summer. spring. i love you both.

the calendar says march but the air smells of summer.

the birds seem to be constantly singing a song, perhaps calling for mama bird to hurry back with dinner; the grocery store welcomes you with big and heavy watermelons almost begging you to take it outside at that very moment, smash it on the ground and dig your hands into it and eat it until you can eat no more; beckham begs on an almost daily basis to make lemonade and set up a lemonade stand (which we will be doing in two weeks for charity!!); the sky seems bluer and bathing suits start to adorn the chairs outside while drip drying and waiting for the next dip.

and with 'summer' growing nearer, we grill more and with more precious light in each day, we will do more. we will. this is the time of year for rebirth. the flowers start blooming and like magic, little bunnies appear everywhere we look. brightly hued eggs and visions of a perfectly simple easter basket complete with paper grass and new gardening tools aren't forgotten.

of course, with spring being the preparatory season to summer, we will stuff the basket with a new bathing suit and pair of sunglasses too! and my brain, like a polaroid camera, will take snapshots of what our summer will hold for us. night time bike rides (if my bike ever fixes itself...hint;), grilled hot dogs and late-night chats with friends while watching a lightening storm, family trips, isle of capri, and freshly mowed grass!

i love this time of year. it even smells better i think.

celebrations have already begun. with the end of school looming like a vacation not yet taken but you can feel the excitement of something amazing coming...we have started practicing for the real thing...

kelle LOVIN her bacon. like really loving it;)

brunch with friends. in between the frickin 800th load of laundry and preparing dinner, we made time to enjoy one another and our little ones. it was much needed and the food, even though a tad burned, was pretty good too. i can't stop burning things. i walk away and never go back...until it's too late. note to self: always set a timer!

impromptu trips to the splash park!

and these two lovebirds...

had a date at the park and with a lunch of goldfish crackers.

don't worry, i chaperoned.

my sweet...

and silly little guy.

a green hose and watering buckets...spring is here!!!

"ingredients to make shushi, mommy? get us some."

maple syrup, craisins, crackers, and candle wax...yum.

popsicles.

hoola-hooping.

free labor...willing and excited to clean the couches. i found a small village residing happily between all the crumbs we found in the couch cushions. it was disgusting.

sunsets on the beach in naples. the sand, the birds, the people waiting to see the sun go down, the energy, the breeze, the beauty of our beaches...it's sublime.

i grilled shrimp and it was flippin' fabulous and i will post the recipe in the next post because i am ready to pass out from exhaustion tonight and if i continue this post much longer, my eyes may explode. gross.

okay, i'll post it now so i don't forget.

citrus shrimp:

half a pound of large shrimp, defrosted (i get mine at costco in the frozen section)

two tablespoons olive oil

two tablespoons chopped sage

a sprinkle of crushed red pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

juice from one lemon or orange or a little of both (i did both)

sea salt garlic (fresh garlic is best, but i was in a rush and it worked just fine)

throw all in a ziploc bag and let shrimp marinate for 30-60 minutes.

place shrimp in a grill safe basket on grill or place on grill that has been brushed with olive oil.

lightly salt and pepper shrimp on grill. cook on each side 3 minutes.

FABULOUS. sooo good and pretty healthy too! i packed mine in a tupperware and took right to the beach. kelle and i noshed away.

these two little ones dwell in my heart and beat love and fun and something special and unconditional into my heart. i just love them so much.

kelle and i brought our little ones to frolic and soak themselves in the cold salt water and to dig in the sand and make sand castles. it was a perfect evening.

babies and bacon. not a bad combo.

kelle's french toast doesn't hurt either.

and if this wasn't a good effort in kicking off the new season...in between the craziness of life's many responsibilities, i got to have a little more fun 'working,' with the sherwood family...a sneak peek!

lawson was a little sweetheart and his mama... a beautiful mama waiting for baby number two!!! i can't wait to meet the little one.

thank you for letting me capture this time in your lives! it was really a special night.

