Elementary, My Dear Watson

 

A mamarazzi's gotta do what a mamarazzi's gotta do.  And when you know Halloween is going to be cold and miserable and busy, an impromptu pre-Halloween photo shoot is fully in order.  A must. I brought my duo of sleuths and their sassy sidekick to a hot case and had them investigate while I snapped away.

 

I'm pleased. Prepare yourself for a photo overload...

Costume details:
Sherlock-I sewed his cape from a tutorial I found HERE. (Martha has the best ideas.) It was so easy!!His pipe is from Amazon.
Dr. Watson-Blazer courtesy of Goodwill. Derby hat is from Amazon.
Victorian dame- I sewed her costume using THIS pattern. A non-satin fabric would have been much easier, but wouldn't have had the right effect.

 

My sweet little subjects appease their mother so. They pose, they don't look when they're not supposed to, look when they are...all in front of an array of tourists at the Biltmore.

 

I love them.

 

With all the turmoil this week, I'm sure there will be a lot of unhappy kids tonight. Thankfully Asheville is getting nothing more but wind and a cold front.  Hurricane aside...Happy Halloween, all!

 

xo,

{alicia}

happy to report...

 

...there is grapefruit in the house!!!!!! Seriously needed these! I asked Jarrod to bring home lettuce to go with dinner last night and he came bearing grapefruit as well. Yesssssssss!!

Totally hit the spot...and totally got himself out of the doghouse ;)

 

 

Oh, and also this...

 

Yeah!! Besides a random $15 that I can't figure out, we've got all our orders accounted for!
My brain hurts from driving down streets and trying to remember doors and fences and wreaths, but we have redeemed ourselves.

 

Praise Jesus!

 

It's gonna be a great weekend.

 

xo,

{alicia}

...on being pregnant.

I am seriously pregnant.

I feel like I might be past that point where everything makes me gag and that point where people are wondering if I'm pregnant or have just gained weight...you know that awkward stage.

With Noah and Jack I loved being pregnant. Never felt sick, never restless or anything...just felt good! But Sophia and this peanut are different stories. I am completely restless with this one. I fall asleep early only to wake up at 2:30am to go to the bathroom and not go back to sleep for hours. These last two pregnancies have been harder...but there's always worse.  Like throwing up everyday for 9 months. I would die....and have one kid.  I'm waiting for that middle trimester "great feeling" we're supposed to get.  I'll let you know when it gets here.

Right now, all I can think about is grapefruit and how desperately I need one...and how our grocer's doesn't have any until November...and how my face turned dark and I nearly choked the nice man in the white apron explaining the whole "winter fruit" situation in his little Southern accent.  Don't care about the fruit cycle...just want a blasted grapefruit...or 60.

Happy Midweek, m'ladies.

just tell me it's over...

A lot of Fridays I share my favorite things...my Friday Favorites.  But some weeks are best forgotten.  Best buried deep in the trenches where they came from. Oh! Like this one for example.  It was craptastic.  Like seriously did me in.

 

 

 

If you've ever had a Boy Scout or a Girl Scout...or just a kid selling stuff, this might resonate with you.  If you've never been responsible for a pile of money belonging to strangers, it probably won't. 

 

The boys have been selling popcorn for about two weeks for Boy Scouts.  They've done really well (which is unfortunate in my case).  Jack's sold almost $550 worth of popcorn...oh my little salesman.  Saturday, Jarrod took the boys out selling...then to Target, then to lunch, then to Walmart. (searching for the perfect kickball) All the while, Jack's magic little sheet with 29 names, addresses, and orders sat beside him on the seat.

 

Monday morning bright and early I checked to see how they did selling only to find Noah's sheet and Jack's extra (blank) sheet. Holy Panic Attack!! Oh yes, I panicked...for three days I've panicked.  I've searched the car 2500 times, ripped open garbage bags and sifted through coffee grounds and dirty Kleenex's.  I've looked outside in the bushes, in pockets, emptied closets.

 

There is one more place to look though...the last house he sold to; a sweet little elderly lady that very well could have taken the sheet inside to fill out, grabbed her money and forgotten to give it back to Jack.  It sounds possible right?? We have stopped at her house three times since Wednesday and she's been gone every time.  But you can bet we'll keep stalking Edna till she gives us a straight up answer. (I'm watching you Edna...ya, that's me in the aviators and cap in the black sedan.)

 

I feel like Nancy Drew...a really mean Nancy Drew.  I have questioned each kid about what they know strapped to lie-detectors in poorly lit rooms, I've been pissed at Jarrod all week for letting that dang sheet sit on the backseat (something a mother would never do, right??), I've cried over this, I'm not gonna lie.  My poor fetus is probably thinking, "I'm never coming out to live with this lady!"

 

You might be thinking...but it's only popcorn.  Well, it is...but it isn't.  The guy that gave Jack a $50 bill probably wouldn't be too impressed if I said that is was only popcorn.  The pile of cash on my counter tells me this is serious.

 

Serious stress.

 

Throw in a weird rash on Jack's ear and Noah's nose, my email getting hacked (don't open any suspicious emails from me...sorry!), overdue library fines, and other disappointments and it's shaping up to be on the top 5 most hated weeks in Alicia-History.

 

I did manage to make Sasha's Gingerbread Cake and Carmel Sauce.  Since I can't drink, this was the obvious choice.

 

Plus side? It's almost over.  And after I track down Edna and find out if she has the sheet or not, we'll start the giant task of revisiting almost 30 houses (if we can remember them all) to take their orders again.

 

Pray for me.

 

Pray for Edna.

