Journal

It's really not a journal so much

as a collection of thoughts

and occasional scrap paper.

The Boat

Recently, we visited Jim's parents' boat and you can tell from these pictures that we had a great time!

Pit stop at Wawa where Cullen starts spotting trucks.  Note the pure amazement in the next two pictures. 
Cullen + Trucks= True Love.

We made it!

I can picture it now.  He absconds with a boat while arguing with his brother...

and uh oh, there's a problem...  By the way, these last two pictures capture Cullen's personality better than any other pictures I have ever taken.

Arden.

Cullen trying to open the door.

Me and Arden.

He enjoyed hanging out on the boat.

By the time we left, he was practically a sailor.

Thanks, Mom Mom and Pop Pop!

A time machine

People always say that Arden looks like me, but from the day he was born, I thought that Arden had an uncanny resemblance to my Dad.  His little forehead wrinkles and blue eyes, his laid back personality and mysterious looks are all traits that remind me of my Dad. 

Watching Arden grow up truly is like having a time machine, it's facinating to know what my Dad looked like as a baby!  And now, there's finally proof, check out the photo comparisons below.  And by the way, I love this picture of my Dad because it's so Americana; 1950's at it's best!  He looks so happy and cute and I'm thinking that my Aunt Carolyn may have had something to do with the cowboy outfit?

Something treasured

While I was at the beach this weekend,

I happened upon this card.

It quite perfectly captures how I feel about a select few people.

My friends.

My husband.

My family.



Jim's Birthday Dinner

For Jim's Birthday Dinner, we went to a local sushi restaurant.  The dinner was amazing and the food was delicious.  Please enjoy:

Happy Birthday Jim

I'm ending my 30 day blog challenge with a crescendo; Happy Birthday Jim! You're a wonderful husband and father and I'm so lucky to have you in my life. Love you!

Parenting Truth II

I care more about what my children wear than what I wear. One of my greatest fears is that my "styling" of them will somehow negatively impact their social career.

Kinda obessed

See, I'm obsessed with bigos.  So delicious!

It's about half as good

I see things like this all the time and think, if only I could do something half as good as that; so I did... or at least I think I did.  And if you don't, please don't burst my bubble.

Here's how I did it:

Supplies.

Trace the letter.

Start gluing.

Start layering the buttons.



Taadah!  The finished product.



Brunch

Check out this amazeballs brunch that Jim and I hosted in honor of Megan's birthday.  That's right, I'm a hostess.  Eat it!

1 egg bite with wheat toast and freshly cracked pepper and sea salt.

German pancake.

Homemade vanilla glaze.



Perfectly glazed cinnamon roll.



The birthday girl.

Corn, onion, tomato and avocado salad with a cilantro and lime vinaigrette.

Nutella and greek yogurt fruit dip.

Smoked cheddar cheese from our local growers market.

Not to toot toot myself, but seriously this was a very chic, sophisticated brunch; two things of which I am not.  My version of a Sunday brunch is a bologna and ketchup sandwich with a side of cheese balls around 11ish.  So props to me (and Jim) for pulling this off.

Our Collective Heritage

Jim and I are both Polish, which means our kids are also Polish (wasn't that really Polish of me to say that?). Today we decided to go to a Polish festival.  Please enjoy these pictures.  Also, much to my sadness a few things couldn't be captured on film, most notably, the priest who was wearing a red cowboy hat and the Polish band who sang, "Sex on the Beach" by The Vengaboys; mark my words, I shall be prepared next year!

Taking it in.

Steamed kielbasa with sauerkraut. Delicious.

Bigos.  Amazeballs.  Totally youtubed the recipe on the ride home.






The placki was to fantastic.



I'm a sucker for a shirt that makes a cultural statement.  We bought 2.

The golumpki was terrific and I don't even like golumpki!

And we saved the dessert for the ride home.