31 cents!

Last night we drove over to Baskin Robbins in Indian Trail for their 31 cent/scoop night! Izzy, of course, was scared of their ice cream mascot, but we all thoroughly enjoyed our ice cream. Clara had her first itty bitty taste. I didn't even see the mascot at first, and she was quick to tell me she did NOT want to go over to it. The best part of the night was paying only $2 for our whole family! Oh yeah, we also ran into our friends, the Posvars and Girards while we were there. :)

It's just SO MUCH FUN to do things as a family! I love them to the moon and back!!!

Pink Toes!

Spontaneity can be so much fun. I was busy doing daily chores, and Izzy wanted us to paint toes during Clara's nap.

Well, why not?

There they are:

This two year old is such a blessing!

Moving day

Joby, Carla, and their four kids moved to a new home in town on Saturday, and it's a gonna be much more spacious for them! Several people from church helped with the move, and I'm sure everyone was worn out at the end. We are happy for the Fowlers!

Abe turns 2!

Our good friends, the Surratts, had a birthday dinner at Pizza Hut with lots of their family for Abram's 2nd birthday. We tagged along, too! Izzy and Abe had tons of fun playing together, and they especially enjoyed feeding the cake frosting to each other. ;)

Patrick and his newest son, Campbell:

Yo Gabba Gabba cake Jessica made:

Mmmmmmm... lots of blue frosting:

We loved celebrating your 2nd birthday, Abe!

Playin' with Geesie

Ella Gracie (aka Geesie) came to play while the mamas talked and talked. Little did we know, Ella Grace decided to CRAWL for the first time when she got here! It was VERY exciting. She also pulled up the whole way on some furniture. Clara showed us her lay-on-her-tummy-and-get-back-to-sitting-up trick, but she wasn't thrilled at all with not being able to crawl herself. Getting closer!

Not crawling yet...

So, just a quick blog note... Clara is getting closer to crawling everyday. Today she was rocking back and forth on all fours and pulling herself forward with her arms. The coolest part is that just a few minutes later, I looked at her, and she was sitting up! I still get so excited about the girls' development. Couldn't believe she was on her tummy and then sitting up. :)

Girls and Gardens

Sweet Clarabelle at 8 months (already!):

She loves to giggle, feed herself all kinds of foods--pasta/cooked carrots (ew to daddy and momma)/puffs/fruit/etc., watch her sister, pull herself along the floor to get a cheerio or a ball, grab faces, swing at the playground, and go fast in the jogging stroller.

Hugs from your big sister can be quite forceful, but they're FULL of lots of love for you Clara Elizabeth!

Our garden is coming right along. We have planted tomatoes, zucs, yellow squash, eggplant, beets, green beans, basil, chives, oregano, green bell peppers, and cayenne peppers. I just have to replant some cucumbers since our DEAR DOG dug them up... grrr. :) Oh, and I'm gonna plant some more beans, too, so that the plantings are a few weeks apart.

Saturday Farmers' Market

Justin was helping a family move houses this morning, so the three of us girls ventured out to the Matthews Farmers' Market. I bought raspberry and blueberry bushes, which I'm very excited about. My mom would have been proud of my bargaining skills while trying to settle ona good price for the raspberries. :) I was hoping to plant them today, but I think we'll have more time next Saturday.
Good for anyone with allergies:

Look who we ran into at the market:

The Mitten, Hollinger, and Roach families!

Couldn't resist taking this pic of my friend, Naphtali, with the salsa sign:

Dinner at the Park!

On Tuesday evening, Justin had a meeting a church, so I packed up a rotisserie chicken, potato salad, and applesauce to take to one of the parks in our neighborhood before his meeting.

Izzy loves chicken. I'm pretty sure it's her fav food:

I'm pretty sure me getting in and out of the tire swing with Izzy woulda been a site for all to see. :)

Love our Grandparents

After the Oyster Roast, we decided to stop in to see Justin's grandma, Mama Joyce. Clara was happy as could be with Mama, and Izzy was obsessed with Mama's huge cats. :) We love her!

Goodbye Pine Needles!

In the Carolinas, the majority of people cover their flower beds with bales of pine needles. After growing up in a state that mulches flower beds, I think pine needles are ugly! While Justin mowed the grass this morning, I raked the old and ugly pine needles off our main front flower bed. Justin and his brother, Jordan, got me a load of topsoil that I spread on the clay-soil bed with my little neighbor, Jermaine. While I was spreading that, they went and got me 2 yds. of MULCH!!! We worked at spreading that this afternoon. My plants and shrubs look so beautiful now!

Thanks for your help, Jordan!

First Oyster Roast

Today I participated in my first oyster roast! One of Justin's customers was selling tickets to an Oyster Roast and BBQ, so we went as a family. Justin said they were very good oysters, but the oysters just seemed like slimy nothingness to me. I ate a few, but didn't taste much more than the Tabasco I had poured on the oysters. In my opinion, prying open the oyster shells and doing something "different" as a family were the fun parts!

It was a happenin' place with a great band! We had a lot of fun in Ft. Mill, SC.

A few photos

These were taken when Clara was 6 mo, and Izzy was 26 months.
Can you believe that Clara will be 8 months in less than a week?

I love life with Justin and my girls!