Baseball, Beach Party & A Birthday...

WHEW! What a weekend!! On Friday, we left work a little early and headed to Richmond with Marty & Nancy to see the Flying Squirrels baseball game. Shane & I had given Rob tickets for Fathers Day. It was Deadliest Catch night, so we saw Josh Harris from that show. The poor guy signed autographs for 4 hours straight and when we left, he was STILL there with a huge line of fans waiting to see him! It was Shane's first baseball outing and he seemed to have a great time--he enjoyed all aspects of the experience, from the food to the foam finger to the mascot, Nutzy. We all had fun and then went to Rob's Mom & Dad's house in Richmond, where we ordered pizza in at 11pm and then spent the night :) The next morning, we got up, had breakfast at Cracker Barrel, then headed back to Mathews for our beach party!

After getting back home on Saturday, we started to prepare for our little beach party. My girlfriends from high school were all getting together since Christy was visiting Mathews. I was a little worried about having it all down on the beach, but it went off without a hitch! Rob set the tent up for me, I had paper lanterns that I hung on the tent, then I had tiki torches all set up. We put the table under the tent and huddled our chairs all around. It was a GREAT night--I think everyone had a good time. I will definitely be having more gatherings down on the beach like that- it was a beautiful night, we couldn't have asked for better weather. And, I loved to see all my girls and my bud Juicy!! :)

Sunday, we were able to sleep in a little, which was much needed! Then, we met at Walter's new restaurant, All Fired Up! in Urbanna for lunch for my Nanny's birthday. What a great little dockside restaurant. We could go in the boat and pull right on up there, but we went in the car this trip. The food was delicious and I'm anxious to go back soon! After celebrating Nanny's birthday, we went back home and hung out on the beach for the rest of the afternoon and just enjoyed lounging for a few minutes before getting back to the grind. It was a really good weekend. Busy, but good.

Busy Boy...

Shane Norris has a busy week on tap. He started swimming lessons this week--he was very apprehensive about it, insisting that he knew how to swim with a life jacket on...But after his first lesson, he LOVED it! He's now looking forward to it and I'm sure that pool feels good this morning...

Last week, Shane started Sports for Shorts. It's a program through the YMCA for ages 3-5, held on Tuesday nights from 5:30-6:30 that introduces young kids to different sports. They will take 2 weeks for each sport and go over soccer, basketball, football, and t-ball. The past two weeks they did soccer, so we'll move on to a new sport next week, which will be new territory for Shane since he's only ever played soccer. He's loving it and likes that he's been reunited with Coach Brandon from this past soccer season. I'm anxious to see how he feels about the other sports!

Shopping, Singing and Father's Day...

This weekend came and went with the blink of an eye! On Saturday, Shane and I had a Mama & Me day--we got up and headed over to Williamsburg. We did some shopping at JCPenney and Target, then had lunch at Cracker Barrel. After that, we headed over to TJ Maxx and finished our trip with some grocery shopping at Martins. Shane was so worn out that he fell asleep in the car on the way home. It was good spending that one on one time with him. I wish we could do that more often. We headed home in time to go to Cattails, where they were having an old fashioned front porch jamboree as a fireworks fundraiser. Joyful Noise, my parents band, was the entertainment. It was great, we took our chairs and sat on the front lawn at Cattails and they were on the front porch, just singing and playing their guitars for everyone. The crowd wasn't that big, but Daddy said that they gave generously to the fireworks committee, so hopefully, there will be a fabulous showing on July 3rd...yes, i said 3rd and not 4th since that's when Mathews will be having their fireworks show.

Sunday was Father's Day. We got up and Shane gave Rob our gift, which was tickets to the Flying Squirrels game in Richmond on Friday night. He seems excited about it. I'm looking forward to it and so is Shane. We spent the day finishing up the second Harry Potter movie and preparing for our dinner guests. We had my parents and Rob's parents and my grandmother over. I prepared grilled chicken Provencal, white cheddar tarragon potatoes and green beans. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal. Shane especially liked the Wicky Wacky cake I made for dessert---I was surprised since it has no icing. My dad loved his personalized guitar picks we gave him, complete with a picture of he and Shane on them. And, Rob's dad liked his Charlie Brown music box that Shane had picked out just for him. It was a good night and I think Rob had a pretty good Father's Day. We are so grateful for him and love him so so so much!

The grilled chicken Provencal (also EXCELLENT with tuna) I sauteed tomatoes, minced garlic, rosemary, parsley, sea salt, pepper and olive oil along with some red wine.

Mom & Dad playing at Cattails.

Me & My Daddy--Love ya Daddy!! :)

Longing for the weekend...

