:: Monkey Sea, Monkey Do ::

I know I shouldn't be up at midnight this excited about a simple splash page, but I can't help it! We're one step closer to getting our oliviacharlesantiques.com site up and running and I cannot wait.

Have any of you ever heard of Sea Monkeys? Better yet, have any of you ever GROWN sea monkeys? My friend Autumn gave Peesh (Peesh is Parrish's nickname give to him by his sudo-brother, Trotter when they were 2) this Sea Monkey's kit as a happy for his recovery period. It was basically like rocket science (ok, probably not for most people, but for me it was) and involved going onto the internet for further research because I could not decipher the pictures and the written directions were about as clear as mud. So, after said research I devised a very scientific sticky note method to tell myself what to do. (Can you tell I was dreading having to explain to Parrish why no Sea Monkey's appeared?)

Once I got over the initial first week I got the hang of it and I am proud to say that we now have lots of little, tiny sea monkey's swimming around in their "tank". They are currently too tiny to show up in a picture, so I'll have to post one when they're a little bigger. If you want a fun activity with your kids this summer and a solution to their begging for a pet, try it out. You can even use my sticky note cheat sheet to get you started!

And as is the case most of the time these days, my emotions as I sit here go from elated to defeated. My train of thought went something like this...we're leaving for the beach next week, did we go to the beach this time last year?, then yes, we did and it was Olivia's first beach trip. And just like that my smile turns to tears and I am still sitting here wondering how any of this could have happened. How we could be where we are. This time last year I was laughing as I tried to squeeze Livy's "buddha belly" into her little fish bikini and marveling at how laid back she was napping on the beach or sitting in her bath sling under the tent and laughing. Those images are thankfully seared in my memory, but a memory can never compare to a touch and my arms are aching for her tonight and always.

The look on our little man's face says it all-complete adoration for his "Sissy." We love you baby girl and miss you so much!

⁸ We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. ⁹ In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.

1 Corinthians 1:8-9

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:: Horsing Around ::

Proving once again that a little foot surgery is not going to keep him down, Parrish went to his new friend Elle's house to ride her mommy's horse Jack this weekend. Although a little intimidated by the sheer size of him at first, he quickly warmed up and of course didn't want anyone to "help" him. Cannon had to spot him phantom-style to keep him from pushing his hand away and saying, "I don't need any help!" :) Elle's mommy is my friend and old co-worker at Southern Living. She's had horses her entire life and she and her sweet hubby Lloyd have built an amazing house and barn. We loved being there!!

Otherwise, this weekend has been filled with lots of bday celebrations for my sweet friend's Britney and Jen. Friday night we celebrated Brit by going out for mexican and Sunday night we had a delicious dinner celebration of filets and sushi at Jen's house. Way to go ship-shape, for planning a great dinner party all by yourself!!

Parrish swam with CC for the first time this summer yesterday and did great. We're going to try to get him in the water at least once a day to build his strength back up.

Today I'm excited for a Memorial Day cook-out at the Cash's house. I have to say that we are so used to going out of town for Memorial Day weekend that we thought it might be boring staying in town this year, but it has been nothing less than jam packed with fun. I hope you're all having a great weekend as well!

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:: Roast Pork with Pears ::

We're hosting Cannon's aunt and uncle for dinner tonight, so Parrish and I made this recipe today. I've made it a few times and it is impressive (perfect for the boss' dinner, holidays, etc) without being difficult.

Roast Pork with Pears

3/4 cup fresh parsley leaves

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh sage, plus sage leaves for roasting

3 garlic cloves

Salt and pepper to taste

5 Tbsp olive oil

1 boneless pork loin roast, about 3.5 lbsm halved horizontally (I get the butcher to do this step for me)

3 ripe Bosc pears, halved lengthwise

4 leeks, white portions, halved lengthwise

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In mini food processor, process parsley, chopped sage, garlic, salt, pepper and 3 Tbsp oil into fine paste. Spread on cut side of one pork half; place other half on top. Tie roast with kitchen twine. Tuck sage leaves underneath twine. Season roast with salt and pepper.

