You know it's hot when...

You know it's hot when your child can do this at 7am...

We went outside this morning for our morning watering time and Hannah asked if she could play in the sprinkler. Seeing as it was already 80 degrees I said why not. While Hannah played, Lily soothed her little gums...


This + a trip to the library = a fun morning had by these two...


The rest of our day was been spent preparing for the beach! We are leaving for our annual trip to a little "hole in the wall" spot in Florida where cell phones and internet are left behind. It is truly a vacation spent in peace and quiet - well as much peace and quiet as a 7 month old and 3 year old will allow. The blog will be back when we return!! Later gaters!!!

Sibling Rivalry

My sister Rachel paid us a visit over the weekend. She says it was to visit these two cuties...


Don't tell her but shhhhh (I am going to write really small so she won't notice)...I really think it was because she was jealous of the amount of blogging I have done about Bekah. Nonetheless, we were so very happy to have my baby sister and her boyfriend Brian visit us Saturday and Sunday.


Brian and Matt spent Saturday in Cullman riding trails with Matt's fellow Land Cruiser enthusiasts. Here is a picture of Matt driving up some rocks...

...and, in case you are wondering, they made it home alive.

While they were away Rachel and I spent some quality girl time with Hannah and Lily. We had so much fun playing, cooking and just visiting. The visit was over too quickly but thankfully we will see them again next week at the beach!

In other news, we are trying to get Lily...


over a little bit of Mommy separation anxiety with a new friend...


Supposedly a stuffed animal like this one will provide a little comfort when I can't be right there. To get Lily...


attached to the bunny I am supposed to keep it with her at all times but a certain someone is making that a little hard. The bunny continues to go missing and every time I find it with the same little girl who will remain nameless.....

Hmmmmm......

Hannah's room

...is still under construction. I should have known better than to say it would be done in early June. We are working on it when we have time and I thought I would show you our biggest feat. This little drawing...


turned into this massive piece...


I know I really need a wide angle lens to capture the entire built-in but you can see most of it in the image above. Matt and I make a great team because he loves to build and I love to paint so together we were able to finally complete this project. As you can imagine, it took quite some time to construct and boy did we go through some paint. It really is one of the most impressive things Matt has ever built and Hannah is going to be one organized 3 year old. The window seat, which will eventually have cushions, opens like this...


to hold all of her toys. The side cabinets open...


to hold puzzles, dress-up clothes, etc. Hannah's large book collection finally has a home on the shelves and is not overflowing into every other room in the house. I cannot wait to get everything organized and put away!

Now that the largest project is complete, hopefully we can finish the rest of her room sometime soon. I will keep you posted!

The Park and a Taco

We spent this morning enjoying the sweltering heat at the park. We had to pass by the neighborhood pool on the way there and I could have jumped in clothes and all. I did manage to get a few good pics in though before we packed up and headed back to air conditioning...



I was carrying Lily in the Baby Bjorn at the park so I did not get any pictures of her. While Hannah napped today I decided to have a little mini-photo session with her to make up for it. My little Lils had lots of fun rolling around the bed playing with my sunglasses.



We ended our day today with one of my favorite suppers...fish tacos. Bekah requested this recipe so I thought I would post it for anyone who might be interested. It is super easy and very tasty.

Start by making a quick sauce. You will need these...


Mix 1/4 cup sour cream with 2 Tbsp lime juice (any kind is fine) and salt and pepper to taste.

Next chop about a 1/4 of a small head of red cabbage and 1/4 cup of onion (you can also use green onion)...


Mix the cabbage and onion with 1/2 of the sauce mixture...

Cook about 1 lb of tilapia in some olive oil for about 5 - 6 mins...


Put the fish in a tortilla - top with cabbage mixture, some of the remaining sauce and a little chopped cilantro...


and enjoy!...

Just Peachy

I could also have titled this post "A Little Slice of Heaven" and I will tell you why in just a minute. First I need to backtrack to this past Sunday. We ventured to Montgomery for some family time with Matt's parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousins. Here is Matt with Grandma Brown....

Danny, who I mentioned here owns his own bbq restaurant in Carlsbad, New Mexico, cooked us up some of the most delicious chicken I have ever tasted! Here is Danny doing what he does best...


As Matt's dad said, it was "like having the Food Network come to your house" and he's not kidding! Danny spent the morning mixing, basting and grilling and it was wonderful. Here is the final result...


Now I am nowhere near as proficient as Danny in the kitchen but I did whip up a few things of my own this week. On our way to Montgomery on Sunday we stopped and bought these...


I sliced up some of the peaches and added some yogurt, granola and berries and made this for breakfast several times this week...


Hannah was a fan and so were my mom and Bekah. It would also make a tasty and healthy snack during the day.

Next, I saw a recipe for a peach and blackberry coffee cake in Southern Living that I had to try. This is where my "little slice of heaven" blog title would have been appropriate. Warning: Do not make this if you are trying any sort of portion control with food. It is good - really good and was gone literally within 24 hours.


You can find the recipe for this yumminess here. You may notice that my cake looks a little different than the one pictured with the recipe. I did not have a springform pan like the recipe calls for so I used my bundt cake pan. My cake did not hold together as well as it would have with the other pan but that is probably the only difference.

Finally, we took several of the remaining peaches and had some family time in the kitchen making peach ice cream. Hannah dressed for the occasion...


She helped mix the ingredients together...


and was the family taste tester...


She gave it a thumbs up and was definitely ready for seconds. Hope you are all having a great weekend!

How did we get so lucky?