I'm sitting at my desk, daydreaming...not doing any of the work that's sitting in front of me--I am blatantly ignoring it, actually...I just returned from my lunch break, I went to Ware Neck Produce and Kelsick Gardens. I came back with bags of goodies---tomatoes, peppers, onions, limes, lemons, cilantro, blueberries, green beans--some pinot gris, honey pecan blue cheese spread and some pimento cheese. All I can think is how much I am going to enjoy all of those things this weekend and how I probably should've gotten an extra bottle of Pinot Gris...I wish that I could drink it now sitting at my desk, but I'll refrain. I find my mind drifting to things like, what I'd be doing if I didn't have to come to work again, ever. I'd probably be doing laundry and playing Toy Story--and that would be fine by me! I'd like to think that I'd be painting my toenails and going for bike rides with Shane. I'm daydreaming about the smell of the salt air at home and feeling the grass in my between my toes....I think about the way I always have to stop on the sidewalk and admire my hydrangeas when I walk by. I wonder if anyone else notices them as they drive by. I wonder what Francesca is doing--perhaps all of the things I just wished i was doing--and relishing in the moments she has without Shane there pulling her across the floor. Only 2 hours, 47 minutes, 29 seconds to go and I'll be there....

If I can't get home, this will do.... :)

The Magical Mind of Shane Norris...

Have you ever seen Toy Story 3??

The Cousin, The Beach & Goodbyes...

Another weekend bites the dust...it was a good one. I got off at 3 on Friday, which was completely awesome. I picked Shane up and hit the Food Kitty and then headed on home. Rob's cousin Billy and his wife Linda were visiting for the weekend. So, when they arrived at Rob's parents house, we went over and had a drink with them. We headed back home to have Matt & Teresa over for dinner...we had the most fabulous tuna dish--I wish I had taken a picture of the tuna all laid out on the platter, it was gorgeous--I made a garlic-tomato-rosemary topping for it and it was delish. I also made some amazing potatoes, White Cheddar & Tarragon--I'll share the recipe:

GRATIN OF POTATOES WITH WHITE CHEDDAR & TARRAGON

3 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/8" rounds
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. grd. black pepper
2 1/2 tsp. dried Tarragon

1 1/2 c. (packed) grated white cheddar (6 oz.)
1 c. whipping cream
1 c. dry white wine
Preheat oven to 400. Spray 9 x 13 baking dish. Layer 1/3 potatoes, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle with 1/3 salt & pepper. Sprinkle with 1/3 Tarragon, then 1/3 cheese. Repeat layering 2 more times. Whisk cream & wine in bowl to blend. Pour over potatoes. Bake uncovered until tender (about 1 hr.) Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

The tarragon went awesomely with the tuna. I think this dish will go on a regular rotation when we have guests. It was simple and easy...I guess pretty much anything that has wine in it is okay in my book :) On Saturday, I got some chores done in the morning, then we headed over to the beach. Nancy & Marty were there, so we hung out with them. Rob & Billy did some clamming...they caught more clams than I can remember anyone catching that close to the shore since Rob got his rake. Shane had a blast with Linda, Billy's wife. She played with him nearly all day long! Saturday night, we had dinner with Billy & Linda and Rob's parents at their place. Rob cooked a fabulous london broil on his charcoal grill--in the rain. We stood and watched a storm develop right over us--it was an awesome sight! The clouds were rolling and swirling and there was thunder and lightning---a pretty cool show...Shane fell asleep at the dinner table, so we finished our plates and went on home and hit the sack. By Sunday, we were so worn out! We lazed around in the morning, then Matt & Teresa came to say their goodbyes...Sad for us, but I know they will be back! I hope they know they always have a home in Bavon with us :) After they left, we decided since it was so nice out, we should hit the beach for a few, so we went over for a couple hours and hung out with Marty & Nancy. Then back to the house where we watched the Incredible Hulk and the first Harry Potter movie. And now, here we are, Monday again...ugghh! I hope everyone has a fabulous week!

Shane & Cousin Billy

Storm that come through on Saturday night (taken with my cell, so not that great)

Late Night Boating & New Friends...

Last night, we took Matt & Teresa Blashaw, our new temporary neighbors, out on the Half Moon for a sunset cruise that nearly turned into a midnight cruise...Matt is the host of this years Blog Cabin for the DIY network. They've been renting the house across the street from us and their time with us will come to close on Sunday...we'll miss those guys!! Such good, sweet, fun peeps! I might even have to go all west coast on them and take a trip out to Cali to see them sometime...We left our house last night around 6 and headed to the marina--we took the boat over to the DIY house where Matt has been working for the past month or so. It is truly one of the most amazing transformations I've ever seen! Some lucky soul will win the home and part of me wishes it could be Matt & Teresa (I'm sure he's probably exempt from winning) just so we could have them around more. Everyone had so much fun on the cruise--the guys all jumped over and swam, T & I enjoyed a couple of bottles of wine and Shane kept us entertained. One of my favorite parts of the night was when Shane realized that Matt was on TV and he swam up to him and asked him if he could put him and his cat (Francesca) on TV....He had the plan all laid out, it was to be a two hour show and during the show, Shane would pet Francesca....ha! What a trip!! Another one of the highlights of my evening was the 5 of us piled into my Lexus heading home and we were all singing Eminem's Without Me....haha! Priceless moment :) Matt & Shane making a plan


Shane, Teresa & Matt

Shane, Rob & Matt taking a late night swim

Matt, acting a fool, in Shane's sunglasses :)

Rob, Teresa, Matt & Me (I am totally bloated...too much wine!!!)

