20 Questions

As you might have guessed from my late post, school started today. This quarter 18 credit hours and my first online class will be the challenge. But at the end of it all in March, I will have Little E's birthday celebration to look forward to.

When I first met A, I was greeted with 43 Questions (her version of 20 Questions). I am looking forward to passing along this ritual to my daughter. Nicole at Reaves, Party of Four, shared her version of the question and answer session. Starting this March, I want to make one for my daughter. Picture books are always something we enjoy looking through together, but this will add another layer of laughs to our memories!

 image c/o Reaves, Party of Four

Road Trip!

Husband, Baby, and I have made a road trip to FL from TN for the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. We have spent some days relaxing, but mostly we've been doing a lot of driving between the homes of Husband's parents, extended family members and a few friends, including T!

I've done a lot of road trips in my life.  In college, I'd ride between FL and PA over holiday breaks and summer vacations.  In grad school, I drove back and forth from Atlanta to both PA and FL to see family and friends, respectively. I don't do the crazy 18-hour trips any more... once I started making a reasonably steady paycheck, I gave myself an 8-hour limit. Still, after all those long ones in college, the 5-hr trek to or from Asheville seems like a breeze.

Road trips with a baby are a new experience, though.  Babies don't know to wait till the gas tank gets close to empty before they cry because they are hungry.  Babies don't know that there are 9 miles till the next exit, and that it's impossible to play peek-a-boo when they're in a rear-facing car seat.  They can't help it when they poop in the confined space of the car--when they gotta go, they gotta go! Our baby is still too young to appreciate one of those car DVD players, as a movie is only entertaining for ten minutes or so, max. We read stories and pulled out a bunch of toys which were generally fun for a few minutes each.  I sat in the back for most of the trip (thank you God, for Dramamine!) and entertained and/or soothed as needed. (This is also b/c the new car seat is so big that the passenger seat is practically up in the dashboard.)

So the drive that should have taken 9 hours took 11, which is still worth it to see Nana and Pappy, and to watch them experience her for the first time in six months.

Any advice on road trips with babies?
How 'bout teething babies?

T- good to see you, an hour wasn't enough!

Under The Sea

Like most children at some point in their life, Little E loves the ocean. I may have rubbed off on her a bit - fish are, of course, my favorite animal! However, this summer at the beach she was a pig in mud. We collected ugly white shell after ugly white shell. Yes, I am a bad mom and threw a lot of them back when she was not looking.

Little E's birthday is on the horizon. I asked her if she wanted a theme for her party. (A, she loves themes. You would be so proud.) This year it seems we will be including the ocean and seahorses! I started planning by making a board on Pinterest of ideas. It will be lots of fun to turn my mom's dining room into an aquatic environment. Do you have any favorite ideas for a child's birthday party?

One Charming Party via Pinterest

Etsy Favorite #2: The Shop at No144

How can you not adore this Etsy Shop? The beautiful fabric flowers and bows are perfect accessories for the holidays.

Fabric Flower Headband - Bright Periwinkle Chiffon Ruffle

Fabric Flower Shoe Clip - Royal Blue Chiffon Ruffle

All images c/o of The Shop at No144

Etsy Favorite #1: Notetrunk

One of these stamps is definitely going to be my next Etsy purchase.

 

***

Found via Creative Odds n' Ends
All images c/o NoteTrunk

The Fart Song

When my daughter is feeling gassy, it can be painful! Bicycling her legs can help, and of course a song makes everything better! Here's the Fart Song, dedicated to my daughter.

-J

Happy Crafty Halloween

Although I am not involved in crafting my daughter's costume this year, I do love a good theme party. (I learned from the best - A can throw a theme party like nobody's business!) Halloween presents a perfect opportunity to make fun center pieces, decorate recyclable bags for candy, and make decor from material that you may have around the house. Will you be handing out candy or trick-or-treating this year?

Pin:  Candy Corn Candles via Woman's Day
Pin:  Halloween Labels via Oscar + Emma
Pin:  Wreath via Twig & Thistle

J meets her Tennessee neighbors

1) Shiloh, our ten-month-old puppy, has been misbehaving lately. We are probably bad trainers/parents. She will be starting lessons at PetSmart soon.

