Here are some shots so sum up the past few weeks!

Friday night of Spring Break we went out to Inlet Beach to a house rented by a few HNES families. We had a blast! KK had Ansley, R had Mia + Katherine (to name a few) and Morgan was wonderful playing with the younger kids and helping daddy build his hole that no one was allowed to play in until he "finished". It was nice to spend time with the whole family (except Cooper who opted to "chillax" at home) and other families.

Easter Sunday. Why didn't anyone tell us Cooper needed to stand up, or something.

Peace and better family pictures!

Dying Easter eggs!

This calf was born last night. Where's mom?

We have beautiful spring color at the front door thanks to these gardening hands!

All the girls (Kennedy, Linley, Reagan and Vivian) are loving Reese's bay boat at the lake!

I KNOW! It's been forever. Spring Break I was at the lake and "unplugged" from internet. This was very nice, but impossible to update. I'll share some highlights:

- William tried to knock his face off while disconnecting the trailer

- Cooper is 16 and can get driver's license May 7 (Yikes!)

- Pa (at the River) came for a visit where we wore him out with our schedule

- Hunny passed away

- Went in 3 directions for Spring Break - Ocala (baseball), Atlanta and the lake.

- Celebrated Easter, played baseball and soccer, went to the beach and the ranch

- built raised flower beds (thanks, Pa)

ETC.

Yesterday I was reading to Reagan. She knows all her letter and their sounds. She can write her letters so well. She has started trying to spell a bit - "fare" is fairy, stuff like that. So I asked her, "When are you going to start reading?" Without hesitation she replied,"I don't know. I'll ask Mrs. Sullivan." Never occurred to her that she could start on her own.

Peace!

Italian Fries

(just in case you gave up fast food for Lent)

6-7 Idaho potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/3 in thick french fry-style strips, soaked in cold salted water

4 T EVOO

1 T dried Italian herbs or some combo of dried oregano, thyme, marjoram, and basil

2 C freshly grated Romano cheese

1/4 c fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped

4 T salted butter, cut into 6 cubes

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400.

Drain the potatoes and pat dry with paper towels, Spread 1 T EVOO on each of 2 rimmed baking sheets and spread out he potatoes. Overlapping is fine.

Sprinkle the dried herbs evenly over the potatoes. Liberally spsread the cheese and parsley on top. Drizzle the remaining 2 T EVOO over the cheese. Scatter the cubed butter around the pans.

Bake until the potatoes are golden brown, rotating the pans after 30 mins, for 45-50 mins total. Use a spatula to lift off the potatoes with all the crusty cheese adhered to them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot

(From "Mad Hungry" by Lucinda Scala Quinn)

Peace + ketchup!

We are so glad Spring has Sprung (a bit) here! I'm not sure Little Tikes pictured this use for their playhouse. They love climbing in the tree behind the playhouse and pretending to watch TV there. Not sure why. They also love sliding down.
My girl loves critters. She loves looking for little things that the rest of us pass by without noticing. I love that about her. She's not scared of the goo. This day we found several of these little dead crabs washed ashore at the Yacht Club. She also found a jellyfish or two. KK was happy running between the beach and the playground. We brought home some shells, driftwood, dead crabs and a few rocks. Love experiencing spring with her.
Baseball season! Several at the house are very happy about this. Some of us, not so much. I love seeing Cooper working to get better at this. I don't love the pressure of pitching. I showed him this picture, very impressed with his form, and he told me that his right leg needed to be out wider and a couple of other things that he was doing wrong. Interesting. Maybe he does pay attention to a few details. He has really been pitching well. Yesterday, in Marianna, he was 2 for 2 with a double and a single, 3 RBIs and was put in to pitch the 4th inning with bases loaded and only 1 out. Coach told him to "shut them up!" He did. Next inning all 3 outs were runners picked off at first base. Guess they're not used to a left handed pitcher.
Here he said his right foot was supposed to be pointed at the ground. Once again, I was impressed with how high his knee was. Maybe I need to get him into yoga!

Peace and red clay stained clothes!

I don't think he means any harm, do you?

I KNOW! My stupid eyes are closed. I thought we were counting to three and THEN opening our eyes for Mallory's shot. Nope, apparently we were supposed to open on three. We were in Gatlinberg, TN for Winterfest with a group from church. I enjoyed being with these two. Great kids. They didn't want to get up early to ski so we were going to tube, but wait time was too much so we road the lift to the top of the mountain for this vista. Beautiful day.

Some memories: cattle chute (whoever thought this was a good idea anyway?), Zach's sleeping position on the way home, making pb+j crackers with Ben on the back row of the bus, but most of all - finding my diamond earrings at Varsity in Atlanta. Can you believe it? Me either? Wacky old lady thinking.

Peace!