Mother's Day

This year I turned 32 on Mother's Day! Andy did his best to see that the day was extra special for me. He started off by supervising all three kids making french toast for breakfast. They all did a great job! Here are some photos of the great event: Dad cooking with all three kids while I sat and read a magazine and drank my coffee (I couldn't resist getting up to take a few pictures though!)

After a wonderful breakfast, Andy's folks came down and his mom and I took the boys to church. Their Sunday school teacher, Mrs. Barr is a wonderfully sweet woman who does a special Mother's Day get-together/program every year. It's really pretty special. The boys sang songs, recited scripture, gave us flowers and a plate with a picture of them modge-podged onto the center...cute! While we were at church, Andy and his Dad stayed home while Lizzie napped and then took her to the grocery store to buy all the groceries for a great lunch and dinner! I tried to make it a little easier on Andy by suggesting that maybe he buy an ice cream cake from Coldstone, but he insisted he was going to make a cake.

Chef Andy continued by grilling up some fantastic burgers for lunch. Then we all rested for awhile and watched the Phillies play while the kids napped. I asked once or twice about the cake and got stopped short, so I quit bugging them. Right as they were about to start all the dinner prep work, I mentioned it again and Andy said, "oh no, I totally forgot! We don't have enough time now, do we?" I let them off easy and said we could just go out to get ice cream instead. I like the ice cream better than the cake anyway. We agreed that's what we'd do and then he and Kimmy made a great dinner: grilled shrimp, grilled chicken, baked potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, and spinach salad (okay, I made the salad...they were working so hard to get all the rest done I just had to help out a little :-) ).Everything was yummy! Thanks, guys!

We all headed outside to play ball for awhile and then went in to get ready to go get ice cream. Up from the basement comes Andy carrying a big chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream cake from Coldstone!!!!! Little bugger got me! They all were in on it, even my neighbors, Al and Sandy who came over to go with us! So, it was a great day with lots of great food and I didn't cook a thing!!!

Thanks, guys, for making Mother's Day and my birthday so very special. I love you all so much and kids, I'm so thankful to be your Mommy. You all are so amazing and I just adore you and thank God for you every day.

T-Ball

Jake has started his second season of t-ball. He seems a little more excited about it this year, so that's good. It kills Andy that the boys don't want to play ball much in the backyard with him. Lizzie is actually the one who always goes for the ball and wants to have a catch. Andy says, "finally, I got my ballplayer." We're not giving up hope yet. They'll be fine. They'll start to get more interested when their little sister starts throwing and hitting harder than them :-).

Waiting for his turn to hit. Don't they all look like a bunch of bobblehead dolls?

Tiny little bodies, giant heads (that wobble when they run the bases!)

He's actually hitting the ball okay this year (though I'm sure your baseball fanatic Merkles will critique his swing :-) )

Firehouse Visit

Our little playgroup got the opportunity to visit the Camden-Wyoming Fire Department on Friday. Deputy Chief Tom took us on a tour of the whole building (fantastic!), the kids got to sit on the truck, practice stop-drop-and roll, squirt the hose, etc. It was great!Our group of kids in front of the big firetruck
Jon with Firefighter Brandon squirting the hose


Jon and Cameron, thrilled to be sitting on a firetruck (notice they both have firetrucks on their shirts...this was a big deal for them!)

Big Shoes to Fill

Spring is Here!

The weather had been so nice, it was time to break out the screens. Andy decided to clean them off before putting them back in all the windows. The boys...and later, Lizzie, too, decided it was more fun to squirt the water at each other than onto the screens. They had a blast!

Greek-Style Chicken Burgers

Greek-Style Chicken Burgers

These are so moist and flavorful! What a great change-of-pace from the typical beef burger! The sauce is fantastic! I served the extra sauce with veggies and crackers. Yum!

Sauce:
½ c sour cream (I used light)
¼ c. chopped peeled cucumber
¼ c. crumbled feta cheese
1 ½ tsp. dill weed
1 ½ tsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
Burgers:
1 med. onion, finely chopped
¼ c. dry bread crumbs
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 lb. ground chicken
4 hamburger buns
4 lettuce leaves
4 tomato slices

Combine sauce ingredients in small bowl. Set aside.
For the burgers, combine onion, crumbs, oregano, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Crumble chicken over mixture and mix well. Shape into four burgers. Coat grill rack with cooking spray. Grill burgers, covered, over medium heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until the meat is no longer pink. Serve each on a bun with lettuce, tomato, and 2 Tbsp. sauce.

Note: I served these with a cucumber-tomato salad (dice cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion. Add feta and greek vinaigrette dressing)

Weekend with the Merkle Clan

The weekend after Easter, Scott, Laura, Kristen and "Muncle" Bean came up from Nashville. We threw a big open house baby shower for Scott and Laura at Merkle's house. It was great having everyone all together again. We also got to see Grandmom Merkle, GG and Wonderful Ed, and part of the Dickson clan from Philly (Andy's aunt, uncle and cousins). It's always nice to get together with family and we're thankful to get to celebrate the upcoming birth of Scott and Laura's first baby.

Our kids with Grandmom Merkle

I'm sad to say, but this is the first time Grandmom got to meet Lizzie

On Sunday afternoon, the Merkle clan headed to the Phillies game! It was the Phanatic's birthday, so the kids got free t-shirts (even the unborn Merkle...no, not ours :-) Finally someone else in the family is pregnant!) Here are Jake and Jon getting free rides from Andy and Uncle Toe

Here we are, dressed in full Phillies attire.

And the whole gang...

In the front, "Muncle" Bean, Mommom, Kristen, Jake

In the back, Toe, Laura, Kimmy, "Muncle" Don, Jon, Andy, Lizzie, Me, and Popsy

We had a great time. Poor Laura took a bunch of smack from everyone for the location of our seats. Thanks, Laura, for finding the tickets for such a large group. We had a blast, despite the nosebleeds ;-) You did great!

Fun weekend, everyone!! Thanks!!!