Perspective!

It's amazing what a dinner on the beach, an 8 mile run and a morning spent at the pool with your family can do to your mood. Feeling like my old self today and am just not going to worry about things until I KNOW that there is something to worry about. Thanks everyone for the upbeat posts...you all helped as well. I know that Brady will be OK. He is my most social child-talking, smiling and babbling all the time! He is really a sweet little boy...

A full plate...

Just not feeling inspired lately. We have a lot going on right now and I will post about it later. It has a lot to do with one of the twins, Brady. There's just not much to say yet, as we don't really know what is wrong. There's something that just happens to a mother when she thinks there is the possibility that "something may be wrong" with her child. Like I said, we are just starting the investigative process and he has been referred to be seen by a physical therapist. The bottom line is that he is 15 months old and not walking yet. He crawls extremely well and he pulls up and cruises...he's just on his tip-toes most of the time. I have already done the "internet research" which can be a terrible, terrible thing sometimes...and the fact that I am a special education teacher doesn't make it any better either. So if you do pray, please say a prayer that he's going to be fine....I'll keep posting because it makes me feel better to get my thoughts in print.

The greatest compliment...

Last night I received one of the nicest compliments from a friend of mine...she told me that I was an inspriring person. Seriously, it was one of the nicest things someone could say to me. It has made my week. Thank you! Girlfriends are seriously the best.

Official start to summer...

We had a great 4 day weekend. It was four days because Dan took Friday off to finish some painting. The downstairs is officially painted, thanks to him. It was quite nerve-racking watching him paint the 2 story foyer from a 2o ft extension ladder.

Anyway, we had 3 cook-outs in 3 days and it was a lot of fun. Saturday night a neighbor had us and some other neighbors over for chicken and steak fajitas with all of the fixin's-YUM! I LOVE anything Mexican, so this hit the spot.

We had a neighborhood block party on Sunday and that was fun too. Everyone brought a dish and a couple of neighbors pulled out their grills and we all hungout in the horseshoe area of our street. The kids had a great time on their bikes, scooters, big wheels, etc. Monday morning we packed the family and headed to the beach, along with everyone else-it was pretty crowded. I guess when you live in a tourist town, this is the beginning of 'high season'. The weather was great though and the kids were WORN out when we got home. They all slept for 3 hours! Last night we headed over to Dan's sisters for a cook out and that was fun too. It was a great Memorial Day and I enjoyed hanging out with friends and family. I hope everyone had a great one too! I did manage to squeeze in 3 runs on those 4 days-I did 5 miles on Friday, 8 on Saturday, 5 on Monday and 5 today...so I definitely made up for all that eating I did over the weekend-and believe me, it was ALOT!

Tried and true pasta...

Just wanted to post a quick recipe that is a Magnolia family tried and true dish. It was inspired by a dish at a restaurant in Old Town Alexandria that Dan and I ate at a couple of times when we lived up there. The restaurant is not there anymore, but the dish still lives on in our house. I take Barilla Plus Multigrain penne, toasted pine nuts, raisins, chicken sausage (I use the Al Fresco sundried tomato and basil), steamed broccoli, olive oil, salt and pepper and grated parmesan and toss it all together-and voila'-dinner is on the table. Simple as that!

"Bum" genius of an idea!

It's been almost 3 weeks since the twins started wearing cloth diapers and I have to tell you, it's not bad at all. Cloth diapers have come a long way. There are no pins, no leaks, and best of all no scraping. I use flushable rice paper liners with them, so all I have to do is flush the waste away. Simple as that! I wish I would have used them with Harrison. Think of the money and the environment we would have saved! I use the Bum-genius all in one brand and they are excellent! The boys look oh so cute in them too. I can honestly say that only one leak has occurred and I think something definitely went wrong there. So there you have it-I'm sold on cloth diapers and feel better that I can help the environment one diaper at a time.

The Perfect Summer Cocktail...

I love a good cocktail! I've created a new one that just screams summer to me-it's not even that hard to make. I take a peach-flavored Izze (I LOVE these drinks!) and mix it with Grey Goose Vodka (or any other vodka you have, this one is my favorite!) and pour over crushed ice, add a lime wedge and cherry-and voila-the perfect summer cocktail!

