One Day HH

So one of my friends from high school had this fabulous blog, The Hollywood Housewife, and one of the things she has done in recent years is ask readers to participate in her One Day HH on Instagram. It's a normal day when you blow up Instgram with the normal and mundane tasks throughout your day. I thought I would share my pics on the blog this year for our grandparents to see what we are up to daily! 

Up at 5:30ish with Dee. We try to stay in bed until 6:00am but some days he's just ready to go! 

We cuddle and watch a movie while Mommy has a cup of coffee to become semi-human. 

Daddy leaves for work about 7am and I start making breakfast and if it's a school day, lunch! 

I wear make-up on days we will "see" people. Otherwise I'm pretty much a yoga pant, no make up, hair in headband all day momma.

Sammie gets to sit up front with me while we wait in the school drop off line. She's so big! She has jumped out and rushed straight in since day 1! 

Dee and I head to his music class after Sammie is safely in her school. He loves making noise!!

It's slightly impossible to do the grocery shopping with 2 kiddos in tow. Lucky for us, 2 stores in the area have an order ahead and pick up option! 

I would say 80% of our meals come from the crock pot. It's so nice to have 1 pot to clean and no hassle making dinner after a long day.

After school, we head straight to Sammies ballet class. It also happens to be during Dees nap. Dee and I sit (nap) in car while we wait on the ballerina.

The never ending cycles of dishes and laundry. Laundry doesn't bother me but man I dislike dishes. 

Sammie is really big into tea parties these days. 

Oh the nightly shenanigans from these two! Partners in crime I tell ya!!! 

Every night daddy vacuums to keep us sane. We alternate bedtimes with the babes. On nights I have sweet easy Dee, I go to the gym after.

A very large "1 glass" at the end of the day. 

Sleeping babies. I could stare at them all night long. I love it. 

One Day HH was a fun one this year.-whitney 

Autumn is here!

Last Friday, we headed out to the park because it was finally warm and dry-ish.

Normally the kids run for the "bumpy slide" and never look back but today we found a catapillar and literally "played" with it for 30 minutes. 

After the poor creature decided to "take a nap", I got the kids to run out some energy. 

I wish I could capture on film the pure joy that is Dee running with his sister. The kid adores her. It is so sweet to watch. 

I tried to get a good pic of the kids super happy faces on the tire swing but I didn't do too well. (Mommy has to keep hands on the kids!) 

I thought I had done a great job wearing them out but much to my dismay the kids BOTH skipped their nap. Sooo like any good momma we had a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving watch party. 

Our complex brings in food trucks every now and then which is a fun way to switch up dinner. So once Daddy got home, we hopped in our new wagon and walked to the truck! 

Today's truck was OakCity Fish n Chips. Yummy!! So happy my kids love fish! 

Here's to many more fabulous fall days ahead! -Whitney 

Hideaway Woods

I know I am constantly saying how awesome North Carolina is but... IT IS! 

We became members of the Life & Science museum in Durham last month and it has already paid for itself. The kids love it and there is so much to do! 

Gateway Playground area is great for my active babes.

Dee loves this slide because his Sissy can go with him.

I couldn't keep up with the kids in butterfly area. They were amazed. 

Just like our many other adventures here, the kids love it because they can explore without me freaking out that they will break something. We've been to the museum several times already but last week was our first time to go look at the butterflies and insects.

We rode the train around this trip. It was a favorite. 

Now, they have a farm at Life and Science and the kids really love it as well. I cannot breathe when we are in that section so I keep attempting to skip it... last week they spent 20 minutes exploring a TRAILER! A trailer people!! I may be from Oklahoma but I think my kids are city kids! Ha!!

20 minutes in a trailer... who knew it would be so fun!

Now TODAY being a member of the museum really paid off. We got to experience their new attraction, Hideaway Woods, before it opens to everyone. It is AMAZING! I mean... so flipping cool. Never mind that it was pouring down rain because we played for 2 hours anyway.  My pictures do NOT do this place justice. I was having a hard time keeping up. Sammie was all over the place and she is only 3! I was a bit concerned about her getting to the top and freaking out. Yeah right! That kid was faster on the ropes that most big kids and took the big fast slide down a million times. 

This is where Mommy stopped. Couldn't carry Dee across this one and he was scared. 

I am in another tree house taking the pic to give you a height idea...

Super Sammie lapped that poor 6 year old sitting on the ropes more than once! 

Dee play also... just a little lower!

There is a creek the kids can play in (which reminds me... wet clothes in car!!) that we basically bathed in, a toddler area with small tree houses close to the ground and some stick houses. Once we started getting really wet I had to put away the camera so I missed those pics but so awesome. 

I cannot wait for friends to come visit so we can play!

