February Snow Days

Y'all, there is a reason I live in North Carolina and one of those reasons is the early onset of Spring and very little snow we usually get. Welp, Mother Nature must be cracking up at my complaints because she is keeping the cold coming! Two weeks ago we had our first icy/snow snap that kept the kiddos out of school and the rest of us locked up in our houses trying to stay warm. Then, last week we were hit again, but this time it was more snow than ice making it more fun to play in (not that we did much playing since it was still too cold for little miss!).

What we went to bed with 

What we woke up to-a solid 3 inches! 

Snuggled up with baby girl!

In true North Carolina fashion the kids were out of school much longer than necessary and the weather was a balmy 50 the next day. We were all so hopeful that was the end of it until David broke the news to me of the possibility of more ick later this week. Seriously??? We're going stir crazy around here! We're ready to return to our daily walks and our evenings spent on the patio watching the cows! 

If you need me or Amelia Grace we'll be packing our bags and heading south for the rest of the winter. She mentioned how much fun it would be to see the clear waters of the Bahamas;-)

Winter Weather

This seems appropriate after yesterday:

It's quite comical really. We get a smidge of ice and we are all sent into a bread and milk sandwich panic while Boston has had over 70 inches of snow in less than a month. I think it's safe to say we may overact just a smidge. BUT in our defense, we're not prepared for this kind of weather! Yea, they salted the roads when they heard it was coming, but that can only do so much when it's sleeting and the ice is freezing in a lovely skating rink-like sheet. Snow is one thing, but ice is not something to mess with! And that's what we've had so far.

It snowed a few flakes Monday afternoon before turning into sleet and freezing overnight. We awoke Tuesday morning to what looked like an inch of pretty white snow, but as Daisy quickly realized was snow frozen over into a slippery skating rink. Boooooo. There goes our first snowy adventure with the babe. Probably a good thing as she is still fighting this RSV (though she is doing much better!).  By afternoon the roads were pretty much just slush and by late afternoon they were pretty clear, but to be on the safe side all the local schools closed again for Wednesday.

A whole day with Daddy?? How did I get so lucky?? 

Sister snugs

So, where does that leave us? Waiting. They're calling for more wintery mix this afternoon with freezing temps tomorrow. And this southern bird is not exaggerating on the cold either. It's dipping down to two degrees tomorrow morning and Friday's high is only in the teens! The high! We're also supposed to get more of an icky mix on Saturday. We're not prepared for this long-term mess! My sweet friend, Jess, and I were texting back and forth yesterday wondering how long it would take Daisy to build a tunnel between our houses and if we would go cuckoo from cabin fever while we waited-haha! Until we can convince Daisy to dig us some tunnels we'll be hanging out by the fire in our cozy clothes counting down the days until Spring. . .

January Hikes

Two Januarys ago we were walking through a rough time healing from losing Emerson. On a randomly warm Saturday we decided to get out of the house and hike Crowder's Mountain. It was a really good day. Fast forward two years and we decided to take advantage of another random January warm up. 

My parents came to stay with Amelia Grace since we knew trying to take a baby on a two-hour hike was asking for trouble. We kept joking that it was "Daisy's day" since she was the center of attention again. No sharing the back seat or worrying about sitting on a baby for her!

We took the same path we did last time, which lead us up the mountain on a moderate path before we hit a gravelly trail. Then it was the beast set of stairs. Two years ago I was two weeks from having a baby and about 15 pounds heavier than I was this time around. My big goal was to be able to climb all the stairs without having to rest and I am happy to say I did it! My goal for next time is to be able to go two at a time. We'll see how that goes. . . ;-)

 The view from the top. . .

Once we reached the top we quickly refueled with some water and apple slices (sticking to that Whole30!) before heading back down through the rocky terrain. Daisy was absolutely fearless as she leapt over piles of rocks and treacherous roots. It was fun to just let her roam a bit too.

My stud of a husband and the original princess.

All-in-all it took about 2 hours to do the whole loop. We weren't racing to see how fast we could do it, but you better believe we will be next time!

5 on Friday [05.02]

Happy Friday!

 *one*
 While Mother Nature may have hit us with some nasty stuff for a while, it has been beautiful these past two weeks! So thankful for this gorgeous weather and all the outside time it brings!

 *two*
People keep asking me if I've had any crazy sort of cravings and the answer is: not really. At the beginning I could really only stomach sushi (not the raw kind!) then I loved strawberry applesauce (but, who doesn't?) and there hasn't really been anything else to stand out. It more comes that I have to have something right then and there and then the craving passes (hello, cream soda and orange creamsicles). Any other pregos have cravings?

 *three*
 We have ants. I shudder even thinking about them again. We noticed them Wednesday evening while cooking supper and I went into immediate attack mode. We managed to kill all the ones we saw (thanks, Lysol spray!) and I got ant traps yesterday for any lingerers. Bleck!
 
