shoes back on

the day before christmas eve and im up at 7 am.. WHY am i awake?? sleep in, gina! sleep in!!!  nope.. for some reason, i just cant anymore, regardless of what time i go to bed.( insert BIG frowny face here.)    i hope this phase ends before too long!  so, well, i am up.. may as well do something.. it had been- uhm... yeah, like a MONTH since i went for a run.. (i shamefully admit)   so i figured time to get those running shoes back on.  for the life of me i just dont know what happens to motivation sometimes? where does it go? where are you mr. motivation??? when will you return?  ok.. well he peaked his head around the corner yesterday and i yanked him by the collar and went for a run. AWESOME! beautiful south florida morning.. super cool out(even wore a jacket- WHAT?! yep.)   went along the intracoastal, sun rising on my left moon falling on my right.  so much to take in.  passed a church and a  maintenance crew was getting the grounds all set for Christmas eve service(i can only guess?)   i love the smell of fresh cut grass.  and while i dont care for the smell of gasoline at ALL...i LOVE it when i smell those two together.  its one of those smells tied to childhood memories.  brought me back to sitting on the riding mower with my grandpa mowing their big hilly yard.. i used to think we would tip backwards going up the hill and i would be crushed beneath he and the lawnmower.haha.. the good ole times;)  yet, i totally loved it.  

shortly after that nostalgic smell, i picked up on something else.. not so nostalgic though.. the smell of construction.  if you dont know, this time of year three years ago, we were completing a maaaajor renovation on our home.  the project had taken approx. 10 months so far..  it was christmas time.. we had been staying in a friends (a very gracious friends) cottage for FIVE months, we thought it would be two.. but you know how that goes..i was ITCHING to get home. i wanted to wake up in our house, have christmas with our family, have more than 500 sq feet of living space!!!!  the walls had seemed to just close in on me the last few weeks of cottage living and i was going to do whatever it took to get home.  so we did, but that is another story in itself.  so, i smelled the concrete block, the tar paper, the sheet rock, the mud, the dampness that lingers in an open house under construction.  and all i could do was say thank you Lord, that we are home this christmas.. that chapter is complete-THANK YOU!  it feels like more than three years ago, and i am so very grateful.  :)

so, there is this street, my one mile markerish.. elwa.. and im looking.. gosh, elwa.. youre not as close as i remember??  uhm, yeah, gina.. thats what happens when you slack!  elwa, elwa, elwa...? you out there?? and just when i thought the street had disappered off the face of the earth.. there she was!  my green light to head back home.. past the field that looks like bunnies would have fun hopping around, past the house under construction and finally grass and gasoline.....so glad i got those running shoes back on.

surprises

if you're a mom.. you' re going to find them. recently, i noticed how many little surprises, aka "junk piles, messes, oddities" i've found around the house. like i said.. if youre a mom, im sure you can relate.  so, i kept my camera handy and documented my finds throughout this week.  first up..
typical....

a sticky mandarin mess in the fridge... oh yeah, and on the floor too.. crazy thing is-NO one has eaten mandarin oranges lately.. well, not that they will admit..imagine that????




second up.. hello, random??? what little creative person tried doing this?? i really have no idea. it could've been any of them.  apparently they thought it might be interesting to tie the ends of tissues up w small hair bands...looks like one of them ripped off in an attempt to create...and lets throw a few pennies in this box and a plastic princess ring..while you're at it.. add optimus primes flaming plastic sword. do you have ANY idea how long we had been looking for that sword thingy???

 third up. heres my take on it:  kid gets hungry, grabs snack, walks out of the kitchen with it(which is against the rules..but who listens to mom anyway?? ) spots something more interesting and fun to do, gets distracted, forgets about picking up the mess, goes off to do something in the play room.  oh, the ear plugs..? i have no idea?? maybe they were tuning me out?? haha :)

  AHHHH! seriously.. i dont need to say anything other than i THOUGHT there was a snake in the bathroom.. this could be part responsible for the snake nightmare i had a couple nites ago???... hmmm..