We had a great weekend-the beach, the pool, barbque, need I say more? Unfortunately, Brady is under the weather now, so it has been a long day today. It just breaks my heart to see one of my boys sick...he looks pretty pitiful. He was up pretty early this morning too-so that means no run this morning. I was able to squeeze in a 30 minute strength training workout. This week I'll have to do 3 runs back to back (Tues, Wed, Thurs, Friday-strength training and Saturday 8 miles-UGH).

So, here's to a GREAT week, I'll think I'll go make one of those cocktails! YUM!

Either I'm a Rock Star or just plain crazy...

So this morning we had NO plans. Now that Harrison is out of school, I've got be creative with our activities. Every morning he wants to know what we are doing that day. The boy isn't too picky though, a park always makes him happy. So I decided we would try the BEACH...We had a blast. I took the boys to a park that is right on the beach and we played around for a while and then went for a walk on the beach for about 20 minutes or so, looking for shells and watching seagulls. It was so much fun! I feel exhilarated from the sand and salty air and the boys loved every minute of it. Of course I heard a lot of "wow, that lady has her hands full" as we were walking on the beach...I didn't care, I was just taking in every minute of the fun the boys were having. I think next time we'll bring our towels and sand toys and set up camp. Yes, oh yes- I am a ROCK STAR! Sometimes the best days are when you have NO plans.

We have a pretty laid back weekend on tap. Tonight we're doing Oceanside Dining again. And when we put the kids to bed, Dan and I will have a cocktail on the porch. I'm thinking of a Whiskey Sour-YUM! I love winding down the week like this. I have an 8 mile run in the morning and then we may head out to the beach after lunch and try Ray's Barbeque that just opened up on Shem Creek for dinner. All in all, it should be a wonderful weekend!

We've just been busy!

We've been busy around here the last couple of days...let's see, what have we been up to? Monday night I was initiated into the Charleston Junior Woman's Club. They had a nice dinner for us at Sunfire Grill and I was officially handed over duties of my new office, which I will be co-chairing with my friend Liz. Liz and I go way back-we were in the same sorority at Clemson and it has been so nice hanging out with her again. We are taking over the Hospitality office, which should be fun because we get to plan all the social activities and parties. I love this organization because it allows me to give back and volunteer my time to the community, but at the same time is very flexible.

Yesterday was Harrison's last day of preschool. I think he is going to be sad. He loves school so much. We have two camps lined up over the summer, but at the same time I'm just content hanging out and playing because in August he will be going to K4 5 days a week....how did my baby grow up before my eyes?

Last night we had supper club-it was so much fun. My friend M made these tasty drinks called "Blue with Envy" (with blue curacao and tequila)-our theme was American Idol! We did finger foods and played the American Idol Wii game. So.much.fun! I ended up making guacamole-YUM! My friend B made an awesome cheesecake, my friend A made these baked potato things with blue cheese and bacon bits, my other friend A made the beef empanada things with crescent rolls, and my friend K made these bacon wrapped pickled watermelon rinds that were awesome...ladies, if you are reading this, please send me the recipes...NOW!

I'm still running...but it's getting hotter and hotter! I may have to go even earlier soon. When will I sleep?-I don't know!

So as you can see, we've been pretty busy...hope everyone is having a great week!

A great Mother's Day...

Despite the wind, rain and storms-I had a WONDERFUL Mother's Day. We lounged around the house in the morning and then went to brunch at Atlanticville. It was so good. I had the eggs with lump crabmeat and chives, along with a mimosa-YUM! Couldn't have been better! It cleared a little in the afternoon, so we went for a short family walk, followed by a family bike ride-when I see all of my family together on our bike rides, I realize all of my dreams have come true...We did cedar-planked sockeye salmon on the grill for dinner-also very good! All in all it was a great Mother's Day, just hanging out with the love of my life and my 3 little boys. Oh, I also can't wait to use my spa gift certificate here.

