First Beach Day of the Year

You would think that St. Patrick's Day would be too cold to go to the beach, seeing as it's in the middle of March.  But this year, you'd be wrong.  It was almost 85 degrees here on the lovely South Carolina coast, so we took advantage of it and took the kiddos to the beach.  We had to make a stop by Wal Mart first because I had yet to buy Taylor a bathing suit for this year and both kids needed some beach shoes so their feet didn't get cut up on the shells.  There is a really beautiful beach about 40 minutes away from our house, but we didn't really want to drive that far because we didn't know how long we'd be able to stay.  So we chose to go to the other beach that's only about 10 minutes away.  The only downside to that beach is that it is muddy when the tide is out and there are lots and lots of shells, so it makes it difficult for the kids to walk around barefoot without worrying that they're going to cut their feet on one.

Last year, Hunter was only 6 months old at the start of beach season, so I honestly had no idea how he would like the water this year.  It became clear about a minute after we got there because he trotted right out into the water after his sister and sat down and played for almost 2 hours! 

Taylor kept wanting Daddy to walk with her out into the water along the shore:

Hunter decided he wanted to help Daddy fish:

Taylor kept filling her bucket with water and sand, but by that point it was too heavy for her to lift, so we had to help her dump it out and start over again, haha:

Hunter chilling out with Mommy for a little while.  I think he got a little chilly sitting in the water for so long, haha:

Me and Marcus:

Hunter finally gave it up at almost 3 pm, only 2 hours past his normal naptime, haha:

I can't wait to post more pics of these silly kiddos playing at the beach this summer!  Hopefully this warm weather is here to stay!!  :)

Homemade pizza and movie night!

Yesterday we told Taylor that if she was good at daycare, we would have pizza and a movie night last night.  I got a good report when I picked her up, so movie night it was! 

I started making homemade pizza dough after I got my bread machine (used from a friend for $20!) and I think I've gotten better at it with a little practice.  Don't get me wrong, my first batch tasted good, it just was kinda plain and not shaped very well.  Since then, I convinced myself to spend the $7 to buy a rolling pin and I've learned to season the dough after I roll it out.  I think this makes all the difference in the taste of the final pizza.

I'm getting better at making a circle, yay!  :)  Anyways, before I put the dough on the pan, I sprayed the pan with Pam and sprinkled some cornmeal on top of that to keep the dough from sticking to the pan.   I seasoned the dough with a sprinkle of Italian seasoning blend, garlic powder, and onion powder.  Then I poked a few holes in the dough with a fork to keep an air bubble from forming and baked it for about 5-7 minutes on 400 degrees.  I learned to pre-bake the dough by trial and error because several pizzas I've made in the past were baked perfectly around the crust, but still tasted doughy in the middle.  Pre-baking the crust fixes that beautifully. 

Anyways, I made the pizza half with pepperoni and half with leftover taco meat and it was delicious!  We only had two slices left over, so I guess Marcus and the kids enjoyed it too! :)  And to make it feel more like delivery pizza, I heated up half a loaf of store-bought frozen cheesy garlic bread, cut it into 6 breadsticks, and served it with some marinara sauce for dipping.  Yum!

After Hunter went to bed, we snuggled up on the couch with popcorn (for me) and Cheetos (for Tay) to watch the movie Up.  Can you believe neither Marcus or I had seen it yet?  How this movie escaped our notice, I have no idea because it was great!  So cute and so sweet. :)  Marcus and I were laughing more than Tay was, especially at those silly, talking dogs.  Tay seemed to be completely enthralled with it and she actually sat and watched the entire movie.  :)

So we had a great Friday night!  Good food and a good movie and good family cuddle time!  :)

Broccoli Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I found this recipe a LONG time ago in one of my Family Circle magazines and it has absolutely been a staple in my menu plans since then.  Chicken breasts stuffed with cream cheese, cheddar, and broccoli are pretty hard to beat!

Here's the recipe:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 oz cream cheese (1/2 a package)

1 package frozen chopped broccoli florets, thawed

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons bread crumbs

1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper

1. Heat oven to 350.  Cut a pocket into the chicken breasts, cutting into, but not through.

This is easier with a small paring knife and your fingers to help pry the chicken apart without tearing it.

2.  Soften cream cheese slightly.  In a large bowl, combine broccoli, both cheeses, bread crumbs, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

3.  Stuff 1/3 cup of mixture into each chicken breast and secure the opening with a toothpick (or two, if needed).  Season chicken with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper.  Brown chicken over medium-high heat in two batches in a nonstick skillet for 3 minutes each side.

4.  Transfer chicken to a baking dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.  (If there is any leftover broccoli/cheese mix, I usually just add it to the pan with the stuffed chicken.)

