iPhone camera dump

Happy Summer, y'all!! My computer is still broken with no repair date in sight so this is another post with pictures from my iPhone. We have been busy and HOT! Spring lasted about 2.5 seconds here on the SC coast before Summer hit and it's been H.O.T. for awhile now.

This little monkey's face turns bright red as soon as he steps outside so our visits to the playground have become few and far between. Playing inside in the AC or in/around a body of water have officially become the activities of choice for us!



Miss Priss had her first recital last weekend! She was adorable and made this mama cry for most of her performance. So proud of our little dancing bunny! :) Speaking of being proud and crying, Emma Claire learned how to SWIM today!!!! She had her first swim lesson of the summer and spent the first half of it hanging onto her teacher's neck and crying, and the second half of it swimming like a little fish. I was boo-hooing all over the place---such a fun milestone to watch your child achieve!!!



Last Sunday we went to Sea Island, GA, for the day to visit my sweet, sweet friends Liz and Joanna and their crews. Between the three of us we had 9 kiddos between the ages of 1 and 5---and they all had a BLAST together!! I am already looking forward to getting together with these girls and their adorable children again!



We have had lots of friends over to play---I snapped this somehow without anybody noticing I was even in the room. Love it!




If you know us (or have been reading this blog for a little while), then it shouldn't come as a surprise that we had a health scare. Grayson had a seizure last week while we were visiting my inlaws. I just happened to be in bed with him when it happened, otherwise it probably would have been missed. After returning home for an EEG and an appointment with a neurologist, all is well. EEG results were normal so for now we're just keeping an eye on him and praying it was a one-time freak thing.

This picture is out of order, but while we were visiting my in-laws we loved catching lightning bugs---something we miss out on living on the coast. This brought back so many memories of running around the yard with my brother and filling jars with the little glowing bugs. It was definitely a highlight of the week!

Sweet Whitt is loving having his big brother and sister around all day---he follows them everywhere and thinks that he's a few years older than he really is. He has perfected jumping off of the diving board and has ZERO fear of the water. This little munchkin seriously couldn't be any sweeter!!

And just to add to the craziness that already follows our little family everywhere we go, we now have EIGHT cats. Yes, eight. A couple of months ago we only had three--Chester, Tilly, and Rally--which was already too many cats. Meet Pippa, Hippo, and Fripp. Not pictured are Leroy and yet-to-be-named black kitten, who are a few weeks older than these babies (3 weeks old today). Let me know if you are in the market for a new kitten---they will be available very soon and are even cuter in person! :)

So there you have a little recap of what we've been up to. I didn't have any pictures of tantrums in the grocery store, children throwing shoes at each other's faces, or throwing up in the swimming pool, but we've done a little of that as well. :)

And I've had requests for more recipes---which I would be able to do if my computer worked!!! I had saved links to all kinds of delicious meals that I've been making in the past few weeks and now I have no way to access them. Ugh!! I did stumble across this awesome blog this past weekend and she has a ton of delicious recipes. I made her Wild Salmon with Lemon Cous Cous tonight and it was A.MAZ.ING. I really, really, really don't like asparagus but I put it in there and it actually wasn't too bad. I did pick around most of it but I didn't gag on the pieces I did eat. :) The rest of the meal was great though, and I will most definitely be making this again...it was super easy and quick to make.

The only thing I don't like about making fish is how it makes our house smell for the next day or two. Maybe it's because we live in an old house, or maybe I just have a sensitive nose, but I can always smell the fish for awhile after cooking it....and that's not a good thing. Soooo, in an effort to erase the fish smell from the house, I whipped up these brownies, also from Iowa Girl Eats, after I put the kiddos to bed. Did the trick! Now the house smells like brownies and I do believe she is right---it's the only brownie recipe I'll ever need! I had everything on hand already (I omitted the walnuts and chocolate bar like she does) and it took about 45 minutes from start to finish. Now I need to find somebody to give the rest of the brownies to before I eat the whole pan....