Sunday, April 25, 2010

Our weekend

This weekend Grant and I didn't have any plans. It was nice to relax and catch up on some work around the house. On Friday night I made pulled BBQ chicken in the crockpot and we had that for dinner. It was a yummy healthy version of pulled pork BBQ sandwiches...plus it was super easy to make. Before I went to work on Friday I put 4 chicken breasts in the crockpot with 1/2 a bottle of BBQ sauce. I let it cook on low until I got home from work. I then raised the temperature to high and put the rest of the BBQ sauce in, shredded the chicken breasts and let it cook for 2 hours. Next time I'll probably make less...because we had lots of left overs.

After we ate we rented The Hurt Locker with Mintu and Mary. It was a good movie. It seemed really realistic and made me thankful for all of our servicemen and women and their families. A big shout out to our good friends Kayla and Evan! Thank you for all that you do to keep us safe! On Friday, I went to the VA for work. I was talking with some of the primary care doctors and thanking them for working so hard on such an important population, our veterans. I am touched every time I go to the VA when I see some of the veterans walking the halls and waiting in the waiting rooms. Each person there must have so many stories.

On Saturday Grant got up super early and went to the gym while I was still sleeping. He was already home by the time I was ready to work out. He spent some time trimming our trees while I hit the gym.

When I was leaving the gym I saw a stray collie wondering in front of the YMCA. I went up to him and found his collar. There were several other people gathered around the dog, worried that it had ran away from home. We got the dog some water while I called the number on the collar. No one answered. I left a message letting them know that their dog was found and that it was at the Y. I called a few more time, still with no answer. We googled the name and number to see if we could find a street address. No luck. People were calling their vet friends to see if we could find a place to bring the dog. The dog, Jack, was large, stinky (probably hadn't been bathed in weeks/months), matted, thirsty, hot and beautiful. Then, a minivan drove up to the Y. A mom and 12 yr. old son got out of the car and just stood there, looking at us. I asked them if Jack was their dog. The mom said yes and that Jack hears kids around the Y and runs away frequently. She said she was out in the yard doing yard work when her husband called to let her know that Jack had been found at the Y. I guess her husband was across town and lacked the decency to pick up his phone when we called or call us back. They took the dog back home and the rest of us were in shock. That poor dog. I hope that they take him to get groomed asap. It's getting really hot in Florida and this dog had a full coat of fur and it seemed like it spent quite a bit of time outside. It just made me so sad. Some people shouldn't be allowed to have dogs!

Look at that sly gaze from Reagan! What a cutie!!
Our girls getting dressed up! :)
Love this shirt: "Spoiled and Loving it" - our souvenir for Penelope when we went to NYC.
When I got home all I wanted was to hug Reagan and Penelope, get in the shower and give them baths too. That is exactly what I did. Here is a pic of them in the shower. I washed them at the same time, which made it quite difficult to dry them!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Boat

Last Saturday Andrea and Jeff invited us out on their boat. The weather was amazing and we had a great time! Here are a few photos from our day.
Conner exploring the boat on all fours!
Mom and son on the boat.
Me and Conner (left); Andrea and Conner (right)
The three boys.
Dolphin!
More dolphins (left); Conner and Jeff (right)
We tried putting Conner's sunglasses on him...that didn't last long! (left); Conner riding on Andrea's shoulders (right)
Grant on the boat and helping dock it.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

While the parents are out the girls will play!

A few weeks ago while Grant and I were sleeping the girls were busy decorating the living room...ever since this event and Reagan chewing on pillows and clothes she now sleeps safely in her crate...and we don't leave paper towels out in reach of the girls!

Look at how guilty the girls are!

A couple of weeks ago I made pulled pork sandwiches in the crock pot for the first time. They were quite yummy!! I put the bone from the pork in the garbage and then put the garbage bag in the garage. Some how Penelope managed to get into the garage while Grant was working in it and find the bone! She tried to sneak into the house with it and enjoy her treasure under the dining room table. Nice try Penelope!

Here are a couple photos of Reagan in the backyard. Love her!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Family visit

A few weeks ago Grant's brother, sister-in-law, their three kids, his other sister-in-law and her son came to visit us at our house. I grew up close by tons of family in Chicago. We had large family birthday parties and holidays. One of the hardest parts about moving to Florida when I was 16 was missing all of those family events and trying to start new traditions down here. I was thrilled to have Ed, Cari, Randy, Meredith, Brenna, Meagon and Tyler over!
Reagan getting some love from her cousins!
Randy (left) loved guitar hero - we let them borrow it, so I'm sure next time we see Randy he'll be a pro at it! Brenna (right) loved that we had Dora the Explorer On Demand!

Penelope and Reagan LOVED Brenna. I think they were excited to have someone who was just about their size and someone they could easily give kisses to. Here are some photos of Brenna and the girls.

I love the one on the left with Brenna and Reagan - too cute!
Going in for the kisses!

Grant and I decided we'd grill out for dinner. We made hamburgers, cheeseburgers and hot dogs. They were yummy! After dinner, before Meagon and Tyler arrived, we took a walk to the beach at dusk. The weather was great and it was fun showing everyone our beach. Hopefully next time they come we can go during the day!

Brenna and her mom, Cari, at the beach.
Grant, Ed and Me on the left; Me and Meredith on the right.

After our walk to the beach Meagon and Tyler arrived from Port Orange. It was so nice to catch up with them, too.

We played dominoes and talked about our family reunion that we're planning for this July.
Ty playing dominoes
Grant and Randy playing dominoes
Randy and Ed playing dominoes
Ed, Randy and Grant after I beat them again in dominoes!

Ty geting strategic!

All in all it was a great night. I wish we all lived a bit closer so we could get together more often. I think we're all going to have an amazing time this summer in Georgia for the first Clem family reunion and the first time we've all been together since Grant and I got married (almost 4 years ago!).

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Grant's Garden

After Grant's birthday we spruced up the garden and added the gnome, which we named Norman. We got some mulch, too.

It's nice to finally have a garden! We haven't killed any of the flowers yet, but they've only been planted for a few weeks.

Below are some more pictures of the yard with our new palm trees! We LOVE them and cannot wait for them to fully mature. It's a HUGE improvement over what was there before.



A few "Before" photos of the yard:

A few "during" photos: