We are Outta Here!

Well, we will be off very soon for our Coronado trip (yay!). A week of beach living with great friends, we're so excited. I'll leave you with a few pictures of the girls.

Is it just me, or is Annie's head bigger than my almost three year olds? Let's just hope it's the camera angle.



Timber!



Another fun birthday party for the Nat girl, anything with face paint and a bounce house, she's there!

They call me Fluffy

Just try and pass me and not touch my head, I dare you!



Oft said at the White house by Natalie: "Annie, your hair is so nice and fluffy!"

Delicious!

I have a great summer recipe for you, it's an Apple and Pear Crisp. I saw it on "The Barefoot Contessa" and decided to give it a whirl. It was really yummy and even tasted great the next day after heating it up in the microwave. It was so yummy that somebody even took a bite out of the recipe, hmm, who could that have been? Maybe someone who loves to put things in her mouth and has an unnaturally long reach...



And for the record, I halved the recipe, and it still made a rather large portion.

Swim Lessons and Gymnastics

Natalie has completed her swim lessons, and survived, even though an enormous fit was thrown each time I casually mentioned it was time for swim lessons. I don't get it, once we were there she was just fine, but the idea of it scared her to death. After those were done I signed her up for gymnastics. Our first day was yesterday, and it was so cute, she did great and was really good at listening to her teacher. I'm excited to go back!



Annie liked going to swim lessons, "What's the problem, sis?"



I didn't get some great pictures, but here she is on the trampoline, yay Natalie!

Summer Shows

So we all know there's a serious slump when it comes to Summer tv. Which actually can be a good thing, maybe we could actually get something done during "prime time". But these shows are getting me through my summertime blues (i.e. no 30 Rock, Office, or House). Re-runs of this: da-da. (That's supposed to be the sound effect from Law & Order) I love this show, what can I say, figuring out "who did it", than the great angles the D.A.'s come up with to convict the criminals, even when obstacles come up. Oh, and they will come up, you can count on it.



This reality show really sucked James and I in a few years back, and if you're curiosity gets the better of you, we have it on DVD.



The equation: Corbin Bernsen + Stephen Baldwin + Kathy Griffin = pure hilarity, you wouldn't think so, but really...




So imagine how excited I was when I heard they were doing the Mole again. A bit disappointing it wasn't "Celebrity" Mole, but we were definitely going to give it a try. And if you have any doubts about its entertainment value, just picture this guy:



Being pushed in a wheelbarrow by this girl:



because his muscles were sore from a soccer game the day before. I don't think I can describe how pathetic/comical this incident was.

Anywho, those are the shows I'm currently watching, what about you?

Sisterly Love

Sampler Quilt

This is called a sampler quilt, all the blocks are different, so it is a good way for a beginner to learn how to quilt. I pieced this quilt together when I was pregnant with Natalie. An amazing woman, Betty Rossiter, passed on her quilting knowledge to me and helped me with it. This lady has made literally hundreds, if not thousands, of quilts in her lifetime, and donated most of them. I was fortunate enough to have an "in" with her, and learned from the best! So now, three years later, it has been sent off to the quilters (they have a special machine that does all the decorative stitching on top of the quilt) and returned to me. I'm so excited to finally be able to display and use my first "real" quilt.





Some close ups so you can see the beautiful quilting that was done.

Musical Instruments

Natalie is really into musical instruments. She likes to "play" them all the time. Her "flute" is a snorkel, her "trombone" is a plastic straw that whistles when she blows on it, her "cymbals" are two plastic pot lids. She loves one of James' Dave Matthews Band t-shirts because it has a picture of each instrument they use in the band, and she can name all of them. She is constantly singing a Dora song that is about musical instruments "I play the flute, dee dee dee dee dee, you play the trombone, bomba, bomba, bomba, etc." So she just loved this musical fountain at Legoland. When you stand in front of the instrument it will play that instrument. She had a great time with her friend Coleman running around this fountain and making the instruments play.