my life with malcolm

happy fourth birthday malcolm!

2012-01-30T22:54:00.004-05:00

today this boy of ours turned four years old! FOUR!! it is a little hard to believe. the years seem to be flying by. we are loving this age already, he seems to have grown so much just in the past month alone. he is so smart and says the wittiest things all the time. we truly love having him in our lives.

tomorrow morning we drop off his application for preschool. he would start in the fall. the school we want to send him to has a small number of openings and a high number of applicants, so please keep your fingers crossed for us! here's hoping he gets selected!

december leftovers

2012-01-29T18:27:00.006-05:00

marbles recently added some new items to their play area that encourage kids to be healthy and active. malcolm loves the new features.

eat healthy :)

play sports

get moving!

the giant marbles christmas tree

we went to a parade in the small town where danny's parents live. it was hilarious. this is the only photo i took, but boy was it a doozy!

how danny washes malcolm's hair

the only wreath i made during the month of december. it was delicious!

festive cupcakes from whole foods

the kids had their pics taken in a photobooth, after visiting santa at the mall

this is TJ. our local trader joe's store hides TJ in a new place every day, and if you can find him, you get to choose a prize from the treasure chest. this idea is genius. malcolm loves looking for the squirrel while we are shopping.

playing computer games in the buff

gifts coming in...

...gifts going out :)

i took this the first day we had sweets in our house. she looks huge in this photo, but only because she was sitting closer to me. she is a beautiful dog. and lucky is so handsome.

malcolm was doing crazy kung-fu kicks and jumps, and alanna was taking photos of him

the best gift under our tree

this year we gave malcolm a playmobil pirates advent calendar, to count down the days until christmas. he loved opening up the little boxes each morning, to see what tiny surprise was tucked inside. this photo is from christmas eve, so all of the boxes had been opened.

santa brought each of the kids a gift box from lush. (i told you they were spoiled!) lush bath bombs are the best!

december was a pretty great month. 2011 wasn't too bad either.

christmas day 2011

2012-01-28T12:57:00.001-05:00

...and here are our photos from christmas... over a month late. oops! we had a wonderful holiday.

our little tree, which i have grown to love over the years. we bought it the first year we lived here, and it cost less than $30! it is small, skinny, and a little crooked, but it holds all of our ornaments perfectly. this photo is from christmas eve, just after santa visited ;)

pile of packages from my parents on the left! thanks guys, we love you!

my kewpie angel

lucky dog opening his gift

and the kids opening theirs

the aftermath.

santa surprised malcolm with the best gift ever, his very own tire swing!

danny has always wanted a lotso-huggin' bear!

one more swing before heading out to danny's parents house

more gifts! (wow, these kids are spoiled!)

this photo of compton and malcolm makes me laugh!

and last but not least... dessert!

i always somehow manage to not get any photos of the family. i guess because dan uses his fancy camera to take them, so i don't? we love spending christmas afternoon/evening at dan & vicky's house. the food is always delicious, and the company is even better. we are very grateful for it all.

christmas eve, eve

2012-01-18T22:59:00.008-05:00

(this is me playing catch-up.) wow, i can't believe it has already been nearly a month since christmas! sheesh, life needs to slow down. i worked 24 of the 31 days in december, so with work, the kids, mail order, christmas decorating/shopping/shipping, and housework, etc., blogging was last on my list. i will get back on track soon... i hope :)

december in raleigh was unseasonably warm this year. we always hope for a white christmas, but since it very rarely even snows here, we didn't mind having mild temps instead of freezing cold ones. plus the nice weather was very kind on our wallets (low heat bills!) dec 23rd was in the upper 60's, so the kids and i headed on over to the newly-renovated pullen park! this was our first visit since it reopened in november, after being closed for two years, and i definitely think it was worth the wait. the grounds look beautiful, the new playground is a major improvement, and the new facilities are wonderful. because of the holidays, the train and carousel house were closed, but we had fun checking out the new playground and taking a walk along the pond before it got dark out.

alanna found a half drawn person on the concrete, so she added a face. and a wand.

bwahahaha!

i took these next three photos for danny, because he loves the andy griffith show :)

that is the new carousel house on the right.

we crossed the bridge over the little train tracks and strolled through the woods.

alanna and malcolm found a fort made of fallen tree branches.

i'm excited to return and take a ride on the train. pullen park, we are glad to have you back!

thank you santa ;)

2012-01-09T23:39:00.013-05:00

introducing, the newest member of our family, sweets!

(or lady? or sweet lady? we haven't officially decided on her name yet. malcolm is set on sweets, which was his pick, so i think that is the one we will stick with.)

top two photos taken at cat banjo by suzie wolf photography

i know my list for santa was a little (ok, totally) unrealistic, and i knew it would be hard to fulfill any of those wishes, but who knew he would surprise me with a dog instead?! this little lady came to us by sheer luck, and we are all very grateful for how things worked out.

she was a stray, picked up by animal control, and taken to a high-kill shelter in goldsboro (about an hour outside of raleigh). the staff there just loved her beautiful markings and sweet disposition, and kept pushing her to the bottom of the "euth list". a volunteer group who works with the shelter posted about her on facebook, and someone shared it with my boss. within a few days she had been pulled, transported to raleigh, checked out by a vet, bathed, and then brought to our store -looking for her forever home.

the minute i met her, i was in love. she was so sweet, soft, calm, and well-behaved. plus she followed me around the store like i was her mama! the following afternoon (dec 21st) i took her home on a trial basis, to see how she, lucky, and mama cat would do together. they all got along well, so she never went back to the store ;)

lucky dog is thirteen now, and we all know that he won't live forever. danny and i have been considering adopting a young female dog for a while, but were just waiting for the right one. in fact, just days before we found out about sweets, he had told me that he felt like it would be easier to have another dog in the house, when the time does come that we lose lucky. and i totally agreed. we don't ever want a house without a dog. lucky is very healthy and happy and we hope he lives for many more years, and i think that it is good for him to have a playmate. so getting sweets was a win, win!

she has definitely made herself at home already (these were taken just days after she first came home with me). her and lucky are getting along wonderfully. they even play together outside. we have nicknamed lucky, "humperdink", because he gets so excited around her, haha!

we've had her for nearly three weeks now, and other than a few chewed-up items (naughty!), things are going very good. she was spayed (and micro-chipped) two days after i first brought her home, and she has healed up great. she does not potty in the house, she loves exploring in the backyard, and enjoys walks around the neighborhood. she does not like the car though, so we will have to work on that. they estimate her age at about two, so for being this young, she sure does act like an older dog. her and lucky are very similar -they both like to sleep all day! here's hoping that we can get her to stop chewing up things soon. we just love her and are glad to have her in our home.

this little lady got exactly what she had wished for! :)

it's hard to imagine that she could have been put to sleep. i am very thankful that there are people out there who are committed to rescuing dogs. the staff and volunteers at the goldsboro shelter. the woman who took the time to driver her to raleigh. my boss debbi, for willingly taking her (and another dog) during the busiest time of the year -right before christmas! the customers who donated to our cause, which helped pay for her care and spay. and my husband, for allowing me to bring her home. seriously, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

merry christmas!