I usually serve this with long-grain and wild rice, but it would go great with anything from mashed potatoes to egg noodles, as well.  Don't forget to remove the toothpicks before serving! :)

Garage Clean Up

This week, I've been trying to stay offline as much as possible because I go back to work next week and I still have a ton of things on my to-do list.  After procrastinating Monday and Tuesday, I finally decided to tackle the garage Wednesday afternoon.  It was a gorgeous day outside, not too hot and partly cloudy, so I had no excuses.

Our garage lately seems to have become a dumping ground for pretty much everything.  Kids' toys, workout equipment, Marine Corps gear, and out-of-season decorations have been piling up and it was getting hard to walk through there without stepping on something. So, before I started cleaning I took some pics.  Try not to judge, lol.  :)

After 3 hours of cleaning and sorting and organizing, it's not exactly how I want it, but it is miles ahead of where it was.  I think the best thing I did was to group things into sections.  All of the gardening supplies are together, all of the fishing stuff is together, etc.  Before, everything was everywhere and there was no cohesiveness.  I just can't function like that; my brain NEEDS organization in order to work well, haha. 

One of the other things we are going to do soon is mount some hanging shelves on the ceiling.  We should be able to put the hurricane shutters and a few plastic containers up there to free up some more floor space. I'm hoping that some of those toys that the kids have outgrown will fit up there as well because they're taking up the majority of one corner.  We're also planning on upgrading our shelving units so that we can mount them to the wall and get more of the smaller stuff off the floor.

Without further ado, here's the after pics:

Like I said, I know it still looks like a mess, but I'm happy with it because now I can actually walk from the house to the driveway in a straight line instead of having to weave around a bunch of STUFF.  :) 

The Commandant's Own and Silent Drill Platoon

Amazingly, in Marcus and my combined 19 years of service in the Marine Corps, neither one of us had ever seen the Silent Drill Platoon perform live.  Watch this commercial if you have no idea who the Silent Drill Platoon is:

Anyways, we got the opportunity to watch The Commandant's Own Drum and Bugle Corps and the Silent Drill Platoon perform this past week at the Air Station.  They did an amazing job and I'm glad we can now say that we've seen them perform in person. 


The Commandant's Own:

The Commandant's Own performed several selections, including Rocky Top and a medley from the movie Grease.  The entire group did an outstanding job; the way they performed reminded me of watching a marching band at a football game, except there were only drums and horns, instead of a full ensemble. 

The Silent Drill Platoon:

Yes, those are real bayonets on their rifles and the precision was really amazing to watch, especially when one row would spin their weapons (with the bayonets affixed) in between the other row's heads as they were marching forward.   Those rifles weigh 10.5 lbs each, so it is no easy feat to spin it around and toss it around like it weighs nothing, but these guys were able to do it.  They even did that single line where they spin their rifles in succession, like they did in the commercial. 

Both the Commandant's Own and the Silent Drill Platoon perform throughout the summer in Washington DC at the "Evening Parade" in front of Marine Barracks 8th and I and they travel throughout the country doing shows.  If you ever get the chance to see this performance, you should definitely go!

Painting, Day Four

I am finally getting around to posting the pictures from the fourth day of painting last week.  I decided after that day that I was done painting for a while.  I was getting burned out and I was tired and sore from climbing up and down the ladder all day for four days straight.  That, and I ran out of paint. :)  I got the hallway upstairs done, so now the only thing left to paint is the loft and the stairwell. 

Here's the before at the top of the stairs:

And after:

The before of the hallway:

And the after:

Outside Taylor's room before:

And after:

This is what I have left to paint:

The Infamous Monstrosity of a Stairwell

That wall is going to be incredibly time consuming and to be honest, it scares me.  I am definitely going to wait on a day when both Marcus and I can be home because I really don't want to fall off a 20 foot ladder while I'm by myself.  Not that I think I'd fall off, but you know, just in case.  That's a long way up!

Painting, Day Three

Today I finished painting all I can downstairs.  In order for me to finish the last wall, I'm going to need a really tall ladder!  I gotta say, painting for three days straight has been rough on my body! Especially from going up and down the ladder about 1,500 times!  My shoulders hurt, my back hurts, and my hands are cramped from holding the brush for so long!  But I'm determined to get this done before I go back to work!  I've been wanting to paint since before we moved in, so it's only two years late.  But better late than never, I suppose! :)  Anyways, here's the pics!

The long living room wall before:

And after:

The TV wall and stair wall before:

And after:

The rest of the formal living room/dining room before:

And after:

And last, the rest of the formal living room after:

Tomorrow, I'll be tackling the upstairs hallway and loft and I am hoping that I can get it all finished so that I can try to find a ladder and completely finish on Friday.  I'll post more pics tomorrow!