i have to say, theres always something im cleaing up.. sometimes its tiring , sometimes is REALLY messy, and sometimes its just plain amusing.  but, regardless, they are continually crossing my path.   unfortantely,  i am aware that a day is approaching, all too soon for my liking where these little "surprises" will be farther and fewer between.  until sadly enough, there will be a day where i barely see them anymore and their existence has dissolved into phtographs and memories. its a good reminder for me to love them for what they are.. the the messy, the frustrating and the amusing.

rainy days

theres just something about a rainy day that i love so much. seeing an overcast sky gets me all ready to go home and relax. it calls for a movie, cozy quilts and snuggle time with our cute kids:)

watching the rain fall, hearing it patter against the windows, buildings and roofs is so calming. i remember when we had leaks (yes, multiple) in our roof.. rain wasnt so relaxing then. every time it rained i would get a twinge in my stomach-anticipating where i would have to put buckets and cloths down. waking up in the middle of the nite to a great thunderstorm was lovely, until i realized i had to get up and find all the leaks!ughh! needless to say,  i am SO glad those days are over and i am back to enjoying the rain. :)

a few weeks ago i took these pics of duelio.. he saw it raining and immediately put on his raincoat and boots. i love this little guy. and i love that he knows how to enjoy a good rain.  he makes me smile every day.

dragon rainboots, of course:)

quietly sitting in the rain

 hoooooooo! mom!! im getting wet!

 working on getting his "four" fingers up..

there ya go buddy! four years old!!

splish splashing!

 oh yeah.. thats a good puddle!



see ya later!



homage to my roots

its fall. its my favourite time of year.  i think i owe it to pittsburgh.  yes, ive lived in florida long enough that im officially called a "floridian" and i love it here. but, i have so many memories of living in pittsburgh. especially memories of autumn. crisp air, brilliantly colored trees in every direction. hills, rivers, parks and more parks.. so, just a few pics to start out this weekend.

north park. cant you just imagine laying underneath this tree looking up?

a walk through frick park

 some churchyard cemetary

these images could be any quaint town in the north.. but the wet streets with the fallen leaves just remind me so much of western PA.

the city peeking through the train tracks and trees..so home sick right now :(

trees around the allegheny river

 schenely park.. wow!..these are all borrowed pictures.. so im not sure if they enhanced the color on this one or not?? but even so..

there is a covered bridge tour you can take in the fall, how fun.  maybe we will do it someday.

remember the song.. over the river and through the woods to grandmothers house we go... ?  well, we had to  go over a river and through the woods to my grandmas house, so naturally my dad and i would sing it along our way.  what is the rest of that song anyway? is there more?  our bridge wasnt covered like the one above, but i always thought i was so lucky that the song fit our drive to her home. :)

i still call pittsburgh "home" i dont know why.. maybe its a pittsburgh thing?  i guess its just something about fall makes me feel all nostalgic and kindof sad.  but so happy i have these memories of "home" that are part of me.  what a beautiful season, marking a time of change, coming and going.. time moving on.  it happens so quickly, the stunning leaves are here only but a short bit...... just like us.
 
...so thank you, pittsburgh for all the cherished memories of a beautiful season, yet so short and bitter sweet:)

fall begins

so, ive been in the mood too bake...and today being the first day of fall, what better way to celebrate it than with some pumpkin whoopie pies! mmm!

oh heavenly little yummy delights! so light and fluffy

i got this recipe out of one of those recipe books you get at the grocery check out.. i really like it.. but i think i would either add more pumpkin(might change the consistency though??) OR add some pumpkin spice to it?.. overall.. very yum, light and fluffy. YAY fall!

