Down on the Farm

I don't have much of an update on the house today!  Brick is continuing, sheetrock finished last week, some trim work is happening.  I'll post some brick pictures next week!  We are redoing our bank budget right now and getting a new appraisal.  That's all been a lot of work.  Trying to get a cabinet install date as well.  

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My friend Sarah's mom is in town, my friend Margot's mother in law is in town and my mom is in town!  So we did a little playdate with them and all of our girls at Hunter Farms!  Everyone had so much fun!  We visited the animals then had a picnic lunch.  It was adorable!

Hunter Farms opens for pumpkin season at the end of September!  I highly recommend you visit!  They have a tractor ride to go see the animals and you can get your pumpkins at the same time!  The children love it!

Couple of Girl's Days

Ms. Becky is on vacation this week so my girl and I have had a fun time hanging out while I work.  It's a pretty exciting balance as I'm sure you can imagine! ;) 

On Monday after some errands, we had a girl's luncheon at Zoe's and my Molly Anne sat in the booth with me instead of in a high chair.  When did she grow up?!  She was an angel throughout all 6 places of errands we went (yes, 6!).  And she talked THE ENTIRE TIME.  She spoke to every person she saw in Home Depot, Talbots, Home Goods, Target, Zoes and Teeter.  "Hey Guys!"  "What are yall doing?"  "Hey Man"  "How are you?"  Told them about her new pretty dress with ladybugs and pink polka dots.  Told them about how she asked for piggies in her hair.  EVERYTHING.  

After nap we went on a walk.  She loves her red wagon and eating popcorn (Pirate's Booty) at the same time!  

After the walk I had a conference call and she watched Frozen.  I was impressed with her sitting still and not being loud ha!  

We went outside while we waited for Kevin to get home and played with her new soccer ball.  She is starting Soccer Shots this Fall.  Haha!  It was adorable.  I had noticed that she liked kicking beach balls and running after them so I think she will love soccer.  I can just see her now. This time, she played in her smocked dress and Hunter boots!  

Yesterday we went to the airport overlook to watch planes land and take off.  She LOVED it.  We took a picnic lunch too.  It was soooo unseasonably cold.  Okay it was only like 68 degrees with a breeze but in August that's crazy for us in the south.  

Then we went straight into the airport and got a gate pass to go pick up Nannie!  Her flight ended up being very delayed so we spent A LOT of time in the airport wasting time with a child who didn't have a nap at all.  That was exciting.  First up, harassing business travelers in the club.  Check out the look on her face....

Then we walked all of the terminals up and down and ended up in the D terminal and played where there weren't many people and a large open space.  She loved that.  

We grabbed Nannie and went home!  We are looking forward to a fun week with her!

Pawleys Trip

While Kevin worked on Friday and did stuff around the house on Saturday, Molly Anne and I headed to Pawleys Island to see my brother, SIL and nieces.   Molly Anne always thinks she is a big girl when she hangs with them and Anna Kate thinks Molly Anne is a real life American Girl doll.  It is really fun to watch the three of them together!  Plus, they have lots of different toys to play with!

Blue tongue and a little dirt on the boots.

Adorable right?!

When you're with your Aunt, you can sit on the counter to eat breakfast!

Anna Kate and I ran out to go to a couple shops on Saturday morning and when we came back Molly Anne had gotten to do all kinds of fun things with Emily and Sarah.  

We all waited for my brother to get back from work and Emily and I kicked things off with a mimosa because why not?!

Then we headed out on the creek and walked over to the beach!  Isn't it gorgeous?  It's my favorite beach.  No one is ever on it and it's just so so pretty!

Emily is out there in the ocean with the three girls!

Running wild!

I love this picture of her sitting on their dock!

Sunday we went to the pool and Molly Anne wore goggles for the first time ha!

Life is good for Miss Molly Anne!

We scooted back to Charlotte Sunday afternoon and regrouped for the week!  We LOVE going down there to see them!  

What has everyone gotten from the Lilly sale?!  Are you shopping again today?!

