My Addiction

I have this love for plants and flowers....an addiction really. It is so bad that I tend to stay away from garden centers and greenhouses, I usually buy way too much which means Brian is constantly digging new flower beds. It is amazing the transformation our yard has taken in the last five years we have lived here. I love this little guy below....I heard somewhere once that gargoyles keep your home safe, I am not sure if that is true but I just think that he adds character to our yard.

This year we added a few vegetables to our yard per Carter's request. We opted for terra cotta pots instead of a garden in the yard. We are just testing the waters to see if we want to do a larger version next year. We planted purple peppers, grape tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and Jack-B pumpkins....all were hand picked by Carter and he also helped to plant them.

This a hibiscus was a birthday gift from all my boys.....love it!

This lovely little mixed sedum pot was a gift from my mom and is flourishing....can't wait to make room to get these little babies in the ground.

Below are the plants that grow around our pond. The pond started out as my project but Brian has grown to love it and has taken over. (which is great since I struggle to pull weeds) We have had a tough pond year so far and have lost about six koi fish....I think we will stick with the cheap comets for awhile.

I am not quite sure why but lilies are one of my favorite flowers, they always seem so bright and happy.

These sweet little pansies below were gifted to Carter by the owner of one the greenhouses we frequent, we had a grand time the day we planted them.

This gerbera daisy was a gift to celebrate the arrival of Elijah last spring and I must say when it made it's way to the front porch this spring it only had one yellow leaf...what a transformation! A true survivor story!

We have been having a lot of wind as of late and Carter and I have been finding nests that have fallen out of trees. He loves them....and I must admit it is very incredible the way birds are able to build such homes for their young. These two nests have started what I am sure will become a collection. Carter and I now keep our eyes open for any fallen nests to add.

My yard is truly a labor of love and something I am quite proud of, especially since I have no clue what I am doing. I encourage you all to stop by if you are ever in the area....we would be happy to give you a tour and a nice cool drink as we catch up on the porch!

Kids...They have the Life

Carter spends most days gazing over to Joey's house waiting for him to come home from daycare so they can play. (Joey is our neighbor and ties with Jacob as Carter's best friend) This afternoon was so beautiful that we headed to the park. Joey, Carter and Eli had so much fun. Carter and Joey enjoyed running across the new basketball court at the park, climbing the jungle gym, swinging and whipping down the slide. Just good old fashion fun.....I think that sometimes I look too hard for "fun" stuff for the boys to enjoy, when it is as easy as the park around the corner.
Eli was the biggest surprise of all....he truly enjoyed himself. He LOVED the slide. He and I went down together. I then sat the bottom of the slide as he crawled up as far as he could giggling all the way and much to my surprise he would flip himself over to his back and slide down. Again and again he did this laughing and delighting in his version of sliding........

.....and while sliding is fun.......
.....swinging is clearly serious business and not to be taken lightly.

Meanwhile Carter and Joey worked on their climbing and monkeying around skills.

We are so very lucky to have such great neighbors and are very happy that Carter has made such a great friend in Joey!

Never Tired of a Party

We spent Sunday evening at Brian's Mom's house...we had a nice dinner and celebrated Jenna's birthday with a small cake. As you can see Carter NEVER misses an opportunity to blow out birthday candles.
Carter spends some time with his Nini!

Eli and Aunt Janet hang out and play.

Carter poses with Andra. Andra is engaged to Brian's cousin Gregory and they will be married next July. Carter has taken a special liking to Andra and willingly sat for the picture (that's unusual) but didn't look at the camera, of course!

Carter spends time with Aunt Jenna.

I love this picture of Eli with Brian's Aunt Janet and Uncle Tom. They were "catching" bubbles and had a grand time. It was great to spend some time with them since we don't get together enough.

Eli ended the evening with a large slice of cake and then a tubby! Good times!

Congratulations!

This past Saturday we attended Amanda and Tom's wedding. What a wonderful day and we were happy to be included! Congratulations, you two crazy kids...we wish you every happiness!

