Sunny South (post 3)

The weather has been so perfect (except for today) and the food has been so yummy, sweet and way too delicious to be thinking about leaving it all here in a few days.  We still have some favorites to try and enjoy!

Because I like to post some foods ... here are some that we are very much enjoying here in the south!  Most food posts I write about, are foods that I make myself but not this time.  This is called a 'family vacation' and that means just that VACATION!  I haven't done much cooking, except for breakfast!  And, and juicing fresh oranges doesn't even come near calling that work for me!  Fun!

Pies:  No body on this planet earth makes pies as high, as wide, and as creamy as these pies!  Hadassah's favorite is strawberry pie.  I like the peanut butter and key lime!  However, the butterscotch and egg custard and chocolate cake with peanut butter icing and all the other 10 plus options sound so marvelous.  (Sorry, I just can't have them all ... I know!  And it is hard to control a sweet tooth down here!)

My iPhone just don't take that great of pictures but here are the mile high pies.  Strawberry and Peanut Butter.

My request for Mike ... I asked Mike to stop and get me a piece of key lime pie yesterday on his way back from visiting a friend and golfing.  I knew I would have him and Ashlyn helping me!

Fluffy, sweet key lime.

Told you so!

 Why use a spoon when the fingers work so much better!?!

Sweet Rolls:  These are heavenly!  The dough is soft.  It's rolled tight with sugar and cinnamon.  Then they slab a thick layer of delicious caramel icing on top!  Yep, it's heavenly!  I think we are on number three with these babies!

Coke Slushies:  The kids came up with this idea.  They froze coke in glasses and served it with our delivered pizza and freshly sliced cucumbers!  Refreshing!

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A night with eating pie and playing settlers with friends and our parents was ALL SWEET!  We had such a great time hanging out with JR & Ruthie and their kids while they were here for three days.  We both had parents down here that like to play settlers and because we were eager for our first bite of pie ... we put the two together and had a wonderful night!

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 There's this little grocery store with lollie pops and such inside and Hadassah thought I just had to buy one of these for Ashlyn!  :)  She was glad I did!

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 Every morning, these loud little birds swalk and chirp away!  They are loud and can at times get annoying!  Wild parrots.  They seem to be my alarm clock in the morning!

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Today, the weather was rainy this morning and cloudy.  Hadassah and I took the opportunity to do some browsing and shopping!  It was great time together!  Meanwhile, Mike was back at the house with Matthew and Ashlyn competing with Matthew in Settlers!  :)

The sun is out again and we are going to be spending time with great friends at "Sweet Tomatoes"!  This is just another favorite place down here.  A restaurant that has an all out spread of fresh salads and pastas!  The biggest salad bar around town!  (Mom, you would love it!!!  Dad, you would just smile at knowing Mom would enjoy this!  Hehe!)

Bye for now ....    from the sunny south!

Sunny South (post 2)

We are soaking in the sun!  Spending time at the pool with Merv and Carol was wonderful fun!  Splashing in the ocean waves and collecting shells is something only the kids can master so well!  Taking an alligator boat tour caused us to use lots of patience but we looked in amazement and enjoyed the scenes!  And, and we are eating the best foods around!!!  Really!!!

See the amazing, yummy sweet rolls that we have been chowing down!

Ashlyn's enjoying the pool and lollipop and her snack of fishes!

 Landon and Matthew ... salt and pepper.  :)

 Same old goggles! 

 Taking a break with daddy's phone!

 There's this yogurt place called "Yogurtology".  We have been making an every other day stop on the way back from the beach/pool.  It's frozen yogurt and you put all the great toppings on you want!  We love it!  I fill my cup with coconut and salted caramel yogurt!

 We saw this sting ray flopping out of the ocean!  Neat ...

 Every morning ... they go for a bike ride.  Perfect fit!

 The girls love dill pickles!

 Here are some alligators we saw!  We wanted to do something fun with the kids and go see some animals.  We chose to see alligators.  We got to the national state park and the first boat tour was sold out and so we got tickets for the next ride.  That meant waiting a few hours on a hot day.  We enjoyed some pickles and snacks.  We walked out a pier to see some wild birds.  And then Ashlyn got a nasty splinter in her hand that was no fun getting out.  We saw some turtles and fish in a nearby stream.  We glided on the swings a bit.  Then it was finally ready for the tour ride!

 

 We did our annual restaurant stop to JoTo's last night.  They cook the food right in front of you and we enjoyed the show and food!

And ... here's a picture for my twin nieces.  They are missing Ashlyn.  She misses them too.  So, here's a hello wave from her to you!!!  :)

Sunny South!!! (post 1)

Yes, Oh, Yes!!!  The sunny south is giving me all the doses of that good Vitamin A, B, C, and D ... or whatever that good sun gives to ones sun thirsty body?!!!

We are enjoying the time 'off'!  Well, after all the packing, the loading, the lonnng all night drive, the unloading, the organizing, the laundry that still comes with any vacation and the stops to the grocery stores to restock on plenty of the best southern fruits, veggies, and pastry's ... the rest is 'TIME OFF'!!!  :)))

Seriously ... we are very much having the time of our lives as a family so far and seeing the kids enjoy the swimming and gorgeous sandy beach, is completely and totally awesome!

See what I mean ...

Hadassah had a blast with Ashlyn in the pool!!!  She's taking in as much sunshine as a little girl could possibly get!

She loved the beach too!!!  She's got some learning on :  not to throw sand; to not put sand on her tongue; to not shovel sand on toes and then give the shovel a fling and have sand fly all over everyone; and to be OK with me putting 70 sunscreen and applying lotion on her is a very good idea!  :)  All the joys of a toddler!!!

