These are a few of my favorite things

Lego prank calls. I died watching this.


Going shopping with Nadia. She loves going and takes her purse everywhere. After we're done at one store, she'll request to go to another. A kid after my own heart. Don't you love her bracelet accessory she picked out herself. Stylin!




Having Nadia do preschool. Two kids in school at the same time? Yes please!



Books I read a long time ago.



I'm on a "buy books that I had when I was a child" kick. I found this one that I loved- "Dulac's Fairy Tales of the World". These illustrations have stuck in my head for years and I never thought I find the book again. It's been fun to pick up some others like "Blue Willow" and "Island of the Blue Dolphins" and reread them as an adult. I'm hoping to find a few others that have stuck with me over the years, but it isn't easy when all you can remember are a few details.

Going along with the children's book theme, while I've been trying to find a few other books I owned at one point or another, I found these illustrations by Kay Nielson. Needless to say, I've found my next art project when my mom comes to visit. I can't wait to recreate these (especially since they are $60 a print!) How cute would these be in Nadia's room one day?!





Seriously Sharp Cabot Cheese + Wheat Thins- my go to snack. So good.


This jewelry! My friend in Illinois, the super cool Nancy McNabb, had this beautiful vintage photo ball locket that I've been obsessed with ever since. Take note Steve!



When I was pregnant with Rowan, there was a med student in our ward who was invited into my OB/GYN appointment. Usually I don't care if med students come in to learn, but it's a decidedly different experience when you know the person. Very awkward. Thankfully it was a girl as I think I would have died if it was one of the many male med students in our ward at that time (including her husband). I didn't want to ask her to leave, so I focused on her amazing opal earrings. They were gorgeous!


Like this, but in silver. I couldn't take my eyes off them!

Demon-WP

If you read this blog, you know we've been encountering a lot of bugs since we've moved to the South, namely roaches. If you think you will ever live down here, write this down. Demon-WP. A miraculous insecticide that will keep the bugs away and the pest control bill down. I'd tried just about everything you can get at the store and they all were a huge disappointment. Then a lady in the ward recommended this stuff and I haven't seen any since (or any alive ones I should say). I'll come across a dead one once a week maybe. Note to self: ensure that that black lump under the bed is really a lego rather than a dead cockroach before picking it up next time. If you have having bug problems of any sort, I'd give this stuff a try. You may get cancer, but at least your house will be bug free.

And lastly, dry shampoo. When you have hair as thick as mine that takes forever to style, dry shampoo is as good as sliced bread in my books. Now I can quickly shower without having to go through the whole blowdry and style routine (at least every other day anyway). Plus it saves my hair from getting overstressed and dried out. Love it!

School Days

A little update on the kids and their educational adventures:

Rowan

He still loves it. His favorite class is computers and any day that has computers is a good day. He seems to be doing really well. They stamp each child's hand if they have had a good day and haven't lost any "stars" from not following the rules. So far, Rowan comes home every day with a stamp and occasionally other things like a prize from the treasure box (mostly Cars card games) or little notes.




His reading and writing have skyrocketed and he surprises me every day with new words that he can read or write.

We've also gotten some fun assignments that made their way home.


Gotta love Kabeeing.

Steve is still kind of bitter that Grandma Luke taught Rowan how to draw him bald.

I hear a lot about different boys that he is friends with. Mostly ones named Sam, Zach, and John. He's also buds with a boy named Josh on the bus who lives just around the corner from us. It's clear he is entering a stage where girls aren't really playmates anymore- thankfully his sister is an exception to that rule. He really is enjoying this transition and I pray that he continues to enjoy it as much as he is.

Nadia

I've started preschool with Nadia and one other little boy named Brett who lives in the area. This Monday was our first time meeting and we are covering the alphabet and numbers. We focused on the letter A and the number one. So far so good.

Animal crackers and watermelon "A"s.




Unfortunately I took the video on one of the more difficult searches, but you get the picture.



The finished product



At the end of the day, I enjoy seeing these two monkeys get together.




Rowan is also trying to teach Nadia all he knows. He loves being the authority on things. Sometimes it works out, sometimes Nadia is resistant, but he did teach her to do somersaults recently.


Steve is teaching Nadia to play wii dance...or lead aerobics.



She's actually doing it while I type this and I have to say, she's pretty good for a 2 year old.

She's also potty training. I'm being pretty relaxed about the whole thing, quite the contrast to when I was trying to get Rowan to do it. I felt so much pressure to try and get him to do it before Nadia was born. Needless to say, it just didn't go over well. So far so good with Nadia. She's also chewed up her last binky and is now binky free. That has been an amazingly easy transition.

Aunt Chandy

Anytime I say Aunt Chandra, Nadia corrects me and says "No, Aunt CHANDY." This nickname is definitely a sign of affection for Nadia. She was quite enthralled with Chandra who came to visit us last week.

We did and ate a lot while Chandra was here. Steve has suggested that we eat salads for a week to detox from all that good southern food.

