Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Happy Birthday Norah!!!

Happy Birthday to my most precious Norah...We love you so much!

The day Norah was born! Hard to believe she was 10.5 lbs! :) Best day ever!


Norah at her 1st birthday party! She starting walking right the week she turned 1!




Norah at her 2nd birthday party!


Norah at her 3rd birthday party! Next one is her 3rd still...had to post the one where she is looking so cute at her buddy William!




And of course...Norah at her 4th birthday celebration!


I cannot believe it has been 4 years since we had Norah! We have loved every single minute of these 4 years and we LOVE that we are your parents! Happy Birthday baby girl...we love you!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Birthday celebrations....

Friday we celebrated Norah's birthday with a few friends at the Y pool. She had a blast!







I love this picture above... :)


Then Saturday Norah and her Daddy went to see the Cars 2 movie and said it was good. Next up was a birthday party for a little boy that was in Norah's class this year. They had a baby pool set up, sprinkler and a big bounce house. And Sir Purr (the Panther's mascot) came to visit...Norah loved him!



She was so excited to see Sir Purr dance...can't you tell!




She was so worn out that she went to bed at 6:30 and didn't get up till Sunday morning at 8:30!

Her real birthday is tomorrow and she will be officially be 4! I can hardly believe it! She is so cute!


On the house front...we have had 4 showings so far....keep your fingers crossed something good happens! :)

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Our House for Sale...

As promised here is the link to our house for sale....

http://tours.charlottevirtualhometours.com/public/vtour/display/34117

Now the fun begins.... :)

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

What Day is it???

Last week was a blur...seriously. Sunday came and my mom came up to help us wrap up some house stuff. She also gave Norah her birthday present...a new bike! Norah had outgrown her last one...and loves her new princess bike! We loved having Nini visit!



My mom also got Norah a cowboy hat and a crown...which Norah wears together. She played Monday and Tuesday outside with both on...I snapped a pic of her before she headed next door to play with the neighbors with her "hat" on! Too cute!


Well why all this house stuff going on...cause of this....


That is right...today our house is officially on the market. Paperwork was signed, pictures were taken and sign is in the yard. It should be online tomorrow and I'll post the link on here so please spread the word...if anyone is looking for a 4 bedroom/2 bath house in a great location with awesome neighbors...this is the house for you! :)


On another note...school. I have to say that I have not given my all in one of my current classes. Some days it is house stuff or school stuff and I had to do the house stuff so the school stuff had to hit the back burner. Oh well....I had to prioritize. Well I am off to do some of that said school work now....wish me luck on the school work and on the house too!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Wow...the days are flying by!

So last week was a week that involved house stuff, pool action and Discovery Place Kids! I got Norah some goggles and a kick board...she loved it! She would throw some diving sticks into the pool and then go under with her goggles on and get them...it was so cute!! She also had her swim lesson last week that went great too! Well all that pool time..she started complaining of her ear hurting and would not let me even touch her ear. So off to the doctor we went yesterday and she has "swimmers ear" which is an ear infection but not in your ear drum...so we are using antibiotic ear drops twice a day and no pool for a week!

Also last Thursday, my neighbor and I took our cute kids to Discovery Place Kids in Huntersville, NC and they had a blast! Norah is still talking about it so maybe we will have to make another trip soon! Here are some pictures from it:









That is Norah, Davis and William watching some puppets or either it was before some dancing happened!

My mom came up on Sunday and it was so nice to have a break and spend some time with her...I sure miss seeing her! Now that my mom is officially "retired" we hope to get to see her more! She helped us get some house stuff done and I still got some school work done too! And Norah loved seeing her Nini too!


Well this week...no pool now...so we have to come up with some other stuff to do. Yesterday after the doctor we went to my friend Julie's house and it was great! Julie has her kids' school bunny for the summer so Norah loved seeing and petting the bunny and then Norah got to play with Julie's daughter...they had a blast! Hopefully we will get to do that again soon!


