Daisy Outdoor Day

This is Emma's first year as a Daisy Scout and she had her first outdoor activity this past Saturday at Camp Congaree in Lexington.

Saturday was an extremely busy day for all of us...Emma's dance company had a pancake breakfast fundraiser that morning, Ryan had a Cub Scout activity and then of course, Emma's Daisy Scout activity. Michael took Eden and Ryan and I took Avery and Emma.

Normally this wouldn't be a big deal to bring Avery along, however, the kids had awoken that morning at 6:00 a.m. so by 9:30 a.m. Avery was already tired. And this was during the first activity - making pine cone bird feeders!

Each girl selected two pine cones and slathered shortening all over it before rolling them in birdseed.

It took a little while since there was only one large container of shortening for all of the girls to share...

Still working...
And finally, Emma's completed bird feeders which she hung from a nearby tree!

Next, the girls went on a nature walk/scavenger hunt. Normally this would be a lot of fun and it was nice and shaded throughout the woods. Unfortunately, this was where Avery was giving out. She whined, moaned, cried and at a few points through the nature walk laid down on the ground because "she couldn't walk anymore!"

Needless to say, I was glad when that was over and I promised myself that under no circumstances of any type would I ever...EVER...bring her along with me again.

Thankfully, the last portion took place in the mess hall indoors and was an arts and crafts project. Each girl was able to make her own fairy from a synthetic flower.

Avery kept herself busy the entire time making her own crafts with beads, pipe cleaner and lots of glue. Lots and lots of glue. But she was happy and not whining so all was right with the world for that little bit of time.

Emma's completed fairy...It was a cute project and Emma had a lot of fun during the outdoor day.

Afterwards we sat outside and ate our picnic lunch that we had brought. Granted it felt like 95 degrees, we were all tired and most people opted out of staying for a picnic lunch, but I left it up to the girls and well, they wanted to stay and eat in the heat. So eat in the heat is what we did (and then stopped for ice cream on the way home!)

They both took nice naps later that afternoon! I look forward to more of Emma's Daisy activities but in the future...one on one with Emma.

Fall Home Tour

I love everything about the fall season - the highly anticipated cooler weather, the changing leaves, selecting pumpkins, picking apples and finally pulling out warm cozy sweaters. I love the warm fall color palette and decorating with dark yellow, orange, green and brown.

I am slowly getting my fall decorations in place and thought I'd share what we've got so far. I am certainly not a decorating expert and have to work mostly with what I've stored up over the years but I have picked up a few new things for this fall season that I just couldn't resist (that is what I tell my husband!)


My formal dining room was really bugging me lately. My off white tablecloth wasn't cutting it anymore and had a nice round stain from the last holiday season. Soooo...I have been on the lookout for a new table runner (or runners in this case.) I found both of these marked down at Pier 1 and love how the color ties into the room colors already in place.

Several years ago, I ordered bundles of wheat online for a fraction of the price they sell at the store. I think they have circulated to a different room in the house each year. This year they are propped up on my entryway table.

My fall mantle...I don't like my mantle to be cluttered with lots of decorations so I try and pick out a few seasonal things to put on display. And please ignore the weird orange light on Ryan's portrait - that is just due to my amateur photography skills!

I finally changed out the throw pillows on our family room couch. I found these two on clearance at World Market and loved how the colors blend so well with my room.

I placed my fall swag over my dining room mirror...

I know it is a little early for Halloween decorations, but I have a lot of Halloween decorations. It is Ryan's favorite holiday so we have hosted Halloween parties over the last few years and I tend to go a little overboard with decorations.

I thought these were toned down enough to go ahead and use in my kitchen. I picked up the spooky tree recently at World Market.

Now my armoire's display looks a little sad and puny to me now that I see them in a photograph...I have a vase of acorns and a black owl (another find this fall at TJ Maxx) sitting on top. I am thinking I might need to do something a little taller so this might be changed out soon!

Does anyone else enjoy decorating for the fall? I could spend all day going in and out of gift stores right now looking at all of the fabulous decorations. If you have anything special that you have found this fall, please share!

