Happy Holidays!

Greeting customized with Smilebox

Happy Birthday, Dada!

44th birthday dinner :)

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Fun reminder of the kids at the beach: an outdoor banner

Took this photo on June 11th, 2011 as the kids approached the beach on the first day of vacation.

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Stone Harbor Top Ten (more or less) 2011

Nat:
Going to the pirate golf course
Going to the beach
Going on bike rides
Going on a walk
Playing frisbee with dad at the beach
Playing football with dad
Watching that big claw thingy (army corps of engineers' beach reclamation project)

Lizzie:
My favorite time is swimming in the sand
Building sand castles and playing with my friends (Fiona and Natalie)
My other favorite part of the day is um um going under bridges
Playing frisbee with Nat and Daddy
Flying kites

Jeff:
Swimming in the ocean
Bike rides
Mini putt putt
Food
Playground
Weather was awesome
Kite flying
Smell of the air
Trip to bookstore with Lizzie
Hanging out with family

Amy:
Late afternoon @ beach, Lizzie on my lap & digging in sand
Jumping waves with Nat
Riding our bikes to Avalon for lunch and mini golf
Watching Lizzie make beach friends with Fiona & Natalie
Collecting seashells
Enjoying dinner @ the house with the whole gang - Chris, Tiziana, Christian, Mom,Paul, Adam, Jeff, Nat and Lizzie.
Checking out the Wayward Gardener and finding an antique wooden doormat and 3 little birds.
Listening to Jeff play the guitar on the porch while enjoying a glass of wine
Being surprised with a Hershey's chocolate pie from my bro and Nat.
Seeing Nat, Lizzie and Christian play.

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Lizzie playing by her own rules @ age 3 1/2

Stone Harbor 2011

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Clean Slate

It's been one of those weeks where I'd like a rewind button or, better yet, a clean slate. A fresh beginning.

At times like this, I love a good project that involves physical labor and a visible reward in a reasonably short period of time.
One afternoon, I tore out the green indoor/outdoor carpet that I have abhored since we bought our home almost seven years ago. (I placated myself by thinking that it provided a safer, softer surface for our babes.)

After a lot of scraping and washing and scraping and Home Depot consults and scraping, I chose to forgo muriatic acid to remove the mastic (carpet glue...I'm a project geek!). I committed to a coat of Behr concrete & masonry primer, followed by two coats of Behr porch & exterior paint in "pebbled path".

Voila! A fresh looking porch with a crazy new Mad Mat in a Turkish design and what our friend Pam calls "Wahoowa" colors.

Thank you Pam for your help and patience with this (and that).

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Can we pet the stingrays?

Yes! Nat was obsessed with petting the stingrays @ the Pittsburgh Zoo. While the quality of the photo is abysmal, the joy on Nat and Alice's face is clear.

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