Memorial Day

We had a fun Memorial Day celebration at my Mom and Dad's house on Sunday. My Aunt and Uncle from Ohio and my cousin Katie and her Husband Joel (and baby Libby) also came from Chicago. After church we had lunch at mom and dad's restaurant and had a cookout for supper. The weather was great and we spend the whole day outside just relaxing and playing the good ol' cornhole game. I got the chance to try out the Tastefully Simple KeyLime Cheesecake recipe and it was spectacular. See my previous blog for more information on how to get your own keylime cheesecake!

Introducing Jodi, Certified Tastefully Simple Consultant

This is my sister Jodi who is now a Tastefully Simple Consultant. She is the best, most knowledgable tastefully simple consultant there has ever been. If you buy products from her, it will taste better than any food that has ever crossed your lips. She is available for both private and corporate events or can do a party in your home or you can do a catalog party with her assistance. Tastefully Simple has products ranging from main dishes to desserts, offering a wide variety of gourmet foods and gifts for every day and every occasion. Please contact me if you wish to get in touch with Jodi.

Tastefully Simple: The food you love, the time you deserve

Chickens

Here's the 3 different kinds of chickens we now have....

Rhode Island Red Light Brahma Barred Rock

Reagan loves to hold her chickies. Everyone is getting along great!

The whole family went the Mikeworth's flea market today. We went to get a few Mallard ducks for our pond. We also went prepared to come home with a goat if we found one we liked. We decided that our chicken run is big enough to go ahead and put a goat in until we can get our pasture fenced in for our prospective meat goat business! Although we did not come home with a goat, we did come home with 2 more chickens. They had some Light Brahmas which are a white and black chicken that actually have feather down to their feet. I also talked to a guy there that says he can bring me a Wyandotte which is one that I have been looking for. He also has Mallards that he says he can bring to the next flea market.

Happy Birthday Reagan!

Reagan turns 3 on May 19th but we went ahead and had a big birthday party for her on Saturday. We had our first big party in our new house and invited both sides of our family. We wanted to have a weiner roast but it was kind of wet outside so we just had an indoor party. The party was a "barnyard" theme with pigs, cows, ducks, etc. and since we had chickens, it was a live petting zoo! Reagan was such a good little girl and loved all her gifts. Some of things she got were lots of clothes (I have a picture of her in a dress that she got), fishing pole, ball glove, Dora DVD's, a monogramed lawn chair, and a Dora Doll House which I captured all the girls and Grandma's playing with.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day out there to all the mother's. This mother's day we got my parents a new grill. Well, it was really a combination mother's day/father's day/dad's birthday/Christmas!! We had a big lunch cookout at my mom and dad's house to kick off the grilling season. My sister had news that her and Matt were having a baby! She is 8 weeks pregnant and due on our wedding anniversary on December 28th. Congratulations Matt and Jodi!

We have sidewalks!

After almost 11 months of having our home, we finally have sidewalks. Actually they were done a little over a week ago. We started out walking on pieces of scrap wood and eventually moved up to some brick stones that were so far apart, Reagan couldn't reach from one to the other. When the guy came out to start the sidewalks and had everything dug and ready, it started raining and we went almost 2 weeks without anything at all except for mud. We're really happy with how the sidewalks turned out. It is a was brick color concrete and a charcoal powder was sprinkled over it. Then he rolled it with a big roller that has a slate-type look to it. The next day he came back and washed off the powder and sealed it. It's hard to tell from the pictures but it looks two-toned and looks like slate. Reagan loves to go out and run or skip back and forth on it. We haven't let her use the sidewalk chalk on it yet but I'm sure it's a matter of time.

Fun in the Sun

We just got back from our first big family vacation to Fort Walton Beach, FL. The weather was great and we really had a good time. We stayed at the Ramada Plaza that was right on the beach and had a great room overlooking the courtyard gardens and pools. Reagan loved the ocean but would have been equally content with spending all of her time in the baby pool! She did like the ocean too, mainly playing in the sand. She liked to stand down by the water and jump up in the air when one of the waves came in so it wouldn't get her. We spent 3 1/2 days there just relaxing and enjoying time in the sun. There was one big pool with a waterfall and a swim up bar underneath and another heated pool area where Reagan liked to swim with the other kids. There was also a beach bar with live entertainment over the weekend. It rained one day so we went shopping. When I was checking out at Old Navy, Kevin poked at me to look at Reagan. There was a bunch of fake model people with clothing on and one was a little girl Reagan's height and wearing a similar shirt. Reagan was standing there talking to her and touching her pigtails. We got Reagan to pose next to her new friend for a picture! After a lot of contemplation, we did decide to return to our home in Illinois and back to reality!!