Well it's Christmas time and we are starting to get our projects wrapped up around the house. We have a few more rooms to paint and lights to switch around but there's no rush. I really just wanted to blog this time so you can see a picture of my tree before Claire totally rearranges it. I have been finding little piles of ornaments in obscure places around the house. I discovered the other day that Barbie also no longer has a foot and there is a star with some beads missing. For some reason she still puts everything in her mouth.
I will be posting some more pics soon of the other Christmas decor that we put up but it's not quite finished yet. Merry Christmas!

The Move.

Well we are moved. Moved but not settled. It will be two weeks tomorrow and we have succeeded at getting 4 rooms painted, the shutters and front doors painted, a few lighting fixtures changed, curtains hung in 4 rooms and the lawn seeded and fertilized. This doesn't sound like a lot but it feels like we have been working non-stop. We have also managed to get half of our stuff unpacked and the rest will come soon. It's not fun living out of boxes. Poor Claire asked to go home for about a week and I think she finally grasped that the new house is our home. As tempted as I have been to drive by the old house I think that it would thoroughly confuse her.
I have to say it is still a little surreal to me. We had been praying for so long that we would sell our house and when it seemed like the worst time to have a house on the market, our prayer was answered. God truly is amazing.
For those of you that have helped us in whatever way to get here and get our stuff here "Thank you!" We couldn't ask for better friends and family.

Can you say PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES?

With the fall weather finally showing up, my love for pumpkin stuff was starting to fill my brain. So I just couldn't help myself. I made a pumpkin pie on Thursday and by the time that was gone I had an idea for Pumpkin whoopie pies. I have all this pumpkin that I need to use up before we move so I'm sure I will be baking more stuff soon. Will I post picture of it, probably not because nothing looks as good as whoopie pies.

Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to the pumpkin patch with Aunt Sarah before she left. Claire enjoyed all the things they had for kids to play on and the hayride we took around the farm. This was the first hayride for Claire and she was mesmerized. I wish we could have gotten a picture of her face when the tractor started pulling the wagon. She was sooo excited. Then they dropped us at the "pumpkin patch" to pick out our pumpkins. Claire again, totally excited, could not focus on one pumpkin.

So we finally got one for each of us and headed back to the stand where I enjoyed a Berry Cider slushie( yes slushie, it was 80 here today) and Claire had a white chocolate sucker shaped like a candy corn and Sarah got a caramel apple and a slushie. It has been a lot of fun introducing Claire to all the things that come with Fall. She gets so excited about every new thing. I can't wait until Christmas rolls around.

Disney on Ice

We took Claire and Lucas to see Disney on Ice this weekend. It consisted of Cars, , The Little Mermaid, Lion King and Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell is her newest obsession so she was excited. We parked at the South Blvd. light rail station and rode the train into town. I don't think I have ever seen Claire this excited. She couldn't sit still. Then we watched the show which was about 2 hours long and she sat still almost the entire time. She was so entertained. Then we took the train back. Again very excited but at this point they were pretty tired and so were we. I bought Claire a souvenier but she didn't know it until we got to the car. (I couldn't keep up with a kid, diaper bag, purse, and a souvenier all at the same time.) So you'll see Tinkerbell shoes in some of the pics after we got home. That was the souvenier and she loves them. She's been guarding them and putting them in a special place at night.

Long time no blog.....

I know it has been forever since I blogged. We have been on three trips, sold our house, and will be moving next week. Pretty crazy. I will put up some new slideshows of our trips and post on our newest adventures. Thanks for being patient.

First Haircut

I decided that it was time for Claire to have her first haircut. It has been so hot here and her hair has been growing so fast and I thought it would be good to shorten it up a bit. My sister is an amateur barber ( she cuts my dad's and Lucas' hair) so we asked if she would cut Claire's hair and of course she said yes. So we were armed with a new Veggietales DVD and a bag full of DumDums. She did great and my sister did a great job too. Even Frank's parents got to watch on the web cam and I think they really enjoyed sharing that experience. So now she looks like a big girl and she is constantly saying "sucker?" just to see if we'll give in and hand over the DumDums.