I told Parrish to get next to the roast for a picture and he literally touched the side of his head to the raw roast. Oops. I couldn't stop laughing. I guess he took me literally.

In 5 1/2 qt. dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm 2 Tbsp. oil. Add pears, cut side down; cook 5 minutes. Transfer to plate. Brown pork on all sides, 8 minutes. Transfer to plate. Place leeks, cut side down, in pot in single layer. Set pork on top. Place pears along sides of pot.

Roast for 45-55 minutes. Transfer pork to carving board; tent with foil. Let rest 10 minutes. Transfer leeks and pears to platter. Slice pork; arrange on platter. Serves 8-10

(recipe from the Williams Sonoma catalog-I changed the type of pears to one that is in season during the summer)

Herb snippers-a life saver. I cook with a lot of fresh herbs during the summer and have recently found the solution to getting that tiny foliage off the stems without going crazy. These snippers (from Fresh Market-found in the produce section) have a center section that you place the herb stems in and then pull gently to remove the leaves! It's a snap. One more reason not to go the easy route and head to the spice cabinet!

I'm serving the roast with these baby carrots. I get tired of making the same old veggies and these provide some variety. You can get the recipe here.

Parrish helped me clip some hydrangeas from the yard for a centerpiece. Someone once told me that if you go to a lot of trouble with centerpieces and fancy dinners it looks like you're trying too hard because everyone knows it's not something you would normally do. I have the exact opposite opinion. I don't just do this for company. I don't always make a fancy dinner and have centerpieces on the table, but I do prepare meals with love and set a pretty table at least a few times a week because it is a way that I show my love to my family and friends and something that I both enjoy doing and get satisfaction from.

Parrish has been earning marbles now for about 2 years. A friend told me about this parenting tool and I love it. When Parrish does a chore (like setting the table) or gets a good report from school, or has good behavior, or has to have a shot, or does a workbook page, he gets to choose one marble for his jar. When the jar is full he gets to pick out a new toy. It helps so much with the daily shouts of, "mommy, come here-this is so neat-I want that!" while watching commercials. I just say, "oh, that's so cool. Are you going to earn your marbles for that?" He always says yes (and yes, every other day what he is earning his marbles for changes) and that's the end of it. Same goes for when we're at the store and he's begging for some toy. It instantly puts the ball back in his court. I've said no without making him feel like he's not in control. He knows that if he earns his marbles he can have it. Just not today. It has been a life saver for me. Telling Parrish I am going to take a marble from his jar for bad behavior is like telling him there is going to be no Santa Claus this year.

Better a small serving of vegetables with love than a fattened calf with hatred.

Proverbs 15:17

She selects wool and flax

and works with eager hands.

She is like the merchant ships,

bringing her food from afar.

She gets up while it is still night;

she provides food for her family

and portions for her female servants.

Proverbs 31:13-15

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:: Bye-Bye Blue Cast ::

I've been itching to write this post for the last 8 weeks and the day has finally arrived. Drum roll, please! Parrish is out of his cast for good!!! We went in today and there was lots of healing shown in his x-rays, so he is now in a soft boot that can be removed for swimming and bathing. To say we are excited is the understatement of the century. Thank you to all of you who were praying for this outcome-God is good! We'll be going back to the doctor in 6 weeks to have the pins removed (apparently they weren't removed during the second procedure as we thought they had been) but it is apparently not too dramatic-just some laughing gas at the hospital and tiny incisions to pull out the pins, then the process should be over! Hallelujah!

From this...

To this...

And to continue the blue (because it IS my favorite color, mommy) theme he's got going...

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:: Become Our FB Fan ::

Today I've been working on setting up a Facebook Fan Page for Olivia Charles Antiques where I will upload pictures of our products and festival information and images. There is also an RSS feed to this blog on the page, so you can be aware of new posts to this blog in addition to more recent FB status updates. I am also planning to run several fan contests to win Olivia Charles furniture and accessories in the near future, so pretty please like us on Facebook and spread the word to your friends and family!

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