How are we so lucky as to have another day with more out-of-town family? Cousin Maggie, who lives in Florence, spent part of the day with us today. We filled it with as much fun as we possibly could, including storytime and singing at the library....

and a yummy treat from the neighborhood ice cream shop...


Unfortunately, our time ended too quickly but hopefully we will see Maggie again soon!

Back later with some yummy recipes from our "test kitchen" this week. Night all!!

Did you have one of these?

Growing up we did and many happy afternoons were spent at the kitchen counter whipping up yummy ice treats. Sweet aunt Bekah gave Hannah a Mickey Mouse version of our snow cone maker....


and today Hannah enjoyed her very first snow cone...

Recipe and Weekend Project

I purchased this several months ago for $15 on Craigslist...

It was wobbly and not very attractive but the price was right and I had a plan. I finally had a little time this weekend to start this transformation project so after Matt tightened some loose screws for me, I began by priming the entire piece white...


My assistant, Hannah, helped me paint two coats of flat white paint over the entire piece...

I added these knobs that I purchased last month on sale at Anthropologie and voila...

I have a new dresser for Hannah's room. This really is about the easiest kind of project you can do. I love the hunt of finding a bargain and transforming it into something modern and pretty. All it takes is a little patience while looking for just the right piece, some pretty knobs, and a couple of coats of paint.

Oh and here is the recipe for the blueberry crisp that I made last week. I found this recipe in this month's issue of Martha Stewart and had to try it. I was not disappointed...


For the filling...

6 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp coarse salt

For the topping...

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp coarse salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar

Preheat over to 375. Mix all the filling ingredients and place in a 8-inch square baking dish. ***The dish will be really full*** Make the topping: Stir together flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. Cream butter and sugar in a mixer until pale and fluffy. Stir dry ingredients into butter. Use your hands and squeeze the topping pieces into clumps. Sprinkle the topping over the filling. Bake about an hour...until bubbly in the center and brown on top. Let cool for 30 mins.

Just fyi...i think you can get away with using 5 cups of berries instead of 6. I plan on trying this next time. Also, you can make batches of the topping and freeze it to use whenever you have fruit on hand.

Summer Reading and Family Visits

One of my favorite memories of summer as a child was the library in my hometown and their summer reading program. I would visit the library each week and leave with a stack of books piled in my arms. I would stay up reading these great stories late into the night, often not able to put down my book until I had finished it. Now, I know Hannah is only 3 and Lily 6 months, but I decided to introduce them to this wonderful program early in life so Tuesday morning we headed down the street to our local library. The library was having a kick-off party for their summer reading program providing the kids with lemonade to drink and bouncy things to play on.


Hannah bumped in to her friend Anna Kate from school and they had fun sliding and playing before we headed in to the library to check out some books. Inside Hannah and Lily both got bugs to write their names on and place on the Summer Reading Wall of Fame.


Hannah then went straight to her favorite section of books...the Curious George section. We checked out several books and headed home to start our summer reading fun. I am really looking forward to our weekly trek to the library and then coming home with the girls and curling up with a good book.

The rest of our week was spent visiting with LOTS of friends and family at our house. My mom, aka Nana and my sister, Bekah, stopped in on Wednesday for a couple of days before heading to Atlanta. Wednesday happened to be mom's birthday and so we had a little party for her that evening. My cousin Lauren and her husband Chase came over for dinner and afterwards we had cake...


I am not sure what a Birlhday is but the cake was yummy!

The following night we had a special guest for dinner...Bekah's sister-in-law to be Holly. Holly lives in Birmingham and is in graduate school for occupational therapy. Have you ever seen prettier smiles?....


I made this for dessert Thursday night...


It was a blueberry crisp and I promise to post the recipe soon because it was yummy!!

All good things must come to an end and this morning it was time for Bekah and mom to leave for Atlanta. I am so very thankful for my mom and always a little sad when it is time for her to leave. She seems to leave my house way better than she found it...no laundry to be washed or dishes in the sink. My mother is such a doer and a giver and she does everything in such a quiet and selfless way. She is such a wonderful example and I hope that I can be the kind of mother to Hannah and Lily that she is to me. Thank you for all you do mom! I love you and hope you enjoyed your birthday with us as much as we did. Oh and happily, my sadness won't last too long because she and Bekah will be back Tuesday on their way home.

This morning was a little hectic but very exciting because as soon as Bekah and mom left six more family members arrived. Matt's parents drove up from Montgomery to pick up Matt's aunt and uncle, Danny and Carolyn, their daughter Christy, and granddaughter Kayia at the airport. Danny, Carolyn and Kayia are from Carlsbad, New Mexico and Christy is from Dallas. They are staying in Montgomery for a long weekend to visit Matt's parents and his Grandma Brown. Here is a picture of Lily with Danny and Carolyn...


Danny owns his own barbeque restaurant in Carlsbad and when I say it is good I am not exaggerating. His restaurant was featured as the number 6 best bbq in the country in this book. Here is a link to his website...make sure to visit if you are ever in that neck of the woods!!

This was my first time to meet Matt's cousin Christy. It is actually only the third time they have ever met. We really enjoyed our time with her and hope that we can meet her two boys, Everett and Colson, sometime soon! Here is a picture of Lily* with Christy, Carolyn, and Kayia...


***In case you are wondering where Hannah is...she was was having an "I don't want my picture taken" day***

Kayia is about the sweetest, most polite little girl I know. I hope that Hannah was taking notes on good manners and kind words while they were playing because it sure will make my job a lot easier down the road. We had a great couple of hours today eating lunch and visiting and are looking forward to seeing them all again on Sunday when we go to Montgomery.