Silly Pictures

Here are a few funny pictures of Olivia and I from the past week.

Olivia trying to bundle Buddy up to go outside....


















Me channeling Lincoln with Olivia's President's Day craft....


Olivia reading a Valentine card from her Aunt....this one played the Disney princess song and she was just captivated by it!


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Snow Bunny

Here in North Carolina we do not necessarily get snow every year. The weather station often calls it wrong as well which can lead to massive pileups at the grocery store and school closings with not a drop of snow. It's comical to those who move into our state from other parts but to me, it's part of our charm. A few weeks ago the weather station said we would get 2-4 inches and we had barely a sprinkling of snow. Then this past week they called for 0.25 inches, instead we probably had 5 inches. Here are some pics of my snow bunny enjoying the unexpected snow when it first started and then a day later once it was getting slushier.









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Taco Shells and Dinosaur Eggs

I had some leftover taco meat from our dinner so I decided to experiment with the low carb taco shell alternative I saw on Pinterest. I was pleasantly surprised at how yummy this was (lesson learned, never doubt cheese!) and how much it really was like a taco shell. I don't think it is feasible to make these in bulk on the night we eat but I definitely can see eating a couple of these with leftovers for lunch like I did.



Olivia's preschool class did a unit on dinosaurs recently and she had her first paper mache experience - making a dinosaur egg. When she tore it apart there was a tiny dinosaur eraser inside, like a baby dinosaur. So cute! I love preschool art/crafts!


After my post a couple weeks ago about my frustration with Blogger I decided to invest a few dollars in another app. I read about the various options here and decided to go with BlogPress. Here's hoping for easier blogging going forward!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

In The Kitchen

After receiving my supplies I was eager to get started.  For my second low carb baking experience I decided on the Cranberry Orange Scones from Carolyn Ketchum's All Day I Dream of Food blog.  I love reading food blogs because the pictures are all so pretty but I am not a food blogger so I will keep it real!  Here is what it looks like when I work in the kitchen....

And here are my scones ready for the oven...

While I was busy with the scones Olivia decided to make playdough pancakes.  She really puts her whole body into rolling them out.

Christmas 2013

Christmas seemed so short this year.  Mark had to work the day before and after so we didn't leave til late afternoon on Christmas Eve to head to my Mom's and and were only there til the following evening.  We had alot of fun though!  

On Christmas Eve our tradition is to go to my Dad's side of the family for the evening.  We eat dinner, load up into about five or six car and drive around Christmas caroling to friends of the family and then come back and just hang out for several hours, opening presents late in the evening.  Every year before now Olivia was just a hot mess and I ended up leaving early to take her back to my Mom's to sleep while Mark stayed behind.  This year I was VERY surprised that Olivia was mostly happy the entire evening and we actually stayed til midnight.  The last 30 minutes we were there she was fussy but up until then she had a ball.  She absolutely LOVED caroling and playing with her second cousin Nathan.  We even moved his carseat to our car so they could be together for the drive.  Every year I try to make something homemade for my aunts and uncles.  This year I made East Coast Applique's Dove Ornaments on my embroidery machine.  

The next day Olivia woke to find that Santa had visited her at Nana's house and later my brother and his wife came over and we enjoyed lunch together and more presents.  I had been very sick in November and December so I actually finished sewing Olivia's Christmas pants on Christmas Eve! 

Great Wolf Lodge

We took our second trip to Great Wolf Lodge in early January.  We have enjoyed both of our trips to the Concord, NC location but have agreed that the next time we are able to go we would like to check out the Williamsburg, VA location.  Each time we've gone to Concord we have ended up at IKEA and spent more time than we expected, missing out on prime water park time.  So, in the future we will try to separate Great Wolf Lodge trips from IKEA trips!  Here are some pictures from our trip.  This was the first time Olivia ever went bowling.  She was not nearly as interested as we had hoped but that was likely because of the huge game room next door that she saw on her way in.  We also made sure she visited the Cub Club before we left.  She talked for two days before we arrived about wanting to make a necklace there!

The Worst Is Over

Thank God!!  After a weekend of constant tears and high fever I was able to get Olivia into the pediatrician where she was diagnosed with double ear infections, sinus infection and bronchiolitis....yowzers, no wonder she was inconsolable!  Three doses of antibiotics later and she is on the mend.  Other than a little remaining ear drainage and a cough she is mostly back to her normal self.  Now to get back to getting ready for Christmas!

Right before Olivia got sick we went to storytime with The Grinch.  Much like the Chick Fil A cow, she was afraid and fascinated all at the same time!

Sickly Woodhouses

What I haven't mentioned in my last few posts is how sick I have been.  It started November 20th with cold symptoms and 3 weeks later has turned into bronchitis, surprise surprise.  Asthmatics rarely just have a cold.  So, Christmas shopping, crafting and card preparing have all been on the back burner.  If I recall I have spent this same period of time sick for several years now which really makes for an unenjoyable and stressful holiday season.  I say this every year but next year I plan to start much earlier.  At any rate I can handle me being sick but my baby, well, that is another thing entirely.  Olivia spiked a temp last evening and has been horribly ill for the last 24 hours.  It is clear now that she has an ear infection since I see pus draining from one ear!  Ick!  Here's my baby girl in her TV watching cocoon and shortly after.  Normally I try to limit TV but when it's the only thing that helps the tears subside I'm a pushover.

Return of the Bicycle

We bought Olivia a very nice Trek bike earlier this year.  Unfortunately, during the summer she fell while riding it and has been afraid to get back on it.  This weekend we took the bike back to the store and had the training wheels adjusted so the bike is not as wobbly and she has fallen in love with the bike all over again!

Ponytails!

It is rare that Olivia lets me touch her hair let alone ASKS me to touch it so I had to snap a few shots of the ponytails she asked for this morning.  Someday maybe we will get to the point where combing is involved but until then I'll gladly make messy ponytails! (Perhaps someday she will start looking AT the camera again too....a Mom can dream)

October: Fall Fun

Olivia had her first trip to Hill Ridge Farms this year and she enjoyed it.  We did not get to stay very long because we got there a little late and had an event to attend that evening but here are a few pictures:

Other October events included me roasting pumpkins for the first time and a Halloween shirt for Olivia (I also did the pumpkin shirt in the pics up top).

1st Birthday Party! (part 2 - the birthday girl)

1st Birthday Party! (part 1 - decorations)

What's been going on with the Woodhouses?

It's been quite some time since I've posted anything but that is not because I have not had anything to say!  On the contrary I've been too busy to upload photos, too busy to post, too busy to organize my thoughts!  But, I have some time today so I'll be trying to catch up a little.

Olivia turned 10 months on April 22 - she's already a little ham!

We celebrated Easter!  The pink bunny was a gift from Olivia's grandmother.

We've been getting fresh local produce from The Produce Box

I've still been learning to sew

Olivia and Buddy are becoming really good friends

And Olivia has started crawling

Mark has been taking a photography class over the past two months and I'd love to share some of his photos but I'd hate to steal his thunder!

Happy 9 months to our SugarBooger!