2011-12-25T11:04:00.002-05:00

dear santa,

2011-12-18T22:36:00.007-05:00

all i want for christmas is:

a trip home to visit my family. i miss my mom & dad, brother & sister, and salt lake city so much. searching on google for this photo just made me super homesick. it has been twenty months since our last trip out, and it makes my heart ache just thinking about it.

a new car. both of our vehicles are on the verge of death, but they somehow still keep on keepin'-on! (thanks dan, for always saving the day.) it is nerve-racking, to get into a car every day and wonder if this is the day that it will break down for good? and where will i be when this happens? it actually kinda scares me to death, and i know it stresses danny out too. we would love to have at least one super-reliable and fuel-efficient car.

a trip to disneyland, during the holidays, as a family. meaning all four of us! i think that i will someday convince danny to come along, and i know he will love it there. maybe in a few years, once cars land has opened and the major construction is finished. malcolm and danny will have a blast! i just hope that alanna will still want to go with us by then.

and a late honeymoon for danny and i! hell, at this point i would settle for a nice date night out, away from the kids, haha. we never had a real honeymoon, unless you count the 2,000+ miles we drove with alanna (and a u-haul full of our entire lives) when we moved across country after our wedding. danny and i have never taken a romantic trip together. we actually have never even had an overnight date away, alone as a couple. we have talked about taking a trip to germany together, maybe for our tenth anniversary? but since that is in just four short years, i doubt it will really happen. hopefully someday. i want to see a castle like this.

oh, and i'd love to have lasik surgery on my eyes. but i will skip the photo of that (yikes!)

i think i've been pretty good this year, santa. is this too much to ask?! ;)

love, lauren

thanksgiving (a little late)

2011-12-08T09:20:00.002-05:00

we always have such a great time on thanksgiving, spending time with danny's family. and vicky always makes the most delicious vegan feast for all of us to share. this year was no exception. i am very grateful to have ended up with such wonderful in-laws. it's hard being away from my own parents and siblings during this time of the year, so i am thankful that danny's family helps to fill that void. we love you guys.

photos courtesy of pop :)

(malcolm and danny were both talking when this one was taken, haha)

catherine & billy

compton & vicky

alanna & dan

the meal!!

alanna (stuffed!) with george & gracie

me & my sleepy malcolm (he fell asleep in the car as soon as we left)

oh, and here are the two vegan pumpkin cheesecakes i baked for dessert! yum!

november in photos

2011-12-06T18:20:00.023-05:00

with the holidays quickly approaching, and all the crazy busy that is involved, i sure have been neglecting this little blog of mine. here's what we were up to in november:

trips to marbles

i built this block fort for him from the ground up. he loved it!

trips downtown

little guy, HUGE shopping cart!

vegan toasted coconut ice cream with toasted candied hazelnuts, from a local ice cream truck based out of durham. SO good!

we stopped in the museum of natural science to get out of the cold. malcolm loves it in there.

free samples of cheerwine

trips to the library :)

warm starbucks on a cold afternoon. i love when they get their holiday cups back in stock!

we thought the sign above alanna was funny

giant holiday decor in cameron village

our favorite find so far this season. amazing!

on the morning of 19th we grabbed warm drinks from starbucks and then made our way downtown for the raleigh christmas parade. alanna brought her boyfriend randy along. it sure was crowded by the time we got there, and it was hard to find a good spot to stand where we could see the street, so we just wandered around. malcolm didn't care much for the parade, he had more fun exploring around the grounds of the capitol building.

and playing in the leaves

we got pizza for lunch before heading home. i didn't want to embarrass alanna by trying to get a photo of her with randy, so i just snapped this one on the way back to the car.

mama cat had to go the vet, so while we were in durham we grabbed dinner at the cosmic cantina. it has been so warm here lately, and we were able to eat out on the patio.

poor mama doesn't like going to the vet. this is where we found her hiding later that night, haha. i was just about to put that sleeping bag away, when i saw her little glowing eyes :)

trips to the park

lucky dog still thinks he is a puppy sometimes. he destroyed this little fuzzy pom-pom.

rollin' deep at costco.

we put our little tree up on the day after thanksgiving. instead of getting up early and hitting the ridiculous sales, danny let me sleep in, and then the kids and i stayed home all day. we did some cleaning and cleared out items to donate (gotta make room for new toys, clothes, etc!) i also baked a pie to take to our friends vegan thanksgiving feast the following day. we had a great day and no one got pepper sprayed ;)

if you look closely, you can see pretty little pink buds growing on the bush outside of the window (behind the cactus). christmas trees and blossoms. only in north carolina, ha!

i will end this post with two photos that alanna took with her ipod touch. sometimes these kids of mine actually get along! they sure are cute together.

october leftovers

2011-11-15T10:37:00.014-05:00

colder weather + a local coffee shop that makes a vegan pumpkin spice latte + no kids = wonderful date with my husband!

trips to the park up the street

a much needed haircut

this is the face i got when i asked him to smile for a picture :)

cute new hair

malcolm on a turtle at durham central park

and on a cardinal, our state bird

mama cat, sun bathing

the durham skyline from the parking garage on our way to see willie nelson at the dpac!

a sea of old white people, haha. the show was amazing! it was by far the best performance i have seen to date, and i am so happy that danny went with me. he even smiled at a funny line in one of willie's songs. it was a good time.

along the highway on the way home, we had a perfect view of the fireworks from the state fair. what a nice way to end a fun night.

the tree in our front yard has been dropping its walnuts for weeks now. this was the start of the clean up. we must have picked up hundreds of those damn nuts, haha.

cute halloween cupcake from whole foods

SILK NOG!! one of my favorite things about this time of the year! i had heard it was in stores and finally found some at walmart of all places (especially since we very rarely ever go there), so i bought all of them :)

i never got around to decorating for halloween. i kind of lost interest as soon as i pulled the bins down from the attic. but since our house has a halloween theme to it all year long, i guess it didn't matter. this is as festive as we got this october. i think once we eventually move again (hopefully into a house of our own), i will be more excited to decorate. this house has no covered porch, and little shelf space, so there isn't really anywhere to place decorations.

these three little figurines are the newest addition to my nightmare collection. i ordered them from the disney store and i love them so much!

and last but not least, my mother sent us another awesome halloween care package chuck full of all kinds of cute festive decor, baking supplies, candy, and toys etc. we always get so excited when she sends us stuff. the kids love to open the box and see what's inside. she is always so thoughtful, and despite how sick she has been the past few months, she took the time to make these decorative blocks for me! thanks again mom, i love them.

hill ridge farms 2011

2011-11-14T09:41:00.019-05:00

the sunday before halloween we took our now annual trip to hill ridge farms. posts about our last two visits are here and here. it's always a lot of fun at the farm, but this year wasn't nearly as good as the last two. we had been planning to visit all month, but since we were so busy every weekend in october, we almost missed going. this trip was spur of the moment, on a sunday afternoon (when we should have been grocery shopping), the day before halloween, so there were a lot more people than we would have liked. plus they were playing awful country/top 40 music on loud speakers, which was totally irritating. the combination of it all made for a cranky kind of day for a certain few of us. but malcolm had a blast, and alanna still enjoyed some of it. next year though, i think she will be too old and won't want to go anymore :(

i'm sorry if these feel like the same photos year after year. i like to compare how much the kids have grown. new this season was this giant bounce pillow. it cost extra, and at first malcolm did not like it. i think there were too many kids on it and he was scared.

so we headed to the fort

then malcolm did some jumps off of a pile of hay bales.

the hay bounce

our favorite, the corn playhouse! since there were so many people at the farm, they were timing how long the kids could stay in and play. it was like five minutes at a time. malcolm was bummed when we had to get out.

then we headed up to the giant slide. this was the view of the little train from the slide line.

some funny farm decor :)

the fattest little goats ever. too much corn!!

back into the corn :)

malcolm is a maniac!

he was loving it in there!

