Happy 4th of July!

After our trip to Tennessee, I took the kids to see my family in West Virginia. We met my mom and swapped out carseats, and Tim continued on home to deal with the rental house and get ready for work on Monday. The photo below was taken at my cousin's house. Addie and Hayes love their older cousins and had so much fun playing with all of their cool toys!

On the 4th, we ventured deep into the mountains to celebrate with my sweet Papaw Click. He and Addie have a special bond, as he was one of first people to hold her when she was born. He spent the first 3 summers after she was born here in Chesapeake with my mom, and those memories will forever be precious to me. I am thankful for that time and for the chance for them to get to know one another. Papaw was excited to see Hayes again and amazed at how much he has changed and grown since he saw him at Thanksgiving.

It was a Happy 4th of July. Despite the rain and the mosquitos that tried to ruin our cookout at the lake, we had a great time and as always, loved being with family.

We love Tennessee!

Last month we took a little road trip to meet my Dad and step-mom in Tennessee at my Uncle Rick and Aunt Janet's beautiful lake home. It was so beautiful there, and we had such a great time playing on the water. The time just flew by too fast :( Here are some of my pictures to share....

Thank you to Rick and Janet for opening up their home to us. We enjoyed ourselves so much. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

What have we been eatin' lately?

I'm so glad you asked!

Tuna Noodle Casserole:
I grilled fresh tuna for this one and used a recipe given to me by one of my mommy friends. It was absolutely delish! I never knew sliced Velveeta was so smooth and creamy. I grew up eating tuna and mac n cheese, but this recipe takes the cake!


Summer Squash Casserole:
This recipe was given to me by my neighbor across the street. She told me to fry up some bacon and use two tspns of the grease to fry the squash. I took the Paula Dean approach and just drained the bacon and threw my sliced squash directly into the hot frying pan! The onions and crumbled bacon bits were my favorite garnish...yum yum!

Fresh Pesto Sauce and Sausage Bread:

I have to give credit to my friend Stephanie for this one. She is a life-long vegetarian and has been making her own pesto for many years. When she whips up this dish for herself and her kiddos, her hubby gets to feast on Italian Sausage bread. I watched him put it together one time before a birthday party, and now I'm hooked!

I used the remainder of my pesto to make this summer/cold orzo salad with grilled asparagus. After I took the picture, but before I ate it, I added cut up cherry tomatoes. We enjoyed this by the pool one hot day during a play date. Topped with fresh grated parmesean cheese, it was the perfect summertime lunch!

Don't worry, I'm still taking pictures of my food, no matter how much Tim makes fun of me!

Ooops...I already missed a day!

I'm sorry about that. The day just slipped away from me!
The next few pictures are all taken at the beach house that Tim lived in before we were married. The market was crashing that year and we were unable to sell it, so we have been renting it out. This is how the last renter left the place when his lease was up...furniture and all.

He lived in absolute filth. The worst part about it is that he also had a daughter who lived with him every other weekend. In "her room" there was a mattress on the floor and empty bottles of vodka strewn about along with her toys and small clothes. Not to mention the place was infested with fleas! Can you imagine what kind of life that little girl lives? To me, it is a very sad situation. I often wondered if her mother knew of her living conditions when she came to stay with her father?

On a lighter note, Addie visited her first icecream truck while visiting my friend down in the OBX. She picked out a Dora Popsicle...and loved every last drip of it....

So, as you can see, we have been pretty busy around here. Luckily, Tim worked very hard to get the house cleaned back up, and we have a new renter who seems to be really enjoying the house and taking better care of it :) Hayes, and Addie and I are enjoying roughly 2-3 popsicles daily to help with the heat, and I am actually looking forward to Fall and all of my favorite, less sweaty, holidays! I'll post again soon...in a day or two :)

Just plain ole' worn out....

These kids wear me out. I must say that a million times a day. Crawling into my bed at night is the greatest reward after chasing these two around and carting them all over town for art class or swimming lessons or some sort of play date. Every once in a while, the house gets eerily quiet, and I come into a room and find this...

On this particular night, they were both having a hard time going to bed, so we let them sleep together. They were elated and asleep in less than five minutes. After Hayes kicked Addie and made her cry and then ended up in between Tim and I in our bed, I decided that was not a very good habit to begin. They did look awfully cute there beside each other.

I have so many pictures to share from the last three weeks. We have been very busy visiting family and celebrating Addie's 4th birthday. I am going to try and update daily until I get all caught up.....just for you two Dad and Julie!

Today...

Four years ago...

I had a baby girl. She has been one of my greatest blessings. Happy Birthday Addie!

Show Day at The Little Gym

They always have a "big show" at the end of every semester at the Little Gym and all of the parents and grandparents are welcome to come into the gym and watch. Addie was very excited to show me and Mamaw all of her new skills! They were also awarded medals for their efforts. She slept in her medal that first night :)

Check out this tumble! She must get her graceful forward roll from me!

Hayes was pretty excited to be in the gym too. I couldn't keep up with him. He was just a little distracting!

Addie really enjoyed her time at the Little Gym. We are hoping to get her interested in dance or perhaps soccer next. She's sort of outgrown her time here. Hayes on the other hand, is going to LOVE his semester at the Gym in the fall. I have a feeling they aren't going to know what to do with him.....