Wow! I didn't realize it's been a couple of weeks since I've written. I guess we've just been that busy. When I realized I hadn't written in so long I started to think about the next topic...should I write about going to see Christy Rost in a cooking demonstration, planting flowers with my two kiddos, the Jimmy Buffett concert, or the quick day trip to the beach....well, let's cover them all, why not?

For my birthday present, my neighbor and good friend, Colleen, took me to The Southern Season in Chapel Hill to a cooking demonstration put on by Christy Rost. Who? Exactly, the same thing I said. Well, she is a chef who has a show on PBS around Thanksgiving....a wonderful woman and chef so I found out. We walked into The Southern Season, and I had no idea what I was entering. It's this huge kitchen and gadget store that has everything. I was in heaven. We walked around a little while and then it was time to go watch the show.

As Christy cooked, we got to taste wonderful wine and of course the delicious dishes; on the menu, minature onion souffles (to die for), sweet and savory roasted spring vegetables, boneless leg of lamb roast with southern herb stuffing and mint au jus, and dessert - Easter bunny cakes with seven-minute frosting and meringue ears and cottontails. Is your mouth watering yet???? Mine is and I got to eat it all. Everything was so good. I wish I had enough room to type all the recipes, but maybe some will make it to my recipe section.

The day was wonderful. I got to spend some time with my good friend sans kids and we got to catch up, watch a great cooking demonstration, drink some wine, and eat delicious food - could the day get any better?

Colleen, Christy Rost, and Me

 I guess the next thing on the list was planting flowers with my kids. I've been itching to do some gardening but the weather and our schedule have been a little crazy. After church last week we went to Lowe's and stocked up on some flowers for window boxes for our deck, some flowers for pots, and a couple of the little veggie and herb kid gardens. The kids loved helping. The got their spray bottles and loved wetting the soil. Hunter loved playing in the dirt, but I guess that's a typical boy thing to do. I really enjoyed spending some fun time outside on the beautiful Palm Sunday planting some flowers with my kiddos.

Before church on Palm Sunday

 

Say cheese

Taking a break for a qucik gogurt

And what a fun week we've had this week. The kids have been on spring break. I'm not really sure why they call it a "break" because there was not breaking in our house...we have been non-stop, but then again that's normal around here.

On Tuesday, Eric and I got a sitter and went to the Jimmy Buffett concert with some great friends. We have been to lots of shows in the 10 years we've been together, but I must say, this year we did it right...thanks to our friend, Jaleh. She organized us all to come to her house for pre-party with drinks and food, and then she arranged a party van to come pick us up, take us to the show, and return us home. What a fabulous idea, and what a fabulous time we had! We ate some really yummy snacks including Texas Stack, veggies, mini chicken tacos, a bbq chicken pizza, and I made mini cheese "turkey" burgers (in paradise of course). I was in such a hurry I didn't take any pictures of the burgers but they were pretty simple and really yummy. (I'll post the recpie on the recipe section.)

 

The night was awesome, and the concert as usual was fantastic. We LOVE Jimmy and love every chance we get to see him. He played some great songs, and ended with "Last Man Standing" - one of our favorites.

On Wednesday, as I was feeling a tad bit groggy (to say the least) I packed the kids and I up for a quick beach trip. My good friend, Olga, asked if I wanted to take the kids to the beach with her and her girls...yes, please. This is one reason why I love NC, the beach is only 2 1/2 hours away. We left around noon with  4 very excited children and drove to Topsail Island, NC. It's such a great little beach town. We stayed in a condo. The weather was supposed to be beautiful. When we got there, the temperature was kind of warm but the wind was blowing so hard we were freezing. Do you think the kids cared??? Nope, they wanted to go to the pool and the beach. So, we went. The water was so cold and the kids were shivering and turing a light shade of purple, but they did not want to get out.

Dallas and her bff Natalia

Thursday was a bit better. The wind died down and the temps started to rise. The water was still cold but a bit more bareable. We played at the pool, kiddie pool, and hot "pool" (as the kids called the hot tub). Then we went to the beach...and we thought the pool was cold. Yikes, the ocean felt like frozen water coming up around your ankles. It was freezing, but the kids loved jumping the waves, so jumping the waves is what we did.


Ms. Olga braving the frigid waters of the Atlantic.

Hunter running from the cold water.

Looks like the wave won.

Then, out of no where, a big black cloud came and didn't leave. It started to rain and never stopped, so we packed the car and headed home.

Are you tired yet??? Well I am. What fun week we've had, but I'm pretty pooped and tomorrow will start Easter festivities including the arrival of my parents. So, until next time, Y'all take care!