summer lovin

We're back from Cape Cod! Liam recovered well from the strep throat (so did i... that stinker gave it to me) We were both on antibiotics for some of the trip, but neither of us let it get in the way of having a wonderful time.

It was a great trip - I have about 1000 memories to go through and zero time to do it - so here is just a sneak peek at two highlights:

1) THE BEACH
the beaches in Cape Cod are NOT like the beaches in California! When the tide is low you can walk for miles... and the water is shallow and WARM. Perfect for 2 year olds who love to dig in the sand and find cape cod crabbys!

2) THE ROMANCE and GOOD OLD FASHIONED FUN!

Liam found himself a summer fling - he didn't waste much time getting acquainted with Miss Charlotte. She may be a second cousin... they didn't care!

This hug came after a successful session of throwing rocks in the swamp!

These two could have rolled down the hill together for hours!

All of that rolling on a hot humid day on The cape leads to sweaty-grassy kidd-os... neither of them had a problem with dropping trou (especially liam) to cool off together while running through the sprinkler!

...more to come

strep throat...

yep - Liam has it. (First time!)
BOO.

He got sent home with a 102.8 fever yesterday afternoon. He was sweet and not complaining - even saying he felt "good"... but he was all out of sorts... watery eyes, lethargic and zoney with no energy (he took a 4 hour nap when he got home!).
When he got up, I knew something was really wrong, so I scooped him up and zipped him over to the after hours pediatrician (we love this place) he saw Dr. Marshall who did all of the tests on him and got a positive strep culture. We are now two doses into a ten day cycle of amoxicillan (which he absolutely HATES) and he is already looking and feeling a little bit better (thank goodness!) I just sent Kurt back to the pharmacy to get the medicine re-flavored... Liam requested "Grape"... i hope it helps.

Feeling happy though that we nipped this in the bud and he should be back up to his zippy sparkly self before the BIG TRIP to Cape Cod next week.

all grown up - ashley's senior prom

We leave in about two and a half weeks for Cape Cod to watch our gorgeous grown up niece Ashley graduate as valedictorian of her class.. we are so proud and SO anxious!

Last weekend she attended her senior prom with her sweet boyfriend and looked absolutely stunning in a peacock blue sparkly princess dress with an intricate up-do (done my my talented sister-in-law) and to make this look even cooler - she wore crystal encrusted converse low tops (ok maybe they aren't actually "converse" but they look like chuck taylors and paired with this dress... are TOTALLY Ashley!) love this girl! (young woman!)

we got a call from her proud papa as he was driving her and her date to the prom, he was so proud of this knockout - look how sweet this moment is (wish i could have been there to see it in person!)

the shoes! how fun
(and smart... remember all of those formal dances with 6 inch heels, coming home with blisters and swearing off heels forever - or at least until the next dance?)

the adorable couple. i love how his tie matches her dress.

the ladies. ashley and her bffs. all of their dresses look great together too - love the jewel tones. i don't think i ever looked this good in high school!

i am amazed that this big group got together for the big day... thats a lot of planning and work (imagine the text strings and FB messages it took to make this happen!)

Ashley - we are so proud of you, and so happy you had such a nice time at your prom! Remember that night always.

Love you!

Chicken Saute with Sugar Snaps and Asparagus

I'm still working on cooking my way through Kristine Kidd's book :) Not doing a very good job of documenting it...
I HAD to write about this one though - as it is so spectacular, it actually graces the cover of her book. Plus, spring is here and asparagus is in abundance, win-win!

Here is the link to the recipe online.

I followed the recipe pretty closely, it was easy quick and used simple ingredients. (I love this book!) The one thing that i did not have on hand was the sugar snap peas - i used green beans, because thats what i had - but i bet it would be more "special" with the sweetness and crunch of the fresh sugar snaps. Next time I will prepare to cook this, and buy the right ingredients. Even with a major substitution, the flavors were right on and got big props and has been categorized in the "make this again" category!

Down on the farm... Tye's 4th Birthday!

Liam's good friend Tye turned 4 yesterday and today was the BIG BIRTHDAY PARTY at Underwood Family Farms. Tye's Mommy's name is Henny... so, it was only fitting that all of us were corralled in the "Hen House"! This was a really FUN and perfect party - all of the kids had so much fun. Liam especially had a good time, and it was so cute because most of the kids go to school together at Cornerstone. Tye and most of his friends are in the "threes" class... and Liam is in the "twos" ... but there was one little boy from his class - and he knew a lot of them from after school care when they all play together.

He picked out his own outfit.. which was pretty fitting - he actually wanted to wear cowboy boots and a "Farmer shirt" when we told him we were spending the day at the farm! Smart cookie.