***

and somebody is sporting some new bling...on her ears...in a huge rite-of-passage! that post next!

now off to dye my toilets green...lucky the leprechaun is coming to scare the hell out of the kids. fun!!!

xoxoxoxoxo

happy spring, friends!

funks & the anatomy of a {darwish} family picture.

i feel like i can't write about anything unless i first unload what has been weighing on my mind first. so a short and sweet version is...i've been in a funk. a major funkidy funk. i hate funks but inevitably i feel grateful for the once in awhile state of blue because it forces you to make changes, reflect, learn, and grow.

i will clarify and say that i haven't been very sad or consistently 'funky,' but in a weird state of 'what the hell do i do now?' today? tomorrow? i described it to a friend the other day like this...

i feel like i am standing in the middle of a gigantic white box. i can see all four corners and four different doors, yet i can not bring myself to enter any of the four doors. i can't choose which way to go, which means i have been standing in the middle of a white box and pondering what to do for a week.

feeling unmotivated and completing tasks just to get them done without much enjoyment while doing it. it's not like me.

we all do this from time to time as the mundane is not always fun. obviously.

i'm not sure where this funk came from, but realizing that i needed to do something to center myself, i started thinking that i needed to change things up a bit. do something different. take the road less traveled. call an old friend. take a day jaunt to somewhere i have never been. take my girl some where and do something that makes us laugh till it hurts. start a yoga class or start running again. make some new recipes.

in the midst of my 'growth spurt' i thought that maybe i should rid the house of the television for thirty days or change the drapes, paint the walls, go vegan temporarily, buy new lipstick, go to church,...

so, now that i have taken a week to unearth the fact that i am in a huge transition stage of heidi-mommy of young babies to, heidi- mommy of two school age children and that that simple reality is causing some major premature empty nest syndrome symptoms.

so, for the next couple of weeks i'm going to do a few things that i have never done before and here they are...

1. after dropping peyton off at school, beckham and i are going to go running on the beach. i have NEVER done that and it's rediculous. it's so flippin' beautiful on the beach and we only live 15 minutes away. why the hell not?

2. i am going to make healthier strawberry jam. i've been saying it for a while now and i will find a way!

3. BE uber present for my kids and try to say yes more and less maybe later.

and 4. finally, challenge myself creatively AND physically.

i know i am airing my dirty laundry on my little ole blog here, but shamefully/maybe not, i think i will find myself more accountable this way and besides, i can be a tad to honest here, but it's already made me feel lighter!

i'll keep ya posted!

***

okay, my camera has been in the camera spa (aka it was broken and sent off to be loved on) so i have been without my third baby. bad news...i've missed it terribly. good news...i got it back yesterday just in time for a photo shoot tonight! it felt so good to be back to work/fun with a beautiful and pregnant family. sneak peeks will be up in a few days!

so...i had my new iphone camera and the perfect time to play with it a bit. i downloaded a couple of camera apps...

this one and

this one!

i didn't actually learn all the features or the best way to use them all, but i had fun pushing buttons and snapping away. i am sure there are some AMAZING iphone photogs out there, but this is what i captured with the only camera i had this last week...

trying to play outside of my box, i golfed for the first time in about 12 years. i despise golf. i don't see the point in getting a small ball in a small hole from very far away. i. don't. get. it. but my hubby has a deep passion and skill for the game, so entered a tournament with some friends of ours and...it was a blast.

things i loved about it:

1. i got to wear my mother-in-laws retro golf shoes. they were dusty but redeemed themselves by having tassels!

2. we hung with cool people. one of which claimed to suck at golf as much as me but delightfully we found out...she's a liar! she rocked it out and i loved watching her kill the ball!

3. it rained on us. hard. i loved it!

4. jeff loved that we were golfing together.

5. it was so peaceful on the course. beautifully green and i heard the birds singing longer and louder than in cinderella.

6. my ball went into the water three times and each time i couldn't stop laughing. even funnier, jeff asked me to fish my balls out of the water myself. (still laughing at that one) he decided the only way to get his balls back was to do it himself cause i was not risking life or limb in case an alligator lived nearby!

my BALL!!!!!

had a 'ball' on the course, but the main events were the rain and the super spicy bloody mary on the back nine.

bottom line: i suck at it & i still hate golf!

***

we visited the diversity fair in naples this weeked:

it was hot but a lot of fun! the kids and jeff climbed a huge rock and peyton made it to the top and even rang the bell. so proud of that little one.

we made crafts, ate really good pulled pork sandwiches, and danced! it was an awesome way to spend saturday together as a family!

cotton candy maker gave us the honor of giving us thee biggest one he's ever made. my kids thanked him and ran before i could ration it out.