2) The new house has a fenced-in yard, which is great for her to run around. (Rob and I like to play fetch with her, though she still hasn't mastered the idea that she's supposed to drop whatever it is she's fetched when she brings it back to us. She brings it, but then fights us when we try to get it so we can throw it again.) This fenced-in yard is not so much attached to the house. There are ten-ish yards from the back door to the gate. 

3) We live on a pretty busy road. It is the main road in these here parts.

1+2= Shiloh got out the other day in between the gate and the house. She usually will go straight from yard to house, but this time she ran all over the place. +3= I was scared of her getting hit by a car.

I ran inside and grabbed her treats, which are usually quite enticing, and to which she will almost always run. I went out the front door to see her dilly-dallying in the road. I called and called, and finally she crossed the street into our neighbor's yard. From this yard we frequently hear barking, so I figured she was curious and trying to make friends. I walked over after her and saw some kind of Doberman mix. I begged Shiloh, shook the box of bones to get her to come back home to me, but to no avail. Turns out Doberman was friendly and they sniffed each other's butts. I was glad about that, but still trying to get her to follow me home.

Neighbor man (probably 25-30ish yeard old) sticks head out the window: What's goin' on out there?
Me: Just trying to get my dog to come back home!

Finally, after more calling and shaking of dog biscuits, I walked back across the street and knocked on the church's office window to get Rob to come help me. He came out, but I was already back to crossing the street.

Other neighbor man (similar age) was pointing a hand gun at our puppy. Yes. Pointing a HAND GUN at my puppy.

Me (clearly channeling my inner youth group leader): Put that thing away, that is totally unnecessary!

Him: Well, at least she's sitting still. (It's true, she was sitting in front of him as if waiting for a treat, tail wagging.)

Me: That is ridiculous!

First neighbor man (has a mullet) comes out with shotgun/rifle thing (I don't know the difference, I must need to watch more CSI). In aiming said gun, which was initially pointing at the sky, he points it past my head and then down at the dog (still wagging tail).

Me: You ****ing *******s! What the **** are you doing!

Rob (catching up to me): What the?! Please stop (I was not sure if this was about me cursing them out or about them pointing the guns... Rob, will you clarify?)

Me: What the **** is wrong with you, you *** **** ********?!

Rob: Shiloh! (Of course she comes right over, she loves him better than me.) We are calling the police, this is nuts!

Then we took happy tail-wagging dog back to our house.

And we called 911. Yes, I realize this was not an emergency anymore, but I do not have the real phone number to the po-po anywhere. Two sheriffs came, we told them what happened, they went across the street and talked to the neighbors. Apparently they are allowed to "defend their land" against scary puppies. And they claim it was an air rifle. Whatever that means. It does not explain the handgun. Or the mullet.

That is how we met our neighbors.



-J

More Than Cake

Welcome to The Darwin Girls. We are excited to be blogging about anything and everything under the sun.

Over the past thirty-some years, I have had some exciting birthdays - a visit to a nature center and the opportunity to wear a snake and a crazy 21st bash with all The Darwin Girls, friends, and even people I didn't know just to name a few. Nowadays, I am happy to have friends, family, and a Dairy Queen ice cream cake. Recently on Pinterest, I came across this pin. It seems like the author of Mix, Mingle, and Glow spent her birthday completing 38 acts of kindness. I love this idea, and hope I able to do something similar in the years to come.

Have you every done anything special for your birthday?

{All images c/o Mix, Mingle, and Glow}

Welcome!

We, The Darwin Girls, would like to welcome you our blog - our blog about everything under the sun. The four of us met in sunny Florida at Eckerd College, and have been a family ever since. Darwin was actually a dorm that housed most of our family at one time or another. Although we are now living in four different states, we are still in touch. Throughout the year we meet as often as possible for graduations, weddings, showers, and girls only reunions. Our blog content will span everything - and we mean everything - religion, family, relationships, school, parenting, travel, art, cooking, sewing, photography, and perhaps even politics!

Thank you for stopping by, and we hope to hear from you soon.