with Stephen's cousin, Randy, and his wife, Ashley.  We rented a condo for a week together in HHI.  It was funnnnn!  I must say, Hilton Head is one of my most favorite places in the world.  It is so peaceful, so non-commercialized, so safe, so laid-back.  I love seeing bikes everywhere, I love how nice everything is in the town, I love how people just sit on the city benches reading books.  It sits surrounded by the ocean, but the town doesn't scream "BEACH!".  Love it.

Ok, so, let me recap our week.

Friday: We arrived in HHI around 4 PM after a non-eventful trip.  Randy and Ashley arrived around the same time from south GA.  We got settled in the condo, walked around a bit, and then headed out to dinner at a place called Truffles.  We headed home and got settled, all kind of tired from the long drives!

Sydney and Uncle Randy at Truffles.

Sweet Taylor!  She kept checking out the people next to us, prompting them to always talk to her. 

Saturday: Saturday morning, we hit the pool at our condo.  The pool was perfect.  It was right out our back door, and there was a regular pool, along with a lazy river, fountains, and a kiddie pool that was anywhere from 4" to 1 foot deep, with shower-like faucets that sprayed water.  It was so nice, because it wasn't a huge effort to have to get to the pool... much needed with a toddler and a baby, who were on different schedules.  We literally were out at the pool for hours, and then we went to a seafood restaurant for dinner.  Afterwards, we went to these cute shops, got some ice cream, and walked to the beach to take a look. 

A view of the pool.

Ashley and Randy!

Ca you tell she didn't want to leave the beach?

Sunday:  We hit the pool bright and early for about an hour, and then we watched the women's USA soccer team play around lunchtime.  Stephen and Randy went to go play golf all afternoon.  I went on a walk with the girls to some shops just to get out for a bit, but not in the sun.  Ashley and I cooked some dinner at the condo that night, and we hung out at the condo, watched TV, etc.

We ran into a "cool" firetruck on our walk.

Look who's next to each other!

Monday:  Today, we decided to hit the beach.  We got there, and it was so crowded, and the water was really murky.  But, besides that, it was just plain hot.  I mean, there was no getting away from the heat.  Poor Taylor was miserable.  We didn't have any sort of cover for her to sit under, and her floppy little hat wasn't helping much.  Sydney had fun in the ocean, and Taylor cooled off a bit during her first dip in the ocean.  We played some with sand toys, but after about 45 minutes, we decided to pack up and head back to the pool.  Taylor was much happier here. :)  That night, we went out for Japanese/sushi and then hung out at those same shops as Saturday night. 

 

Tuesday:  Today was another golf day for Randy and Stephen, so Ashley and I decided to hit the mall and the outlet stores... I think we needed a little break from the sun!  We spent most of the afternoon there, and I was able to score some new clothes for school.  We grilled steaks that night, and played Taboo until late.

Fun rides at the outlet stores.  Forget about shopping!

The cool new shades I bought for Taylor.

First french-braid attempt.

Wednesday: Today was a long pool day!  We started early, with a break in the middle for the girls to nap, and then did an impromptu swim with Sydney in her clothes that afternoon.  That evening, we headed to Harbour Town in Sea Pines to look around and eat dinner.  With a 2 hour wait at the main restaurant there, though, we decided to head back toward the condo for dinner.  We settled for another seafood restaurant... when in Rome, right?

All dry...

but not for long!

 

Thursday: Though The Weather Channel said there was a 50% chance of storms every day we were here, today was the only day we saw signs of bad weather.  Bright and early, Stephen joined me and Randy for a run on the beach.  We then invaded the game room at the condo and played ping-pong, fooz-ball, and air hockey, while Sydney played on the train table.  Later, Sydney and the gang went to the pool while I stayed in while Taylor took a 2+ hour nap.  Got some more reading in.  When the thunder started, everyone came back inside, and I decided to head out on a solo shopping trip.  We packed up, did some laundry, ordered pizza in, watched Big Brother, and went to bed!

The game room.

Randy beat me here, but I dominated in ping pong!

Friday: We hit the road bright and early!  See ya next time, HHI... it was fun!