***

and some pictures i never posted from our trip to michigan in the fall...

the anatomy of family picture. my mom has the camera she doesn't know how to use meaning she doesn't know where the shutter button is or if it actually took the picture and we have two kids and two parents and only about ten frames were taken. obviously not enough to get the job done, but these made me laugh anyway.

daddy's looking good, but the rest of don't seem to care that the camera is on us!

yay, mommy finally looks up, but peyton looks confused and daddy and becks are having a convo on the side, probably about basketball!

daddy and baby brother...great job. mommy got tired and thought now would be a great time to take a little snooze. peyton is not interested in anything having to do with taking a photo!

almost there, but beckham wants a tractor ride.

okay. maybe next time!
i love these people so much!

taking a family picture can be near impossible. my suggestion...

bribery! there is a one in five chance it will work!

we did get these beauties though...

my girl.

my lovely mom.

***

few tried and true recipes:

this is what i call chicken caponata which isn't really a caponata at all. caponata is defined as an appetizer of eggplant, olives, and herbs. however, this is what my mom calls it and has called it this since i was just a wee lad, so this is my version of

Chicken Caponata

pound of chicken breast cutlets

one red and yellow pepper, sliced into thin strips

one large sweet onion

one tablespoon fresh rosemary or sage

(i used rosemary because i had it on hand)

6 slices of prosciutto

4 tablespoons olive oil

one large can of whole plum tomatoes (do not drain)

1/4 cup chicken broth

salt and pepper

heat two tablespoons oil in pan. soften sliced peppers and onions over low-med heat, about 5 minutes. remove from pan.

season cutlets with pepper and little salt (prosciutto is salty on it's own, so be careful). over medium-high heat, heat remaining olive oil and place breasts in pan. place slices of prosciutto over each pc of chicken. sprinkle with herbs. cook each side for a couple of minutes. remove from pan.

add broth to same pan you browned the chicken in. scrape bits off of bottom. add tomatoes (break the toms up with hands), chicken, peppers, onions, half teaspoon salt, half teaspoon pepper. cover and let simmer about 20 minutes.

depending on the thickness of your chicken...you don't rubbery chicken, so if you're not sure. check often.

add some finely chopped rosemary at the end.

serve with pasta or mashed pots.

enjoy. this dish reminds me of home. it's easy and delicious.

***

not long ago, i had girlfriends over for noshes and a movie. the most fun is planning the food. i promised the menu and recipes so here they are!

the menu included new recipes from ina garten:

baked shrimp scampi

guacamole & buffalo chicken dip

a green salad with my lemony-garlic dressing

to make dressing: in a bowl whisk together 1/2 cup olive oil, two teaspoons freshly crushed garlic, 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar, and juice from half a lemon (or more to taste), kosher salt, pepper. whisk like a crazy person and put in a pretty jar. serve with arugula and mixed green salad.

and herbed ricotta cheese bruschetta

heidi's sunset ritas:

a pitcher of ruby red grapefruit juice, two cups freshly squeezed orange juice, juice from 3 limes, one and a half cups your fave tequila,ice, sugar and not salt rimmed rita glasses.

combine all ingredients in a pitcher, rub each rita glass with a lime and dip the rim of glass in sugar. fill glass, enjoy! refreshing, refreshing, refreshing. perfect for summer!

browned butter brownies

adapted from bon appetit

photo: bon appetit

• nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup to measure, then leveled)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, chilled
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup walnut pieces

• Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325°F. Line 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot). Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Stir in nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
• Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise into 4 brownies. Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
  
  
  i am not the best baker, but i LOVE finding new recipes and trying them out. from there, i will usually tinker with a recipe until i get what i am looking for. it's harder to do that with baking because ingredients seems to fit into each other like a puzzle. these brownies are amazing and i didn't change a thing except for using 1/4 cup less sugar.
  
  
  these were crispy perfect on the outside and gooey on the inside. if your not a nut lover, get rid of them. i made them both ways and i preferred them without nuts in this recipe.
  enjoy!

***
sometimes we are so happy where we are, that we forget to appreciate change and see the beauty in that. i'm kicking this funk to the curb making me some strawberry jam and then i'm gonna shake my a-- on the beach.

here's to your jam making-booty shaking endeavors!

what do you do/want to do to change things up a bit?

xoxoxo