Shaz by the Sea

It looks like I preliminary posted my blog about the fall season...so here's a follow up.   I say that because I now have a few pictures of my minimal fall decorations -- and we also just returned from Wilson Farms in Lexington to grab some fruit, fresh bread, and veggies. And boy was it PACKED. We started the morning with some homemade banana and chocolate chip pancakes. It was a simple recipe made from ingredients I always have on hand (egg, milk, flour, sugar, butter, bananas, chocolate chips). I made 8 pancakes - 4 for Daddy, 2 for C and C, and 2 for Mom! Then we played outside on the deck. It was really chilly this morning - so thankfully we had our sweaters nearby to toss on quick. In fact, it was so chilly, you could see your breath! Then we tried our very first [whole] apple. Of course we've had tons of apples before, but usually either mushed up in our homemade baby food last fall, or chopped up more recently. To be honest, we ar

H A P P Y F A L L ! Two years ago, I blogged about a lot of my favorite fall recipes - including a lot of squashes, like spaghetti squash recipes.  Last year, I wrote about tons of homemade baby food recipes including squash and carrots and other healthy fruits and veggies. This year, I decorated the house for the "fall" season more than I ever have in the past, and I also have an apple pie currently in the oven (17 more minutes left on the timer....). Fun Saturday night! ;) Jim went to his undergrad college today, WPI, for alumni weekend. He likes to go since he was President while we were in school - and also because he is an attorney. He wants to help out where he can. That being said, Conor and Caden and Mommy had the day to ourselves. Grampa stopped by today and we went to Wegmans...but we spent most the day together ourselves. And same yesterday since daycare was closed for a holiday. So naturally, we had a bit of a fall photo-shoot all weekend long. My fav.

Last night my Mom, Dad, Chrissy, and Lindsey came over our house to celebrate my Dad turning the big 6-0. My mom's birthday is now today (happy birthday!!) so all in all, it was a fun celebratory night! In honor of my Dad's birthday, we had his most favorite things for him -- scali bread with butter, shrimp cocktail, chicken marsala, cannolis from Roma's . We also gave him scratchies, dunkin donuts gift cards, capital grille gift cards, and steak/steak tips from the Boston Public Market I wrote about a few days ago. I think he loved his bday!!   Here's the birthday boy coming over last night. He thought he and my mom were going out to dinner but instead, we all celebrated at my place for the evening, played with C and C, listened to music, enjoyed dinner and dessert. It was fun.       We had a few decorations and played "Who Let the Dogs Out" when he arrived at my house. For those of you who know my dad, you know that song is an old fav of hi

We had some of our very best friends over yesterday to watch the Patriots game and for us, it was a big deal. Sure, we've hosted several football parties in the past throughout DC and LA, but now we are home in Massachusetts with our oldest and closest friends, it was something that made Jim and I very happy. I don't want any of our friends in LA to take that the wrong way - it's just something about being home with the fall weather approaching, watching football with your high school/college friends (or Shayla, elementary school friends) that just brings you back. There's nothing like it. Here's a quick recap of our day... Conor and Caden are playing with Tori (not pictured - in the bathroom lol). The kids did so great. It's awesome when friends have kids the same age as your kids. Not only is the house already baby/toddler-proofed, there are also tons of new toys that make the kiddos very excited and entertained. Everybody needed a little rest after

Conor and Caden have really grown up these last few weeks. They have become more verbal, more responsive, they joined the big kids in "circle time" at school, and have brought home so many arts and crafts projects. Here they are doing a craft project with cut-outs from a magazine, learning new shapes! We brought the boys to Lynch Park in Beverly today. It is a beautiful park overlooking the ocean and borders the Rose Garden where tons of weddings take place. There was actually a wedding going on around 4PM today while we were there. I had fun doing a photo shoot with the boys. Here are a few highlights.  This pic is a little late - but I felt it was a fun memory and should be shared. :) Chrissy and Linds came over a few weeks ago and we had a great workout. Linds created a new circuit for us that we were able to do outside. You can find her older kettlebell workout here. We did kettlebell swings, kettlebell presses, squats, mountain cl