alanna, not so much. ha!

once more on the bounce pillow. this time they both had a lot of fun. they jumped and jumped!

then it was time for us to take a hayride out to the pumpkin field to pick our pumpkins.

on the hayride back we spotted this jack skellington!

so of course we had to pose with him for a photo. too bad the sun was blinding all of us.

goodbye hill ridge farms, hope to see you next year!

photo shoot

2011-11-10T10:11:00.001-05:00

two weeks ago danny scheduled a photo shoot for his new fall line of merch, and he invited malcolm to be apart of it. i stood on the side lines, did my best at keeping malcolm from injuring himself, and snapped some of my own photos. malcolm was a wild thing and loved all of the attention. these are my photos.

the awesomely grimy location danny chose :)

llama!

malcolm talking to the dudes

the models :)

here are a few of the real shots taken by a local photography student. she did a great job.

xmalcolmx, the youngest member of the seventh dagger family

i stole these two from cameron's fb page. i have no idea what that sneaky/creepy lil' bear is doing back there?! hilarious!

and here is the header danny used on his webstore. everything turned out awesome! danny worked so hard to get all of these new designs ready, he invested so much of his time, energy, and money (plus all the stress involved) to get this new line up. husband, you should be very proud, it is amazing.

halloween fun!

2011-11-09T09:49:00.012-05:00

it rained on halloween here, so any plans to trick-or-treat were kinda ruined. we made the best of it though, despite the cold and soggy weather, and i think that malcolm still had a lot of fun. early in the evening we made our way to the mall, and yikes, was it ever crowded. the rain brought out the masses, so we didn't stay long. this was the first year that alanna did not celebrate halloween. since she is too old to t-or-t, she opted to stay home and finish her homework. kind of a bummer as well. it is hard for me to fathom how grown up she is these days, and i often miss her being a little girl.

on our way home, we took a detour to the oakwood neighborhood to drive past malcolm's favorite halloween house (i found that image on google. this year there were a lot more decorations!) last year he called it "the skeleton house", this year it was "the michael meyers house", haha! by the time we arrived, the rain had stopped, so we parked and made our way around a few blocks before it got too late and we got too cold. malcolm loved it. it was a little disappointing that we weren't able to go around our neighborhood like we had planned, but hopefully next year.

we did manage to attend a few other fun local halloween events in october, so here are some photos from them:

on the 22nd we took a hike along the halloween trail at the durant nature park. we bundled up in warm clothes, packed our flashlights, and everyone had a nice time. the night started off with a hay ride from our car to the trail. then some crafts and games for the little ones. the hike through the dark woods was a lot of fun and not too hard on malcolm. the trail was lined with paper lanterns and hundreds of very creative hand carved jack-o-lanterns. there were stops along the way where they had nature inspired stories and skits. it was cute. this was malcolm and alanna's creature:

so excited to put it on the giant spider web!

heading down the trail :)

late on friday the 28th, alanna and i headed over to the mordecai house to board "the haunted trolley"! we took a tour of downtown raleigh's most haunted sites and heard tales of local ghosts and hauntings. the trolley stopped a few times in front of specific locations, and scary people jumped out at us! everyone inside screamed and laughed. i think that by next year malcolm will be old enough to ride, so we will all go as a family. it was a lot of fun!

this was our tour guide

and then on the 29th we all attended the family friendly haunted mordecai halloween festival. i love that there are free community events like this in our area. we also went last year. crazy how much malcolm (and alanna) has grown since then!

these were all over the ground. they looked like brains. so cool!

and i snapped this one while we were in line at the mall. crazy boy sure does love halloween!

happy halloween!

2011-10-31T14:31:00.003-04:00

the fair

2011-10-24T11:53:00.000-04:00

every october the north carolina state fair rolls into town, and for the past six years i've suggested to danny that maybe we should go? but then we never do. he hates the fair, and has always talked me out of going, stating that it is a waste of money that could be spent on much better things. for four years we listened to his advice and saved our money for our disneyland trips instead. last year malcolm and i attempted to visit, but left after a frustrating hour of traffic and searching for a place to park. i used to take alanna to the utah state fair when she was little, and we always had a fun time (minus the year that she chose to ride "the ring of fire", which made her bawl her eyes out), so i figured that we would enjoy it out here just as much as we did back home.

last tuesday afternoon the kids and i finally made our way to the fair. and yikes, was it a doozy. now i understand why danny never wanted us to go. imagine the utah state fair... but 200 lbs heavier, dipped in batter, and deep fried. oh, and lit on one end. the entire place was one huge concession stand, crowded with people smoking cigarettes. there were food vendors literally hidden in every nook and cranny. we ducked into the crafts & hobbies building, thinking maybe we could escape the smells, only to find multiple food stands inside. it was insane. and totally disgusting. but we had fun in kiddie kingdom, malcolm and alanna enjoyed a few rides, and i learned my lesson for sure. i will never make that mistake again. this was our first, and last, visit to the nc state fair, haha.

malcolm and i loved this mechanical singing fruit & veggie stand. it reminded me of peewee's playhouse. alanna thought it was creepy :)

barrel monster

to the rides!

malcolm did his first ever bungee bounce. he has wanted to do this since he was teeny tiny, but the one in the mall is for bigger kids. or maybe he just wasn't big enough until now? either way, he loved it!

waiting for his turn with alanna, and laughing at the boy that was bouncing.

getting strapped in...

...going up...

...time to jump!
(alanna took these next few photos for me)

pure joy!

we all rode the super slide together. malcolm sat on my lap, and we raced alanna down. it was awesome!

view from the stairs

malcolm loved the obstacle course rides (not sure what they call these things?)

alanna took malcolm through the fun house

then i let alanna pick one crazy ride to go on. danny would have died if he had seen this one in action. it swung side to side while the seating area spun in circles. just watching it gave me anxiety and made me motion sick. i cannot even imagine riding it. of course, she loved it.

we could see this creepy lady from the parking lot across the street. fair rides are so funny to me.

malcolm played the dart game. he had three tries and popped three balloons (two balloons on the last throw), so he got to choose a prize.

i loved the night sky and all the lit up rides. we left just before it started to rain.

one more time on the obstacle course, before heading home.

the end.

october stroll along the greenway

2011-10-23T22:56:00.011-04:00

last weekend we took a lovely stroll along the greenway near our house. the sun was shining, the leaves were falling, and we all enjoyed the exercise. alanna walked lucky dog. malcolm rode his little roadster. danny walked with us (for about a mile, and then ran ahead while we played on the playground). and i took lots of photos from behind, haha.

visible damage left by the tornado that hit earlier this year. there used to be tons of tall trees right there.

when we parked malcolm's bike at the playground, we realized that he had a passenger :)

lucky and alanna taking a rest. our dog is thirteen now, so long walks tire him out quickly. he loved being outside, but boy was he pooped.

look how grey lucky is these days! his face and front legs used to be solid black.

my lil' man

(p.s. i got malcolm that awesome charlie brown tee shirt at the planet snoopy gift shop in kings dominion. i passed on it last year, and then was sad that i had. now i wish i had bought another one in a larger size as well! it's my favorite thing in his dresser right now!)

jack-o

2011-10-21T08:40:00.002-04:00

on sunday evening, after we got home from kings dominion, danny sat down with malcolm to carve the pumpkin that he got while at the amusement park. this will be malcolm's fourth halloween, but this was his very first time carving a jack-o-lantern! the past two years were so busy and we never found time to carve our pumpkins together. plus since it is usually still warm here until mid-november or so, they would have rotted in a day or two. so we just left them uncarved.

malcolm was so excited!

time to remove the guts!

ewww!

