Kumquats and such

Last Sunday, Reagan and I woke up early and went for a nice jog in the overcast weather. Minutes after we got home, the skies opened up and dumped buckets of water! Jason wandered into the bonus room where we were sitting and thus our day had officially begun. We spent the morning looking at cooking magazines and flipping through the cookbook that MIL made for Jason. We selected a few recipes, jotted down a shopping list, and headed south to the good  grocery store (aka Harris Teeter). You can see from the picture below that it was obviously a family (i.e. Daddy tagged along) trip: The top 5 packages of meat are all SAUSAGE...Jason's favorite!  Reagan went down for a nap as soon as we got home, so Jason and I donned our chef attire and got to work. He started by making us a nice platter of various cheeses, hot Italian sausage, and a chorizo/egg concoction! I started by making Uncle Kevin's chicken log...one of my favorite things!  Then I ...

As you know, I've started a small photography business during our last months in Jacksonville. Since I failed to update Reagan's paperwork at the CDC, she typically tags along for photo sessions. I bring the Bob jogging stroller, snacks, and juice, and she sits patiently while I take pictures for an hour. She's the best helper ever! On a recent shoot one Friday evening, Reagan was particularly good. At the end of the session, we wandered down to the marina to get some shots with the river in the background. I let Reagan out of the stroller to walk around while I took pictures. She worked her way into my camera bag and managed to find some lipgloss: As you can see from the evidence above, she did her best to make herself "beautiful" with mommy's makeup:) Look at that face...I could hardly be mad! Plus, what on earth was I doing carrying around lipgloss in my camera bag?! (It has since been removed!) Since Reagan was such a peach, I told her I would g...

Last Wednesday, I finally got around to mowing the front yard. I managed to do this while Reagan played happily by herself (a first) and it looked so much better. Unfortunately, as soon as I put the mower back in the garage, the skies opened up and it poured. So much for doing the rest during nap time. So the following day, I planned to do the back (which was nearing jungle state). Of course, it rained AGAIN. Jason was home on Friday, so while he entertained Reagan and planted a new tree, I got started on the backyard. The grass was so tall that I was barely able to make one loop of the yard before emptying the bag. I finished about a third of the yard before the rains returned and I had to quit. So the following day, I was determined to get the job done. Jason was working on a project (another post later) and Reagan was wandering around the backyard, so I started to mow again. I continued to empty the bag every 5 minutes or so. Unfortunately, I was running out of places to store the...

On Monday evening, we were hanging out before Reagan's bedtime and I got a text message. I excused myself from the couch and headed to the computer to take care of something and glanced out the window for a second. I thought I saw three HUGE dogs walking down the street (which wouldn't have been a shock since we've seen lots of dogs loose in the area), but upon closer inspection, I realized it wasn't a pack of dogs, it was three PIGS! I yelled to Jason to come look, grabbed my camera, and we headed outside to investigate. These random pigs had found their way to our front yard. Several neighbors were outside enjoying the show too! As they came closer, they started to use their snouts to dig at the base of our mailbox. Well that didn't suit Jason one bit! He shouted for me to grab a broom from the garage and proceeded to use it to shoo the pigs away. They wandered into the neighbor's yard, so Jason and two other men on the street used brooms and a bat to s...

Happy Birthday to one of my most favorite people! Brian and Jason have known each other since college, but in 2008, I met Maureen briefly at our wedding. We met again at her wedding the following summer, but it wasn't until we both found ourselves living in Eastern NC that we had an opportunity to actually hang out. Once we finally did, we became fast friends!  Maureen is the most thoughtful person I know. She's beautiful, creative, a fabulous mother, and a loyal friend. We have watched as our babies have grown into toddlers, celebrating their birthdays together (of which she planned every amazing detail). She brought me into a fantastic playgroup that we are disappointed to be leaving. She has watched Reagan for us so many times I can't count them. And she and her family have opened their home to me when Jason was deployed.  There are many reasons I'm looking forward to our upcoming move, but a handful that make me sad. Leaving Moe is one of those reasons....

I came across a great photo on  Play at Home Mom, LLC  and wanted to try to replicate the idea. It's a fun way for kids to learn how to sew! Source I headed to Michael's in search of supplies, but couldn't find burlap, so we improvised. I grabbed a couple of $1 wooden frames (plus I had a larger one at home), some large plastic needles, 4 bundles of yarn, and two sheets of plastic grid (for lack of a better description).  I cut the plastic grid to size and used super glue and a stapler to adhere it to the back of the frame:  Ideally I think it would be better to use a large staple gun, but since we don't own one of those, I improvised:)  Using the larger frame, I made a "learn to sew" tool for Reagan's friend, Chloe: That blue thing next to the name is the "needle." It's large enough and soft enough for 2-year olds. Perfect! And while Reagan hasn't played with hers yet because she's very focused on ...

On Thursday morning, Reagan and I headed out to take pictures of my friend's kiddos. I typically bring the Bob so she has a comfortable place to sit, but my car won't hold all the props and the jogging stroller, so I brought the umbrella stroller this time. Reagan was wonderful as she has been at every other photo session I've taken her to. I gave her a bag of almonds to keep her busy. She calls them "treat" because when Grandma and Grandpa were visiting, we must have referred to them as such:) She sat patiently in the stroller enjoying "treat" for over an hour. Love this girl! As the session wrapped up, our friends from our days at Marine Barracks strolled up. We had planned to meet them later in the day, but this was a bonus! They walked back to the house they had rented about a mile down the beach and Reagan and I packed up the car, said goodbye to our photo subjects, and drove to another public access point. We basically had the beach to our...

After the big birthday party on Saturday, we let the kiddos nap and then we headed outside to watch as a HUGE storm approached. Max loves Reagan's push car, so he had a blast while Keith and Geoffrey took turns pushing him and Reagan joined the fun on her tricycle: Once the rain came, we let the kids run around for a bit longer, then headed inside to clean up. The men were in charge of bath time and once it was over, we were all treated to this gorgeous site in the backyard: I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon/evening!

On Sunday morning, we sadly said goodbye to Keith, Colleen and Max as they headed home to Raleigh. I thought we would have to say goodbye to Geoffrey as well, but he surprised us and decided to stay until the late afternoon! I think we managed to keep him here by suggesting a crab feast! On Father's Day, when Jason and I went in search of crabs, we decided to get the guy's phone number for future reference. Jason gave him a call and within an hour, he, Rick, and Geoffrey were driving down to Sneads Ferry to pick up 6 dozen blue crabs and some clams. ( Even though I can't eat shellfish, I love these days because I'm free to create a pasta meal for myself :) Around 12:45, Jason and Rick got the meal going and within minutes, Reagan was enjoying some clams: Reagan liked them so much that she hardly left Uncle Geoffrey any time to eat any of his own! After the clams came the crabs: The entire family chowed down on some delicious crabs! Reagan was eating ...

Despite many protests, Fil has officially been deemed "Papa" by Reagan. At least once, and usually several times a day, Reagan asks, "Where's Papa?" She absolutely loves her best buddy, and who wouldn't?! He's the best grandfather EVER! They play together, share DQ together, and take many naps together! We wish he was still here in NC so we could properly celebrate, but I suppose this post will have to suffice. Happy birthday to the best grandfather! You do so much for all of us and we love you so very much! Looking forward to the end of the month when we'll be seeing LOTS more of you!! Hope you have a wonderful day! Happy Birthday Papa!!