-Whitney

Lunch Bunch

When I was a kid, I absolutely loved taking my lunch to school and my mom was super creative with each one. So, I was really excited to make Sammie's lunch this year. Only one problem, the kid is uber picky (I do not understand picky eaters) and that limits the "fun" factor for me. Soooo I've been taking pictures of her lunches each week and making mental notes about what she likes and doesn't like. I try to make them cute but I am NOT a Pinterest mommy. Just can't find the time for all that.

Anywho... This post is really so I can remember what she had and what she ate but sharing anyway!! 

Day One: Yogurt Covered Raisins*, Green Grapes (no like), Mandarin Oranges (apparently we only eat these at home), Dried Apples*, Ham, Cream Cheese Roll Up*

Day Two: Chobani Watermelon Tube*, PB & Honey Sandwhich (nope), Pink Goldfish*, Kiwi (it's green soooo no), Apples*

Day Three: Red Grapes & Blueberries*, Yogurt Covered Raisins*, Apple Starwberry Squeeze*, Crackers, Ham & Cheese (nope nope & nope).

Day Four: Freeze Dried Strawberries & Bananas(only ate the bananas), Blueberry Yogurt*, Mapel Bagel & Cream Cheese*, Banana*.

Day Five: Ella's Blueberry & Apple Juice*, YoTot Strawberry Beet & Berry Yogurt Pouch*, Raisins (she loves these and didn't touch! What?!), Ham & Cream Cheese Roll Up*.

And yes, I'm aware that there are no veggies in these pics. So far I can get her to stomach corn, sweet potato FRIES, and if bribed... Some broccoli. I've started using my dads tactics of just taking the plate away if she doesn't eat and then making her wait until the next meal. 

Meals are exhausting with picky kids. 

Green Acres...

Monday the kids and I attended a little play date at Phillips Farm in Cary. After a few moments of thinking Dee may never let go of me... It was a insanity trying to keep up with the 2 of them.

I have no idea why I find it so humorous when they stick their heads through these things but I do.

Sammie LOVED the cool slides. Her brother? Not so much. He did love digging in the rock pit but I have no pictures of that. I mean... We are lucky I have pics at all!

I couldn't figure out what pumpkins were black/red on this board so we jus moved them around for fun.

Bossy little mini me telling a sweet boy what his "job" was while pushing/riding tractors. 

Bouncing on the giant pillow. Sweet Dee stared at it for 15 minutes before he would try it. (At least one of our children uses caution)

Feeding the goats. I'm impressed they both wanted to do it because Mommy sure didn't! Blah!! 

There was a corn maze... We rode the "cow train" through it. It was fast and bumpy and my kids LOVED IT! I think I have future amusement park kids on my hands!! 

We had a great morning at Phillips Farm! 

-whitney 

Parks & Rec

So one of the things I absolutely love about North Carolina is the parks! I swear we go to a new park every week! All within 15 minutes of our house. They're always clean, have clean bathrooms & are a great way to get us moving.

So far one of our favorites is Pullen Park. Free unless you want to ride the train, carousel or boats but a ticket is just a dollar. So not too bad. 

Brother is starting to have quite the personality! He's so happy when he is allowed to do activities with his sister! 

Brother was not super excited about the ride until round 2.

The carousel goes a bit fast for this momma but the kids love it. 

I love the train! It gives me 5 minutes to breathe and the kids both love it!!

And would you believe there is also a big sand pit?!! We take our beach toys and go to town digging. 

This doesn't even compare to a normal park! We love it. They also have a snack bar that serves local in season foods. It's pretty good!

We also enjoy the much much smaller pArk at Waverly Place. It has a tiny splash pad and sits inside a little shopping center. We like to go get some energy out and then grab a snack at whole foods. 

ThIs past weekend we decided to take turns enjoying the quiet of a restaurant while the kids played. Not a bad way to wait on food! They just so happened to have a back to school party happening.

So someone got to ride a pony while we waited. 

And the we had some good ol' Carolina BBQ!

We love it here! -whitney 

Fun Filled Friday!

This whole "Stay-At-Home Mommy" thing is no joke! I am exhausted by noon! I totally thought I would be sitting by the pool all day doing nothing while my children entertained themselves! Hahaha

No no no... I knew what I signed up for! Hence why I was scared to death about it! 

Like I told the hubs today, as long as I have plenty of things planned and I am prepared, we have a great day! And today was a great day. (Someone may have lost her new castle for the day after locking brother in his room... But that's pretty standard right?) 

First, my daughter emerged from bed as Auroa. So we made breakfast as a princess. 

And brother was very helpful while cooking along side us. 

You gotta lick the spoon!!

And in one of my finer parenting moments, I took her pic while she was distraught over brothers locked room. 

After everyone was freed we headed to the pool. I swear, all this swimming is why I'm exhausted. 

We had a little picnic and brother learned to blow bubbles in the water! 

After some much needed quiet time we painted bird houses. I'm pretty sure we painted everything but the houses...

Master pieces for sure!!! 

But the most fun we had all day was cleaning up our mess! 

It's a good thing we have daddy home for the next 2 days! I need to recharge!!!