Slumber Party and Blueberries Galore

While Jim was away, we had a slumber party weekend! Hayden and Anna came over for some good ol' pizza makin', blueberry pickin', sorbet makin', slip and slidin' weekend.
Kneading, pounding, tossing le pizza dough
Et voila! Cheese pizza for everyone!

We picked a gallon of blueberries in Vancleave.

And made some gelato and sorbet when we got home. So Yummy!

Summertime

Happy First Day of Summer ! ! GO Patrick!!
GO Ronan!!
GO Elijah!!

iPatrick

Patrick and I share a computer (iMac). He and Ronan love to play with the iPhoto Booth function. I never know what images will surprise me when I open that photo booth. But the latest Patrick creations are below. They made me laugh.
Andy Warhol and Mick Jagger influence?
Double Trouble
A little bit of pop art
Finding his chakra

Spa Getaway

A bunch of girfriends and I spent a couple of days at the Grand Hotel Resort and Spa for an overnight retreat. It was the first time I've been away overnight without any kids in six years!! Unfortunately, we encountered a little racial incident by the adult pool area which was very upsetting that I ended up writing a two-page incident report to the manager of the resort. Other than that we had a great time. Very strange to be away from the kids. I'd been looking forward to it and after a few hours, I started missing them and wishing they were with me because I knew how much they would enjoy the pool and the beach.

We couldn't really take a photo inside the Quiet Room because it was dark. But here we are in the Ladies Dressing Room area, after Jenni and Cynthia's treatments and before mine, Maribel's and Sue's. I had the best treatment ever!! My therapist used a combination of Thai massage and myofascial release technique. If you ever end up having a treatment at the Grand--ask for Mike Majors. He wins the best quote of the day. When he saw me he said " you're about 8 and a half months along?" I had to laugh and tell him...no, I have three more months to go, I just swallowed a pilates ball. Then he said "oh my! your back must be killing you, let's get started!".

We had a fabulous dinner that evening at the Colony Grill in downtown Fairhope. The food was excellent!! Thanks to Cynthia for making reservations. I had rack of lamb with pomegranate sauce and some truffle grits and ate every single morsel. I love to dine!!

Maribel, Sue & I spent the rest of the evening walking and hanging out by the beach and resort grounds. It was a beautiful evening with a full moon. We didn't get to bed 'till half past midnight. And of course, the next day we did what most moms hardly ever do...stay in bed 'till it's time to check out.

Overnight Retreat

Away from blog-o-sphere for two days. Find me here.

Batmobile

Ohhhhh....Patrick and I saw this online today. The BMW Gina...still in the conceptual phase. He thinks we should get this instead of a minivan.

Happy Father's Day

The kids couldn't wait to wake up their dad to give him his Father's day present...a pair of running shoes! Patrick was able to keep the secret but Ronan had to tell Jim .."dada open your present, it's your new running shoes!". I had gotten Jim a new pair for Christmas but by the end of his tour of duty in Qatar it was all worn out! He ran four times a week so I wasn't surprised when he came home and his Nike's were all ratty.
A pair of New Balance !

Lucky boys to have a dada like Jim! Ronan cooked breakfast (eggs & bacon) and for dinner I made one of Jim's favorite dishes...Taco Soup.

After church, we went and saw Kung Fu Panda, the movie. What a cute movie! Great message about faith and believing in oneself. A good lesson for a father to give to his child . There were some awesome animation especially the Kung Fu training scenes. The kids and I took a longgggg nap after the movie and while we were napping, Jim cleaned the kitchen, washed the dishes and did laundry. Such a sweet husband and dad! Thank you for being you Jim!

Outrigger Island

The boys finished another week of vacation bible school. This past week they attended the Hawaiian theme VBS at First Baptist Church. The whole church and classrooms were decorated in tropical theme. Man, the churches here go all out...they really make it fun for the kids to learn about God's word.

Patrick really was excited about VBS than this photo portrays. He just didn't want me to take a photo. When asked what the main lesson of the week was he'll exclaim "Know the Truth, Speak the Truth, Live the Truth!"

Ronan stayed in the childcare room with 5 other kids while I taught. He enjoyed himself a lot since his class was in his old classroom and there were lots teens who entertained the little ones.


This is one of the ladies (Mrs. Joy) who I worked with in the Arts & Crafts room. She is one of the 84 men and women who came from Georgia to help out this past week. Some worked with VBS, others in outreach and community service. I've been so impressed with how organized the First Baptist community is and so very generous. I remember soon after Katrina and even two years after Katrina volunteers from different First Baptist churches from all over the country came and helped with recovery efforts in our town.

The week concluded with a little show where the kids sang songs they learned during the week as well as a slideshow of the week's activities. Mahalo First Baptist!

