Hit the Wall

Usually a term reserved for runners....but I've hit the wall on my blog. I've got two long posts with lotsa pics and cannot post them. If you have any ideas, I'm all ears. I'm ready to start blogging again. So many changes, so much to update anybody who wants to read it! Feedback welcome.

'Bama Bound and Breaking In

OK~we're here in Montgomery, AL. Yet another move, this one in record time. That's cause the kiddos were at their grandparents' house. Thank GOD. Seriously right now the sound of a box cutter razing through anything gives me the heebie jeebies.
It's definitely been eventful so far. We expected hot and humidty, but not these crazy ALL DAY cloudy thurnderstormy days we've had for the past week. You know, the kind that are barly shy of hurricanes with hail and wind damage, power outages everywhere and trees down (see pic). It's kind of a mojo killer in terms of the pool. I will attend my beach vacation as the pasty one.
So far, we've nearly entirely moved in, done some great eating and good shopping, seen a great friend from Charleston TWICE, found docs and hair cutters and all that good stuff, played once in our new special backyard inflatable pool (see weather comments), enjoyed the spectacular 'hood pool twice (once cut short to weather, again), VERY nearly avoided an ER trip when C went flying out of the grocery cart headfirst onto a vegetable can (see pic), lived with lots of bugs I'ver never evne seen before, including a black widow (that's not what is pictured but you get the idea), shopped on July 4th because we had to, and even already found two great babysitters and had a date night. Kaitlin and Carson have both met new friends, as you can see by the top pics where AG was teaching K "Yoga" and then they were doing their Yoga resting in bed. Whew! I think that's all in a week and a half. I might need to slow down. But it's been so much fun to catch up with "old" friends and meet new ones and anticipate more coming. Living here isn't entirely different than dorm life, which is fun in that many of your friends are very close by. Still, we miss our family and hope to get home soon!
But so far, so good. We love it here.
Cheers!
K&J and kiddos
PS. Don't make fun of my technological slowness (or do, I don't care). These pics are all from my iPhone and so you might have to turn your head 90 degrees. It's good for your flexibility.

Where do they learn this stuff?

These pics are from a couple weeks ago and are from something I read about on one of my new fave blogs: The Frugal Girls (www.thefrugalgirls.com). It was National Gardens Day or something like that sponsored by BH&G. So all we had to do was fill out a form online and got into the Magnolia Plantation (complete, obviously, with a beautiful petting zoo and grounds) free. It's usually like $15/person. Love it. Carson LOVED seeing the animals and getting to touch them. He got nice and muddy and of course loved that, too.


Carson tonight at the table started naming his crayons by their CORRECT color. I haven't the faintest clue where he learned that. But I know I didn't teach it to him and again, it just makes me more convinced that it takes a (good) village to raise a kid! Seriously, he has about eight words in his little 20 month vocabulary and now half of them are colors. OK, cool. Now can someone teach him a few more words so this communication thing is a bit easier?!?! On a sweet note, he LOVES to pray. He will claps his little hands and ask to pray before dinner, other meals where it occurs to him, and of course at bedtime (my kids are masters at using this to delay the inevitable).


Cheers
K & Co

I Heart Shopping

Jack Rogers Navajo = $98
Target Equivalent = $19.99 + ON SALE NOW = $14.99
I have to stare hard to tell the difference....Dave Ramsey would be so proud of me!
As I see it, I now have $83.01 to spend...
($98 - $14.99)
I love making money.

In the Event You Visit Charleston, SC

I should have some fab-o pic to put here but I don't.

If you are ever in Charleston, don't listen to Old Man on the plane next to me giving advice to the inbound ladies group. Skip Hyman's unless you really really love fried Seafood. And if you do, go to the Wreck of Richard and Charlene or something like that in Mt Pleasant.