Lilly Pulitzer Sale!

Yayyyy today is one of my favorite days all year!  It's the Lilly sale online and in stores!  It's only today, tomorrow and Wednesday so shop quickly!  Make sure you have your login information memorized and sign in so you're ready at 8am.  You know how it goes, sometimes they are ready at 8 and most times the website crashes. ;) But it will be worth it!  I'm hoping to stock up for Molly Anne!  Shop the sale here!  

Special Night!

Last night Molly Anne and Kevin got to have a special night with his parents celebrating his Dad's birthday!  They went to Mickey and Mooch for dinner!  And when you're with your Nana and PapaG you get to eat ice cream!

And look at all of the "gray ducks and their Mamas!"  

So sweet!  She loves her Nana and PapaG!  And I loved getting lots of videos and pictures of their fun from Kevin!

I was sorry to miss the big birthday dinner but I've been in Utah since Wednesday.  Returned home late last night/early this morning.  Had a big rental car debacle while I was there (first time ever!) and had to take a $107 uber ride to my meeting.  Hey, there's a first for everything, even after 12 years of traveling!

Sitting here getting some work done now and I'm heading for another adventure this afternoon.  

See you all here on Monday!

House Updates - Brick!

Last Thursday, brick started!  Now I must tell yall, I have been nervous about this part for two reasons.

1.  We wanted to do a painted brick home but it isn't allowed in our neighborhood.  So we had to come up with another option.  We spent HOURS on picking the right brick.  Finally, Kevin and I went to our the masonry company that was going to be installing it and picked out what we liked.  The brick we selected is called Port Charlotte and it's darker than you see below.  After asking a million questions, they told us about a technique called the "German Mortar Smear" and that is basically rubbing the white mortar on the brick after it's installed.  It lightens it up even more.  It's different than white washing as this has more coverage if that makes sense.  

2.  I'm being a crazy person about making sure the red clay does not turn our brick orange.  Ever see brick homes with the orange band around the bottom of their house?  Yeah, that's because it does not come off...like at all.  So the masons have to take an abundance of caution to be sure the clay does not splash up during construction and until there is mulch or the site is stabilized.  Usually they use straw to help with this but in our case they are covering the brick with plastic every night and using straw.  Because I'm nuts.  But I'd like our pretty white brick house to stay white!  

Okay so this brick was laid one day prior.  You can see that the mortar still has not dried because it will turn almost white.  

This brick was laid that same day.  

In the below picture you can see what brick they laid the day before and the brick they laid that day.  

These guys are wonderful.  They have been so nice to talk to and are doing a wonderful job.  Ronnie is the head guy and he's just the best.  See him with the sponge?  He is smearing the mortar!

This is when it's really coming together.  It's so crazy that we are basically designing the brick and how it is laid on OUR HOUSE!  Wild!  

Eclipse Watching

Some eclipse watching from the roof of our office building!  

You can see some of the downtown buildings if you look realllly hard!  

I booked it down to our new house so the guys could use my glasses before 4pm when it was gone.  They loved getting to see it!  What a cool day it was!  

Mills is FIVE!

Today is Mills' birthday!  In case you had no idea, I'm basically obsessed with my Mills.  Kevin surprised me with him for my 30th birthday!  He was 12 weeks old.  And he is the best dog/part human!  We will be celebrating tonight the way we always do - a peanut butter and goodie cake!  Enjoy some of our favorite pictures of Mills over the years.  

You can see that his face has gotten very white since Molly Anne was born, ha!  That's a big job he has - caring for her!  ;)  We never followed any of the rules of bringing a baby into the home with a dog.  From day one we let him sleep in her room right by the crib and he babysat for us often when we were doing something else - quickly of course! :)  He still loves her something fierce!  He only rests after we are all out of the house or if Molly Anne is asleep.  Otherwise, he is on guard to her every need.  It's funny!  The love between the two of them is something very special.  

There is not a better dog than Mr. Miller Westben, named after Miller Lite and his breeder.  xo Millsy G!  

July 2017

Christmas 2013