on other randomness of my day.. the kids and i had running club this morning. oye.. the morning always comes too soon.  but somehow we managed to get out of the house and to the school. what a great surprise it was to feel the cool breeze and the LACK of humidity! wooohoo!  i think it made me run faster???  i only ran a mile.. but it was an 8 minute mile.. HELLO?! if you know how i run, you know i run slowwwwwwwly.  and i know me.. and know that theres no way in heck i couldve followed it up with a second mile at that pace-haha:) but hey, just gonna celebrate my teeny accomplishment.  so.. after the kids had their breakfasts..and i took lio to school i passed havanas  http://www.havanacubanfood.com/  remembering the conversation i recently had with jennifer about havanas breakfasts, i turned the car around and headed for the walk up counter.. this is what i ordered.. MMMMMMMMMM!  breakfast egg, cheese and uhmm bacon. hello bacon- you are delicious and i love you..  

needless to say, it was pretty filling and i was unable to finish(for all those locals- great sandwich to share with a friend! ) 

so from me to you..wishing everyone a happy fall.  i hope you get to breath in some crisp air, drink at least a few glasses of hot cider and walk through some rustling leaves :)

and the baking begins!

soo.. i dont really know how much baking ill end up doing this holiday season..(yes, im already starting with the holiday stuff)  but, my intentions are high!   i really dont want to bake and stuff my face with lots of delicious, calorie-loaded treats. and watch my waistline expand.. and EXPAND and.. disappear..:(  BUT- id like to taste them.   and i really, just enjoy baking in general.  ok, sooo.. first up:

rocky road peanut butter brownies.... oh my- soo good!

oh hello there cute little brownie..

a close up...just incase you couldnt see all the peanut butter cups in the first picture;)

profile..

im so glad i gave most of these away..thank the Lord we have six teachers to disperse them amongst

ok, now this is the REAL close up.. yum yum yum..

the recipe .. easy as pie..or brownie-whatever:

make brownies as directed by your choice of brownie mix.. let cool completely.

then beat 1 (7oz) jar of marshmallow creme, 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter, and 1 tbsp of milk

spread evenly over top of brownies, then add 1/2 cup of chopped salted peanuts to the top. followed by 30 mini reeces peanut butter cups (chopped up). then drizzle with 1/4 cup of semi-sweet melted chocolate.. let set up and cut into however many pieces you want.  they are rich, so i made them smaller:) hope you make them and enjoy!

a morning swim

its not easy getting up at 6 am on a saturday morning, much less getting up to exercise. but this particular saturday i managed to drag myself out of bed to go for a cool swim in the ocean....and if im being honest here, i got up mainly bc my friend, rachel, had gone completely out of her way friday evening to get my swim cap to me..and if by any chance she happened to ask how swimming was..and i DIDNT go??? uhm.. id feel like a punk friend.. so, all that to say, im SO glad she went of her way, giving me that extra motivation i needed to drag my tired self to the beach:) bc, golly- it sure was beautiful. thanks rach!!

vegatation, sea grapes, palmettos and funky old branches

bright blue sky, sandy dune

yes, that would be my foot.. with the worn off blue polish;)

i love this beach  because it has such unsual rocky terrain

the water collects in the divots. i think it kindof looks like moon craters..dont you think?

so calm, so early

i seriously could sit and watch the waves pour over these rocks all     day      long.

close up of the super cool plant life that nestled itself in among the rocks

i dont know if you can tell, but the rocks are covered by a cool carpet of fuzzy moss.. i think in my "mountain" post i mentioned how much i love moss?  ok, this isnt mountain moss, its sea moss- but, i SO love it. 

seafoam pouring over the top, just like icing a cake.

the water finding its way between the mossy rocks, mezmorizing..

hey! whos that??? jessica!!:) my awesome swimmer friend, who took the time out of her morning routine to give me some swimming pointers.. thanks jessica- youre a swimming rockstar!!!xoxo

getting up early pays off.. i hope this might inspire an early rise to see the peaceful and beautiful creation around us.

to the mountains we went

i love the mountains, they are peaceful and their beauty is captivating.  this summer we took a family vacation with my mom and stepdad, jack, to north carolina.  they used to take me there a lot as a kid.. i kind of forgot how beautiful it is there..how it feels to be surrounded by Gods mountainous creation.  this trip woke up my warm memories....so, up to the mountains we went..      

our week was full... packing in everything from gem mining, white water rafting, visiting an alpaca farm, hiking, campfires, playing in creeks, exploring cherokee and then wrapping it up with a family reunion in charlotte. below are some of the highlights of our trip. i took way too many pictures to share them all.

 the alpacas....