Boys Photo Shoot

I did a photo shoot with the boys in the park today...check it out. Turn up your volume to hear the music....I cry everytime I watch it!

Here's the link...(also, watch it as a slide show too)

My 3 Sons Photo Shoot

My favorite "room" of the house...

Down here in the south, we consider porches to be another room of the house. I LOVE our wrap-around porch...I spent almost the entire afternoon reading and gabbing with a good friend on the phone today while the boys were napping. It was especially nice today because of the breeze. Here's why I love it so much....

1. The S.C. flag we have hanging from it. We South Carolinians have A LOT of state loyalty. Who wouldn't love a flag so beautiful?

2. The hammock! Ahhhh-how I love this thing. It's great for a Sunday afternoon nap. Or sipping some sweet tea or lemonade...

3. My ferns. Nothing says the south like ferns. There's just something about them that screams southern to me. Most people have these somewhere on their porch around here...

4. My wreath and wreath hanger. I found this on sale at Target. It looks very Martha Stewart to me...as if I made it myself-ha! ha!

5. My little herb garden. I put herbs in my two front window boxes and I love them. I did basil, rosemary, tarragon, and dill. I also through in some red begonias for color.

6. The rocking chairs. LOVE these! You can't have a porch without a rocking chair. Brady and Jack were rocked on these many times when they were newborns. I love to read a book or magazine or people watch on these chairs. They were a house-warming gift from Dan's parents and we appreciate every minute on them.

So there you have it. My favorite room of the house. So come on over....the sweet tea is waiting!

This gift is going to make me FAT...

Tonight I'm making dinner for a neighbor (Roasted Vegetable Lasagna-thanks Sweet Pea Chef !) who just had a baby. I'm also making dessert. I got the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker for my birthday and I LOVE it. I don't know how I went this long without it. I've been making batches upon batches of it, experimenting with a little of this and a little of that. It tastes so creamy and fresh...but it's also addicting.So tonight, I'm making some for the neighbors (and us too!). This time I'm doing the Basic Vanilla Recipe and I'm putting in crushed peanut butter/chocolate Newman-O's . What's a "Newman-O" you ask? It's like an Oreo, but without all the nasty hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. I found them at Whole Foods AND they're cheaper than regular Oreo's AND they have peanut butter in them...need I say more? They are so good...
Like I said, I LOVE my new gift, but hopefully it won't make me FAT! Guess I better keep up with all of this running, now I have something to really run for...

Darn near perfect weekend...

We had yet another great weekend! Friday started off great with Dan coming home early and the family going for a bike ride together. These bike rides have started to be so much fun. Dan got me the bike trailer for my birthday. We loaded the twins in it, hooked it up to his bike and with me on my bike and Harrison on his, we rode for about 2.5 miles. This is about as long as Harrison can go right now.

Saturday was beautiful. I got up and ran my 8 miles and by the time I was done, everyone else was getting up. We did a little house-cleaning (I did the inside, Dan did the outside), went out to lunch, came home, put the twins down for naps and I laid on the hammock for a nice nap myself. A neighbor made us some mango juleps for the Kentucky Derby-which were quite tasty! We went out for dinner to a local seafood place, came home and hung out with some neighbors for a little bit! I also made some homemade ice cream in my new ice cream maker-vanilla with peanut butter chips-AMAZING!

Sunday we went to church. The twins are doing so well in the nursery and Harrison was in Sunday school, so Dan and I were able to sit in the sanctuary by ourselves. It was nice, but felt odd being without the boys! After church, we made lunch, put the boys down, and laid on the hammock some more! When the boys woke up, we loaded up and headed to the beach for a little while. I wish I would have taken the camera. Brady and Jack loved it! On the way home, we picked up some burgers (made with shredded cheddar and bacon-YUM!) and sides from a local market and threw them on the grill. It couldn't have been a nicer weekend! Only 5 more days until the next one. Here is a picture of Brady and Jack wanting to come outside sooooo bad-too funny!

The very hungry caterpillar...

Harrison had the best time with a caterpillar the other night while we were grilling out. The first step of many...pretty soon he'll be filling his pockets with caterpillars, worms, bugs, frogs, etc!