Toddler on the Loose...

This is what happens when your two-year-old swipes your make-up bag without you noticing...

Remember when my friend Jennie and I went shopping the other weekend? That night, cameron and her husband Kevin, took the boys out to dinner and then they went and played golf. Jackson and Isaac decided the ball buckets made great hats!

And now, for the finale... last night, we got Jackson out of the tub, and went back to his room to get his pajamas, diaper, etc. We hear him just talking and talking. We walk back into the living room and find this...

All I have to say is that life would be pretty boring if there weren't any two-year-olds around!

Bluberries for Sal...

And strawberries for Jackson...

Having Grandparents that live in Maine, I grew up loving the book, "Bluberries for Sal". Actually, it is still one of my favorite books.

If you've never read it, please read it, and read it to your children... I promise you/they will like it.

It is about a little girl who goes bluberry picking with her mother on Bluberry Hill with her small tin pail. Kuplink! Kuplank! Kuplunk! as they go in to her pail... but there is much more eating than there is any Kuplink-ing or Kuplank-ing...



Such was the case when Jackson and I went strawberry picking last week. Jackson did such a good job picking the berries...





... Until he discovered he could eat them. Then, many more went into his mouth (leafy green part and all) then ever made it into our little bucket.





We had a great time, and ate berries for days. The day we went picking, I couldn't gat Jackson to eat anything but strawberries for lunch, snack, and dinner. It was such a fun day, and I wait to do it again... maybe this week! :)

Great, Great, Great

This past weekend, Jackson got to meet his two great-great-great aunts (thats 3 greats!), Aunt Sarah and Aunt Ginny. They are my great-grandfather's two sisters. They were traveling from Florida to Virginia and made a stop in Greensboro, so we went to their hotel to see them. We had a wonderful visit... I've never really spent one-on-one time with them without alot of other family around, so it was a really nice opportunity.

Cuddling with Aunt Ginny

Sitting sweetly with Aunt Sarah

Jackson absolutely fell in love with them. He would take turns going from bed to bed, laying with, and hugging and kissing these two special ladies.

We love you, Aunt Sarah and Aunt Ginny... we hope we can see you again soon!

In a Jam

Every year around this time, my mother-in-law, Dalene makes YUMMY jam. This year I went over to my sister-in-law, Brittany's house and joined in the festivities. We had alot of fun, and made alot of jam!

Impressive, huh!?

Big Brother

Jackson already loves his baby sister, well actually, he loves her things. He loves going into her room. Ever since her room was done, this is how I find him several times throughout the day...


I love little girls with headbands or hairbows in their hair. I have had several friends tell me that I need to buy them when I see them because if I wait for her to be born, then I won't be able to find any anywhere. So, what I'm getting at is that this baby girl already has an ample supply of hairbands and bows.

Jackson LOVES them. He will bring me two or three hairbands at a time, or four or five bows, and say, "I need this, I need this"...

Great "cheese" faces, huh?!

He thinks he's pretty with all the bows in his hair and often checks himself out in the mirror.

I just hope this little girl likes wearing them as much as he does!

26 weeks and counting...

Mother's Day Savings!

Last Friday, my good friend, Jennie, and I decided to go Mother's Day Shopping - as in, we are mothers and we wanted to go shopping. So, our wonderful husbands kept the boys (Jennie's baby daughter, Maylee, came with us) and we went out for a night on the town...

First we stopped for dinner at our favorite restaurant...

I've been craving it ever since...

Next, we hit Concord Mills, an outlet mall near Charlotte. It was about an hour drive, but soooo worth it. We went to Children's Place Outlet, Carter's Outlet, Osh Kosh Outlet, Gymboree Outlet, and Eddie Bauer Outlet.

Despite the fact that we used the excuse to go shopping as "Mother's Day shopping", strangely enough, I didn't come home with anything for myself... well... except for that caramel apple I got at Rocky Mountain Chocolate. That was good enough for me, though. Have you ever had one from there?! SO GOOD!

I got Cameron two pairs of pants and two shirts for work, I got Jackson a new swimsuit and shirt, and got little Miss Caroline several dresses some socks and a cute little pair of shoes. Shopping for a little girl is so fun!

