Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Vegetarian Sandwiches


--1 long loaf of French of Cuban  bread
-Pesto
-Chive cream cheese
-fontiana cheese
-carmelized onion
-sliced black olives
-roasted red pepper
-sundried tomatoes
-olive oil
-seasonings of choice

Slice bread in half, lie on cookie sheet and drizzle olive oil on bread, and sprinkle with desired seasonings.  Toast for about 5 minutes in 350 degree oven.  Take toasted bread out of oven.  Cut bread in half, spread one sandwich with chive cream cheese, other sandwich with pesto, on both sides of bread.  Assemble toppings on one side of each sandwich, topping with fontina cheese slices.
Leave open-faced, and place (still on cookie sheet) under broiler til cheese bubbles.  Remove from oven, place other half of bread ontop of sandwich, and slice diagonally into smaller sandwiches, as shown above.

This was a WINNNER!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

My Sweet Innocent Four Year Old

Fairy Girl and I had a wonderful moment this morning---we had a heart to heart on my bed.  I asked her how her date with daddy was last night (they went to see a concert in the park).  And then I asked her if she's excited for her upcoming birthday and how old she will be, her response, "mmm hmmmm.  Five!.  I'm going to get a horse and a carriage (yes she will:) and a Ken Doll (not so sure)!"  I said, are you sure you really want a Ken Doll, I mean look at the way you've treated him in the past: (here's a  note and another note from the past if you care to venture back.)  Her response, "NO MOMMY, FIVE girls don't do that!"

Friday, August 27, 2010

Flashback Fridays---My Latest Blog Feature



I'm feeling a wee bit nostalgic and deprived.  I feel nostalgic--because my baby girl is now a first grader, and my littlest baby is now in kindergarten!  Even if we are very blessed to be homeschooling, my little girls are no longer babies and toddlers--they are school-age children!  I feel deprived because I did not enter the wonderful world of blogging until the end of 2008, so I feel I missed out on something by not blogging their baby days.  Henceforth (yes, I indeed said "henceforth":), I'm going to take care of that "craving" with my newewst blog feature--I'm going to join the ranks and host "flashback Fridays."  Get ready for some "flashing"!!!  (note, there is no order, rhyme, or reason to the pictures I post---just enjoy my most adorable babies---they are, I'm sure you'll agree:)

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Lost!!!

Little Angel's alligator was found missing (is that an oxymoron?) yesterday at the sprinklers in Hilton Head--she's VERY upset, and really asked if we could hang posters to help find him (I think he was picked up by another small child:)--Anyway--I told her the best I could do would be to post this on the web.  If you have any information leading to the safe return of Alex, my household and sanity would be much more peaceful:D

Scrapbook Page---Hilton Head

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Butterflies and Pizza Cones

We took a little field trip today, to the Coastal Discovery Museum in Hilton Head.  I saw they had a Butterfly Garden-House, and thought the girls would enjoy that.  The museum is in the site of an old plantation house, and is very beautiful.  In addition to the butterflies, we heard our first alligators--a baby, and a male making a mating call--how many of you have ever heard an alligator before?  (ok they were recorded, but, still, how many of you have heard one:)  We also saw a very large skeleton of a loggerhead sea turtle, and a skull of an alligator.  There was also a hands-on learning room; the girls were also able to dress in traditional Guhlla girls' outfits (if you aren't familar with the term Guhlla girl, as I wasn't before we moved to the Low Country Sea Islands--here you go--  Gullah 



Shortly before we moved, I happened to catch a segment on The Food Network, showcasing a little place in Hilton Head that makes Pizza Cones!  We HAD to try a pizza cone.  Well, today was finally the day, and they were quite fun and delish.  It was interesting, we talked quite a bit to the owner and her business manager (the two who were also on the food network segment).  I congratulated them on getting the gig.  They said one week, on a Wednesday, they were approached by Food Network, and one week later they were filming!  The filming crew showed up before 7 am, and stayed for 12 HOURS!  Oh, and it was for a 2.5 minute segment!!!  They said it really gave them a huge boost in their business!

BTW, their gelato was quite good too.  I had tiramisu.  Here's the restaurant:
And, in case the butterflies and pizza cones wasn't enough fun for one day, the girls and I did some shopping in Hilton Head---I got three more sundresses:D (shhh, hope J doesn't read this blog entry:D)  Then the girls hit the spray zone and the beach, where they met a new friend, Alexa.  A good time was had by all!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

James Island Splash Park

We had a wonderful day together today.  J's been working 7 days a week, plus very late hours for the two months we've been down here.   His hours are getting old, fast!!  So, today, he did NOT go in, and our family DID get out to James Island Splash Park in Charleston.  We also had a great night after in The Battery, Charleston, stay tuned...

http://www.ccprc.com/index.aspx?NID=93

Friday, August 20, 2010

Buddy the Girl Turtle excited about her shrimp snack!

The Diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) or simply terrapin, is a species of turtle native to the brackish coastal swamps of the eastern and southern United States, from as far north as Cape Cod, Massachusetts and as far south as Cape Sable, Florida.

