Cousin Time!

Steve's mom brought our niece and nephew over to spend the weekend. They live 5 hours away, so we don't see them as often as we would like. All four cousins were born exactly 2 years apart and all in the spring. Walker is 7, Anna Clare is 5, LeighEllen is 3, and Owen is 1. So every other spring, G.G. has gotten herself a new grandchild! They had the best time...playing, laughing, eating, swimming, picking blueberries....


Lovin' on the baby

Walker and the girls (girls' matching outfits courtesy of G.G.'s sewing machine)

I have to end with Steve doing a flip off the diving board...I was very impressed!

Here's the Recipe...

Since some of you asked about the calzone recipe...here it is. I like to check out recipes posted on blogs because I am always looking for something new to try (only if it looks simple...I do not do complicated cooking!). I found the calzone recipe here.I have never met Shireen, but she has such a sweet blog and some great looking recipes! I highly recommend the calzones and hope to try some of her others soon (the salsa sounds delish)! A slight variation that I did...Only because I happened to have some fresh, sliced mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes in my fridge, I threw them into the spinach mixture. I figured the more veggies I can get down my kids, the better (except for the part about AC spitting out the mushrooms). So enjoy! And thank you to Shireen for sharing!

SUCCESS...for one night at least!

Last night I made calzones with spinach, mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes. They were yummy! I called them "homemade pizza" because AC loves homemade pizza. I covered hers in pizza sauce.

She ate the whole thing! She did spit (yes, spit) out the mushrooms...who could blame her? I'm pretty sure I didn't eat mushrooms as a child either.

"Mommy, what is the green stuff?"

"It's called seasoning...to make it taste good." This is not too far from the truth because I did put Italian Seasoning in them.

She ate the whole thing! PROGRESS!!!

This morning I said, "Did you know that pizza had spinach in it and you liked it? I'm so proud of you!"

She shook her head. "No, mommy, I didn't like it!" Whatever...I am happy!

Eat Your Peas!

This is how excited she was about the peas on her plate!


CALLING ALL MOMS OF PICKY EATERS...I NEED YOUR HELP!

This child was such a good baby food eater. Then came table food, and it went downhill from there. If she were in charge of her meals, they would consist of a rotation of mac and cheese, PB&J, pizza, and McDonald's cheeseburgers. Since I am trying to be a good mom, that won't fly at our house.

I told her to eat all her peas. She told me, "Let me see what my stomach says about it." Pretends to listen to stomach. "It says...no more, I'm full" Good try.

I came back through the kitchen and find her feeding her peas to her sister.

On the plus side, she loves fruit. Any and all kinds! On the down side, she does not love veggies...especially green ones.

Perhaps it is hereditary. When I met Steve, the only green things he ate were green beans and salad. I have since gotten him to eat cabbage, peas, butter beans, spinach, asparagus, tomatoes (not green but he wouldn't even try them and now he LOVES tomato sandwiches), and most recently broccoli. I am very proud. His mom said when he was little, he told her, "the only green thing I like you only make at Christmas" He was referring to Watergate salad (with marshmallows).

So, my question is this...do you

A) send them to bed without supper

B) make them clean their plate if it takes 2 hours

C) just make them try "one bite"

D) serve it up for breakfast the next day (Just Kidding...did you see the movie "Mommy Dearest" where poor little Christina gets rare steak for breakfast?) Even in my frustration I will not resort to that!



This one is a little better about veggies but is not fond of all things green.



Enough about vegetables...Steve came home with this surprise today. He and my mom went blueberry picking this afternoon and our freezer is stocked! He says we are all going back tomorrow for a family blueberry picking! And for FREE!!! Can't beat that! He was very proud of his jug contraption to hang around his neck so that he could pick with both hands!

A "Grand" Vacation!

We just got home from a visit to the Grand Hotel in Point Clear. Steve had some meetings for work, and the girls and I tagged along for fun. This is such a great place for kids. The pool is enormous with a fun water slide and lots of sprinklers and waterfalls. I could have stayed another week at least! G.G. kept the girls (again!) so that we could enjoy TWO DATE NIGHTS!!! And she helped me out at the pool with them too. Thanks, G.G.! Here are a few pictures of our little vacation...

They loved the sprinklers!

G.G. and her girls

The lifeguard actually asked her, "How many times have you been down today?"

I snapped this one a little late, but yes, she went down too!

First chocolate chip cookie! Don't fuss, Daddy...G.G. gave it to her!

Sweet Sisters!

My dream come true!

Those of you who know me well know that I despise cleaning. The cleaning lady was the first thing I had to give up when I didn't go back to work, and it was a sad day! The good news is...my five-year-old loves to clean! I have convinced her that dusting is fun, and now she is a dusting machine!

This morning, as she was dusting, she said to me, "Mommy, I might want to be a cleaning lady when I grow up."

"I think that's great!" I told her.

Then she said, "When I grow up, I'll come to your house every morning and clean it for you!"

A girl after my own heart!

If this is true, she won't have to travel far because she says she is going to live with us forever!



Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July! I thank God for our freedom and for those who fight for it!

Beach Vacation

We went to the beach this weekend with our friends, Kit and Craig, and their two children. We had a great time...I always have a great time at the beach. They have two of the sweetest children and all of the kids loved it. We were extremely lazy (it's the beach, right?) and spent a lot of time at the pool and on the beach. The weather was great...not too hot with a little breeze. They introduced us to some yummy goodies, and Steve introduced them to his fruit smoothies! We did A WHOLE LOT of laughing...they are two of the funniest people ever! Steve's mom drove over to see the children (she had not seen Owen walk yet and was so excited) AND she stayed and kept all four children so that we could go eat at Louisiana Lagniappe (one of my favorites at the beach). Yes, G.G. is a saint!!! A few pictures to recap...


she does not look happy because she was afraid she was going to fall!





sand time



relaxing time

rest time

pool time

Steve buries Jack

still relaxing...

sand does not make for a good snack

Kit and I begged Steve to let us stay one more night, but he put his foot down. It was their anniversary, after all! Thanks to our friends for letting us crash their vacation!