"clean it off, mom!" haha. he didn't like that cold, slimy feeling. not at all.

and their finished product :)

poor guy was soggy and full of bugs within a day. but it's okay, we will carve more a little closer to halloween. i baked the seeds from this one, but they weren't quite salty enough for my taste (plus i think i left them in the oven too long), so i can't wait to make another batch!

alanna's birthday trip 2011

2011-10-20T10:15:00.001-04:00

sheesh, am i ever behind on posts! sorry about that. time to play catch-up :)

on the 7th we rented a car and headed north to virginia. dan & vicky's birthday gift to alanna this year was another fun-filled trip up to kings dominion! (last years post found here) we left raleigh later than we had planned, and by the time we hit richmond it was past dinner time, so we stopped at panda veg for the buffet. we stayed at the motel next to the park again (which was so wonderfully convenient) and by the time we got checked into our room it was pretty much time for bed.

saturday morning we were up and ready right in time for the park to open, so we strolled across the parking lot and beat the crowds in.

first thing we did was take a ride up the eiffel tower. danny did much better going up this time, i guess because he knew what to expect. the view of all the trees from up top was so beautiful.

next stop, planet snoopy!

malcolm is 41 inches tall now, so he was able to get a blue wristband which allowed him to ride a few bigger rides that he was too small for last year. so cool! while alanna rode a throw-up ride, i waited with malcolm to ride "joe cool's driving school". he got to drive his own car, and did really good for his very first time behind the wheel.

so serious, waiting for his turn

danny and alanna went off to ride some of the crazy thrill rides, while i stayed in the kids area with malcolm. since i get terrible motion sickness and cannot ride anything that spins or flips, danny decided that he would go on them with alanna. he didn't want to be the bummer dad who made her wait and ride alone. she was very grateful and said that having him with her made the lines go by so much faster. and he actually enjoyed them! progress, people! maybe we will be able to convince him to join us at disneyland someday in the future? (when we are able to afford a trip out again)

we rode malcolm's very favorite ride twice, "boo blasters on boo hill"! he has been talking about it all year long, and he still totally loves it :)

and then one more time all together, once we met back up with alanna and danny.

i love those boys!

so excited!

pretty alanna

we also rode the ghoster coaster. this was malcolm's very first time on an actual roller coaster, and boy was it fun! a little scary, but fun. i couldn't get a good photo of the actual ride, but it is a mini version of the old wooden coaster at lagoon (if you are from utah, you know the one). malcolm was a little afraid when we first went down the hills, but then he wanted to ride it again, haha!

there was a lot of fun halloween activities for the kids, including trick-or-treat spots were malcolm collected pirate themed booty. he got to decorate a pumpkin to take home (thank goodness we had our stroller to put it in when he was done).

first time driving a bumper car!

he loved it, and he laughed and laughed whenever he ran into the other drivers!

snoopy!

and woodstock!

alanna and i rode one of the large old wooden coasters that i didn't get to ride last year. it was fast, and we both loved it! we took this photo while waiting in line. looking at it makes me realize just how much we do not look alike. like seriously, not at all. well, maybe our foreheads and chins, haha :)

this was the second to last ride that we went on as a family. i loved the view from up there. the setting sun made everything look so vivid.

another one of beautiful alanna

and then the fog machines started to puff out smoke, and the park started to turn scary.

we made our way back across the park, through the crowds of freaks in costume. malcolm got a little scared, but mostly he really liked it. he was giving zombies and pirates high fives, haha! we all rode one last coaster together, and then we split up. danny stayed a bit longer with malcolm and then they headed back to the room. alanna and i stayed behind to go in the walk through attractions. it was too dark to get any good photos, and no pictures were allowed inside the haunted houses, but we both liked the doll factory the best. it was done really well, the decor inside was super bizarre, and those dolls were scary!

alanna and i went up the tower one last time before heading out. while we were waiting in line for the elavator, the music for edward scissorhands came on over the load speaker. there was nobody else around, and the red lighting on the tower made it seem extra spooky. it was awesome, and gave me the chills. holy crap, i love this time of the year!

those rows of red lights are all of the cars trying to exit the parking lot. yikes! the virginia state fair was also right down the road, so the traffic was insane. made me so thankful that we did not have to wait in those lines!

the horizontal lights in the middle of this photo are from the fair

we love vans

alanna pretending to be scared

and this photo is both hilarious and awful! we were so tired, and all that fog everywhere made my contacts dry and scratchy. alanna says i look like i am on drugs here, haha!

goodbye kings dominion! we had a blast, and hope to return again next year!

we were greeted by this crazy monster when we got back to our motel room. it has become a tradition to buy him some cute halloween pj's every year. these ones are from the disney store, and they are one of my favorites!

sunday morning we packed up and headed back to raleigh. we stopped in richmond again for vegan brunch at harrison st. coffee shop. it was delicious, and the perfect way to end our wonderful trip.

thanks again dan & vicky. we really appreciate the thoughtful and generous gift of letting us get away! this was the first family trip that we have taken this year (and i'm sure will be the only), so it really meant a lot to all of us. we love you.

my dad

2011-10-04T13:28:00.005-04:00

today is my father's 78th birthday! wow, that makes him sound so old, haha! i am very thankful to have always had such a hardworking, caring, and thoughtful dad. i'm glad that he is still in great health and that he always seems to be on the go, go, go. i think it keeps him young. the past few months have been hard on my parents, so here's hoping that this year will start to look up for them. and here's to many, many more years of health and happiness ahead, for the both of them! ♥

happy birthday dad, we love and miss you!

just a few...

2011-10-03T22:38:00.010-04:00

...leftover photos from september. i didn't take very many pictures last month. i guess i've been too busy. or unmotivated. or there just simply wasn't much going on worthy of documenting. this past month was rough, to say the least. but we are doing our best to move past it, and hopefully things will start looking up. and since it is finally october, my favorite month of the year, here's hoping the next few weeks will be awesome.

adventures at marbles

malcolm took this one of me :)

littlest squidlet!

mama cat loves to sleep in any empty box, haha

funny dude

we took a ride on the little train at the mall. malcolm loved it :)

we found these guys munching on our parsley. they are swallowtail caterpillars. i didn't mind that they were feasting on my plant (they ate all of it!), because someday soon they will turn into these!

and lucky dog cuddling with malcolm's pillowpet :)

15

2011-10-01T23:22:00.005-04:00

yesterday my daughter alanna turned fifteen. last night she celebrated with eleven of her favorite friends from middle school. they laughed, talked about boys, ate junk food, played truth or dare, and made so much noise i thought our neighbors might call the police! i think they all had a fun time. and she got some really great gifts. i'm glad she had a nice day. i did not manage to get any photos of the group, but i did get these two of the cupcakes that i made, before they were served.

tonight the four of us celebrated with cake after dinner. this one was made by our favorite local bakery and it was delicious. we are all in sugar shock, that's for sure! happy 15th birthday alanna!

tomorrow evening we will celebrate one more time with danny's family! i imagine there will be even more dessert... i don't think i can handle any more sweets, haha!

a day at the museum

2011-09-29T11:51:00.002-04:00

since i have actually had the past two sundays off of work -first time i've had a full weekend day off in quite a while- we've been taking advantage of some family fun time. let me tell you, there is nothing better than being able to spend the day with the ones you love. and boy do we need it. life lately has been so very busy and our schedules make it so that we don't spend much time together as a family of four, which has been affecting all of us in a negative way. we are doing our best to fix the problem, before it gets any worse.