  

these are pics from the alpaca farm. these animals are SO so sweet and cute! they had just been sheared so they were all skinny looking:) we purchased some roving from this farm. my mom and i were on a felting kick during this trip.. it has kindof died off at the moment, but im anxious to start felting again..

ok.. i had to post one of these pics.. boiled peanuts.. they are everywhere.. people love them. they are kindof mushy for me though.. i like the kind you get from roadhouse or the ground round..and they let u throw the shells on the floor.  how fun is that???

we saw this indian show in cherokee, nc.  i loved the way their songs had that chanting beat.. it was really beautiful to see them dance and play the drums.

i love the worn moccasins and tattered ribbons on this guy..

more of their dance.

they asked if anyone from the audience would join them for a dance( only children went.. why do adults always shy away from this stuff??)  i was tempted.. but i wanted to take pictures of the boys dancing with them. so i stayed put, watching from the sidelines. and at the end of the dance they said whatever name the dance was.. and that all those brave enough to dance it would now live to be 100 yrs old. why did i sit out?!?!?  now i have to go back and do this dance sometime before i get to be too old.  hey, you never know!;)

this is duelio, feeding the cute duckies.  this cool mountain stream ran through town.  it was great to dip our feet in, hunt for smooth river stones and float in the current(lots of people tubed here).  this fun pit stop occupied us for two hours as we were waiting for the guys to finish golfing.. which i heard was amazingly beautiful.. but we unfortuantely dont have any pics of that little excursion:(

super duper cool bamboo forest we stumbled upon as we left the creek.

i cannot get over the skies.. everyone of them was just so brilliant.

this is kindof a little family joke.  my mom always talks about how she used to roast potatoes in camp fires when she was growing up.  unfortuantely, we dont do a lot of camping or make lots of fires.. so our opportunites to do this are slim.  i dont know if you can tell, but there are little balls of foil- wrapped potatoes deep in the glowing cinders of this fire.. we ate them for breakfast the next day, they were a little charred, but i really liked them:)

and here we have gem  mining, folks!  we actually did find some great stones.. but getting them cut and polished..thats another story..

duelio, hard at work..

i LOVE, love, love, love. love moss.. i love how it grows and creeps its way up and around anything in the forest. the green, so vibrant and foresty feeling. ahhh...:)

jack, pausing on our hike.. what is better than hiking in the mountains??

finding a cool forest mushroom on a hike-thats what! (they sure are pretty, no wonder people want to eat them) 

and a waterfall, of course!

"last of the mohicans" is one of my all time favourite movies.. i love these skies, bc they make me feel like im in the movie.

of course, i was dying to pick my own veggies at a farm.. so we stopped at this charming and ever- so- delightful little place, just perched up on the side of a mountain. what a happy little place for a garden:)

cole picking a watermelon

the boys picking grape tomatoes

and now, moving on to charlotte... unfortunately, i wasnt as good with taking pictures there.. but i do have a few!

as if it needs an introduction....but just incase some of you havent heard me go on and on about it.. ladies and gentlemen................ BUBBLE TEA!

dwill was upset they were out of "bubbles" so he had "jellies" in his.. poor little guy..

and you here have it.. a close up.  i just cant get enough of this stuff.. SOOOOOO good!  i owe this fascination and obsession all to the lovely, courtney reichely.  thank you, love.. yuuummmmm!!!!

and as all adventures come to and, this one did too.. back down the mountain we went.. back to our life by the sea..