Papa's little gardeners

My boys helped their Papa dig up some encroaching tree roots last week, and did a mighty fine job clearing out the lot.  They literally spent hours out their busily digging, and getting filthy in the process!

 

Tanner is very protective of his shovel

Some well-placed ruffles and strategic ruching are indeed my best friends

Summer is and always has been my favorite season as I love the long hours of daylight, balmy evenings, my summer wardrobe, the sense of laid back relaxation people seem to have, the nostalgia of summer's past, driving with the window down over Hwy 17 on my frequent trips of course to the beach and all that it involves...I love everything about summer with the exception of one detail...swimsuits.  Bleh. I really, really, really, dislike them. I dread the act of swimsuit shopping, swimsuit trying on, swimsuit wearing, swimsuit walking around, swimsuit sitting/playing/carrying/digging/building with my children...it all makes me cringe and wimper at the same time.  Not since senior year of high school have I felt even remotely close to comfortable wearing a bikini, probably due in great part to the lack of child-bearing I had done at that time!  We as women regardless of our size all have the same disdain for swimsuit shopping due to one reason or the other, even if some of those reason's make me want to punch someone; ie.this one doesn't come in a size small enough or this one doesn't give me enough cleavage.  Yet I am excited to say that I believe I have found the perfect bathing suit, for me at least.  Gone are the days when I will even consider a two-piece, so a one-piece suit is what I have chosen, and I do believe the adjectives "cute" or "sexy" might even be used to describe it! I can honestly say that I am thrilled to wear it, in public even, not just in the comfort of my own closet!

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=516839&CategoryID=8699#fn=SWIM_STYLE%3DOne%20Piece%26sp%3D1%26spc%3D64

Coach Jason

Last spring when we started Talan in T-ball, Jason very clearly stated he did not want to help with any part of it, let alone coach. His reasoning for making such a statement made sense to him, in that he says growing up the coaches child  always seemed to get special treatment, do whatever they wanted, and he wanted Talan to have a clear distinction between who his coach is and who his Daddy is, and to have someone other than himself teach Talan baseball technique at practice and games. He already plays catch with T any chance that they can ...fast forward about two practices into last Spring and Jason jumped in to help because none of the other parents could get their butts off their lawn chairs to assist and the poor coach couldn't be in-field and out-field, and pitcher, and first base coach all at the same time.  Now here we are in our 3rd season (we did Fall ball, which was a bit lack luster) and Jason is assistant coach!  I'm so happy he didn't stick to his previous plan to remain un-involved because he is such a natural coaching the kids and you can see the sheer joy in T's face having his Daddy out there on the field with him! Jason does have to grit his teeth every time he puts on the Yankees hat to coach in (T is on the Yankees for the second time) but he removes it quite promptly at the end of each game! Hopefully next year they get to sport some orange and black!!

Marine World

On Good Friday, we took our boys to Marine World, or Six Flags Discovery Kingdom as it is now called yet we can't for some reason get ourselves to say.  It had been at least 10 years since Jason and I had been to Marine World and we left that day so incredibly impressed at how amazing the new animal habitats are, especially the ones for the Big Cats. As you will see in the photos below, the animals are so close! I still have a difficult time reconciling with the idea that they have loud, disruptive roller coasters amongst the animals, but seeing such incredible creatures up close is such a wonderful experience for a child to have, so I just have to hope that the animals have become immune to the noise.  The highlight of our day in my opinion was riding Valerie the African Elephant!  As a child this was my favorite part of going to Marine World, and I was so thrilled to have this experience with our children. Big T was very quiet the entire ride, I think he was in total awe that he was actually on an elephant's back! The photo of this will follow soon!

We had a super fun day together, and just in time since that night Big T developed a very high fever and cough that night, and was quite ill for the entire Easter week/Spring break.  He eventually developed a double ear infection, making that his second time in his 5 years of life that he required antibiotics. My poor boy was so listless for almost 5 days, he barely has any recollection of Easter at home. Jason and I were really happy that we had this outing together because Talan didn't really get to enjoy his Easter week.  Thankfully he is fully recovered now of course, and we have this memorable day for Talan to look back on!

Sand and Sun

After my boys finally began feeling well following a rough upper respiratory that left them with a double ear infection and pneumonia, respectively, I took them to Seascape beach on a warm day last week to enjoy the fresh salty air, sun, and sandcastles. We had the most enjoyable day together, I adore my boys!

 

It is polite to share...

Starting at a very young age, we are always telling our children how it shows good manners to share with their freiends. Well I wanted to share a recipe that I have used a lot recently! You know how some people get a little protective over their recipes, which I can understand if it is a family secret passed on and such.
Not the case for this one...it is a Rachael Ray recipe, as she is my go-to for quick meals any day of the week.  Getting a meal together before leaving for work in the evening can be quite a task some days, depending on the state of my boys! But my family seems to really enjoy this one and I think it has a restaurant quality to it, if I can give myself a pat on the back, or I guess Rachael! 
One change though, I don't prefer thighs so I use bone-in chicken breasts. And I put the chicken and Louisiana sauce in a crockpot on High for 4 hrs so that the meat becomes very tender that it just falls off the bone - Perfect.  Add some homemade rice pilaf and sauteed aspargus, it's a winner.  Tanner devours this chicken by the way!

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/chicken-thighs-louisiana-style-gravy/

On this very week last year....

Our little Tanner was still under 6 lbs., tiny but mighty! Big T was showing us all that he was meant to be a Big Brother, after all that waiting! Time is truly precious!