on the 18th we went to the durham museum of life & science. the last time we visited this museum, malcolm had just turned two, so he didn't really remember most of it. the weather was perfect, overcast and cool. and to our surprise, the museum was hosting an event that included the ghostbusters, star wars, and a comic book art & collectibles display. fantastic!

alanna says this photo is a perfect example of why she is vegan. can you imagine eating that beautiful gentle creature?! it makes me so sad to think about. alanna loved that guy. it even gave her a kiss on the lips!

the butterfly house

the dinosaur trail

danny's childhood dream come true. dinosaurs and storm troopers at the same time!

of course, we hopped aboard the little train!

i caught this photo in a mirror as we cruised past it :)

playing while learning about science. pretty cool.

lemurs!

it's starting to look like autumn in nc :)

malcolm got to meet and have his photos taken with these star wars characters. the museum was pretty quiet by the time we got to them, so they really spent a lot of time talking to him. the r2d2 guy even drove around for malcolm. awesome!

and two more of the ecto 1 before we head for home.

what a great day!

dentist visit

2011-09-21T00:25:00.008-04:00

last week the kids went to the dentist. this was malcolm's second ever visit and cleaning, and just like the first visit, he did great! i am so glad that he enjoys going there. i remember really liking the dentsit when i was little. but then i got older and they started pulling teeth (eight at one time, four of which were permanent. ouch!), attaching braces, and making my mouth hurt. i wore those beasts for six years, and my teeth are a mess because of it. i hated the denstist/orthodontist. i still do to this day. i would love to find a dentist who is truly judgement-free, then maybe i would go in for a cleaning and exam. anyway, i hope that alanna and malcolm always enjoy having their teeth cleaned, and that they will always maintain good oral health. oh, did i forget to mention that both of them had great check-ups and NO cavities!? because they did. pretty awesome. we celebrated with cupcakes from whole foods (again)!

he chose these scary monster teeth from the prize drawer, haha :)

waiting for alanna to finish up.

fancy new office!

yay (and rawr), no cavities!

malcolm loves to walk around "the jungle" before we leave.

maybe alanna needs to brush her teeth better?! ;)

one month from tonight

2011-09-20T23:10:00.006-04:00

eeep, i'm getting so excited! this will be my fifth time seeing willie nelson perform live. he is, without a doubt, my absolute favorite musician. ever.

the first time i saw willie was at kingsbury hall in salt lake city in 2002, and i won the tickets off of ebay. i split the price with dustin, my good friend and co-worker. the performance was amazing, and we had a blast.

the second show was at the weber county fair in 2003 and i went with my brother. we had a good time (especially people watching!), but we wished we could have been closer to the stage.

the third time i saw him was in roanoke rapids, nc in 2007, and i dragged alanna along. it was the "last of the breed" tour with ray price and merle haggard. the show was over an hour away and outdoors in a big field. we were surrounded by old people smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. i was pregnant with malcolm and alanna was eleven and totally bored, so neither of us were very stoked on the atmosphere. kind of a bummer.

the fourth show was at the dpac in durham in 2009, and i went alone. it was a great concert, and the dpac was brand new and super fancy, so i had a really good time. that was honestly the only time i have ever been to something like that by myself. (i won't even go to the movies alone, because i don't want to look weird. stupid, i know.) plus malcolm was only a year old, and i had not been away from him for that long before either. it was kind of a big deal day.

next month will be the first time that i will be seeing willie live, with my sweet husband by my side! this is a true testament to how much danny must really love me. if you know him, then you probably know that danny strongly dislikes willie, maybe even loathes him, so for him to have agreed to go with me is saying a lot. i don't think that he would have been this accommodating when we first got married? husband, i hope you enjoy the show, or at least fake like you do. and i really, really hope that they serve coke products ;) thank you for being my date. i love you!

august leftovers

2011-09-07T09:39:00.001-04:00

mama cat loves her cat grass!

marbles' garden

mmm, starbucks :)

we went to chapel hill a few weeks ago for dinner, and when we pulled into the shopping center where the restaurant is located, this was also pulling in... the oscar mayer wienermobile! i know it might seem strange, since we are a vegan family, but we all got really excited when we saw it. it's totally a piece of americana, and reminds me of my childhood (that song! and those commercials!), so of course we walked over to check it out.

then we ate our delicious vegan burgers ;)

malcolm napped through the meal.

costco already has toys out for christmas shopping. oh, and christmas decorations too... in august!?

this is what happens out here when there is severe weather on the way. the store shelves get totally wiped out! it's usually just milk, eggs, and bread that sell out, but this was in the natural foods section of our kroger before hurricane irene hit the coast. people are crazy i tell ya!

malcolm napping in the car. with shades, an eye patch, and a "gun" in his hand. this is totally normal, right?!

irene brought some really strong winds, and after the rain stopped danny took advantage of the gusts and flew his kite out in the yard.

the sky was beautiful as the storm was heading north.

since we were stuck inside most of the day while the hurricane traveled past, i made cupcakes! we are so glad that the wind didn't bring down any trees in our neighborhood, and that we never lost our power. i did miss a work shift, since we closed up the store for the afternoon, but it was nice to spend a lazy saturday afternoon at home with my family.

i caught malcolm like this, helping himself to a treat from the kitchen cupboard. naughty boy!

and i'll end this post with my insane family. jumping for joy because a storm was blowing in! we love this rainy time of the year :)

family fun day 2011

2011-09-01T09:56:00.005-04:00

i've had this post saved as a draft for about a week now, but we've been so busy and i never had the chance to finish it up until now. wow august went by fast! on saturday the 20th, dan & vicky came over and we all headed downtown together for family fun day at artspace. alanna attended two summer youth art classes there again this summer, so we got to see her creations on display. it was a fun day. here is the post from last year to see how much she has changed in one short year. dan kindly took all of these photos with his fancy camera. thanks dan!

this large display was a collaboration that our friend garrett did with the boys & girls club of raleigh. it was really cool. each photo was on a door, they all opened, and inside was artwork that the kids did themselves.

malcolm got his face painted. last year we waited in a crazy long line, and then when it was his turn, he was too scared to get it done. this year he could have cared less. he chose his favorite veggie, broccoli!

alanna with the ceramic display pieces from her first class.

and with the plush creations from her second class.

she made the little guy in the bottom left-hand corner. so cute!

i love this photo. all of us looking in different directions. there was a lot to take in, and i was busy trying to keep malcolm out of trouble. so glad that dan was there to take photos for me.

our little family!

beautiful alanna with her ceramics.

time to go home.

these are the pieces that were not chosen to be on display. she is so creative, and did such a great job this year. i especially love her plush characters. i think she could sell them, they are that good.

yes, his hands are x'd up! haha!
this cat was malcolms favorite, he hugged him and told us he loved him sooo much.
love that lil' guy :)

ta da!

