Kumquats and such

A couple Fridays ago it would NOT STOP RAINING! Reagan and I spent the day inside, doing chores, playing, practicing letters, and doing our best not to go crazy! By 4:45, we couldn't take it any longer, so we donned our rain gear, hopped in the car, and drove to Krispy Kreme to celebrate National Doughnut Day! We almost got there too late...the case was practically empty! Luckily the were serving fresh, hot, glazed doughnuts and even better, they were free! It was the only "errand" we ran all day, but it sure was fun!

Despite the house being plagued by one of 100 cold viruses, we managed to be quite productive this weekend.  Here's a picture of our sick little girl looking like Rudolf with that red nose:(  Not our typically happy baby. On Saturday, we headed to "my old stomping grounds" (a.k.a. Lowe's ) to select a tree for the backyard and some things for my garden.  After careful thought and about an hour of wandering, we decided on a Cleveland Select Flowering Pear tree.  Jason and I picked out a good spot and he went to work. Meanwhile, I went outside the fence to my garden to begin planting season!  In the smaller raised bed next to the raspberries, I decided to try my hand at a fig tree:                             Raspberry plants starting to sprout!      The beginning of my fig tree Additionally, I put in a rosemary plant, some potatoes and some carrot seeds.  ...

On Saturday morning, Jason got up early and went to work for a couple hours.  When he returned home, we piled into the car with Tommy and Reagan and took off for North Top Sail Beach.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous and Tommy enjoyed free reign of the beach as there are no "leash laws" after Memorial Day.   Jason was our photographer! Reagan loves facing out in her Baby Bjorn carrier. After our short outing to the beach, we returned home and did some things around the house.  Namely, Jason chopped up a chicken using his new meat cleaver and worked diligently at making chicken stock, and I began preparations for MIL/FIL/BIL's arrival on Thursday (i.e. washing sheets, dusting, etc.).  All in all, we were quite productive.  As the afternoon approached, we sat outside and enjoyed the unusually warm November day.  Reagan even joined us for a bit: Our neighbors were outside and we chatted with them for a bit.  (Side note: a few houses have s...

Somehow my husband has the energy to come home and get up early on the weekends to take care of Reagan, prep some delicious (read: tasty and very difficult) meal for dinner, and do a million jobs around the house.  We've been working on the yard for the last couple weeks and here's a few snapshots of his work: Filling in the bare spots in the backyard 28 bags of mulch, 2 bushes, and several daffodil bulbs planted Close up of one of the 2 bushes we planted yesterday New flowers in the flower bed (the one Brian Moore made!) And not that this has anything to do with how wonderful my husband is, but somehow my raspberry bush is confused (perhaps because it's October 31st and nearly 75 degrees?!)  There aren't many, but the ones that have popped up have been quite tasty. And since I've been neglecting my puppy adoration duties via the blog, here's a picture of the nut job chasing a football

Ok, first of all, the title probably gets you thinking that I'm about to divulge some dark secret that makes this blog worth reading...think again!  Secondly, I don't harbor that kind of Catholic school guilt, so don't be expecting any exciting reads coming up:) ...as an attendee of Catholic school from 3rd - 12th grades, I have first-hand knowledge of a wide range of school fundraising efforts.  In grade school and middle school, our "playground" was actually a parking lot and our basketball gym doubled as our cafeteria.  In high school, if you wanted to take Latin class (or a few others that escape me at this moment), you better walk yourself out to the trailers next to the school.  Let's just say, even though it was a private school, we weren't exactly rolling in the money.  Which brings me back to the title: when we were growing up, we sold everything you can imagine in that "Girl Scout door-to-door cookie selling" fashion.  You name it we s...

My mother-in-law, Cindi, arrived here on the 6th to be here for the much anticipated arrival of our little girl.  Unfortunately, here we are on the 21st twiddling our thumbs... So in our efforts to remain busy (and somewhat distracted if that's even possible), we've filled our days with activities.  Here's a quick rundown: we've had guests for dinner twice, gone to my doctor twice, gone to the vet for Daisy twice (more on that later), visited Emerald Isle, Swansboro, Top Sail, and Wilmington, made black pepper pasta from scratch, cleaned the house from top to bottom, gone to Babies R Us, finished a puzzle, played games and taken more walks than I could ever recall.  I don't have pictures of most of it, but here are a few. Cindi's first attempt at homemade pasta - looks great, huh?!!! Final Product Umbrella stroller (from MIL) & the bouncer/swing seat. A Charles Wysocki puzzle I finally finished putting together. In addition to the above, MIL has s...