Fun with Family

Last night, we were treated to dinner at Generous Grandmother's house. My cousin, who is a police officer, was in town with his canine partner for a training conference.

My mom prepared a yummy feast and we had fun meeting the beautiful police dog and catching up with my sweet cousin. He always has great stories and a twinkle in his eye when he tells them. It's fun to be around someone who loves what he does so much.

He also had cute stories about his adorable daughter. She's clearly as much of a character as her parents and sounds like lots of fun. I only wish they lived closer so that we could see them more often.

I'm off to get my day going. I just got a call from a friend. It was just the boost I needed to get my day started... that and the two Excedrin I took about an hour ago. =)

The Sprout is One

One year ago your sweet face swept into our world. None of us will ever be the same.

We love you so much!

(PS Please please stop climbing on top of the piano. We want to enjoy you for many more years to come!)

Track Gear

Some of you, my large-hearted friends, upon seeing the pictures of his first track meet, left comments expressing concern about the state of The Boy Scout's wardrobe. Generous Grandmother also noticed that our boy was the only one there running in jeans and felt supremely sorry to see him dressed entirely in cotton, standing in the rain.

*sigh* It's not easy being new. (Us, I mean, not him.)

Immediately following last Saturday's meet, Generous Grandmother took The Boy Scout shopping. They came home with very nice track pants. The Boy Scout already had a water proof windbreaker. This week, we were prepared to look much more comfortable at the cold, rainy track meet.


Sadly, The Boy Scout reported being no less cold and uncomfortable. Standing around in the rain on a 40 degree day is just plain icky.

(Doesn't he look handsome and grown up in this picture. He is, in fact, both. *sigh*)

In addition to looking better this week. The Boy Scout ran valiantly! Again, he endured the long jump, for lack of a better option, and handled the shot put. He also ran the 400 again, and looked very strong. Then, he braved the beast... He ran the 800! I was so proud and impressed. For those of you unfamiliar with track, that's half a mile. He ran the whole way and looked brave and strong right to the finish line. He said he was really tired after the first lap, so the second lap was run by sheer force of will.

I have no idea what his time was, but his heart and character came in first place with me!

Way to go, Scout!

This is a test... this is only a (really cute) test...

This is a video of The Sprout.
Can you see it? Did the page take for.ev.er. to load?
Worth the trouble?
Cute as a button?
Lemme know what you think!

House of Coast

Recently when I couldn't find whatever I was looking for, it occurred to me that The Coast Family has moved six times in the last seven years, while adding four new Coasties to the family.

No wonder I can't remember where I put certain odd things that I don't use every day!

(I like to think this means that I am not actually losing my mind...)

(Then again, maybe it only proves that I lost it a long time ago... hmmm...)

I intend to post a keepin' it real tour of the House of Coast soon, but for now, front yard pictures will have to do. I'm way too tired from weeding the flowerbed this afternoon to get up and walk around taking pictures of my house.

For now, I present

The Front of the House of Coast.

When we bought it, it was four different shades of cream. We had it painted all one shade of brown.

Here, you can see the new basketball goal. And in front of the house are the new really cool benches. Much basketball and bike riding takes place in the driveway on sunny days. The flowerbed at the front of the house is up against a south facing wall and gets really toasty. We planted blueberries and strawberries there!

This vantage point shows the lovely scenery to the west of the house.


Here's a close up shot of the really cool convertible benches.
You can see that the near one has been converted to a half of a picnic table. The far one is in standard bench mode. These seem to be really well made and when you put the two half tables together, it really does make a nice picnic table. The back of the bench flips over into a table easily and the whole assembly is very light and easy to move from place to place.

The Ducklings like to sit at the half table and eat a snack, while watching whatever action is happening in the driveway. I like to sit on the standard bench and bask in the sun in this wind-sheltered corner of the driveway.

We love our "new" house!

Which is good because,

I'm never moving again.

Cast of Characters ~ D

D(8) has always been a very social go-getter.

From the age of very small, he could hit a ball with a bat, catch and throw with the best of them, run as fast as his older brother.

But there is more to D than meets the eye. He is a tender hearted boy. He is always willing to play with his younger brothers and watches over them. He helps The Scoutmaster and me with cheerful enthusiasm. He pursues relationships with reckless abandon.

He is the life of any party.

This boy has introduced our family to the joy of organized sports.

He has memorized more Scripture than any 8 year old should be expected to.

He loves to draw and write and turns out hilarious books.

New jokes flow forth often, from his never-ending fount of comedy.

He's as smart as a tack and taught himself to read before I had a chance to do it. Math comes easily, too.

He wears his heart on his sleeve.

He is coachable and teachable and lovable.

Life is never dull with D. He makes every day a party here at the House of Coast.

Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with such an amazing young man.

On Cookies and Growing Up

Girlfriend(almost7) has a fabulous helping streak. She loves to do all kinds of chores and to be by my side, helping, always.

Cooking or baking are especially delightful to her.

This time, she wanted to do it all by herself.

She got out the recipe and the ingredients. She read and measured and mixed.

And the cookies were perfect!

I would have put a picture of the cookies here, but they were, in fact, delicious. And well, you know what happens to delicious cookies while they are waiting around to have their picture taken.

I'm so proud of her! I can't believe my tiny baby girl is able to follow a recipe without my help. Crazy. When did she grow up so much?