I won't tell you how much I spent, but I will say that I saved 48% of what I would have spent if I had bought it all full price retail.

Don't you love it when that happens? I can handle that kind of shopping any time. Thank you, Jennie, for such a fun trip!!!

Big Boys and Baby Girls!

The last week-and-a-half to two weeks have been very busy around here... my big boy Jackson moved into his new room, and he LOVES it. He thinks it is the coolest room in the house, and will just sit in there and play. He loves to go to sleep in his "new night-night", which is the one thing I was worried about, but he does great... so here it is...

Before this became Jasckson's "big boy room" it was empty and white-walled... you have to agree this is much improved!

Thank you to aunt Brittany for the bunk beds that are on loan to us, and for the cute curtains and pillow she made! We love aunt Brittany!
Such a good sleeper in his "new night-night"

The reason we moved Jackson into a new room, was to make room for our baby girl, Caroline, that will be making her debut in August... I am so excited, and had so much fun doing this room.

Before now, this room was just as bue as it is pink. It took me three coats to cover up the beautiful blue that was on these walls... did I mention I loathe painting... it is my least favorite thing in the world to do. but I have to pat my own back, and say that this is one pretty room!

Have you ever seen a daintier, girlier room! I can't wait to bring my sweet baby home!

Palying and having fun!

Jackson had alot of fun when we went to Grandma and Pa-Pa's house the other week... feeding chicken bones to Haas (pronounced Hawse)
Riding on the "tractor" with Pa-Pa... it doesn't get much better than that

The other week, we got together with some of our friends and had dinner. After dinner, I was helping to clean up Jennie's kitchen (from that cupcake incident in another post) and Jennie and Royale sang songs with the kids. Ring-around-the-rosies was definitely the favorite... they sang it more times than I can count!

Finally... Cooking Coconut Cake wih Courtney

You like that alliteration, don't you?

So here it is... sorry for the wait, but trust me, its worth it!

Start by preparing a yellow cake according to package directions. I know there are those of you out there that make scratch cakes... I do too, but this recipe is better with a cake mix from a box.

Bake the cake in two round cake pans, also according to package directions.

While your cake is baking, mix together a 15 oz. can of cream of coconut (not coconut milk) and a can of sweetened condensed milk.

When your cakes come out of the oven, and still very hot, slice each cake into two layers and pour over you coconut mixture. Since your cake is still hot, it will soak up the liquid. Now let your cakes cool. I cool mine on cookie sheets in the fridge covered in saran -wrap. The loger you can let it sit, the yummier it will be... I usually try to let mine sit for two days or so. If you don't have that much time, once its its cool, you can ice it, and it is still good!

The frosting is just whipped topping and coconut... makes for a light and delicious cake. I serve it right out of the fridge. Its much better when it cold.
ENJOY!!!!
Let me k ow if you try it, and how you like it!

Food Fight!

the yogurt won this one!

I guess cupcakes are yummier when they make a big mess!

I'm Back!!!

Wow, I guess I didn't realize just what a slacker I've been as a blogger. We've been having so much fun, and I have so much to blog about, so please bear with me, and get ready for ALOT of pictures.

First on the agenda is our fun trip to Atlanta, where we got to visit with my aunt and uncle, Kimmy and Ken, who Jackson affectionately called Ninny and Ten, and do some fun "touristy" stuff.

The trip started at mom's house where Jackson played with this caterpillar for about 30 minutes... he was amazed!

We went to aquarium (which was very cool) and Jackson could not contain his excitement at all the FISH!!!

sliding through the whale

trying to touch a starfish with Daddy

looking for more fish

Isn't this fun?!

Did I mention that Jackson LOVED it?!

Cameron and me

After we left the aquarium, we went and ate at the Varsity, which has been there forever... it was YUMMY!
the cheese sauce for the fries was Delicious!
Isn't he cute!
After we went to eat, David & Leda, and Cameron & I went to the Coke Museum. Here we are getting ready to go into the 4-D movie.

We had such a wonderful time, and it was so nice to spend time with family... it was a quick trip, but so much fun. Hopefully we can do it again soon!