♥

2011-08-31T00:33:00.006-04:00

i love this.

irene

2011-08-27T11:20:00.005-04:00

currently:

we live in raleigh which is about 2.5 hours from the coast, so we are fine. but oh boy, north carolina sure is getting hit hard by this hurricane right now. scary, and sad. i sure am glad that we don't live near the beach right now. and i sure am worried about all my friends that live in new york city.

ribbon cutting

2011-08-24T10:37:00.008-04:00

this past thursday was the official ribbon cutting ceremony for alanna's new school. we got a little dressed up, sat under a canopy in the heat, listened to a few guest speakers including lt. governor walter dalton, and then got to take a tour of the newly renovated building. malcolm sat quietly for most of it, and liked the guns the best (that the rotc were holding).

i didn't take any photos of the inside of the building because we were following a tour guide (one of alanna's classmates) and it was very crowded. plus i didn't want to embarrass alanna any more than we probably already had -just by showing up. i'm sure she wasn't thrilled that we were there, and she about died when i made her take this next photo. she is definitely at the age where she could care less if we attend school events or not. oh boy, teenagers.

the building that is housing her school this year was formerly used as a nc state tv station years ago, so it still has this huge tower attached. the school was very nice inside. next year they will be moved to a new facility.

the cut ribbon :)

some august adventures

2011-08-21T23:43:00.010-04:00

i must admit, the first half of this summer was kind of a bummer. i strongly dislike the heat and humid weather in nc, and the high temps we've had this year have made it very hard to enjoy these long hot days. alanna had june and july off of school, and we didn't do much of anything. danny has been very busy at the shop, and with my opposite work schedule (oh, the joys of working retail -always working weekends), we never made it to the beach. or anywhere else.

alanna has been back in school for two weeks now, and so far, august has been pretty great! some days have still been very warm, but not every single day, and i can already feel a change in the air. the sun is starting to sit a little lower in the sky, and the evenings are pretty wonderful outside. i love that soon it will be autumn, my most favorite season of all. here are some photos of what we've been up to around our area this month.

we took a little trip to chapel hill. we love it there (obviously!)

malcolm was annoyed that i was taking photos

then he asked me to take a picture of his butt

which he thought was hilarious! oh, this boy of mine :)

grandma "bicky" renewed our membership at marbles! one more year, one more year, one more super duper year! (<-spongebob reference) thanks vicky!

he found some play eggs in the kitchen area, and immediately grabbed them up and ran them over to the mama chicken in her barn stall. what an amazing little vegan he is. always thinking of the animals! i never told him to do this, he did it on his own, naturally. made me very proud.

we went back to laurel hills park with danny so that he could see the wooden playground. then we all went for a walk though the woods. i love living where it is so green all the time. it's pretty great to be surrounded by trees, everywhere we go.

on the news

2011-08-17T10:52:00.005-04:00

this news clip aired a couple days ago on our local news. this is alanna's new early college high school at nc state. you can spot her in the back of the classroom, wearing a blue and white striped top. she was totally embarrassed to be included in the video footage, but i think it's pretty cool that she was. alanna is so very fortunate to be a part of this wonderful opportunity. i'm grateful that the internet makes it possible for us to share bits of her experience with friends and family.

and on sunday my work hosted a special event to help support animal rights advocates in north carolina. you can watch the news clips about it here and here. it was a very busy day at the store, and it was really great to spend the day with so many awesome and deserving dogs. lots of great photos from the day here. i love my job.

alanna's first

2011-08-08T13:38:00.003-04:00

today was alanna's very first day of high school! plus her first day on nc state university campus. it's a little hard for me to believe. i often feel like i just graduated myself. i remember high school vividly -well, at least the two years i spent at young parent east, my baby mama school. my sophomore year was sort of a blur.

so here is a little message to all my friends out there with wee ones: i know you hear this all the time and that you are probably already realizing it daily, but wow, does time fly! i feel like life is moving so quickly, especially now that i also have a toddler. weeks zoom by, sometimes even months, and i look back at old photos and wonder where all that time went! today has really made me think about how i should slow down, and really appreciate my time with malcolm... because any day now he will be starting high school too! haha :)

this song seemed fitting for this post too. makes me cry, every. single. time.

the bee's knees

2011-08-05T12:21:00.008-04:00

this beautiful necklace was a gift from my sweet husband for our anniversary (in june), and i absolutely love it!

danny is very thoughtful when it comes to picking out anniversary gifts for me. and although this wasn't the actual necklace he gave me (he had narrowed it down to two choices, but picked the wrong one), i was able to make an exchange and get the one that i'd fallen in love with.

our very talented friend (and danny's only employee) garrett just so happens to have an equally talented girlfriend, megan, who made this piece by hand. her work is so detailed and unique, be sure to click on both of their links to check out what they do best.

megan had a booth at artsplosure and this pendant totally caught my eye. danny remembered that i had liked her jewelry, and i'm really glad that he did. i love anything with a bee, a beehive, or a honeycomb pattern, because they remind me of home. utah is the beehive state. i love bees because they pollinate flowers and make it possible for plants to grow (hooray for fresh veggies!) and i love that "the american honey bee is usually a very gentle creature. however she will defend her home against all threats." kinda like me.

thanks again husbandito, i love you.

(yikes, not the best photo of me)

oh yeah, and see the bees on my tank top too?! back in april we went to urban outfitters and danny bought it for me as part of my birthday present. he actually picked it out himself. so cute.

p.s. please pay no attention to how terribly faded the tattoo on my chest is. i am in need of some serious touch-up. it is thirteen years old after all, so let's just consider it vintage, ok?! :)

my little monster lover

2011-08-04T01:17:00.006-04:00

i had to bribe malcolm to get this song on video, and this was the best out of four takes. maybe we will try again for a better one on another day. he has loved frankenstein and this song since before he could walk (i took the video below when he was around 13 months old), thanks in part to that awesomely loud singing doll - thanks jayme! i found him a copy of this on vhs at the kids exchange for a dollar, and he loves it too. he has watched it at least ten times now, which has helped him to learn the words really well. holy crap, i love this little guy so much.

july leftovers

2011-08-03T23:26:00.010-04:00

my very first batch ever of vegan lemon squares. they were wonderful!

look closely... do you see the two wild bunnies hiding under there? the only thing better is baby wild bunnies! eeep! but they are fast, so no photos yet.

alanna and mama cat watching a scary movie together.

malcolm put himself in there, and he was laughing. silly boy.

i've had these on my wish list for a couple years now, so when i saw them marked down with those little orange clearance stickers, i was so excited! sad to see them no longer available in stores, but glad to give them a good home. (danny also surprised me with the classic record player too!) hooray for target clearance!

making cookies (thanks for smiling lil' buddy)

i passed this gem up at the kids exchange. which is crazy, since it was only $3.00! it was so cute, but ridiculously tacky, and i figured danny wouldn't appreciate me trying to incorporate it into our decor, haha.

late night crash & burn.

playdate at marbles with addison. they loved the water tables.

addy was soaked!

so, so sad about this :(

monkey joes!

his smirk was because he had just stolen that dinosaur from that annoying little girl ;)

the rain brought us a little relief from the heat.

prunes.

mama cat.

and malcolm took these the other day during lunch at chipotle. he loves to use my camera.

funny lil' dude.

a little taste

2011-07-29T10:56:00.008-04:00

of what life with malcolm is like these days.

the video below was part of a conversation malcolm and i had the other night while he was in the bath. lately he has been talking non-stop. like, seriously, he barely takes a breath between sentences. it's kind of driving us all crazy... but he sure is cute, ha!

this week he's been asking me about all the rides at disneyland, he especially likes to hear about the scary ones, and makes me describe them in detail. he is obsessed with that place, and even though it's been nearly two years since the last time we traveled out to cali (he was only 1.5), he still remembers little parts of the rides. pretty crazy, his memory is uncanny. he also likes to talk about kings dominion (the amusement park in VA we went to last fall), and the scary rides there. this boy loves anything creepy, spooky, and related to monsters & halloween.

