A visit to the State House with Levi and Natsumi

For the past month I have been meeting with Natsumi, a Japanese student who is enrolled in USC's English Program for Internationals. I'm her conversation partner (to help her practice her English) but really, I see spending time with her more in the SC hostess category! We've walked around the USC Horseshoe, been shopping at the mall with Ashley's cousin Nora, walked on the RiverWalk and today, we went to the SC State House.
Here's Levi after his meeting with the Governor (not really...but he did walk up to the windows where the governor's office is).
I wish Natsumi would be here longer but she heads back to Japan on Oct. 11 (her university starts back).
Natsumi's South Korean roommate also came with us today, TeJan (not sure if I am spelling that correctly). She was so nice, too! Unfortunately Levi didn't play the nice host at first--cried and told Natsumi and TeJan "bye bye" repeatedly when they got in my car! But by the end of our afternoon, he was walking with TeJan, giving her high-fives and blowing kisses to his international friends!
If you live in the Columbia area, the conversation partner program is a great way to help international folks feel more at home. I highly recommend it (Natsumi is my third partner).

Holly's birthday weekend

Holly came home from LA to celebrate her birthday so we had a several fun events with the McLeod family, culminating with her birthday dinner on Saturday night. Before the feast, we managed to get a group picture of the kids.
My monkey nephews! They're great tree climbers!
Poor little Levi...his teeth just won't break through...so here he is, chewing on a bat.
And a rubber foot.
In case you're wondering, Ashley's mom had already decorated for Halloween (with the boys' help), so there were lots of interesting things for toddlers and their teeth!
The cake...isn't it lovely? $22.50 from Publix...can't beat that and it was as yummy as it looks!
My present to Holly was an apron. This is the "Holly" style because I'm proud enough of it to give it its own name (big improvements over my previous ones). The main difference is I used two types of fabric...and Carey provided the embroidery!
I have also figured out how to make nice seams for the tiebacks.
And how to attach the neck strap without using a funky looking stitched-in box.
And here she is, Holly Wine Goddess!

Friends and Italian Stew....

My friend Marla from graduate school (who also worked at USC) had twins 2 weeks before Levi. It's been great getting to hang out with them. Finally we took a picture. So here's Lillian, Brady, and Levi on Levi's bench this morning after our zoo trip was postponed due to rain.
Dinner tonight...let's start with using things I already had at the house. No extra purchases! I took a recipe from Real Simple and added a few of my own touches (used 2 Italian chicken sausages instead of amount called for in recipe--were leftover, frozen from previous meal; added rosemary, balsamic vinegar bay leaf; cooked 1 1/2 cups of Barilla Plus bowtie pasta; used spinach instead of kale; also let it simmer for over an hour --pre-spinach and pasta.) Even though the temps reached 85 today, this soup/stew still tasted DELICIOUS!

Fall is almost here...

One of Levi's favorite activities to do at the Heritage shop is to play on the John Deere Gator. Yesterday we went to McBee to visit with Ashley's grandparents--and Ashley worked on a deer stand. After an eventful morning (Levi and I were on the golfcart with Grandpa when it ran out of juice and died in the field), we had lunch at Subway. Here's Levi trying on Grandpa's glasses. So funny!!
Happy to be with Da and Grandpa!
Two for one for this picture....you get to see my new dining room color (Classic by Behr...a purple gray that is the exact opposite of the old orange!) and my fall decorations.

And last night I crafted my first wreath...took apart an old one and added a few things to make this simple one. Ashley said I need to change the ribbon color...will do that once I make another trip to Hobby Lobby! I'm looking forward to fall weather and fall cooking (yay for crockpot soups!!).

New Blogs to Note

I've added two new blogs to my side links:
1. Literary Wives: This is the book club I've helped create. Right now it's three of my friends. I'm really looking forward to reading some fantastic books and discussing them. Join along in our reading if you would like to! Our books are going to focus mainly on the life experiences of women. I really enjoyed our first book (we'll discuss it October 8).

2. Mitchell Construction: My brother Joshua is a contractor in Colorado. Check out his blog to see the cool projects he is working on!

Labor Day in NC

While Ashley was in the Outer Banks for his cousin Jarrett's bachelor's weekend, Levi and I went to NC to see Mama and Papa for Labor Day. What fun! The weather was gorgeous (even had some cool crisp mornings to get me excited for fall). Side note...I'm having trouble with the new version of Blogger so these pictures and captions are a little out of order. Sorry!

Friday night we went to Shatley Springs with Papa's family. What a great supper and beautiful location! Here's Levi talking with Uncle Dee outside.

And some shots around back at their pond.

Saturday morning we drove up to Blowing Rock to visit the Shoppes on the Parkway and then have lunch at Makotos. Levi got to have his first ride in a 25 cent airplane, thanks to Papa Charles!

Saturday night we had a shrimp dinner at Uncle Jack's. We used to do this all the time when we were kids...Uncle Jack would go to the beach and bring back a big bait of shrimp for us to feast on.



One of Levi's favorite toys at Uncle Jack and Jeanette's is Nicholas' old Racecar Mountain. Unfortunately Little Tikes doesn't make this anymore or I would buy it for him! Oh and cousin Lindsay is GREAT!

Sunday morning we went to the Happy Valley Fiddler's Convention where Mama's cousin Christine played the piano. What a neat thing!



Levi started preschool this week. He did great when I dropped him off on Tuesday but when I picked him up at 12, he was bawling. Apparently he got upset when they changed his diaper and realized I wasn't there. Thursday was better...cried when I left him but they called an hour later to say he was settled down and doing his craft (stamping). I think it's going to be a great experience for both of us!

Zoo (again) and Brunch

Another trip to the zoo...this time up close and personal with the turkey and giraffe!

 

Brunch at Motor Supply with the Martin clan. Jarrett, Levi, Martin, Ashley and Jamie.  

Plus the ladies and Levi: Kristin, me, Sophie and Lilla (Sophie's sister).