Kumquats and such

 The pool seems to be a bust (even though it's awesome and baby-friendly) because it's always full, so we decided to have some fun at home.  Reagan is loving her new water table: At story time at the local library, they have a bubble machine and Reagan loves it, so we decided to get our own: This one is just to show how cool my camera is! And this isn't really part of the fun at home, but I absolutely love this picture of Reagan: What a face?!

Our neighbors have two great danes, Saint (the one with spots) & Sputnik, who are Tommy's age and love to play.  The other day, we let them run free and "gallop" around the yards. Saint, Tommy & Sputnik!  Doesn't our pup look tiny?! Sputnik may have size, but Tommy has the speed:) Leaping over the easement! It's like watching a horse gallop!

On Tuesday, my friend, Gaby and her daughter, Chloe were going to go to the family pool on the air station with us.  Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, the pool was at max capacity and there were 10 people on the waiting list.  Not to have our fun spoiled, we headed home to have our own water play date. Some other kids from the neighborhood joined and we had a blast!  The girls are only 2 days apart in age and we try to meet once a week.  Chloe is an absolute sweetheart and we're so glad to have a friend close by since it seems we are always driving forever to meet up with people! Chloe chewing her favorite water toy...a blue hippo which we sent her home with! Reagan and her new water table Reagan, Brock, Ethan & Chloe

The other day, I asked my sister Jessica , to send me a recipe for granola bars that included Chia seeds.  She sent it immediately, but it was full of really obscure ingredients.  I happened to be in Wilmington anyway, so we headed to the Tidal Creek Coop in search of these items.  Unfortunately, once I priced the items, I decided that spending over $50 to make granola bars was absurd.  The recipe called for things such as: The carob powder was $11.99 and the hemp protein was $17.99!  I don't think so!! I decided to just pick up a few different ingredients and search for an adaptable recipe.  I found one on Cooks.com  that you should check out.  First I mashed up 3 ripe bananas, 1 egg, and 2 tablespoons of honey: Next, I combined the dry ingredients: 2 cups rolled oats, 1/4 cup chia seeds, 1 cup tart dried cherries, 1/2 cup dried figs, 1/4 cup roasted hemp seeds, 1/2 cup carob chips, 1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds, and 1/2 cup soft white ...

Last summer I had my first encounter with hornworms, and I blogged about it here .  Well, they're back, and they came earlier this time around!  On Friday evening, I put Reagan to bed and went to water my garden and container plants as usual.  It's been really dry for the last couple weeks, so I've been keeping a close eye on things.  All was well in my gardening world, or so I thought... Turns out, my eye wasn't quite sharp enough:(  On Saturday morning, Reagan and I took Tommy out after the 5k and I noticed that 3 branches of my tomato plant (the one in the container) were missing ALL of their leaves.  That meant only one thing: the dreaded hornworm has made an appearance!  It took a lot of searching because those suckers really blend in, but eventually I found it.  After Reagan's nap and some lunch, we headed to Lowe's  with the hornworm safely contained in a plastic bag and sought out my friend June in the outdoor department.  I ex...

In typical, non-planning Jennifer fashion, I looked up a 5k on Friday night and decided that if we were up early enough, we'd go register.  Luckily, this was a local one, so when Reagan woke up at 7, we got dressed and headed out the door.  I had already run this route on Tuesday with the Stroller Warriors, so I felt ready.  Once we registered, I ran into a SW I had not met yet, Shannon and her son: Our fearless SW leader, Stephanie (on the left) was walking the 5k with her sister-in-law and they made the cutest shirts of the occasion: The course was an easy, flat one and Reagan and I ran a fairly steady pace.  We finished in just under 27 minutes which was fast enough to take 2nd place in my age group.  In typical Reagan fashion, she finished the race in a mild coma: Another SW, Andrea, beat her last 5k time by 2+ minutes: My friend Kelley, who came to cheer on the SW group took this picture of Reagan and me after the race: The race was not well organ...

I follow a blog , Shut Up and Run (SUAR), that constantly keeps me laughing!  You should check it out if you like running, stories about pooping in strange places, and general craziness. Also, SUAR does several giveaways!  Here's the latest one  for Gotein Protein.  I'm always game to try new things, especially if they make my life easier! So go check it out!!