LeMoNaDe PaRtY

When daddy came home today he was immediately accosted by a VERY HAPPY and freshly awakened Ellery, wanting to have a Lemonade Party (since we don't drink tea, we have lemonade parties instead). This is the very cute result!

DESSERT on a DESERTED Beach

For Clint's birthday this year I took him to a seafood restaurant called "THE SURF" in Cocoa Beach, FL. He LOVES seafood, so instead of my original plan to make him dinner and take a picnic to the beach, I decided to surprise him by going out for seafood and making him dessert on the beach!

Let me give some details of the evening. For starters, we were the youngest people in the restaurant, you were supposed to be retired to eat there, apparently. Unless you ate at the more casual oyster bar called Shuckleberry Finn's, a name Clint found quite amusing! It did have live entertainment, though...a 90 year old man playing the saxophone and...singing? And the kicker was that the special of the day was...drum roll...LAMB CHOPS. At a Seafood Restaurant???!!! The sad part is that it got such good reviews for food and atmosphere on the net. Go figure!!!
After dinner we went to the beach, Clint found us a secluded area of the beach without even trying! It was fun and romantic. I had taken a small fondue pot powered by tealight candles to warm up homemade hot fudge. It was a bit challenging keeping the flame lit in the wind, but we managed and had YUMMY chocolate sauce to go on our cheesecake with fresh raspberries while we played my favorite game of Scrabble. That is the perogative of the planner...Clint's birthday, Ginger's favorite game. Actually, Clint likes the game, too!
I am just sorry there is not a picture of us TOGETHER, however, you did take me to a deserted beach. Thus, no one to take a picture of US!


SO, just imagine US sitting in our new beach chairs pictured below! I love you...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HONEY!

MOTHER'S DAY 2010

This Mother's Day I decided to torture my kids and make them take pictures with their Mom! I always feel, though, I am the one tortured as I try to get everyone smiling and looking at the camera at the same time. I think that is why I do not take more family photos, as the stress of everyone looking good is too much.

Well, out with the old and in with the new. I don't want to lose the memories, so I have now decided that even if I have people not looking and tongues sticking out that perhaps that portrays my life as a mother just as much or even more so than everyone smiling and looking happy!

This Mother's Day brought some wonderful surprises...LOVE coupons from my older kids: a coupons for a 10 minute massage from Parker (oh yah!) and a coupon for a HUG from Tanner (they are at a premium in my house from my 10 year old) among other wonderful coupons to be used with no expiration! I also got a hammock for the back porch that is the size of a small boat (MUCH bigger than expected) that all the kids decided they needed to try out with me while Clint made me dinner in the new WOK he bought me. ALL in ALL it was a lovely Mother's Day, not too relaxing in the hammock, but, nevertheless, LOVELY! I even got a few cute pictures! I kinda wish there were more Mother's Day's in the year!!!