here is malcolm describing his own made up rides, and the funny characters in them :)

daddy's baby v 4.0

2011-07-27T23:37:00.003-04:00

our new favorite

2011-07-21T13:07:00.012-04:00

i know i've said this before, but this time i really mean it... we have found the best park ever in raleigh! i honestly cannot believe that in the past six years since we moved here, that we have never been to this playground before?! how in the world could that have happened?! i remember hearing the name a few times, and rumors of how it was an all wooden playset (just like from my childhood!), but that it was slated to be torn down last year, so i thought that it was gone. the other day we went to the mall so that alanna could spend her money, malcolm slept almost the entire time, and when we left i felt like he needed to run off some of his energy outside. the weather was hot, but not nearly as bad as it has been lately, and i remembered that this park was near the mall, so we decided to see if there was a new playground installed yet. to all of our surprise, the old original playground was still in tact! and it was awesome!

this playground absolutely reminds me of when i was a kid, and how much fun we had at the old murray park and liberty park playgrounds. it was pretty great to be able to climb around on this one with my own children.

there were funny little old paintings hung in the strangest places.

and big tires just like at granger elementary :)

the bottom of the "castle" was full of little passage ways, and secret openings. very cool.

no old outdated playground should be without an old steel slide. so scary, yet so fast and fun!

alanna and i were almost too big to fit in all the small spaces and doorways, but she sure had fun playing on this track slide.

there was also a pond behind the playground, with a wooden pathway to a hiking trail. it was beautiful back there.

the city still plans on tearing this gem out, and replacing it with a new more accessible playground (pictured below) that meets the current safety standards. such a shame that someday soon this will no longer exist. but until they have raised enough money for the new playground, which looks like it might be awhile, we will try and visit this as often as we can.

laurel hills park/all children's playground, we love you!

(local newspaper article about it here and here)

sweet kyzer

2011-07-15T10:32:00.006-04:00

yesterday my brother lost his best friend. i know this leaves a deep hole in my brother's heart, and i hope that in time it will heal. he will truly be missed.

R.I.P. kyzer 1998-2011

we love you.

june in photos

2011-07-13T20:47:00.012-04:00

fun at marbles

alanna all dressed up for her 8th grade formal! wow, when did she become so grown up?! time flies, i tell ya! (with the cutest date ever, ha!)

our garden after one month in the ground!

trips to target. we practically live there.

nap time

these next eight were taken after we attended alanna's summer camp meeting. look at all those turkey vultures! yikes!

malcolm found a tank!

cool dudes :)

more humongous turkey vultures!

and more trips to target

downtown raleigh at night. we had so much fun eating pizza, and then running around til we thought we would puke. then we got poured on. gotta love the unpredictable summer weather here.

where i spent my saturday evening a few weeks ago. broken down on the side of the highway. i had danny's van, and after all that driving around with my family here (it was the only car that would fit us all), the transmission finally went out. luckily malcolm was with danny, since it was hot out, and i had to turn the engine off. unluckily they were both out at his parents house, so i waited over an hour for them and a tow truck to arrive. bummer, for sure. dan has lent us one of his vehicles, so that we don't have to share my rodeo. we really do appreciate it so much.

malcolm loves to watch movies on vhs. he's old school.

some of our garden's bounty! we've already had at least a dozen cucumbers, but those two were the only squash and zucchini so far. the tomatoes are currently growing by the hundreds!

alanna with her friend lauren, heading off to summer camp! these were actually taken on july 1st, but her leaving for the week seemed like a good way to wrap up the first month of summer. she had a blast, as always, and said that this year was her favorite so far (she's gone to 4H camp for five years now). thank you dan & vicky for giving her the opportunity. i know she looks forward to it all year long.

family visits: part 2 (lots more photos!)

2011-07-07T21:50:00.000-04:00

aaaand... i'm back! i have to admit, i haven't been feeling like posting much these days. i've been keeping myself busy, that's for sure, with work (about 15 hours a week), mail order, cleaning the house, keeping the kids from killing each other, and getting items prepped and ready to sell at our bi-annual kids exchange this week. plus, we haven't really been doing anything fun, so i feel like i don't have a lot to post about. danny has been super busy at the shop lately, which is wonderful for combating our debt, but summer is nearly over (alanna goes back to school august 8th), and we haven't gone anywhere as a family. seems like we never do anymore, and it makes me kind of sad. here's hoping that once the weather starts to cool off (in a couple months), we will be able to go on a little family trip somewhere nearby.

anyway, enough about that. time to finally post part two of my parents trip out here last month. we didn't do much after my brother left, since my mother was feeling so terrible everyday. really, she should have flown home early, but she is stubborn and insisted on staying, plus to change their flights would have been almost the same as what they had originally paid to come out, so they stayed. i think she would have had an easier recovery if they had left early, so that she could have been seen by her normal dr sooner. over a month later, and mom is still sick right now :( we hope you start to feel better soon.

the day after brad flew home, we went on an evening stroll around the jc raulston aboretum. it was pretty warm out, but the gardens were beautiful.

ainsley, as soon as i saw this, i thought of you! these photos were not enhanced, this is really how bright and beautiful this plant was! it was my favorite of the whole day!

my mom's view

a few days before they left, we went back to the ncma so that my mother could spend her gift card. we had mailed it to her for mother's day, so that she could pick a nice souvenir while they were visiting. we ran out of time for her to browse on our first trip to the museum, so we went back.

while she and alanna took their time finding the right things to purchase, malcolm and i explored outside. it is such a great place.

for father's day, we all headed out to danny's parents house. it was pretty fantastic being able to spend the day with my father, my husband, and my father-in-law, and i really was so grateful. i don't know if that will ever happen again. i honestly don't know if my parents will ever be able to travel out here again, i have a feeling that this might have been their last visit to raleigh. i just hope that we will be able to make our way to utah sometime soon. if only money grew on trees, sigh.

somehow i only took one photo on father's day... of cupcakes! ha! i made these, they are vanilla with orange buttercream frosting, vegan of course. our meal was wonderful, as always (thanks vicky!), and all the delicious dessert was even better.

in conclusion:

family visits part 1: with brad! (photo heavy)

2011-07-01T12:40:00.022-04:00

it has been over three weeks since my parents and brother ventured out for a visit, and i am just now finally posting our photos... talk about a slacker. we loved having them here, and it was really great being able to spend time together, but my mother was sick the entire trip (12 days), so we didn't do nearly as much as we had planned/wanted to. she is still not feeling 100% yet, which is such a shame since we had looked forward to her visit for so long. this was my brothers first time visiting us in raleigh, and i'm glad we were able to show him many of the places we enjoy around our area, i just wish we could have taken a day trip or two to some of the surrounding areas that we love. or to other parts of the state that none of us have been to yet. hopefully on another visit. i should also mention that the weather was brutally hot while brad was here, so it was hard to enjoy any time spent outside. we did our best to plan our activities around the temperature and how my mom was feeling.

brad flew in the evening of june 8th, we took him out to eat at the cosmic cantina and then we all headed back to the airport to pick up mom & dad. that night was spent getting everyone settled and comfortable in our little house.

we went to the nc museum of art on thursday the 9th while alanna was in school. this was all of our first times visiting the new building, and wow was it spectacular. it opened in april of 2010, and danny and i have been meaning to take a date night there (without malcolm). i'm glad i was finally able to go inside. it is beautiful, and there is so much to see. malcolm got a little restless, so the two of us spent some time outside while my mom, dad, and brother explored the museum and admired the artwork.

on friday we went to the nc museum of natural sciences while alanna finished her very last day of school. when the weather is hot out, the best place to spend your time is inside of an air-conditioned museum. plus free admission can't be beat!

brad liked this display of woods that are native to north carolina, since he is a carpenter after all.

brad and malcolm checking out an exact replica of the liberty bell. malcolm loved hanging out with his uncle, and i loved watching them interact with each other.

on saturday morning i found them like this:

bradley's view

malcolm's view.

yoda was totally hanging out in there too! ha!

brad's hair/face in these next two photos kills me, bwahaha :)

on saturday around noon danny took my mom to urgentcare to see a doctor, and my dad tagged along. i am lucky to have such a patient and thoughtful husband. while they were there, i took brad and the kids to the raleigh flea market at the fairgrounds. my mother was in the office for a few hours, with no exact cause/diagnosis to her illness/symptoms. pretty frustrating for all involved.

later that day we all drove to durham to visit duke gardens. the weather started to turn while we were on the highway, and by the time we had parked, the sky was dark, windy, and ominous.

as we were heading into the gardens, tons of people were leaving. including an entire formal wedding party and one very unhappy bride. so sad.

the gardens were beautiful, the weather was cooler than it had been, and we had fun exploring and showing brad around...