 

xo,

{psychotic Nancy Drew}

{alicia}

 



a fall must and a favorite recipe.

I think Fall is everyone's favorite season, right?  I'm no different than everyone else. I love it!  Home becomes homier, I want to cook and bake, and spruce up the porch with pumpkins.  Every season calls for a "must do" list, and one on our fall list was the apple orchard.  We love the apple orchard.

 



And after you come home from the orchard with a billion apples, you need to do things with them, like make apple butter...one of my fall favorites. How do you make apple butter, you ask?? Well, here's my recipe... (it's very precise, so don't mess this thing up...not!)



friday faves...an excuse to be random

Hey guys! It's me, Alicia, here to share some of my favorite parts of the week. AKA: a good excuse to be random. I feel at home with random.  It's where I belong. 

So here's a few favorites from the last seven days...

 

After half the summer of being super lazy about planning dinners and then the next two months of scraping by on anything that didn't make me want to hurl, I've done it...I've planned dinners for a week! AND I have a grocery list to go with it! Tomorrow morning, I shall hit the grocer's and get right to it. I used Pioneer Woman's first cookbook for most of the meals; her pot roast, tomato soup, and chicken pot pie are all on the list.  Fall makes me want to cook good rib-stickin' meals. Mmmm...doesn't roast just sound so good?!

 

I waited forever yesterday in the doctor's office for my monthly appointment...three kids in tow, no less.  But finally they called my name and sister and I went back and left the boys to their DS games in the waiting room.  After doing this four times it still amazes me that you can hear their little heart beating.  Sophie's jaw dropped! Sooo cool. So worth the wait.

 

This week my house has been reallly quiet.  Yes, quiet. We have this little grove of trees in the backyard and they are making a trail or a club or some such thing.  On Wednesday they were out there for FIVE hours!! Can you believe that?? I'm sure there's snakes and bears and poison oak, but I just usually try to do what my grandmother would have done in the '50's.  Would she have let her kids run wild in the trees? I'm sure she would have.  When in doubt, always do what your grandmother would have done...even if it goes against the grain.  Wait, scratch that...especially if it goes against the grain.  I just open the balcony door and I can hear every word, screech, scream, and laugh.  I think they're pretty safe.  And my house is pretty quiet.

 

 Speaking of houses...I'm itching for one.  This time of year makes me want to cook and fluff.  Which means I need a house.  Preferably a 1930's house with original tile, claw foot tubs, a little land, and four bedrooms.  OH! Maybe THIS one...too bad it's pending and it's in Baltimore.  Shoot.

 

 

 

Another favorite this week? The Prouty's and pie.  Joy and Donny came over last Sunday and we hung out for a couple hours and visited over pecan pie and coffee. They are just the sweetest ever.

 

 

 

And speaking of the Prouty's...the photo shoot!! Oh. my. Word!!! What a fun experience! We got to see Joy in action at her workshop and pose and smile a bit for the 19ish cameras. Ya, a tad intimidating for me.  Watching Joy and Donny work together was like watching a well-oiled machine work.  They just knew what came next...they were awesome!

 

Yes, that was definitely the highlight of the week. So stinkin' cool! We won't have the pictures for about three weeks, but you can be sure I'll be sharing as soon as I get them :)

 

Now as for today, here's the plan:

 

1. groceries

2. estate sale with the kids

3. picnic at Biltmore

4. nap

 

Happy Friday to y'all!!

 

xo,

{alicia}

 

and one year later...

 

 Exactly one year ago today we pulled into Asheville. Our new home. We had no idea what we were getting into...had never been to Asheville...had never had okra. 

 

This year has obviously been a series of ups and downs...like most years with big change.  And now with even more change coming, we've decided to just embrace the irregular.  We'd love to be seeing our family more.  We miss many things about our South Dakota home.  Life is impossible to uproot and set down somewhere else and settle in within days.  There's some things we aren't comfortable with yet...like grits.  But we know now for certain wherever we are together, we are home.

 

We've seen and done so many cool things this year.  Met new friends, fell in love with a new church, explored new landscape, learned new words, ate some of the best food ever.  We are in love.

 

Being in this area has opened new doors for us, shaped us, and stretched us.  We've seen things and met people we otherwise wouldn't have.

 

Like Sunday for example...we hung out with Joy & Donny Prouty, photographer extraordinaries from Southern Cali.  They are doing a workshop here in Asheville this week for photographers.  I wiggled my way into Joy's heart (which isn't that hard...she's got a huge one)...and she asked if our family would like to do a shoot for the workshop.  Geeeee....yes!!! This is a dream come true!

 

Joy has the best job ever.  She combines her talents of creativity with props and staging annnnd her camera and creates the most dreamy photos you've ever seen.  She photographs celebrities...she's that good.

 

She asked us to envision our dream shoot.  Ironically enough the day she needed us was today: our one-year anniversary in Asheville.  So I used that as a diving off point.  We'll be dedicating this shoot to our special day and calling it our "Ode to Asheville." 

There will be cozy plaids, fall galore, a family campfire, and a fun game of cowboys and Indians.  We've been busy gathering props and making things like bows and arrows.

 

Does she look like a natural or what?? I mean...a little freaky, Ms. Katniss.

 

I am seriously giddy.  This is like the coolest thing ever to do today of all days....it would be pretty darn cool any day though.  Now, I'll have to convince Joy and Donny to come back this way in a year or so to get some shots with a family of SIX!

 

Wish me luck...I'm a little nervous! EEEEEk!

 

Happy One-Year Anniversary in Asheville to us! Thank you, my friends, following this adventure with us.  I am honored that you read along.

 

xo,

{alicia}