yay, it's monday! {and other random b.s.}

mondays suck. weekend fun is over & it's back to the grind. even my dogs hate monday. really, they do.

we had a fairly busy, pretty a-w-e-s-o-m-e weekend if i do say so myself.

on friday evening, we drove to williamsburg to meet my parents at great wolf lodge.

{picture via}

this was aidan's favorite ride. adam loved it, too.

the kids had a blast. i'm pretty sure adam & my father did, too. as for me & my mother? we hit the outlets on saturday morning. a good time was had by all. i probably should have taken a gazillion pictures of the kids having fun, but i didn't.

my parents came home with us on saturday afternoon & treated us to dinner. as per malia's usual, we ate pho at vietnam garden. one of these days, i'm going to make pho at home using my friend, vy's, amazing recipe. after dinner, we visited with friends {who are going to break up with us if we keep breaking stuff at their house - long story short: the electricity went out, adam went to get the kids, he tripped while climbing over a baby gate & broke the gate}.

sunday was fantasy football draft day {a.k.a. a mini reunion}. lots of good food & many cans of bud light were consumed. friends came from as far away as missouri & michigan for the event! i'm telling you - fantasy draft day is a big deal. this year, i think there were more wives & kids there than there were people in the league. good times, good times.

{picture via}

as if there was any question about who adam roots for...

this is my last week of summer vacation. my classes begin a week from tuesday. i'm looking forward to heading back. oh, who in the hell am i kidding? i'm not. 

we're supposed to have a cookout this weekend. notice that i said supposed to? i've got my eye on this bad mamma-jamma:

{picture via}

while the weather geek in me is uber excited that there's a storm to follow, track, talk about, etc., the party planner in me is absolutely frustrated that the possibility of a category three hurricane just might ruin our weekend plans. i suppose i could look at things on the bright side: if we do get {indirectly} hit, at least i won't have to clean or prep for a cookout! for now, i've got my eye on irene and her party-crushing {not crashing} ways.

the kids & i took frisco to the vet this morning...at the spca. i love our current vet, but damn if they don't charge me an arm, leg AND my first-born child every time i see them. tough times being what they are, i contacted the spca who runs a low-cost clinic & they were more than happy to see us. frisco got a clean bill of health. unfortunately, while we were there, a woman was having her nine year old dog put down because she was no longer able to keep him. definitely NOT what i wanted my children to hear. definitely NOT what i wanted to have to talk about with my kids. my heart aches for that woman {& her dog}.

{blurry. frisco was not cooperating.}

speaking of my pups, we boarded them for the first time ever this past weekend. they only stayed one night, but i missed them like crazy! we found an awesome {cage-free} boarding facility not far from home. frisco & buxton had a blast and they got to hang out with a bunch of new {boston terrier} friends:

hmmm...no wonder my boys had issues getting up this morning. even they were worn out from their busy weekend!

how was your weekend??

tuesday.

ugh.

it's only tuesday. i'm really longing for the weekend again. i don't know why...i just am.

my weekend was a blur. a fun blur.

as per usual, i was at the beach:

our goal for saturday morning was to crab for the cookout we were having on sunday afternoon. um, with the water as rough as it was, it was not a very successful day for crabbing. thank goodness for nathan's hot dogs & frozen hamburgers!

there were, however, other crabs out in full force on the beach...sandfiddlers! i had fun taking pictures of them. they are fascinating to watch {okay, maybe it's just me} as they dig their holes & scurry from the approaching tide.

our weekend was filled with family. we hung out at adam's mom's house on saturday night. the kids enjoyed going swimming at grandma's. on sunday, adam's aunts & uncle as well as good family friends came over for a late afternoon cookout. it was a great time.

sadly, i'm covered in mosquito bites. i guess that's what you get for playing cornhole in the grass after it rained {what seemed like} all of last week.

beach bums {again}.

it's technically not summer, but, to us, it's close enough!
we took advantage of the weekend's warm {dare i say hot?} weather.
we packed a cooler, covered the kids in sunscreen & headed to sandbridge.

the water was freezing, but that didn't stop the kids from frolicking in the waves.
we got to the beach shortly after 9am & enjoyed some quiet family time before
other friends & their kids showed up.

we're so thankful that we live in an area that is so close to the ocean.
i don't think we could ever be land-locked. 

psst...

be on the lookout for a review & giveaway for a great beach product, sand-off, later on this week!

so berry much fun!

strawberries are at their peak here in southeastern virginia.  

{our area's annual strawberry festival is next weekend!}

over the weekend, we went berry picking.  

we drove by a few different "u-pick" fields before we reached our destination:  cullipher farms.

it was hot & we were still scorched from our day at the beach {post to come!}, but we were determined to fill our buckets with big, red, juicy strawberries!

while we were picking, we listened to the hum of the airshow that was taking place nearby.

i'm slightly ashamed to admit that this was the first time i have ever gone strawberry picking.
i've lived in virginia beach for nearly 23 years & live within minutes of MANY "u-pick" locations, so i don't really have an explanation as to why i've never gone picking before.

i'm not going to lie.  it's back breaking work.  you get dirty.  you get hot, sweaty & stinky.

and, you do see quite a few of these guys:

{aidan & i seemed quite popular with the teeny, weeny grasshoppers}

but, the payoff is so sweet {literally!}.

we came home with more strawberries than we knew what to do with.
now our freezer is stocked with bags of whole, frozen strawberries.

i also made strawberry coulis {to be enjoyed over vanilla ice cream} AND

i dove head first into canning by making four jars of homemade strawberry jam.

{photo credit goes to my seven year old son, aidan}

i'm already looking forward more picking, but next time we'll be on a mission for
blueberries, blackberries, peaches & scuppernongs. 