One of the first things we did was go on a wagon ride that was pulled by Clydesdale horses - it was pretty spectacular and took us all around the massive farm. This is Tye, the birthday boy and his daddy.
After the wagon ride, we all got some animal food to feed the animals on the farm... Liam fed the Peacock, Turkey, Emu, Alpacas, Rabbits, Goats, Bulls, Horses, Pigs... and many more.

He loved this wooden "choo choo" train!

Not as much as driving the full sized "John Deere" combine! This may have been the highlight of his day... he could drive, drive, drive and never get bored of it.

Tye had the most amazing cake... a two tiered farm cake decorated in fondant, complete with the animals - the cookie favors were pretty stinkin' cute too... sugar cookie farm animal cut outs and barns that said "Tye's Farm"... I die.

While we waited for some of that yummy cake, Liam and Daddy played "king of the hill" on the hay stack.

Cake Time! This boy has a sweet tooth, and apparently loves fondant!

Busy little farm hands sure wear themselves out quickly. This was taken about 4 seconds after we drove out of the parking lot!

Thank you for inviting us to your party Tye! We had a wonderful time! Happy Birthday Friend.

While we were away...

While Kurt and I were busy "skulking about" in London last month, Liam was home with Gramma and Grumpa having SO MUCH FUN! We are so thankful that they were able to take the time away and make the trip up from Oregon to stay with Liam and take care of the house and dogs for us so we could sneak away... I thought I would feel really sad leaving Liam for so long, but with the assurance he was being well cared for and loved... I was ok, and really able to enjoy being away. SO - THANK YOU Mom and Dad! This was the best gift ever!

Now.. on to what Lima Bean did while we were away...
In addition to playing "hooky" from school for a week... they kept this kid BUSY!

He was busy hammering away and fixing things like his "Grumpa"

He got to go see a LIVE performance of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" at church... and even got a couple of bites of a REAL Wonka "Scrumdidlyumcious" bar that Gramma brought for him :) he LOVED that... and I heard even started chanting "CANDY CANDY CANDY" at the end of the performance!

He got to be the KING OF THE HILL!

He crossed bridges w/ Gramma.

He got aquainted with his shadow... he has been really into "Peter Pan" lately, and asked Gramma if his shadow needed to be sown to his feet because he didn't want to lose it!

He climbed through tunnels.

He fed the ducks!

He shot some hoops with Grumpa - how cute is it that my dad brought out a step stool!!

They took long walks on the beach.

They did a little shopping at the do it center and Liam found a sweet spot!

They planted grass seeds in egg shells ...

So, that by Easter, we would have these lovely table decorations - they turned out AWESOME!

They planted some herbs for me :) Been using the chives and parsley a TON - they are getting so big already!

easter time 2011

It's safe to say, Easter was a big hit with Liam. He has committed "little bunny foo foo" and "here come's peter cottontail" to memory and sings them on heavy rotation (it's pretty cute... i tried to capture this on video - but he gets camera shy when the "flip" comes out) i need to learn "stealth videography"
Things around here have been really busy ever since we returned from London... two working parents and a busy two and a half year old, make for complete LAST MINUTE Easter prep. i literally was THAT mom... buying eggs on Saturday afternoon while he napped! I haven't bought regular white caged chicken eggs since last Easter... it was a little painful - but we decided to acheive the color saturation we wanted, we had to go white (i am very sorry to the chickens who laid these eggs in an 8.5x11 battery cage.. but thats a whole other topic)

i was so proud of liam who waited very patiently while the little tablets fizzed away in the white vinegar! he is so excited :)

Daddy was a great helper, and showed him how to use the "dippy thing" - which is a cumbersome task when your fingers are only two and a half years old.

he decided the "drop and plop" method was the way to go!

easter morning... after sunday school. the egg he is holding is the infamous "mud egg". when kurt and scott were kids, it was their tradition to pour all of the colors together for the very last egg, and make what they called the "mud egg" liam loved that.

This was taken while we skyped with gramma and grampa as well as great gran and gramp from oregon. this skateboarder and skateboard were in the basket from the oregon easter bunny an dhas been the biggest easter gift so far (i think he even likes it more than chocolate!)

a close up of the "mud egg" we used one of the ones that cracked in the "drop and plop" test... and it came out super cool - like a spider web.

can you tell i love this chocolate-faced kid. btw - my yellow dress was lovingly nick-named the "peep" dress by todd and kammy... i told them.. well, if there is one day a year to wear a "peep" dress, easter is THE day!

At brunch - a visit from his favorite.. rockie the clown! they had a major love affair last easter - he is featured on her website...this year he was a little nervous... check out the look on his face!

getting ready for the big easter egg hunt. he was such a big boy and collected a ton of eggs. he even shared with a little girl who was about a year old - it was the cutest thing ever!

and his favorite part of brunch.. of course the mini desserts. here is a strawberry angel food cupcake..mmmmm

truffle on a stick, i think i'll try that please.

i heart pretty desserts

can't make a decision? eat all three!