Now it is school work time and then more house stuff...see a theme! Oh yeah...I got my school assignment for the fall for my student teaching. I got 8th grade at a middle school that I was able to observe some before and it is where I tutored a student earlier this year also. Teaching seems real now that I now that in two months where I will be student teaching! I am getting excited and nervous!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Random Recipes...

This weekend has been pretty low key. Norah had a horrible cough all night Friday night but Saturday night it was better. I did try some new recipes that turned out great and thought I would share as it was easy and yummy!

First one, Saturday night I took a bag of Trader Joes frozen Marinated Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini, a jar of Trader Joes Puttanesca Sauce, and some mozzarella cheese.
Directions:


  • Preheat oven 400 degrees

  • Spray 9x13 with cooking spray

  • Lay frozen eggplant and zucchini in 9x13

  • Pour entire jar of Puttanesca sauce over it

  • Bake for 30 minutes

  • Take out of oven and sprinkle about half of mozzarella bag (I used Trader Joes brand)

  • Bake another 7 minutes

We served over whole wheat pasta and had a side of fruit...we all loved it! (you could always add chicken or something on the side it you wanted some meat)


Next up...Sunday...Jeff thawed out some quail he had and cut it into pieces. Wrapped pieces around a piece of cream cheese and slice of jalapeno and then wrapped the whole thing in bacon...secured with tooth pick. Then he grilled it up...so yummy!! It was just bit size peices and it was delicious!


Then I bought a frozen bag of sliced okra. I sprayed a baking sheet with cooking spray and layed out the okra...cooked at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Then tossed around and baked for another 12-20 minutes. Then tossed in a little salt....Jeff and I ate all of it! It was so good!


Now we are watching the movie "The Tourist" and chilling out. The dogs seemed not interested as they are relaxing on the couch!!!Well another week starts tomorrow and it is busy as always! :)

Friday, June 3, 2011

Today is a sad day...

Today Jeff had to put Ranger to sleep. Ranger has been Jeff's black lab for 14 years (Ranger would have turned 15 this November...Jeff got him when he was 1). We had talked about this day for about a year now so it was not a shock that today came...but tonight without him here...is very sad. But we know he is now in doggy heaven with Fritz and that makes us happy that they are together (that is Fritz above too...they were the best buddies.) We will miss Ranger just like we miss Fritz! Ranger was the sweetest dog and we are glad that he is not in pain anymore. Love ya Ranger! (pic above December 2008)

I thought about putting this in another post but figured we needed something to smile about. Jeff played in a golf tournament for work on Thursday. It was a last minute thing and Jeff has not hit a golf ball in about 3 years! But guess what...his team won!


Norah loved the trophy! Jeff used to play golf a lot and has always been really good at it...so I guess his natural ability shined through! :)


This is a pic I snapped on Wednesday night of Norah and our neighbor's kids hanging out in our hammock. Aren't they the cutest!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

It's hot, I passed and movie night!


It has been so hot here in Charlotte! Monday we grilled out lunch with our neighbors and then later in the day we had dessert with them. The kids played in baby pools all day and had a blast! It was a great Memorial Day!

Yesterday Norah and I went to the "big" pool at the YMCA and it was so much fun but it was a hot day. I was with her and loving every minute of it...it reminded me how grateful I am to be able to spend the summer with her. Last year at this time I was working full time so we didn't get to do as much. It makes me more excited about becoming a teacher too.


Speaking of becoming a teacher, I took the Praxis test for Middle Grades Mathematics in April and got the test results yesterday...I passed! So technically I am ready to teach! I am thinking about taking the high school math Praxis test later this summer...we'll see....


So last night I finally got to go see the movie Bridesmaids with my neighbors, Sarah and Meredith, and a friend of Meredith's, Jennifer. I thought the movie was hilarious! And look what I found out....

Look who is Melissa McCarthy's husband in real life...too funny! That cracks me up (if you have seen the movie...you know who it is!) Well gotta run as today I am hitting the grocery store up real quick and then I am watching Meredith's little one today. So I will be able to do school work while Afton and Norah play!