Holy Salmon!

Am I the only one that didn't know how ginormous Salmon can be?  Todd (husband) has a friend that is a fishing guide and he went fishing with his brother and his friend this past week and caught some monster salmon!  I misheard the weight though and was telling "fish stories" for him.  I just told a friend of mine that he caught a 40 lb salmon but in actuality it was a 20 lb salmon.  Where did I get 40 lbs?  Who knows-but it sounded good!  I've never been a salmon eater but we cut it up, marinated it and grilled it.  It was pretty good I must say.  We took the leftovers and made it into "salmon salad", kinda like tuna salad.  That turned out pretty good too.  I must say I surprise myself everyday with the things that I am willing to eat.  And for those that know me too well, in case you are wondering, YES I SMELLED IT FIRST!

Salmon Marinade
Lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder (sprinkle on before & after marinade)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil

Mix until brown sugar disolves and marinate salmon for at least an hour.

Chocolate Ewwwwww!

Connor decided he would get into the baking cocoa when we were making cake and just put a big ole spoonful in his mouth!  SURPRISE!  It doesn't taste very good by itself.  I turned around to see him trying to spit it out and he looked like this.....

I love you Shulas!

I got to have a girls night out last weekend and it was tons of fun!  I have known some of these girls since the 6th grade-others since high school.  Love that we are all such close friends and still see each other all the time. We have been through so many different stages of life together and I can honestly say I know we will continue to be friends through the other stages in our lives.  I hope that everyone has the opportunity to go out with their girlfriends like this every once in a while.  We went to a winery downtown and then to a steakhouse for dinner and then got in a little dancing at the end.  I haven't danced like that for YEARS!  So many laughs! 

Happy 1st Grade to Taylor!

Oh yes we did....make a birthday cake and sing Happy 1st grade to you!  My BABY started first grade last week.  WHICH MEANS....

He is gone all day for the first time!
I don't get to spend quality time with him while the little ones are napping!
He gets to eat lunch and have gym, art, media center and music at school!
Some days he gets to take his lunch in his new lunch box and that is just as exciting!
HE IS GROWING UP SO FAST!!

I was a little worried at first because he didn't really want to start school so I tried to talk it up and make it sound exciting.  I suggested we make a cake to celebrate him starting 1st grade and he absolutely loved the idea!  AND I think it helped get him ready to start.  Of course the cake had to be in the shape of a football since he is playing football now.  Love you Tay-Happy 1st grade to my wonderful son!

South CarolinYA

Family beach shots that everyone takes while they are on vacation (you know you do it!)

My sweet, adorable children 

Scott & Carla at Patriots Point

Mommy, Connor, Taylor at water park

Mommy & Claire at the beach.  Claire has a broken leg in this picture but we didn't know it yet!  :(

Battery Park in Charleston

Taylor and Daddy's sand castle.  Connor and I collected the shells to decorate it.

I think this is the USS Yorktown at Patriots Point

Taylor thought he could ride his bike a mile down the beach....which is why we ended up pushing it half way there and ALL the way back.  GREAT idea!

Sister Ali and her bfriend Adam

Grandma & Grandpa and the grandkids

We just got back from a trip to Isle of Palms, South Carolina.  Or South CarolinYA as Connor calls it.  My moms aunt and uncle lived here when I was young and we vacationed there every year since I was born and my mom lived there for a while in the 1990's.  My dad hadn't been in 25 years-since me and my sister were little so he wanted to venture back down since he always enjoyed it.  So him and my stepmom rented a house for the whole family across the street from the beach.  My family, my sisters family and my stepbrother all went.  It was a fun week (except for Claire's leg and the shark bite).  Don't worry, it wasn't us who got bit-but it sure did put a damper on things.  We were in the hospital with Claire when we ran into a family also from our state that had a 16 year old (friend of their sons) who had gotten bit by a shark and had to get 40-some stitches on his leg! WHAT?  I already have an abnormal fear of sharks; I don't get in the ocen past my knees.  But now there was a shark bite that occurred less than a couple of blocks from where we were staying.  No thank you very much!  I would like to keep my appendages.....

Stupid Bed!

Look at that smile even in the hospital!  I was up all night that is why I am looking super tired!

Claire the next day in downtown Charleston.

So, we were on vacation last week in Isle of Palms, SC and on the very first night I was changing Claire on the bed and I turned for what I thought was a fraction of a second to grab the laundry basket and she rolled off the bed!!!  I know you are right now thinking of grabbing the phone to ask me to watch your child.  But not only that , when I went to try to catch her I still had the laundry basket and smacked her in the head with it :(  The short story of it is we thought she was okay but the next day her leg seemed to be in pain so we took her to the hospital and sure enough she had broken her femur bone!  I am sure you can imagine how awful I felt that it happened and that we waited to get her treatment.  She was such a trooper though it all!  In the end they admitted us to the hospital and we spent 24 hours of our vacation in the hospital.  They put Claire in what is called a Pavlik Harness that is typically used for hip dysplasia but the alternative to this was a cast that goes all the way up around her waste.  The doctors thought this would be way more comfortable for her and it has worked out well!  She is doing much better and will hopefully only have to wear it for a couple of more weeks.  She has even managed to still crawl around in this thing.  So sorry my little darling Claire Annalise!

Claire is 10 months old!

I was looking back at my blog and realized that I didn't do a post for Claire's 9th month.  Bad mommy!  Claire turned 10 months on our last day of vacation.  Unfortunately she had so spend it in her harness (another post to come on that).  But she is such a calm and happy baby that it didn't seem to bother her too much. 

• She still only has her two bottom teeth-don't see any others coming in as of yet.
• Her hair is getting lighter even though it doesn't see much sun due to hats and such.
• She is chunkin out-she is up to 18 pounds!
• She started crawling the day before the leg incident :(
• She babbles, smiles and laughs a lot!
• She is eating table food-pretty much anything we give her as long as it it is in small pieces.  She likes most everything. 
• Stil no luck in getting her to drink out of a sippy cup (or bottle)-we'll keep trying!
• I can't believe only two more months until she is ONE!

This pic was taken on the day she turned 10 months while we were on vacation!