Datenight!

Kevin and I go on a weekly datenight every Wednesday and have been doing this for probably the past 10 years or more. It is the highlight of my week to find a good restaurant and have some great conversation. We are both self-professed "Foodies" and I LOVE to eat out (anything to not have to cook or clean dishes or cut-up plates of food, right?).

I have been hearing from several people about this restaurant:

Have you been here?

Well, going by the name, it wasn't my kind of place at first until I started asking more questions. (I am not a burger/meat-eater, so a restaurant specializing in burgers is not my cup of tea.) But, my friend, Kristin, was telling me that they have every kind of burger under the sun, not just beef burgers and I did some research and found their menu and I had to pull the Pregnancy Card with this one.

Kevin indulged me and we made the drive to Howell Mill Rd. to check it out.

It. Was. Awesome.

I had a shrimp burger...sounds disgusting, but it was delicious. I had a hard time deciding between that and the crab burger (crabby patty, SpongeBob fans?). I went with the better price point and chose the shrimp burger and was not disappointed:

That is a fried lemon on top...huh? But soooo good!

Instead of fries, I got zucchini fries with some funky mayo dipping sauce that was AMAZING.

Then I washed it all down with an old-school Coke in a glass bottle (minus the high fructose corn syrup---it was sweetened with 100% cane sugar like when we were kids!):

Now for the finale: For dessert a Nutella and Burnt Marshmallow Milkshake:

No, I'm not kidding...it was to die for.

I had a hard time deciding between that and the Krispy Kreme Milkshake, but the people at the table next to us ordered the Nutella one and I am a sucker for anything burnt-looking.

Then to top off a great dinner, we headed over to Ikea...this full and satisfied Momma-to-Be needed to walk around a bit (obviously!).

I love that store...Kevin was very patient as we strolled the MAZE of fun stuff to look at...no big purchases (we did buy 2 rolls of art easel paper for Mia and Chloe), but I have mentally redecorated our entire home :)

Lemonade Stand 2010!

We have been planning this Lemonade Stand for weeks now. It all started when Mia, Chloe and their 2 neighbor friends began to brainstorm about having a Milkshake Stand. They talked about it for 2 days straight. They could not understand that although a milkshake stand on a hot day would, of course, be refreshing, it wouldn't last longer than a few minutes. Also, where to plug in the blender?

So, they finally let me convince them that maybe, just maybe, a Lemonade Stand would be the way to go. Brilliant idea, Mommy.

Mia and Chloe discussed this idea with their BFF, Megan, and she was ON BOARD. They all got together and created some signs to advertise for the next day's sale. But, unfortunately, Quinnie got sick and then we had some bad weather, and then all of a sudden, it's been 3 weeks or so since we began talking about all of this.

Well, today was THE DAY and it was a blast...hot and sweaty...but a blast, nonetheless.

The girls made about $21! Holy Cow...I don't think we ever made that kind of cash with our stands growing up! We had many generous people stop and donate more than the 25cents for their little red solo cup of Country Time.

When we split up the money among the 3 girls, they each made about $7 and change. Megan was so sweet and was saying how she wanted to send all of her money to Haiti. As she says this, I'm looking at my girls, hoping they will chime in with the same humanitarian heart...uh, no. Mia says she is going to the Dollar Store.

Lovely.

Jennifer and I tried and talk to them (my girls, mainly) about helping others through giving some of the money to charity, and Chloe begins to think about it and she says she wants to help the children in Haiti, too. But, Miss Heart-of-Stone, I mean, Mia, says that she is, for sure, headed the Dollar Store with her cash ASAP.

Too funny.

What can you do?

I did lay on some guilt when Chloe gave me $2.25 to give to charity and Mia sighed and finally decided to give me 45cents. I guess you've got to start somewhere with a giving heart, right? It has definitely enlightened me to an area I need to be more mindful in including our children---our family giving is usually done by check through the mail and they have no idea of when/to whom this happens.

Here are some pics from our afternoon:

Mia flagging down customers

Quinnie tasting the goods

Chloe chatting up some customers (our friend, Laura)

Mia making the drive-through delivery

Allison and Quinn

I just had to include this precious one of my baby

Check out the cash!

Best Friends...and business partners

Celebrating 11 years of marriage and being a Mom

Last weekend, Kevin whisked me away for a wonderfully relaxing weekend in the Smoky Mountains. We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary on May 8th. I am so thankful to Nana, Granddaddy and Grammie for watching our little ones so this Momma could have a break from my "job".