...and then it started to rain. well, pour actually! and we all hid out under a large tree. you can't really tell in this photo, but it was raining at the time, and most of us were already very wet, haha. it was pretty fun being out there all alone in the garden in the rain.

danny ran all the way to the car, and then drove around to the back of the grounds to pick us up so that we didn't have to walk back in the rain. he really is such a great husband. then he drove us around the beautiful duke university campus, and over to see the duke chapel.

alanna at dinner after visiting the gardens.

on sunday we left my parents at home (mom wasn't feeling very good), and we took brad to chapel hill. we had cake & coffee, visited some of our favorite stores, discovered a very cool old used books store -malcolm said it was like on ghostbusters (the library in the beginning of the movie! ha!), and ate veggie burgers. it was a good day.

malcolm playing hide-and-seek with brad.

on monday the 13th brad flew home. we were all very sad to see him go. five days with him was really not nearly enough time. this visit made me realize just how much i miss him, and how i wish he could see the kids more often. they loved having him here. danny did too. that evening after he left, danny said that he already missed brad, and wished he hadn't had to leave so soon. i couldn't have agreed more. it was bittersweet to see him go, but i know that he missed his dogs, and that he was looking forward to getting back to his home and regular life. i am thankful that we have such a good relationship, and i love that no matter how much time goes in-between visits, we can still pick up where we left off. i really hope that he comes back to visit us soon.

before dropping brad off at the airport, we had lunch at the cosmic cantina. alanna could not resist this huge unmarked poster.

haha!

we love and miss you brother.

a shorter part two coming soon...

my ears are still ringing

2011-06-28T17:48:00.003-04:00

my anniversary gift to danny was a date night out to see one of his favorite older bands from when he was younger. a couple weeks ago i surprised him with tickets to see dinosaur jr play live in chapel hill, so last night our friend compton kindly came over to watch malcolm (alanna is away at 4H camp this week), while we ventured out to the show. we shared a veggie burger, endured the most terrible opening act/crowd ever, and had a great time out sans kids. before the band played their set, they came on stage and sat down for an interview by the one and only HENRY ROLLINS, which was nothing short of spectacular. i've never seen him in person before, so it was pretty rad to have him right there in front of us. the show was amazing. but boy was it loud. seriously, so, SO loud. the venue is small, and those guitars were intense. i think i'm gonna be hard of hearing for a while.

oh, and they also totally played this cover. awesome!

danny really enjoyed himself, which makes me happy :)

six years

2011-06-26T22:55:00.005-04:00

happy sixth anniversary danny. i know i've posted this photo a million times before, but i love it. and i love you. i'm so happy we found each other.
always & forever ;)

more wedding photos here and here

so, sooo behind

2011-06-23T00:53:00.006-04:00

wow, i cannot believe that there is only one more week left of june. i feel like i say this all the time, but boy of boy has it been crazy around here this month. my family came and went, so i took quite some time off of blogging, and now i am trying to play catch-up. their visit was nice, but exhausting, and i am still trying to recover from it all. i really have no idea who or how many people still visit this blog of mine, but to those of you who do, thank you for reading. and please bear with me while i get back on track. i guess i will start with a wrap-up of leftover photos from may.

malcolm listening to and "reading" along with one of my old record/book sets during lunch

he loves to turn the pages when it "dings"

my work schedule for the week of the (alleged) rapture. bwahaha.

(p.s. funniest boss ever!)

alanna in a sombrero :)

baked salt & vinegar kale chips, and steamed artichokes! yum!

plus gardein chick'n scallopini, crescent rolls, and quinoa melange! best meal ever.

memorial day hangouts at lia & gannon's house. malcolm loved running around with the dudes.

alanna and i loved stuffing our faces, and chatting with the ladies.
(photos stolen from jp's fb page)

last but certainly not least: my new shark steam mop. finally! i love it.

the other day

2011-06-03T01:32:00.004-04:00

on our way to pick alanna up from school, malcolm rode like this:

with a bowl balanced on his head.

no big deal :)

tofu scramble ring

2011-06-03T01:23:00.003-04:00

we've been doing our best to try out and incorporate new recipes into our weekly meal plan. on wednesday i finally used a recipe that i had clipped months ago, and wow was it good! i posted a photo of the finished product on my facebook page, and many friends requested the recipe. this was published in the january 2010 issue of vegetarian times.

tofu scramble ring

serves 8

ingredients:

1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 16-oz. pkg. extra-firm tofu, drained and crumbled
1 Tbs. plus 2 tsp. prepared mustard
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced (4 tsp.)
2 cups frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1/2 cup shredded vegan cheddar cheese, optional (i used about 1 cup of daiya cheddar style)
2 8-oz. cans refrigerated vegan crescent dinner rolls, such as Pillsbury (i used kroger brand)

1. Stir together tofu, nutritional yeast, mustard, and turmeric in bowl. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Set aside.

2. Coat skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Add onion, cover, and cook 3 minutes, or until softened. Add garlic, and cook 1 minute more. Stir onion-garlic mixture into tofu; fold in broccoli and cheese, if using. Cool.

3. Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat large baking sheet with cooking spray. Unroll both cans of dough, and separate into triangles. Arrange triangles on prepared baking sheet with short sides of triangles toward center and points facing out, making sun shape of overlapping triangles with 4-inch round opening in center. Lightly press dough to flatten slightly.

4. Spoon tofu mixture around crescent roll ring, leaving center clear. Pull points of triangles over filling and tuck under to form ring. (Filling will be visible.)

5. Bake Brunch Ring 25 to 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Serve warm.

here is mine before it went into the oven...

the recipe (with photo for inspiration)

and after! delicious!

this thing was huge. the black dish that it is sitting on is actually a large pizza pan. we ate nearly the entire thing. malcolm even ate his whole serving without complaint, so we will definitely be keeping this in the recipe folder. let me know if you try it, and if you liked it as well! click here to visit the recipe online at vegetarian times.

new do

2011-05-27T10:33:00.006-04:00

on tuesday evening, i came home to this... a tiny little mohawk. on my tiny little guy. he looks so cute, my heart melted a little bit. danny had tried to take him for a professional cut while i was at work, but there were no appointments available. so he shaved it himself instead, and he did a great job. malcolm sat very still during the whole process. i'm guessing it also helped that danny had promised him a new book if he was good.

so we took a late trip to barnes & noble. danny and i enjoyed a coffee, while malcolm and i enjoyed the children's book section. win, win! :)