What a Handsome Devil

Elijah had his first haircut today. Originally only Carter was going for a buzz and "Aunt" Sara had a few extra minutes to give Eli a trim. I must admit that things happened so fast that in the middle of the cut I went to get my camera and had forgotten to pack it.....Bad, Bad Mommy! This adorable picture is an "after" shot. I promise at his next appointment in July I will get some action shots!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Jenna!

Today our Aunt Jenna celebrates her birthday! Have a great day and enjoy....Love you!

Jenna and Carter in Newport, July '06

Jenna and Elijah party down, April '08

Nazareth Carnival

I spent the day yesterday telling Carter that he would be rewarded for good behavior with a special surprise....little did he know it was pizza and a trip to the Nazareth Carnival with Jacob. We had a fun pizza dinner with the Hoffmanns and all the kids were well behaved and then we headed to the carnival. What a great night to go! It was the first day and we had a rain so I think that kept a lot of people home and we had the whole place to ourselves for the most part. Here are pictures from our fun.


Carter and Jacob are serious about their motorcycle riding!

Elijah and Cassie enjoyed the carnival from the comfort of their strollers.

The two cutest conductors ever!

Carter and Jacob enjoy the dizzy dinosaurs. What a ride....I speak from experience.

The giant slide...FUN!

The shark tank......

and the wonderfully loud trumpets that the boys won!

The Hoffmanns head home after a fun night.

Waiting out the Storm

My Boys wait out the thunderstorm on Wednesday night so we can head out for pizza and the Nazareth Carnival.

Life is a Beach

216 Engleside Avenue Beach Haven, Long Beach Island NJ was the address for the Dew-Lansek Family vacation this year. What a great house! Everything about it was perfect, making it seem very much like a home for the 7 days we lived there rather than just a rental. We all had a great time and enjoyed being together!

Some of us napped the days away...........

while others ate.......

and drank and were very merry!

We celebrated Jeven's 31st birthday! (Carter was all about the singing and candles!)

Carter spent afternoons swinging on the "big boy" swing in the backyard while waiting to shower. (Swinging, yes! Showers, NO!)

Eli also made great strides and perfected pulling himself up to stand at just about anything. He also learned how to climb the steps!
We acquired two new pets...hermit crabs! Carter named them Buggy and Lil' Buggy...ah the creative mind of a three year old. I guess it all makes sense since Lil' Buggy is the smaller of the two.

We enjoyed ALOT of ice cream....

and plenty of walks around the neighborhood of Beach Haven. Lots of beautiful old homes and shopping!
We spent a good part of our days at the beach. Carter loved everything....the sand, the surf, and the interesting creatures that the sea washed ashore.

Eli was not a fan of the beach at all! Hopefully next year he will be more excited about it! But for this year he just enjoyed being in the air conditioning with all the food and drink he could manage.

I had forgotten how much fun at simple hole at the edge of the waves could be. Carter loved the fact that everyday he could have his own personal "pool" dug by someone else.

We made sand castles and taught him the "art" of sand dribbles

Brian shared his love of the ocean by showing Carter how to "jump" waves. For those of you wondering there was NO fear of the ocean!

The boys were very well behaved and very happy. I was concerned since they enjoyed a 24/7 party.

We spent one morning at Barnegat Lighthouse (or Ol' Barney as it is also known) and we all climbed to the top. 217 steps to the top and Carter did wonderfully....Eli, of course, had no complaints since he was carried. The view and the grounds around the lighthouse are spectacular so it made for a fun adventure.

Jeven looks nice and relaxed as he, Julie, Brian and I prepare for our "date" night! (Always a bonus to have Mimi and Poppy along!)

Carter waited all week for the arcade at the top of our street to be open so he could ride this tractor.....it was worth the wait.

We then headed to Fantasy Island Amusement Park.

Carter, Mommy and Eli rode the train. This proved to be a favorite ride of both my boys. Carter surprised us by riding the kiddie roller coaster at the park. He begged to go on so I reluctantly took him thinking that the operator would have to let us off after the first hill but he loved it. Pretty impressive considering it is a wicked little coaster.... He then made me proud by hopping back on for a second ride!









For the first time ever we stayed until the very last minute before check out. What a fantastic time....I think that maybe we just wanted to enjoy every second..... Can't wait for next year.
And just like that Eli let us know that it was time to hit the road and get back to reality!