flight to kitty hawk

a few years ago dave went to the outter banks of NC to help his uncle start up a new donut shop out there. he worked for about a week and built out two stores. the donut shops were a hit so his uncle decided to do one more. so dave went back over in jan and worked on the third store. it is just about time for tourist season over there so the new store is getting ready for its grand opening. dave and i had the opportunity to go over before the big opening and spend some time with his uncle, eat some great fresh cooked while you wait donuts and i got to see all of daves handy work on the stores. they turned out so nice. he built walls, cabinets, counter tops, shelves... lots of work and it turned out so nice. we had a great time there in the outer banks, however getting there was a different story. we had planned on flying over there. it is a 9 hour drive vs a 3 hour flight. although when flying in a small plan, you are at the mercies of the weather. we watched the weather for days making sure we would be good to go. storms came and went. by the time we were finally able to get out of town and in the air another system had come through. daves flight instructor said we should be fine so we got in the plane and took off. not more than 15 mintues into the flight the weather got really bad. we were engulfed in clouds. i have to say, DAVE IS AMAZING
and flew like a champ while i was freaking out. silently, but still freaking out. so for the next 2 1/2 hours we flew through terrible clouds , rain and turbulance. even the landing was a hard one with gusts of 23 knots.
some thing really cool about the landing is, it was right next to where the write brothers did all their test flights. we got to see the write brothers monument. it was pretty cool for dave to land there. the lord was watching out for us and daves excellent training paid off but i sure didnt want to get back in that plane for awhile.


we stayed the night in a huge house on the beach with his uncle. we didnt sleep to much that night after the flight but did get to sleep in a little in the morning. then we headed over to Duck Donuts to get some hot and fresh goodness.


After donuts we actually got BACK in the plane and flew to raleigh to spend some time with the dews. www.2dewdrops.blogspot.com
(here is a picture of the outerbanks as we took off....)
we always have a great time with them and wish we lived closer. our visits are usually super short but they are always filled with good food, lots of laughs and fun fellowship. tara a jamie have almost two year old twins. they are cuties an growing so fast. here we are enjoying some Goodberry's Frozen custurd. SO good.






super mom with both kiddos.

our flight back home from raleigh was fine but it will be awhile before dave gets me back in that plane.

baby gage

i got to spend some time with my friend emily and her cute kiddos baby gage and big sister grace last wednesday. gage is just a few weeks old so i got to get in some more newborn practice and spend some time outside with grace too. grace is just the sweetest most well behaved little girl. i loved my time with her. gage is a sweet little guy too. he was a trooper while we tried all different poses on him :) i am still having a hard time getting the lighting just right. my outdoors pics are better than my indoors. ok so here are some of the shots i got... thanks emily for letting me practice on your family.

waving to the camera

look at those blue eyes already!


emily had a cool antique wash and shave stand. i am not super happy with any of these pics. the lighting was hard, but we might try again and bring the whole piece outside and see what kind of pics we can get. emily was up for us trying anything.
sweet big sister grace.







we took a walk across the street to see grandpa and the horses.

last 20

81.) i am not a morning person... it takes me while to wake up before i can even speak to someone.
82.) i dont like putting clothes away after they are washed and folded
83.) i love eating apples with peanut butter and chocolate chips
84.) i dont like that we only have one bathroom. lately we have all needed it at the same time.
85.) i like playing with raelyns hair
86.) i dont like how fast boys hair grows, especially b/c i am the one who cuts it and i am not very good at it.
87.) i dont handle dave working in ministry very well. i know that comes across terrible, but camps always fall on the weekends and during summer so they times when most families spend together are the times that dave is usually working, then the other times he has to work his other jobs. pretty much i am just selfish and want him all to me and the kids. i am praying already that the lord changes my attitude for this summer.
88.) i love dave for how hard of a worker he is, and hate myself for how selfish i am
89.) we use a citibank rewards credit cards and it is awesome. we use it like a debit card and only buy the things we know we can afford and then pay it off every month, then we earn points we can redeem for anything we want.
90.) we got a new stove, dinner gift certificates and part of a washer and dryer with our points
91.) i am saving up points for a dyson next
92.) i cried when dave gave me the camera, i didnt want it, i thought it cost to much money and our old little point and shoot was just fine.
93.) now i LOVE my new camera and never want to take a pic with the other one again.
94.) have i mentioned my hubby is the best.
95.) we eat pancakes as a family ever sunday afternoon
96.) we eat dinner at the table as a family every night (except during summer camp) this might be my favorite time of day
97.) i love working on a Macintosh
98.) i know i should read more, but i have never been a big reader
99.) i buy stuff sometimes just because it is on sale.... i need to be so carefull of this
100.) i am thankful i am finally done with 100 things about me. hope i didnt bore you guys.

25 things about ME

56.) i am a stay at home mom and so thankful that the Lord has provided for me to be able to do so. being a mom is the hardest thing i have ever done, cant imagine doing it while working outside of the home too.
57.) i have a BFA in Painting and a art teaching certificate from FAU.
58.) i started out going to UCF and then transferred when i got married.
59.) i was only 20 when i got married.
60.) i look like a baby in my wedding pictures
61.) i did my own flowers for the wedding and my mom made the bridesmaid dresses
62.) i love art, always have, it was my favorite class even when i was little
63.) i dont have a lot of time to create art anymore and i miss it
64.) i try to MAKE time for it, i am a better mom and wife when i can create.
65.) i started making fun creative cakes when garret turned two and have been making them since. this is a pic of raelyns third b-day cake. (third fondant cake)66.) this is my sweet friend Tara who got me hooked on blogging in the first place, getting to do a crafty project with her.
67.) garrets third birthday cake
68.) brennas first birthday cake and my first fondant cake. i think my favorite of all the cakes if made.

69.)my art room
70.) i love to scrapbook and have made a book for each of the kids first years.
71.) my good friend carrie started a MOPS group in greeneville and asked me to be the creative activity leader. it has been a good challenge for me. i probably would not have said a word to anyone if i wasnt forced to. i am a shy introverted person.
72.) garret 5th birthday cake

73.) i miss my blazer
74.) i became a mini van mom right before brenna was born, but i am adjusting
75.) i oppologize for the cake pics not being in order.... i am lazy blogger too i guess.
76.) i have been trying to exercize 4 times a week
77.) i make my own marshmellow fondant for my cakes
78.) i love roller coasters
79.) i have very fair skin and freckles, i always wished i had tan skin.
80.) i like to change my hairstyle often but getting it cut is hard to do when you have to sceduale three kids.

yeah... excited i only have 20 more to go. so what do you want to know about me? i am running out of things to say.

wordless wednesday

daffodils

spring has been showing its colors and warmth the last couple of days and we have been soaking it up! today i took the kids over to an old house that no one is living in, they are working on it but living there. every spring the entire yard blooms with daffodils. i always drive slow when i go by to take in the beauty. i was so nervous that someone would stop and get mad at me for being there, dave calles me a chicken. anyways, here are some shots i got of the kids this afternoon.
the dress that raelyn is wearing, is one that i wore when i was three. my mom just sent it to me. hope you like these pics mom!



maybe my favorite shot of the day.


i love how you can really get a sense of how spring has really JUST arrived. the big trees in the background still dont have any leaves.