She wants all the gadgets too!!!  Matthew left her enjoy some music and Hadassah left her borrow her ear phones!  Add some sunglasses and a grin and that = pure sweetness!!!

 Loving those strawberries ... saying 'cheese' before taking her first water plunge!

This morning when Mike was brewing a batch of freshly, every morning coffee, he scooped in the grounds and before shutting the lid, he stopped and paused to take a look.  He asked me to come and take a look to ...  I just know that this is the perfect start to having a perfect day!!!!  :)))

I am fully aware that we have three children ... but the camera seemed to take pictures of our youngest so far!!!  :) 

More to come of the rest of us!  Stayed posted. 

We are praising the Lord for this vacation and time spent as a family!!!  It's a delightful blessing!!!

Valentine Dinner (part 4)

We are just a bit busy packing up and getting ready for a fun upcoming family vacation.  Taking time for a date night on Valentines was going to be hard, so we opted to stay at home and save some $$$ and time!

All day long, however, I kept thinking about what I should cook for dinner or better yet ... maybe, just maybe, Mike would call and say let's go out after all.  The kids are at the ages now that they know and see how much we enjoy going out together and Hadassah thought we should go just Mike and I. 

It was 4:00 and I started to work FAST!  Really fast.  Suddenly, I was determined to make something nice and tasty here at home.  I pulled out some talapia fillets from the freezer.  I rolled some potatoes in olive oil and seasonings and stuck them in the oven.  I whipped up some fresh tarter sauce.  I thawed some shrimp and sauteed them in butter and seasonings!  Finally, I put some heart shaped jellos on a dish and hopped that would be a satisfying dessert for Valentines!!!  (I was also very aware of all the candy we collected at the school Valentines parties today!  :)  )

A peak at the parties ...

This was the spread for the fifth graders!!!  Wonderful foods!!!

 Matthew was in total glee with all his valentines and candy!!!

 Everyone was given a pair of glasses that Matthew thinks is so cool!!!

 Hadassah's class did a card project.  They also collected money they earned as a class and gave it with the cards to Backpack Medics.  Great idea!!!

 Fruit Kabobs and cupcakes ... yum!

 Back to our dinner story ...

Mike did call me at 5:00 to just made sure that we were both thinking the same.  Having a dinner at home was the perfect decision!!!  He got home at 6:00.  The table was set with our fine china dishes.  Candle lite.  The smell in the kitchen was great from all the food cooking!  It was fun!!!  Mike walked in the door and handed me a small white box!  What was this???  He smiled as I jokingly asked if it's a left over fastnacht donut?  (We were in good humor!!!  We laughed the rest of the night about it and even this morning got a few chuckles!!!)

It was way better than a left over donut!!!  It was a very pretty cupcake!  That was my perfect touch to my lousy dessert options for our dinner!!!  Really!  It was the sweet thought that counted.  He was extra busy at work and yet took the time (and thought) to stop for a sweet dessert for ME!  I love treats like that!!!  It makes me melt and feel special!  Loved!

The kids enjoyed the meal as much as we did!!!  Well, Ashlyn didn't think the fish was that tasty but that's OK ... she still chooses cucumbers over just about anything!  Even candy at times!  The evening here at home was wonderful.  We got the dishes cleaned and then the school work completed and then some time and sit and sip on some hot Chai and listen to an Adventures in Odyssey episode.  Hadassah and I are so into this series right now!!!

I am thankful today for my family!  For the love we have for each other!!!  For my husband!  For his love and his humor and his devotion to God!

I AM BLESSED!!!

Happy Valentines Day ~ 2013 ~ part 3

It's here!  Valentine's Day is today!!!

Usually, I wake up each morning with my alarm clock radio playing and Mike still sleeping right beside me.  For some very unusual reason, last night at 11 PM I woke up feeling like I had major indigestion!  I sat up and immediately started burping.  Gross.  Mike prayed for me.  It was so uncomfortable and I finally spent the rest of the night sleeping soundly on the couch.  I guess my over light eggs and stewed crackers for supper last night decided to give me a hard time.? 

I am saying all of this to say that Mike woke up this morning alone in bed.  He even made his own coffee before I was able to wake up enough to function.  :)  He was the first to say "Happy Valentine's Day".  I liked that he remembered!!!  I did send him off to work with a kiss, a prayer, a hug, a card and a heart shape tin filled with chocolates that he stuck right into his coat pocket to enjoy later!!!  I love this man so much!  (Our Valentine Date tonight is still ??? .  I'm not sure if I should cook up something romantic or extra nice or wait to have a REALLY lovely night out with Mike while on our upcoming vacation?!?  What to do?

The kids knew the day was special when they looked at their breakfast!  :)  Love to love on them too!

 Yes ... Hadassah adds no syrup but lots of whipped cream on top of this yet.

 

 Our toddler in the house is being so cute lately.  She's putting words into sentences and tries to do everything herself.  (Patience please here!)  When it's time to pick up the toys, she always says "help me, Mom".  :)  She's my totally cute Valentine!

 And ... because we like the holidays, Hadassah and I strung some hearts made out of pipe cleaners and hung them in the kitchen!  Fun.

 

 

 Zoey is growing up fast too.  She's crazy hyper in the morning and then winds down and if one day goes by without her chewing on something ... that would be a miracle.

 Hadassah's basketball games are over.  Boohoo.  I really enjoyed the games and loved watching her do better and better each game.  The last game she even took a shot at making a basket!  It didn't go in but she shot!!!  I kept telling her that's the beginning to makes lots of baskets in the future!!!  She was the best defense playing out there!  She reached her hands high and tried to block all the passes she could!  "Good job, Hadassah!  We are proud of your great sportsmanship and your hard effort to win the games!"  :)

 

 

 

 

Enjoy all the hearts and LOVE today!!!  Happy Valentine's Day!!!