Happy Fall!

Eden at 14 months

Eden is now 14 months old and changing a little bit more every day. Her personality is really starting to shine and she enjoys playing games like "Peek-a-boo" and socializing with other people. She is not one to chill and watch everything going on around her - she wants in on the action!


She is eating a little bit of everything now and likes chicken, ham, cheese, and anything bread-oriented. She isn't walking yet but is starting to show signs of balance when standing with help.

Right now her vocabulary consists of the words "baby" and "Dada." Of course, she likes to babble all of the time. And she gets a big kick out of getting in shrieking wars with other babies around (this is so much fun during church.)

Speaking of church, let's just say Eden hasn't got with the program yet. Michael and I take turns taking her to the back of the church or sometimes outside because she likes to be loud and she doesn't stay in one place for longer than a second. We feel so worn out by the end of the mass after dealing with her the entire time!

She loves to swing outside on the swing set and run errands with me while the other kids are in school. Quite often we run errands just to get out of the house and entertain her on the go! I think part of the reason she likes to run errands is because she gets so much attention from strangers!

Here we go again!

We look forward to introducing baby Hawkins #5 around March 17, 2011!

North Carolina Apple Festival

Labor Day weekend North Carolina hosts its annual Apple Festival in Hendersonville. We decided to drive up for the afternoon and enjoy the mountains, fresh picked apples and slightly cooler weather.

It was our first visit to Hendersonville and where the festival was held in the historic downtown area of town. It was so charming and much larger than I had anticipated. The above picture is of their courthouse where the music stage was set up.

There were local orchards with apple stands positioned throughout the festival. We enjoyed the apple cider and apple slushies and brought home a peck of apples that lasted all of three days in our house.

A decorated tree located near the courthouse...

Pretty balloons...

Neat architecture and special old fashioned details such as this clock...

A mountain festival isn't complete without some good bluegrass music jamming in the background!

We found ice cream cones and snow cones for a dollar each so we sat and enjoyed the music for a little bit while snacking (the first of two ice cream cones that day!)

Eden rode around in her stroller all afternoon and enjoyed the sights and sounds.

The kids all had the opportunity to ride this...I couldn't tell you exactly what it was but it was certainly unique. The Western North Carolina Air Museum sponsored this ride - that is Emma and Avery in the purple bucket in the tail end.

Avery striking a beauty pose while waiting in line for the rides...

The three kids all entered the Fun House but only two properly exited. Avery took the escape route after deciding it wasn't for her!

We had a great afternoon visiting and decided it would be a lot of fun to come back in the future. There were so many neat boutiques that were not open during the festival that I would enjoy visiting sometime.

On our way down the mountain we stopped and ate dinner at the Peruvian Cowboy in Columbus, NC. We chose the restaurant because the pizza place next door had a huge wait and it was already getting late but it was such a pleasant surprise. Michael had the rotisserie chicken and I had the sausage and beef lasagna. It was soooo good! And to top things off, the kids were able to watch Scooby Doo on the big screen while they dined. Perfect ending to a great day!

Are you ready for some football!!!

Last Saturday we packed up some food, a table, and chairs to prepare for a little tailgating action, and Ryan and Michael got ready to leave for the Clemson versus North Texas game in Tiger Territory.

I made them pose for a few pictures before sending them on their way...

And off they went to see the Tigers play (and WIN)! Meanwhile, the three girls and myself had the day to ourselves. So I dressed them all up in their best Clemson attire, picked up some BBQ, planted some new plants on the front and back porch, called Katey and Eric to find out if any special visit to the ER was needed after Avery swallowed a penny, put the girls down for a nap and finally got to watch some Clemson football!

But not before I took their picture!

Tiny Dancer

I took these photos of Avery recently before we left the house for her Tuesday night dance class. I thought she was looking particularly cute so why not share!?!

She is taking a combination ballet/tumbling/tap class again this year. Her class is huge - I think right now there are 11 little girls!

You can imagine what the tap sounds coming out of that classroom sound like. Not the place to be if you have a headache!