I loved every second...

It was so nice to wake up (my internal clock still gets me up at 7am) and have my coffee in silence on the porch enjoying this amazing view:

After breakfast, I even enjoyed a mid-morning nap...awesome.

We went and had a great lunch on the Nantahala River at the NOC. The weather was GORGEOUS and even a little cool!

When we returned to the cabin, we went on a hike (straight up hill, by the way) to come to a clearing and find this great spot:

And another beautiful view:

After dinner, Kevin got the fire pit going (his favorite) and we settled in for another quiet night.

I felt a little geriatric going to bed at 10:30 when I was on vacation, but Kevin reminded that I am making a human...so true.

We caught some flack for not being around on Mother's Day, but I loved when Mia said, "We love Mother's Day, Mommy! We get to spend the weekend with Nana and Grammie!" I guess that's what they've gotten used to with our anniversary always falling on that weekend :)

Princess Toes

I just have to share this newfound love of my Quinnie:

Plastic Princess Shoes---matching or not matching, she loves them all.

She learned all about Princess shoes from her idol, Allison (my friend, Jennifer's little girl who is 2 years old).

She is growing so fast.

The bat saga continues....

Well, we thought the bat had eventually flown out the window on Friday night. Kevin came downstairs Saturday morning after checking our entire room/closet/bathroom and said he couldn't find any sign of our little houseguest.

So...we went about our day as usual.

That night as we all slept, I heard something in the hallway and saw that somebody had turned on the hall light. I quietly called out, "Mia? Chloe?"

No answer.

So, I called louder, "GIRLS?"

That's when I heard Mia crying. So, I jump up and go to her in her room and she is sitting on her bed crying saying that something is in her bathroom. I lean my head into the hallway and I hear a rustling sound coming from the hall bath. I call to Kevin to come and investigate (I am a C-H-I-C-K-E-N, by the way).

I crawled into bed with Mia as Kevin went to check it all out. Then Kevin says words I didn't want to hear:

"Greer, nobody move...the bat is in the trash can."

Don't worry, I am not moving an inch.

He goes and gets a big book of scrapbook paper to put over the top of the trash can to "trap" it. Then we go downstairs and I open the front door as he tosses the can into the front yard.

At first, nothing comes out, but after Kevin gives the can a little nudge, the bat flies out and into the nighttime sky.

Who knows how long it had been in the girls' bathroom or in that trash can. Or, if it had just been watching us unsuspecting humans go about our typical Saturday from somewhere in the house. I had even given all 3 girls a bath earlier before bed and as I went to sleep, I just kept thinking: what if I had thrown something into the trash can and it had flown out at me...I would have gone into labor right then and there.

Good riddance...

"Don't freak out, Honey, but..."

OK, how come that phrase never ends like:

"...I just won the lottery!"

or

"...pack your bags, we're going to Hawaii!"

No, it is usually the precursor phrase to some words that make you want to...freak out.

These are the very words Kevin said to me in the middle of the night last night. But, for me, they ended with:

"...there is a bat in our bedroom."

WHAT!?!?!?!

OK, now, I'm wide awake.

This is all I can picture:

freaked out yet?!?

Action #1: pull the covers over my head (I did not want a bat in my hair or landing on my face!) while I keep asking Kevin what he is going to do to get it to fly back out the window.

Action #2: Kevin turns on the light (meanwhile, I am still under the covers...yes I am a scaredy-cat)---Don't get me wrong, I am all about wildlife...as long as it stays in the wild!

Action #3: Kevin goes to the window and opens the blinds (we had the window wide open, but the blinds were closed) and climbs back in bed and turns out the light and says, "one more reason we need screens"...why yes, babe, I couldn't agree more.

Action #4: Claustrophobic pregnant lady has to poke her head out from the covers to breathe.

Action #5: We wait...and wait...and wait.

Action #6: I am wide-eyed and trying to watch to see if my night vision might kick in to see our little friend fly across the room and out the window. Finally I ask Kevin if he can see anything and...he has fallen asleep!

Action #7: I wake him up and he is no longer worried but is probably irritated that I've woken him up. He even says if I'm quiet, I can maybe hear the clicking of the bat as it is echo-locating...huh??? I can't hear anything. Maybe this is a ploy to get me to be quiet and possibly fall asleep.

Action #8: I guess it works because next thing I know it is morning and I hear my big girls playing Littlest Pet Shop in their bedroom and Quinnie "talking" in her room.

I was all about being first one up and out of our room this morning...just in case Mr. Bat was still in there!