Fun Weekend

We had a busy, fun weekend. It started Friday night with me going to the movies with some friends. We saw The Blind Side at the dollar theater. It was a good movie.

Saturday night we had dinner with some friends whose youngest kids are the same age as ours. It's always nice when you can find friends where the husbands get along and the kids and wives get along. It doesn't happen often.

Sunday, the kids and I went to church. Pete was tired from being up with the dog all night. It seems Lilly has eaten something that is upsetting her stomach. Ugh. We've been coming home to some stinky messes. She'll drive me to drink for sure. Anyway, Pete took the morning off, but painted the tree house Sunday afternoon.


Sunday evening we went to another friends for dinner. This family has known Pete for about 20 years. The man was Pete's advisor for his PhD and they have been like Pete's family since then. Anyway, they moved to the area a few years back and our kids love their older kids. This family has 5 acres and a pond. They have a lot of amimals--horses, chickens, a dog, a cat, a goat, a sheep and now a little lamb. She was born two weeks ago and her momma doesn't have enough milk so they have taken her in.




The kids also went fishing on the pond and caught a lot of fish. Pete's going to cook some up tonight.

Well, the house is a mess and it's a good day to tidy up since it might rain all day.

It looks like it's going to be another beautiful day. We've had 4 days in a row of sunshine and warmer temps. I've been exercising more on the treadmill and it makes a difference in how I feel. I'm so ready for spring and then summer.

For once, I've actually planned for summer. I've enrolled the kids in an art camp for two weeks, figured out the dates for our trip to Arkansas, and mapped out some other things. I've never been one to plan things but it definitely makes life fun to have something to look forward to.

It's time for March Madness. I'm not really interested this year and didn't fill out a bracket. My team didn't make it this year. Maybe I should have filled out a bracket and paid some money THEN it would be interesting.

Tonight, we are going to some friends for dinner. We're bringing some steaks, chicken and lamb. The lamb and beef are from the freezer. We bought it from our neighbor--so it's truly local.

Nothing else is going on around here. I'm at a lost for coming up with interesting topics nowadays. I need some inspiration. Maybe a trip to plan for....

Happy Birthday to Pete

We celebrated Pete's birthday this weekend. Originally scheduled for Friday night, we moved it to Saturday night since Kendall was sick Thursday and Friday. My man turned 43 and he wanted a Tapas meal for his birthday dinner. Phew! We had dishes everywhere. Two other couples came over and it was a fun time.

We started the night with a Kir Royale and then had some nice wines. I made a Baked Brie with caramelized onions for one of the dishes. Gosh, we had so much that I can hardly recall all of them.

I think one of the favorites was Scallops Provencal. It's an Ina Garten recipe and is very easy to make. Pictured below is an Herb sandwich from Parma. That particular recipe came out of my Mario Batali cookbook. It was yummy. It looks like a pie-I'm not sure why he calls it a sandwich except it was easy to hold with your hands and eat. It wasn't too hard to make, either.

The night ended with decaf espresso and chocolate ganache cake. Decadent, I know.

My kids are on Spring Break. It is strange, considering spring doesn't officially start until March 21. Oh well, it's a break.

Last week, the kids got out Thursday at noon and then had Friday off so our spring break started early. We drove to the Boston area to see Pete's parents. The real reason for the trip was for Pete, his sister and their dad to be able to check out some homes for my mother-in-law. She has Alzheimer's and she requires constant attention. Pete's dad has done great with her, but he is still working and can't take care of her all the time. They do have a woman that is there M-F during the day, but he is needing help on the weekends. While they didn't find THE place, they saw what was out there. I think there are some other places they will look into.

While they were checking out nursing/ assisted living homes, the kids, myself, my mother-in-law and her helper, went to the Children's Museum in Boston. We were there all day! The kids had a blast. We had lunch at a place called Flour just around the corner and it was delicious. After lunch, we headed back in to the museum.

Saturday, the cousins from New York City showed up. I didn't see my kids for the rest of the weekend. Ha!

Sunday we left mid-morning and had great driving weather the whole way. I'm so ready for warm weather and sunshine.

The house is a mess and needs much attention. I'm sure whatever I do today will be undone by tonight! Oh well, I need to get busy anyway.