Quick Visit with Sean and Sarah

Aunt Sarah and Uncle Sean flew back from Rhode Island last week and they planned it so that there layover in Charlotte would be a few hours long. So Claire and I went to the airport and scooped them up for a quick bite to eat. We were a little early for lunch so we stopped and played outside the fountain at the Southpark Mall and then we went to Brixx at Foxcroft. Sean has never had Brixx before and it's one of our favorite places so we thought he would enjoy it. It was brief but we loved seeing them. Claire especially loved seeing Sean. Now we have to look at his pictures everyday on Facebook so Claire can get her fix. I don't think Sarah likes to look at him as much as Claire does. Crazy huh?

Ballet

Claire loves to watch Sesame Street and last week there was a whole show on Ballet. There was one segment where all the characters were wearing tutus, so I ran upstairs and got the one that she wore for her birthday. She was thrilled!! So anyway I took lots of pics and video and I tried to pick the best ones to put on here. Who knows maybe she'll like ballet when she's a little older. (It might help her to slow down and focus a little bit.)

Mario Kart Wii!

Claire loves to "play" Mario Kart with her daddy. Check out this pic!

Buggies!

Recently Claire has been obsessed with bugs. Check out this video.

Memorial Day Weekend

Well, alot went on this past weekend. Lucas turned 3 on Friday and we had a small get together at the Saunders' house. The kids had fun but fought over the balloons when they weren't eating cake. Then on Saturday we went to a cookout at my cousin's house. No pics because I forgot the camera. Sunday after we got home from church Claire decided to play in the back yard in her dress and that thing in her mouth is her "Made in China" rubber duckie. Safe huh?

Monday we went to Jon and Cecile's for a cookout. It was great and we had fun playing in the back yard with a frisbee. Except Claire would go get it but didn't want to give it back. Tuesday we played in the backyard. I put the slide in the pool and Claire had a blast. Watch the video.
Then later that evening we met my Mom, Dad, Jen, Saunders, Lucas and my Brother for dinner. My brother Chris was in town for the day playing golf with the parents. It was nice to see him and he seems to be doing really well. Well that's all for now. Pretty soon we should have pics from the Water Park at Carowinds. Can't wait for our first trip there.

Charleston

We started off our trip at Carowinds so Frank could have a chance to ride some rides with Claire and we thought she would be worn out enough to sleep all the way to Charleston. NOT! Instead I sat in the backseat and we watched Finding Nemo. Great movie but not what I had planned. Our first night there was pretty uneventful and the next day we started by going to the beach. Claire had a blast but we could only handle so much. Who has enough energy to run after that girl for more than two hours straight? Not me. So then we had lunch at Woody's Pizza in Folly Beach. Definitely a must, if you go there. We had the the Antipasta and the White Pizza. Yummy!

Then we went to the outlets for a bit and walked around and watched some pretty cool planes come in. I didn't know there was an Air Force base in Charleston until we got there. Pretty neat. Then we rode around and saw The Citadel and caught and glimpse of some aerobatic planes that were part of the Harbor Fest. After that we walked around King Street and then back down Meeting street where the restaurants are and our hotel. We wanted to stop and eat at a local place but after all the riding in the stroller Claire was not going to wait in line for 30 mins. to eat. We stopped at Sticky Fingers BBQ and the wait staff was so great. They could tell that Claire was a little annoyed about being confined to a highchair so they brought her crayons, a balloon, and treasure chest full of toys to pick from. Needless to say Claire was unhappy with all of that and let us all know. So she sat in a chair next to me with my plate and my fork and finished her dinner. Then was ready to go.

