My Friday Frills - Installment 5

Wow! These past two weeks have really flown by, but here we are again at the end of another week. We have been building a flagstone patio this past week, lugging each & every piece of stone into the backyard. There was a stone the other day as big as the hood of my car, so needless to say my arms & back are taking a beating. We are really looking forward to enjoying it this weekend though - we are in the homestretch!! Here is what has made those sore muscles more bearable this week:

1. Baby Portraits: I am fortunate enough to have a few photographer friends that have captured some beautiful shots of my children over the past few years. I have their work hanging all over our house, and truly

enjoy it every day. However, the other day I felt the need to drop into the $9.99 portrait studio for a few shots of the Bean at 6 months. She is so smiley these days, so I felt like the pictures could be pretty cute.

3. Impromptu Dance Parties: With the boy's naps becoming more & more scare these days, it is nice to have a way to get out some of that extra energy at the end of the day. I have been enjoying the workout as well! Our current favorite dance song - Justin Bieber's Never Say Never - don't lie, you know you love it as much as we do ;)

3. A Good Laugh: Do you ever get in one of those moods & just start looking on the Internet for a funny video that has been mentioned by someone and the next thing you know you are looking up every hilarious clip you can think of? My husband & I did this the other night, and ended up watching this video again which I still think is hilarious (big fan of Chris Parnell).

There you have it! Here's to a great weekend!

My Friday Frills - Installment 4

So, I missed last week because we ended up going out of town for a few days. Here's what's been on my list for the past two weeks - TGIF!

1. The Beach House: I am lucky enough to have in-laws with a

beach house that they so kindly let us frequent. With some of the warm weather we have been having, I am so looking forward to spending many Spring & Summer weekends down there. Monkey is at the age where he is really excited about it as well, and has taken to both the ocean & the boat (and more importantly, the

life jacket because there was a time when we thought we could never boat again with the tantrums that ensued when putting that blasted thing on!!). I have so many memories from growing up of spending time at the NC beaches, so I look forward to creating some with my kids.

2. Swim Lessons: Oh, my son will learn to swim this Spring - he has no choice :) I say that jokingly because the thought of managing two children at the pool who cannot swim is a bit overwhelming at this point! Swim lessons start next week at the YMCA - this will be his first time with a group lesson, which I actually think will suit him better than the private ones he took this past summer. He loves the water, just hates putting his face in - We'll see how it goes...

3. Top Chef All-Stars: Have I mentioned how much I love this show? And, it's just a bonus that this season it has all of these wonderful past chefs on it. It is what I look forward to watching most during the week - I seem to always walk away from it feeling inspired, and somehow I manage to create at least one excellent dinner a week because of the inspiration. Do you watch? I'm rooting for Carla or Richard.