Fallen Chicken...

So, last night, Rob's parents invited my parents and us to join them for dinner. It was the first time that we had all had a meal together in a while. We started with cocktails and appetizers upstairs. It was great! Good wine, GREAT apps--some I want to try to make soon--and good conversations. Later, we headed downstairs to the beautifully set table for our meal. It smelled delicious. We all found our seats and Shane asked if he could bless the dinner, and as soon as he said Amen, the chicken fell...That's right! The new chicken dish that Annie made for us, slid right off the buffet table and went upside down onto the floor....there was a moment of complete silence as everyone turned to see what had happened--Annie put her hands over her mouth in disbelief and I just stared at our dinner laying on the floor and had the thought that no one delivers pizza to Bavon....then, all hell broke loose! HAH! I started laughing hysterically and everyone else followed suit, Shane went into hysterical crying and screaming because he thought he wasn't going to get any dinner, the phone started ringing, Roland Foster was knocking on the door and was there wearing nothing but towel...it was like a scene from a movie! It was the best! Ha! So, in true redneck Mathews girl fashion, I said, the floor was clean, let's eat it anyways! And we did...and I must say, it was delicious and it's now been named Fallen Chicken...

Yard Sales and Picnics...

So, I wrote a few weeks ago about Rob & I cleaning out the attic---the clean out came to a head on Saturday when we had our yard sale at Nancy & Marty's house. We arrived at 6:30am ready to sell! All of our wares were set up and it was the same day as the county wide yard sale...And soon, the crowds came!! People were coming quicker than we could keep up with--By 1:00pm, the sale was done, the crowds were gone, Rob & I had $300 in our pocket and we were on the way to the DAV with the left over stuff. We arrived at Nancy's on Friday night with a trailer filled to the brim, the bed of Rob's truck filled to the brim and the back seat of the truck filled to the brim. I went home with one lonely Rubbermaid container on Saturday afternoon! WOO HOO! What a great feeling :)

Sunday brought some rain in the morning, which knocked our boating adventure for that morning out. We had to be at our Morgan Family picnic at 4pm so once the sun showed up, it was too late to go out. So, we decided to wash and clean out my car instead. It was filthy! So, glad that worked out like it did. We went to the picnic at 4:30. That was held at Aunt Mary Jo's house this year...a great spot for a picnic! I wish I had taken some pictures, but I left my camera at home. Sitting on her waterfront yard at a wooden picnic table with mason jars filled with hydrangeas surrounded by family made me think of simpler times. The kids were running through the yard playing with sticks and dirt and having a ball, no batteries required :) The food was simple, yet fantastic--hot dogs, hamburgers and sweet tea. I think the scene from that yard yesterday could've just as easily occurred in 1964...I think we all need to take time out for a little simplicity every now and again.

Boat, Beach, No pictures...

So, one would think that I'd have 1000 pictures from the weekend, but the reality is I only have 3 and they are still on my camera. We had such a good time this weekend, taking pictures didn't even really enter my mind. We spend almost the entire weekend on the Half Moon...I'll tell you just how much we used it--our old boat (which is for sale, by the way if anyone is interested) has 100 hrs on the engine after 3 years of use...we put about 67 hours on the boat this weekend--so, we're making up for all the time we didn't spend on the other boat. On Saturday, Rebecca & I headed over to Newport News to Salon Mizu to see Kay--we both got haircuts and then went to lunch at Cheddars, then we enjoyed a little shopping at Macy's, Old Navy & JCPenney. After our adventure, we headed back to my house, where Rob took us and his sister on a cocktail cruise. It was fabulous! We didn't get back to the dock until almost 10pm! Sunday, we got up and went right to the boat---we cruised in waters we hadn't explored before and spent the entire day riding--we tried some fishing, but I think the H2O is still a little cold for that. Monday, more of the same, only we headed over to Gwynn's Island to our friends Emilie & Jason's house and pulled up to the beach and hung out with them. Shane had a blast!! It was hard to get up and head back to work on Tuesday...Especially with this killer hot weather we're having! I LOVE it! I wish I could be out and about all day long...So, we've got another cocktail cruise on the agenda for tonight and maybe more boating this weekend. I promise I'll take more pics on the next ride :)