Here are my Top 5 after MUCH trial and error:

1. The Fat Hen on John's Island. Hands down. Our fave.
2. Magnolia's = awesome spot + designed for visitors = perfect!
3. Coast Restaurant (seafood). But don't order the whole trout. It comes as a whole trout (eyeball and all). But you have to sit outside and enjoy the VERY Charleston ivy/brick building/gate view. It's right behind Rue de Jean (and I think owned by the same people) which we found to be good but not outstanding. However, many consider it to be outstanding. Guess we ordered the wrong thing.
4. For brunch: 3 Little Birds behind the Windermere center in West Ashley. Small and quaint and I'd challenge you to find a better fresh omelet.
5. Red Drum Gastropub = for the 30-40-something bar crowd with excellent food (in Mt. Pleasant). It labels itself TexMex but nobody outside Texas really knows what Tex Mex is. That said, the food is great and there's fun live music and a hoppin' atmosphere.

Runner up: Visit the Old Village in Mt. Pleasant. Southern Living is always talking about Pitt St. and the Pharmacy, but you cannot go wrong with a girls' lunch at the Village Bakery on Pitt Street with a quick stop at the Out of Hand Boutique a few doors down. Great views as you walk around, great lunch stop. Part of the Dine with Sal (you can google it) chain, ALL of their restaurants are great.

So there's what I've learned. I still have a few more stops to check out, and of course, for the over 21 crowd: do not miss the experience of the roof top bars near the waterfront (i.e., Vendue Inn) for exceptional views and atmosphere. Who cares about the food.

Do a carriage tour to get a quick overview of the important history (and there are PLENTY of landmarks if you are so interested) and if you are there between May and October on a Wednesday night, enjoy the Wine Strolls for phenomenal value out at Middleton Plantation. Uberesque Charleston views and atmosphere there.

That is what I learned in Charleston! Have a strange feeling you may not see such a list after our time in Mongtgomery, AL but that's OK. We will all be together for a year and that's so great for us right now as a family. Cheers :)

Life Back to Normal

Jesse is back from 3 months in DC and thankfully, life is back to normal. My "treat" is that Kaitlin and I get to travel for a girls trip to Houston coming up. This is great but it's on Southwest and I will admit that I hate Jack-in-the-boxes to start with and I certainly don't want to become one lest part of the plane fly off like they are doing lately. I guess we should dress warm--30K feet is COLD.
In other big news, we're moving! So much for normal. Off to Montgomery, AL for one year starting sometime in July (our current house = the two story; our new one is the other one). You might roll your eyes (I did) at the idea of Montgomery, plus we will go crazy without half our family there, but we are super excited about our neighborhood--LOTS of people are also there for just a year so I have a feeling it's going to be the SAHM version of dorm life. Yay! Lots of great amenities within spitting distance which will be a nice change. Things in Charleston, though nothing is technically far by big city standards, tend to be spread out a bit more.
Kaitlin is wrapping up K4 and is full up reading. Slowly, still, but it was like a light just clicked on inside her head one day and off she went. She read the word 'Jerusalem' in an Easter book without missing a beat and I almost passed out. Do they whip them at this school to get them progressing so fast?! I was a fairly early reader--and that was mid-late K5/Kindergarten. It's crazy. Her Elementary school in Alabama where she will attend Kindergarten has the Aviators as their mascot. How appropriate and fun!
Carson is presently playing on his sit and spin and using it to climb on to reach things he shouldn't. He's at that age where he does a lot of things he shouldn't. Removing all the outlet safety plugs, pegging his sister in the head with a hard ball, climbing on everything, throwing food, name it. He is ready for swim season and it's going to take my full attention to keep him above water. Not so much like his sister in the fear department--he has none. But he loves his "La La" as he calls her. And he is my happy boy. We were listening to the Comedy Channel the other day on the radio--he was laughing and clapping with the audience. I love that. We are about to pack up and sell his baby bedding and move him (when we move) into a more "big boy" motif. Pastel lambs only cut it for so long. I can't believe that stage is already passing. TOO Fast.
So there is our update. We are madly eating our way around Charleston, (with the super fun help of my parents a couple weeks ago!), frustrated we did not appreciate this food when we first got here. Now we "get it" and LOVE all this lowcountry grub. So go enjoy some grits w/bacon and cheese!

Talking to Daddy While He's Away.