VA Beach

It's become a tradition for us to spend a few days at the beach every summer.  I'm always a little nervous (thanks to my irrational fear of sharks) but Scott loves it and is so good to play in the water with the kids.  I, however, don't usually get in much past my knees.  We had so much fun and I was much more at ease than I normally am.  It was a great weekend!

Claire loved playing in the sand although it kept getting in her "crack."  Yes, that's a quote.  What do you expect from the only girl???  She's a little rough around the edges....I guess that's what happens when you have three older brothers.

Brady was super-adventurous this year.  Last year, we could hardly get him to go in the water and this year, we could hardly get him out!  He loved boogie boarding and letting the waves knock him over.

Brady was getting buried alive by his siblings.  I love the look on Claire's face in this one....she's definitely got some spunk!

This isn't a very good picture, but we loved walking on the boardwalk at night.  (This was a sandcastle sculpture right off the boardwalk.)

We also ate some pretty good food while we were there.  We found a great little place called Mojitos that had awesome Puerto Rican food.  It reminded me and Scott of our trip there last year.

(tostones)

(Scott's meal....chicken and mofongo)

(My meal....shrimp and mofongo)

It was sooooo delicious!!!  I'm ready for another Puerto Rican vacation right now!

While I'm Posting...

My grandma used to always make batches of WHOLE WHEAT APPLESAUCE COOKIES.  They were so good and I always anticipated visits to her house knowing she would have some of these delicious little treats waiting.  

Over the years, my sister, my mom and I have changed and adapted Grandma's recipe and the results have been healthy and yummy!  

(I just made a batch today.)

Here's the recipe:

1 bottle brown rice syrup

1 cup flax seed meal

1/2 cup egg beaters

1 15 oz. can pumpkin (not pie filling)....instead of applesauce

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups almond meal/flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

3 cups oats (not instant)

2 cups dark chocolate chips

Cream together the first 6 ingredients (brown rice syrup through vanilla).  Sift in flours, salt and spices and mix well.  Add oats and chocolate chips.  Spoon onto greased baking sheets and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy!

(We keep ours frozen and eat them straight from the freezer.)

It looks like she's trying to gag herself, but she was actually eating the batter right out of the bowl.

I wouldn't mind letting the kids eat these cookies for breakfast!  (I've been known to eat them for breakfast myself.)  They're so good for them and they don't even know it!

Scott affectionately refers to them as "poo cookies".  I'm not sure if it's because they look like poo or because they keep him regular.  Either way, they're delicious!!!

It's About Time

You know it's been a while since you've updated your blog when you don't even remember how to do it!

Many special and noteworthy events have come and gone without any online documentation....Thanksgiving, our 13th anniversary, Christmas, birthdays, Easter, a trip to New York, Summer trips, a cruise to the Bahamas....just to name a few.  The sad thing is that none of that seemed to be enough to motivate me to update our blog.  

It took the MOTHER of all events....something we NEVER DREAMED would happen....something that has ELUDED us for so many years it seemed NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE....

And just when we thought it would never happen.....

I ORGANIZED THE HALL CLOSET!!!

Here's the proof:

It's labeled and everything!  (Can you sense the giddiness?)

I just wish I had a "before" picture to share with you.  (I can promise it would be waaay worse than you can imagine.)  The best I can do is a picture of all the stuff I permanently removed from the closet....

Yep.  My dirty little secret has been exposed.   

Anyway, I got so excited about my little organizational project that I decided to tackle a couple more closets....

(the laundry room closet)

(our bathroom closet)

If only the rest of the house was this organized.  (Sigh.)  With Claire starting preschool this year, I might actually have some time on my hands to take on more projects like these.  After all, miracles do happen!