Weekend Recap

It's Monday {again}. I'm another year older. And, I'm already yearning for the weekend. It's sad what my life has succumbed to. Just kidding, just kidding...I'm just feeling exceptionally melodramatic today for some reason. I really shouldn't considering I had myself a pumpkin spice latte courtesy of Starbucks this morning {I received two $20 gift cards to Starbucks for my birthday...my girlfriends know what I *need*!}.

Anyways...here's a rundown of my weekend in as few bullets as possible:

• Friday was the birthday. My birthday. After a day of working & some husband-induced stress {and a good cry...oh!}, we headed out for a fun dinner with friends & family at Shogun. We requested our favorite teppanyaki chef, Petey, and had a very yummy dinner & a big pot of sake. After dinner, we headed to Just George's to meet up with more friends & enjoy a few more drinks.
• Very, very EARLY on Saturday morning, the hubs went fishing. I didn't want him to go, but......ah, well. He headed down to Oregon Inlet, NC with our friend, Matt, and the two of them went deep sea fishing. They lucked out & had one heck of a fishing day! After all of the tuna was cleaned, they each brought home about 120 pounds of fresh tuna. Needless to say, I spent a good part of my Sunday vacuum sealing tuna steaks!
• Also on Saturday, my parents surprised me with a visit and took me {and the kids} out to lunch at Carrabba's. I had a delicious grilled chicken breast smothered in goat cheese & sun-dried tomatoes for lunch. After lunch, we walked around the mall, I did a little bit of shopping & we headed home. My parents left for home {they live in Fredericksburg which is about 2.5 hours away from me} and the kids & I got ready for dinner at Adam's mom's house. I made peanut butter cup brownies & we were off for a fantastic pulled pork BBQ dinner. I got to hang out with my sister-in-law, Krystal, which was a lot of fun. Adam eventually made his way over {with a huge bag of tuna in hand} and we had a late night grill session & enjoyed some perfectly cooked tuna steaks.
• Sunday came & went...it really did. Adam made a great breakfast of scrambled eggs, home fries, bacon & cinnamon apples and then we headed to Wal-Mart for some groceries & then to the auto parts store for new brake pads for my car {can you tell what my birthday present from the hubs was?! It definitely wasn't a new pair of shoes for me!}. Once home, it was football, laundry, NASCAR, laundry, nap, laundry, football...yeah, the day pretty much went like that. We had tuna tacos for dinner and, before we knew it, it was time for bed & time to get the new week started.

I swear, weekends are too short. Congress, or whomever it is who ultimately gets to decide, should really consider either adding Friday or Monday to the weekend. Seriously.

I enjoyed my weekend...I hope you all enjoyed your weekend, too!

Psst...don't forget to enter my birthday giveaway!

Where has the WEEKEND gone?

I can't believe it's already Sunday, y'all. Well, yes I can. Weekends are never long enough.

Here I am - already washing a load of laundry and loving the fact that the sun is SHINING outside...that's a HUGE improvement from Friday's weather washout.

Anyways, here is my weekend wrapup...

• I saw the New Kids on the Block on Friday night, y'all. Yes, I was in boy band heaven! The music took me straight back to the 7th grade. All I was missing was braces and a bad perm. Well, and some tight-rolled jeans, high-top sneakers and tons of hairspray in my hair. Despite the weather (I seriously think a monsoon rolled through town), it was a fun night and I'm so glad I got to spend it with my favorite girls! Pictures & a poorly shot video (hey, it's hard to hold a camera still while you're dancing & jumping up and down while screaming) will be posted soon. I'm sad to say that I have washed my hands - many times - since Friday night, but my left hand will never be the same...I smacked touched Joey McIntyre when he walked by our box.
• On Saturday morning, my favorite Jehovah's Witness, Clinton, came to visit again. Adam was surprised he remembered my name. I countered by saying that I'm a hard girl to forget (in a good way!). Anyways, Adam didn't have the heart to tell Clinton that I was laid up in bed with hardly any voice (thanks to all of that screaming) and that I had a slight hangover (damn all of that draft beer!).
• Adam took the kids to his father's house on Saturday afternoon and I got to sleep. Sleep, oh glorious sleep! I never, EVER get to nap. It's very rare when I do, but I certainly took advantage of the time alone and woke up feeling like a brand, new woman. And, since Adam & the kids were gone...
• I went shopping! It's also a rare treat to go anywhere by myself, so I headed to Wal-Mart, a beach souvenir shop and to the mall. I bought myself a few nice things.
• We had dinner courtesy of the grill last night - NY strip steak & grilled honey BBQ shrimp! There's enough steak & shrimp left over that we're going to have Caesar salads tonight with either steak or shrimp or, hell, maybe both!
• Since the hubs is fishing today (what a big surprise, huh?), I'm half-tempted to take a ride to the outlets in Williamsburg with the kids. I have a coupon for the Coach store and I'm on a search for the perfect pair of bermuda shorts and I think the j.crew outlet might have something for me. I know Malia will be game...it's the other man in my life, Aidan, who isn't too keen on shopping (I guess Daddy should have taken him fishing!).

Just some reminders...

• Kayla is the winner of the Brace Face giveaway - I need your address so I can mail you your cookbooks!
• My Vera Bradley handbag giveaway ends tonight at 11:59pm EST! I will announce the winner tomorrow.
• Stay tuned - tomorrow means another giveaway for Stuttering Shell's Blog Birthday Bash!
• Those PR's I promised? I'll try and get them posted today.
• Be sure to check out the giveaways I have posted in my sidebar - tell 'em that I sent you!

Get out and enjoy the glorious day God has made!