Sunday we had a roast dinner. Something about roast dinners will always remind me of home and Sunday. Rowan took longer than Nadia to warm up to Chandra, but by the end of Sunday they were good pals.


On Labor Day morning we had grand plans, but they were squashed with the threat of rain. Weather reports can't really be trusted down here, even if they say 100% chance of rain. We ended up going on a walk on the dam here. It contains Lake Murray, the local go-to place for some relief from the heat.

We immediately put Chandra to work.



Afterwards, I got to go see the Help with Chand. The theater was PACKED and people were literally sitting on the stairs. It was interesting to see that movie in the South and I enjoyed all the whispered commentary around us. That night we had Our Best Bites chipotle pork tacos that my friend Julie recommended. They were delicious! For dessert, Chandra made these most amazing blueberry cheesecake bars with the kids. They were heavenly (yes, my life revolves around food).



Tuesday we went to the zoo and botanical gardens. We practically had the zoo to ourselves, which I later discovered might have been in part due to a tornado watch. The weather was cooler than when we went the last time and we were able to see all of the exhibits. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with Chandra's extensive knowledge about animals. It almost made me wish we had Animal Planet.

The kangaroo walk:


Two baby girls


Nadia was more interested in Chandra than the tiger it seems.


The same could not be said for the fish exhibit. She did not want to leave this one.


Finding a lizard in the botanical gardens.


Later on, we went to a local award winning Southern style buffet with hush puppies, corn fritters, pit barbequed meat, fried rolls, baked beans, collard greens (still not a big fan), banana and chocolate pudding, peach cobbler, baked apples and the list goes on. I looked 5 months pregnant when we left.

Wednesday we hung out mostly. Chand played Just Dance Kids with the gang when Rowan got home from school. It was pretty cute to watch all three of them together.


Steve and Chand went to go see Captain America together that evening. It was nice of Chandra to be willing to be our dates to movies that Steve and I wouldn't go together to.

Thursday we went to downtown Columbia and walked around the State House grounds. It's a beautiful structure and pretty cool to see some of the marks (cannon balls and crumbling due to fire) from the Civil War still apparent on the building.



Some random statue. (I'm a real history buff)


When we were done, we took Steve out for lunch at a local burger joint called Pawley's that had been featured on Dives, Diners, and Drive-ins on the Food Network. The burgers were impressive, but the service and the rest was not.



This is what happens when I ask Steve to take a picture and why you won't see many of them on this blog. I look 40 years old.


Oh well, at least my kids are always cute.


We then left Steve and went to go check out the State Farmer's Market. It wasn't anything like I was visualizing. It was a huge compound with produce facilities and a few buildings where farmers would sell their produce by the box. So if you want to go to a place where you can buy a box of jalapeno peppers while conversing with local farmers, this is the spot for you. My father-in-law would love this market.


I didn't want to leave empty handed, so I bought a ton of peaches and a huge watermelon. I also got called "baby" a bunch of times and I didn't even pay extra for it. Granted it was from an old black farmer who probably calls everyone that. He had "the boy" pick out a "fine watermelon" for me too. It was admittedly an experience that makes me smile.

Friday we went to the State Museum. I was a little underwhelmed, but I've been spoiled by Chicago's amazing museums. Nadia seemed to enjoy it. My favorite part was the quilts they had on display, but I wasn't allowed to take pictures of those.






This was a cool replica of the H.L Hunley submarine used in the Civil War. Not something I would want to be in underwater. The spear was made mostly out of wood.




Saturday morning, Chand and I went garage saling. I got a lot of good stuff for Christmas, a food dehydrator and weed barrier fabric. You know you are old when you get excited about weed barrier fabric and food dehydrators. When we got home, we packed up the car and took off for Charleston for the weekend. The beach was our first destination, so we went to Isle of the Palms.




When we got to our hotel, we got cleaned up and headed over to 5 Guys. I think I liked it better than Pawley's to be honest. Then we dropped Steve and the kids at the hotel and took advantage of the factory outlet stores. We didn't buy much, but it was nice to walk around and check out all the stores.

In the morning, we got ready at our leisure and then packed up for Kiawah Island. I'd heard that it was the best beach in Charleston and we were not disappointed. I won't go to another beach after we saw this one. It was less populated, had more shells and fish, and it just had a beautiful landscape. If you go to South Carolina, you simply must go- it was the most beautiful beach I have ever seen.

Aunt Chandra going for a walk.
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652210658298781682" />



We left after a few hours to go peruse downtown Charleston before we had to take Chandra to the airport. It was amazing. The architecture, seeing sailors walking around, the rigsaws, horse-drawn carriages, the ocean- it is an incredible experience.





Once a month, they will close down one of the historic streets for
shoppers to walk around. Chandra and I enjoyed window shopping at stores clearly out of our budget.






As a last hurrah, we walked along a historic street that borders the ocean. I kind of love Charleston.




Thanks for coming Chand! We love and miss you!!