Jim on WLOX News

I finally got the link to work. Check out the video link to WLOX News by clicking the Keesler Residents' Graduation below. Jim made it home in time to see the residents graduate after he worked REALLY hard on getting the Surgery Residency program back up and running after Hurricane Katrina.

Click here to Keesler Residents' Graduation

Mellow Mushroom Surprise

The kids and moms/grandma of Patrick's Kindergarten class surprised me today by having a pizza lunch in my honor at our local Mellow Mushroom. As I had mentioned before, this is a special group of kids and parents and we'd gotten to know each other very well this past year. Half the kids in class were in Vacation Bible School this week so I thought we were just getting together afterwards to "do lunch". It was more than lunch...they presented me with a very touching poem (see below), a gift certificate for an hour massage!, and card with really sweet messages. I couldn't believe they got me! I was clueless they were planning this.
Thank you so much Girls!! Kathy, Stephanie, Jeannette, Fran, Shannon, Nancy, Crystal and Helen!


For Marian--A Thank you from the moms"
What can be said for a woman who loves your child?
One who's there when you cannot be?
One who holds them when they skin their knee?
She always smiled when they were sad
She taught them gently when they were bad
She held their tiny hand when they were sick.
She gave them colored cool popsicles to lick.
We counted on Marian to rise just after dawn,
Play with our kids and run with them on the lawn.
Though she had her own life to live,
She never failed to encourage and give.
So today, we thank her and wish her well
For tomorrow we'll remember her with the ring
of every school bell.
---poem by Nancy Faul (Claire's Mom)

Mini-getaway at the Grand

We spent a couple of days at a beautiful resort near Fairhope, Alabama. We decided to just getaway locally so that we have more time to be together at home before Jim went back to work. As it is, I probably would not have been able to tolerate traveling farther than that. I am so physically uncomfortable with this pregnancy and I still have many more weeks to go!! I've been on the go and busy the last four months (and really enjoyed the business) that now I'm having a hard time adjusting to slowing down or having to cut back on stuff that I want to do. Anyway, after checking in and having lunch by the pool, the boys and I spent 5 hours in the water--the pool and then the beach and then back to the pool again. I wore my black & white swimsuit so I truly looked like a beached killer whale. Okay...a killer whale having fun.Frightning head of hair! and on this picture one can really appreciate the largeness of the said killer whale. If I were any vainer I wouldn't post this photo. But, look--Jim looks as happy as Ishmael would have looked had he captured Moby Dick.
I didn't realize that Ronan has a large song repertoire. I think he sang every single song he knew while we were there. When he is very happy he gets so animated and he sings and sings and sings.

Patrick and Ronan chasing after a mini catamaran. The water was soooo warm and very still!
Little whales swimming around their dada. We got him to go in the water!!
Fearless Ronan going down the waterslide. I'm sure he swallowed some water each time he went at the bottom. But he didn't care he wanted to go down that slide over and over again even after his brother told him to stop because the slide was making him dizzy.
And there goes Patrick with his goggles and pinching his nose as he went down! So funny how different they are at approaching things even play.
I am now as dark as Liz Bellah in the summertime!
We had dinner at the Saltwater Grill and this Grilled Shrimp over grits was delicious!!! It was served with corn bread!! Yummy! Southern Cuisine!
I wanted to take a photo of just Jim and the boys but Ronan insisted to put the camera on timer so I can be in it. So here we are at the lobby after our fabulous dinner.
Ready for the following day. The boys slept in 'till 9:30am so I got to enjoy some coffee and cinnamon roll by myself sitting outside overlooking the beach. The best part...they sold The NY Times at the gift shop. Nothin' like a good paper and good coffee!
The resort offered a lot of activities for kids, including fishing. Hmmm...here's my fishermen, no fish..

Another family photo op. We like that self timer function.One last dip on the pool before we went home. I got burnt the second day. I forgot sunscreen on my back. Ouch!I love these smiles!! They are my sunshine!

Ancient Marketplace

The boys attended the first of 3 vacation bible schools I registered them this summer. This past week was at First Presbyterian Church and their theme was Ancient Marketplace. The first half of the morning they were in their respective tribes and went over the lesson for the day. Patrick was in the tribe of Benjamin. Ronan was in the mini marketplace with 36 other 3 and 4 year olds. After their lesson, all the kids went to the Marketplace where they learned how things were made in biblical time. They learned how to make candles, pottery, leather and metal craft, scroll making, bread, herbs & incense. I volunteered to be "the breadmaker". The kids came to my tent and we made honey wheat bread from scratch.
Amelia and Patrick hard at work kneading their bread
Ronan guarding the bread. The kids really got creative shaping their bread.
------------------- Shalom!