After dinner we headed back to our hotel. The Embassy Suites on Meeting Street(http://embassysuites.hilton.com/en/es/hotels/hotelpromo.jhtml;jsessionid=VBNZTMFHQ15Y2CSGBIU2VCQ?ctyhocn=CHSESES&promo=history&cid=OH,ES,chses,HistoryB). If you get a chance to stay there, it has a great history. It was once a fort, then a tobacco storage and then the original site of The Citadel. It is 250 yrs. old. Frank and I would love to go back again.

So after our whirlwind trip we headed home on Sunday. Again, Claire didn't sleep on the way home so I was left to entertain her. Guess being out of her routine with no naps all weekend made it hard for her. Which in turn made it hard for us. What's the moral of the story? Next time we go to a secluded beach where there's nothing to do but sleep, swim and eat.

Those Crazy Animals!

After we dropped Sarah off at the Greensboro airport, we met up with the Saunders at the N.C. Zoo in Asheboro. We started out in North America and saw Willy the Polar Bear, the Sea Lions, and an Arctic Fox. We also saw some snakes but the only person interested in that was Claire. She doesn't know how yucky they are yet. We also checked out the Kid's Zone, where they keep the Galapagos Turtles.
The next thing was the playground that had giant bugs and plants (not real of course). We let them burn off some energy so they would have the patience to ride in their strollers for a while.
Next was the Prarie where we saw Bison and Elk. They were all being a little lazy so I didn't get great pictures.
Then we moved on to the Bird Aviary where we saw frogs and all kinds of birds. Sorry I don't have the names of everything. After that we saw a Meerkat, Baboons, Elephants, Ostrich, Zebra, Giraffe and Chimps.
I think the Elephants were Claire's favorite but I personally loved the Giraffes. Check out the slideshow at the top and get a glimpse of what we saw without all the walking! Check back for Charleston pictures next week.

Grandma's Birthday

On Saturday, we drove up to Greensboro to pick Sarah up from the airport and headed back to Charlotte for a little get together to celebrate Grandma Couch's birthday. We had great food, Claire took advantage of playing on the swing and the slide and then we had a great raspberry ice cream cake from Cold Stone. Umm umm! Anyway, hope you enjoy the pics. (check out the expression on Grandma's face when she open the "bedazzled' shirt i got her from NY & Co. Hilarious!)

Carowinds!!!!!

I hadn't really thought about there being things that Claire could ride at Carowinds so we have just been waiting to go when the water park opens. Friday was another nice day here and Frank mentioned we ahould go. I packed a picnic and sunscreen and our lightweight stoller and.... well let's just say it took me two hours to get everything together that we needed to ride a few rides. Whew! Anyway when we got there we started off easy and rode the train then we progressed to the carousel and then the helicopters (see the pics of Claire sitting like a big girl on her first roller coaster ride). The Flying Balloons looked really cool and it said she could ride with an adult so we waited in line. Can I just say that ride made me feel sick and poor Claire just layed down on my lap. A little too crazy for a 17 mos. old. Anyway, after that I decided we need a break so we went to the parking lot and had a picnic in the back of the van. (She thought that was the coolest thing ever.) Then we headed back in for a few more rides. I decided I should let her get out of her stroller and walk a little bit. She was soexcited and was running so fast she fell. Poor babe. Now she has her first set of banged up knees. Anyway, on the way to First Aid station( the only thing I didn't pack were band aids) we ran into Frank's aunt and uncle, Jon and Cecile, and Cecile's extended family. We hung out with them a little bit and had ice cream and then finally headed home. Claire was exhausted but she definitely had a great time.

Water Fun

I know it might seem "ghetto" or "tacky" but it was going to be a warm day and I knew Claire wouldn't care what the water was in as long as there was water. I filled up an empty Rubbermaid container and brought out some other containers and the girls had a blast. They took a break and ate ice cream and shared each others sippy cups. After Claire polished off her ice cream she was waiting to see if Sophie was going to finish hers. Hilarious! It's amazing that she is not a porker. Anyway they could care less if it was just water in Rubbermaid containers they had a great time! Check out the slideshow above. There were so many pictures I couldn't put them all in the posting.