Angel Art--Our New Home


We received a call from Auntie E and Auntie A the other night, as they were leaving their wonderful vacation.  Sadly, we haven't seen them since November of 2008---they tried twice to come see us, but because of various things we were going through, we had to turn them down (including moving out of state:)  2009 was just a rough and travel busy year, so we never made it back to Ohio (and of course same for this year, but we WILL make it back to OH, in the next month or two!).  Their little nieces have grown in the almost two years since they've last seen them!  Anyway, I think their aunties are missing their nieces, because they called and requested that they color pictures of our new house, etc, and mail them to them.  So, here you go!  (the physical pictures will be mailed to Ohio as soon as I find an envelope and fill it out:)

In case the pictures need any explanation, the first is obviously a rainbow!  We had a major rain storm for two days straight this past weekend--it barely rained the whole two months we've been here, but definitely made up for it in two days!  I'm also guessing the rainbow is a metaphor for Little Angel being happy about our move and fresh start--we found our pot of gold.

Of course the second photo is our house!

And the third, our VERY own pool!!  The people must be mommy and daddy, since I'm the only one with "yellow" hair.  Isn't that sweet of her to still see her mommy in a "bikini!"  Major brownie points for that (did I say brownie?  mmmmm, perhaps that's part of my issue:)

Summer and Sunsets and Sweet Times

Friday, August 13, 2010

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens


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We had a wonderful two days this week, visiting the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, located in Charleston, SC.  The plantation was established in 1676; the family opened its doors to the public for their spectacular gardens in 1870.  These are the oldest public gardens in America!

Our tickets allowed us to come back a second day within the same week; so that is what we did!  On the first day, we enjoyed the petting zoo---we actually saw an albino racoon there, along with goats, ducks, bunnies, a pig, reptiles, deer, an owl, and many varieties of birds and exotic birds.  After, we headed over to the gorgeous area with the red bridge, saw the gazebo, statues, and lots of marsh wonderment and beauty.  They lock the gates at 5:00, but people are welcome to walk the grounds until sunset--but my girls got hungry so we had to leave (this was a spontaneous trip, so we didn't arrive very early:)  We headed out of the beautiful grounds and found a wonderful local Charleston Cafe called the Bear E Cafe--mmmmmmmm (we won't talk about the Italian Berry Creme Cake I consumed--why oh why do I do stuff like that:O)

And that is why we opted to come back the next day again!  This time I packed a picnic lunch (though we still didn't get an early start--my girls like to stay up late and sleep in the mornings--that WILL change:)  We arrived to take the one hour train ride, immediately followed by the boat ride.  We had such a wonderful time, and got to see areas of the planation that would not be easy to cover by foot (maybe with a bike)--but definitely not with children:)  While on the train, we saw a man mowing the lawn--exciting, eh:)   He's been working the grounds since 1946!!!  He LOVES his job, which is why he still chooses to work:)  We saw the swamps, and wildlife of the swamps, a very LARGE ancient Indian burial ground (1000's of years old), a few alligators, the slave houses, and some ancient live oaks.  The one pictured above is over 400 years old!  It's HOT down here in the summer (pretty hot everywhere I've heard)---but it really cools down to very comfortable temps in all the shaded areas--the tram was a very relaxing way to see some of the grounds!

Following the tram ride, we hopped off a bit early at the plantation house, where we were to catch our boat!  Finally found the path to the boat (just behind the house), where we were greeted by exquisite beauty: flowers, water, trees, and dragonflies!!  It's interesting to note, the first day there, I saw mostly green dragonflies, and the second day, mostly blue.  I caught some really good photos of the dragonflies, which I will post another time.  The boat was a pantoon.  It took us through the swamps---the girls and I LOVED the boat ride.  It was so peaceful and relaxing (and made me VERY excited for J to quit working 7 days a week, so we can get ours out.  I already hit him up for maybe replacing ours with a pantoon--his response--no way, he wants to ski (with the alligators?)  --but with the brackish waters here, we'll probably have to replace ours anyway, so he said we'll look at a deck boat:)  I'm just looking for the tranquility of kayaking, but out of alligators' reach:)  We saw many birds and a few alligators on the guided boat tour---the girls love the cattails of the very peaceful marshes.


After the wonderful guided boat tour, we headed back to the plantation house to their gift shop--my children were STARVING and didn't feel they could make it back the two blocks to the parking lot where our picnic lunch awaited:D  (ok ok, I wanted to go into the gift shop too, what woman doesn't)--And the gift shop was really neat--very elegant and regal--like the plantation---I fell in love with a picnic basket, with pink or purple gingham fabrics and minature ceramic tea sets (I see some sweet little girls' birthday ideas here.....).  We made it through the multi room gift shop without doing too much damage, and headed back to the car to gather our picnic.  Picnic in hand (or over shoulder:) we ventured back to the area by the snackbar and petting zoo, under a large wooden and shaded picnic area, which was nicely cooled by ceiling fans and cool misting waters---great idea!  We dined with two rather chatty peacocks (btw, if you've never heard peacocks before, they are loud!  The sound like a cross between a hawk and a cat:)  They are beautiful though!  Following a wonderful relaxing picnic, we headed back to stroll through some of the gardens again, over by the marshes, where Little Angel disovered Miss Julianna, a very old wooden boat which was used to transport cotton and rice (they had some of the bailed cotton on the boat).  There was an ancient looking canoe onboard as well!

We ended our wonderful day together by driving out of the grounds and back into the entry way to the cute children's park (which I used for leverage to keep the girls on their best today:)  The train was what originally drew them, but we had no idea how much fun they were going to have climbing trees (trees, with large roots and trunks, partly parallel to the ground, making it "safe" in my eyes:)



The girls cannot wait to return to the Plantation, and we cannot wait to bring visitors here.  But, there is almost too much to do and explore here, and we cannot wait to share in our new adventures with each other and you!!!