SUMMER GIVEAWAY

So I saw this CUTE dish towel down at COOKS and COMPANY and thought it would make a cute apron. So I tried it. NOW here is the disclaimer.....I used NO pattern so I am sure it isn't perfect, but it really is cute and will serve it's purpose. YOU could win it if you comment and tell me what your favorite summertime TREAT is...something you only do in the summer. Also included is a fun flower pin/hairclip. If you win you just need to tell me if you want it to be a pin or a hairclip. I will RANDOMLY pick a "winner" on Thursday.

My favorite summertime treat.......a tomato straight out of the garden with salt on it (first you must remove all the gooey parts).

another peek

garden bounty

Our zucchini plant is going crazy...I had 5 zucchinis to use......so I shredded 3 of them, sliced one of them and haven't decided what to do with the 5th.
I measured out 2C portions to freeze...

Of course I HAD to make some bread while the kitchen was trashed....smells yummy, cant wait to try it out.

good thought

An item on our Summer List is to cook pizzas on the grill....yummy!!!

HOWEVER!!!!!!! You must NOT walk away from the grill!! It was a good thought, we immediately went in and ordered Pizza Hut.

while we were gone

flooring is being installed....needs some serious cleaning (can't wait to HAVE to do it!!)
Finley's bathroom is finished being tiled!

we drove

ever since some random episode of Max and Ruby (blasted cartoons) the kids have wanted to go "TO THE BEACH". Sean had a 4 day conference in Chicago so I thought I would take the kids to the beach....I somehow conned my mom and my sister into going and we stretched the trip out so we could have more than ONE day on the beach. We left Monday and drove to the other side of Nashville, got up Tuesday and drove on to Destin....993 miles. We had W, Th, and F on the beach and then did the return trip Sat and Sunday. All in all it was a good trip. The hotel we stayed at (Holiday Inn Destin) was TOTALLY kid friendly...had the Buccaneers Club that had 2 planned activities daily. Think scavenger hunts, magic shows, movie night, family carnival, etc. And had Kid Suites which were 1 queen bed with a tv and a partitioned off area with a bunkbed/tv/dvd player/video game thing....
We did the typical touristy stuff....beach time, pool time, putt putt, arcade games, kiddy rides, local tourist restaurant (nasty food), shave ice, shopping.
Our last night there we went to an outdoor mall with a nice play area and water spouts. We took turns watching the kids while the others shopped.....perfect.

feeding the crocodiles at "FUDPUCKERS"....not the best meal in town, but kept the kids occupied while we waited 1 hr for our table. Fin had a melt down 45 minutes into it, but she was hot, tired and hungry. AND all she wanted to do was dance at the bar.....

Our best meal was Thursday night...we got sushi and thai food from some joint (80 dollars worth) and we ate it Thursday AND Friday night.....super good sushi and pad thai/pad se you (spelled phonetically) and worth the cash since we ate it twice.

aah the beach

here are some pictures from our time ON the beach.....

nana's feet....she was there too!

braden's crashin the waves with auntie em...she has some pics of fin in the ocean on her camera

huge progress

You thought I was going to post about House Progress, right? So now you are confused about the Baby Picture and scary looking parents. That is Finley on her Birthday...notice how short she is...she was totally bent in half due to her breech position....anyhoo....she has made HUGE PROGRESS.
She is no longer our "baby" anymore. We have been trying, not terribly hard, since her birthday to "potty train" her. I know, 3 years old is late, but let me tell you....she could have cared less and showed not ONE smidgen of interest. So we tried and backed off, tried and backed off, tried and backed off and then just basically stopped trying. Well...JULY 4th, while Sean and I (and em and dad) are moving the hardwood flooring into the house, she was in the care of my mom. Apparently she told my mom 3 times while we were gone that she "had to go potty" and she actually went!!!! She had NEVER said she "had to go potty". Since that day she tells us when she has to go and has not had ONE accident.....including the 4 day car trip to Florida we just returned from....
We are so proud of her and proud of ourselves for not beating ourselves up over it. There is such a parental peer pressure to have your child walk first, or talk first, or potty first. In reality the child usually will figure it out on their own when they are ready. Don't get me wrong, changing a 3 1/2 year olds dirty diapers was getting old...
Now its time for another baby, right.....hahahahahahahahaha aaah no, we are good with our two.

what are your plans?

I dont know about you all but some of our 4th of July plans include eating this patriotic coconut creme pie.....we might start tonight!!

another look

to do lists

We have made a "list" of possible things to do this summer. I cannot take credit for the idea, I got it from another Megan whose blog I frequent. Our goal isn't to do EVERYTHING, but to try. We have no excuse to say we have nothing to do......what are your summer lists like?

still swimmin'

Braden has learned to "sorta" swim. He can do fine with his face in the water, however, tends to sink and take on water when he brings his face up to breathe. So this is him...he goes off the slide and turns and swims to the wall....ALL TOTALLY WITHOUT A BREATH. strange

big girl

So Miss Fin is a big girl now at the "bleuty" shop. She gets her hair washed in the bowl like the other ladies.....now if we could just get the potty training thing down.

happy 10th anniversary baby!!

We recently celebrated our 10th Anniversary!! We both commented that it NO WAY feels like 10 years. We still enjoy each others company, know each others quirks and love them, prefer to stay in and laugh at the television than go out, love our kids more than ourselves, are thoroughly enjoying the building process and are agreeing (sp?) on everything that comes with it. Can't wait to see what the next 10 brings!

with the kids before we left for our dinner :)

fun with cameras

Here are some photos taken unbeknownst to me.....