Reading her own bedtime story

The other night I was trying to get a few things done before putting Claire to bed and needless to say she got a little tired of waiting. Check out this video!

Flip Flops!

Ok everybody told me that Claire would have a hard time wearing flip flops so I avoided them. But when you can get a pair for three dollars how could I resist? We bought these super cute flip flops and she loves to show them off.

She even decided to brush her teeth at the same time. Sorry about the lighting on the video. I haven't figured that part out yet.

Oh the Crazy Things Grandparents Do!

We had such great weather while Frank's parent's were here, so we spent a lot of time relaxing outside. Frank's dad took great pleasure in swinging Claire and teaching her all about the airplanes that were flying over. !Warning! you may see a side of him you've never seen, so you may want to turn back now so as not ruin any image that you have of him!!!! You also may want to turn your volume down a bit!

Ice Cream with the G-parents

Claire and I enjoy going to get ice cream on occasion at Bruester's because Claire gets free ice cream. If you know how she loves to eat you can only imagine how much she loves ice cream. As a matter of fact sometimes when we are in the car she will just shout out "ice cream" hoping that someone will cave in and stop. Here are a few pics of her showing us how it's done. Watch how quickly it disappears!

The Grandparents are here!

Frank's parents got into town yesterday just in time to celebrate their favorite daughter-in-law's birthday! We had pizza and cupcakes at Frank's grandparents house, followed by some fabulous entertainment from Claire! Check out the video and pics!

Big Day with Great Grandma

Today we took Great Grandma Couch to get her hair done. She went in as Grandma Couch and came back out a new woman. Everyone at the salon couldn't believe she was the same person. The transformation is amazing. Check out the pics. The first one is from last year. Sorry I didn't have a more recent pic.

After the transformation she took us to lunch for a burger and fries and then we stopped for a cup of Starbucks. I think it's the best time she's had in a while.

Easter

We had a great Easter! We went to church early and came home to cook for the Perkins side of the family. We had ham, mac 'n' cheese, baked beans, deviled eggs, key lime pie and I can't leave out the bunny cake. You'll see pics later. After church and before lunch, Claire had her first taste of M & M's. As you can see, she loved them. After lunch we all took turns playing the Wii to burn off some of the calories. (Sorry that I don't have pics of that, but trust me it was entertaining.) Hope you enjoy the pics and I hope to have more soon. It's suppose to be a gorgeous week here!

Trip to Great Grandma's

We finally decided to go visit Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Couch. It was a nice day and it's safer if Claire can be outside than inside terrorizing Grandma's house. Here is a video of our little explorer. ( Don't pay attention to the really southern person narrating. I have no idea who that is.)

The shopping cart!

We have been searching all over for the Little Tikes shopping cart and we finally found one and the rest is history. Claire was so excited she didn't take a nap that day and when she finally went to sleep that night she had to take it to bed with her. Enjoy the attached videos and pics.

Already Following in Momma's Footsteps

Do I need to say anything?

Valentines Day

Daddy surprised Claire with an Elmo balloon early Valentine's morning. It was so sweet. He went to the gym and stopped at Walgreens on the way home to get us a little something. I really didn't expect anything since we had gotten season passes to Carowinds as our Valentines present but he still got me a box of chocolates and a singing card. For me, it doesn't get any better than that.

Claire's First Dunkin Donuts Experience

Yesterday I took Claire to Dunkin' Donuts and she was in heaven. The girl behind the counter gave Claire a munchkin that she could have all to herself and she did just that. Check out the pic. Oh, and she wouldn't leave the house without her Mardi Gras beads. Too funny!

Smith Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Vintage pictures - Black and white photographs

Trip to the office

Monday, Claire and I took a trip to the office to see everybody and drop some stuff off. When we left the weather was so nice we couldn't resist playing on the grass by the fountain. I posted a slideshow of the pictures at the top of the blog so you could see how much fun she had. It took her a while to figure out rocks don't taste so great. Enjoy!