*four*
 Um, how is it May already?? Not that I'm complaining because that's one month closer to baby, but still. Holy cow, this year has absolutely flown by!

*five* 
Hellooooooo, fellow Starbucks fiends! Half-priced frappuccinos are back at Starbucks from 3pm-5pm until May 10. You're welcome.

5 on Friday [04.11]

Happy Friday!

 *one*

 Have y'all ever written an essay with a group of students who has never written an essay before? I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart. Don't get me wrong, I am SO glad we are doing it, but it is wearing me out! Let's just say the kids won't be the only one glad to be done with these and back to reading novels.

*two*

 Any other fans of Nashville out there? I just heard rumors there is going to be a tour with the stars. SO EXCITING. David is refusing to go with me. . . any takers??

*three*

Spring has arrived! So thankful for this beautiful weather and the chance to be outside again after all these months of freezing ick. 

*four*

Between Scandal and The Good Wife I consider myself an unofficial lawyer. Every time I hear about a court case of crime I automatically try to see if there is any foul play and who is really to blame. Any other weirdos out there?

*five* 

I need book suggestions! We are a week away from Spring Break and I don't have anything. HELP!

5 on Friday [03.21]

Happy Friday!

*one*
And the weather craziness continues. By this point in the year we're usually wearing flip flops more than boots, but the same cannot be said this time around. We had a delay earlier this week for icy conditions and the weather peeps are calling for more ick next week. I'm not sure how much more I can take!


*two*
115 students turned in projects yesterday. 35 of those projects have 10 parts and the other 80 have 4 parts. You do the math.

Oh, and they took a test too. With short answer questions.

The solution? Lots of grading for Mrs. Mobley.

*three*
Have any of y'all ever heard of Sharon Draper?? She is a fantastic young adult author who writes very real stuff that our students absolutely eat up. Well, she's coming to visit our school soon! We are so excited to host her and hear her speak!  

*four*
We officially booked our Spring Break trip! Here we come, Charleston!

*five*
My students and I have been jamming to the Beach Boys on Pandora this week after reading a reading comprehension on their history, and we are all loving it! Puts us in the perfect warm weather mood and gets us all ready for Spring Break. Too bad it's a month away. . .

5 on Friday [03.14}

Happy Friday!

*one*
I am so DONE with Blogger! Nine times out of ten my post messes up and the pictures are deleted (which is what happened with the adorable announcement I had planned!). Argh, so frustrating! Any suggestions fellow bloggers??

*two*
So, our house is at the end of a street and whenever the wind gets crazy (like it has this past week) everything blows into our yard. Trash, newspapers, mail, balls, etc-you name it, it's probably ended up in our yard. The funniest part? Daisy found an old Cookout tray in the backyard and brought it to me at 4:30 this morning. There are few things funnier than an excited pup trying to get her mouth around a big ol' Cookout tray!

*three*
 Speaking of weather, it has been craziness! Last Friday school was cancelled because of a horrible ice storm, by Monday it was in the 70's and the 80's on Tuesday, then back to the 30's yesterday and today. I can't keep up! I'm just ready for Spring and all the wonderful it brings!

*four*
 I know this is old news now, but I still can't believe it. . . we're having a GIRL! I was a 110% convinced it was a boy. In fact, we had only considered boy names at that point and only talked about boy stuff. About 10 minutes into the ultrasound David decided to change his vote to girl and after much wiggling and moving around they discovered he was right. Craziness. Back to the drawing board with girl names!:-)

*five*
Yay NC State! They won their first game last night and move on to their second game tonight. Let's hope they can hold their own against Syracuse!

5 on Friday [02.21]

 Happy Friday, folks!

*one*

 Seriously, Teeter?? How are you already putting out Easter things? Did you know that Easter is super late this year?

*two*

 How beautiful has the weather been these past few days?? I am LOVING the fact that it is hitting 70 and staying there! We're just going to ignore the yucky cold they are calling for next week. . .

*three*

 No one can ever say that Nugget and I aren't getting our daily recommendation of fruit! My kids always make fun of me, but they're easy to eat and super yummy. Oranges and the squeezeable applesauce have become my go-to snack at school.

*four*

 February is a busy month for appointments for me. A few years ago I decided to schedule ALL my yearly appointments (eye doctor, dentist, vet, etc.) to get them out of the way. Stupid me forgot that those appointments would be back in a year! Argh! Toss in the regular OB, the high-risk, and the kidney doc and there go all my afternoons. Fun times all around!

*five* 
Remember last week and how obsessed I was with Gillian Flynn's Dark Places?? Well, I finished that one and downloaded Sharp Objects and finished in a day! Anyone have any other suggestions similar to her?? I'm not normally into the creepy stuff, but it's so twisted and deep I can't put it down!