Author: Melissa

Yesterday I was inside getting dinner started and the kids were playing on the deck, just outside the kitchen window. My husband had called from Boston and we were chatting about his classes at MIT.

Then I heard screams. Not unusual – my kids are pretty loud. But this scream sounded different – so I ran outside.

Colin's little face was peeking up from the retaining wall. He was holding himself up, HANGING ON FOR DEAR LIFE on the retaining wall on the side of our driveway (we live on a hill).

First, can I just say how impressed  I was that he managed to catch himself and hang on?

Second, THANK YOU JESUS that he was able to catch himself and hang on, or he would have fallen 5 feet down, on the wood pile, which is surrounded by rocks, and probably rolled down the hill.

I cuddled him, cleaned up his scraped legs and have not been able to stop thinking about it.

I'm completely overwhelmed.

How can I do this? I know I can't watch and be with them every single second of the day. But things  happen. And they happen quickly. One glance they were right outside the window, playing with toy animals on the deck and the next minute…  Lord, HOW can I do this? I don't think I can handle this job!

Then I remembered: I'm not doing this alone. And I'm not supposed to be doing this alone.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills—
       where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
       the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip—
       he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
       will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you—
       the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
       nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm—
       he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
       both now and forevermore."  Psalm 121

Lord, thank you. Thank you for watching over my babies – thank you that they are never out of your sight. Thank you for the many, many countless times they have been kept from serious harm. Continue to watch over them – especially when I cannot. Thank you, Lord, that we are not alone and we have a heavenly father watching over us always.

When summer rolls back around, this is one of our families very, very favorite meals. Serve with grilled tomatoes & onions, cous cous and naan.

Lamb Kebobs

2 pounds top round lamb 
2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 to 5 cloves) 
1 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves 
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup mild olive oil
1/4 cup dry red wine 
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Kosher salt 
2 small red onions 
2 pints cherry tomatoes
Wooden skewers

Cut the lamb in 1 1/2-inch cubes.  Combine the garlic, rosemary, thyme, olive oil, red wine, vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl. Add the lamb cubes, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight or for up to 2 days. Toss occasionally.

Heat a charcoal grill with coals. Spread the coals in 1 tight layer on the grill.

Cut the red onions in quarters and separate each quarter into 3 or 4 sections. Loosely thread 3 or 4 pieces of lamb alternately with sections of onion on skewers. Sprinkle both sides of the lamb with salt and pepper. Next place 4 or 5 cherry tomatoes on skewers, threading them through the stem of the tomato. Rub the tomatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. First, place the lamb skewers on the hot grill and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, turning 2 or 3 times, until the lamb is medium rare. Approximately 5 minutes before the lamb is done, place the tomato skewers on the grill, turning once, until seared on the outside but still firm inside.

Recipe origin: Barefoot Contessa at Home

So I disappeared off the blogoshere last week. My bad. I have several very valid excuses, if you’d like to hear them:

1. My kids decided to start waking up one hour earlier in the morning for no apparent reason except perhaps just being mean. And Colin has started waking up at night again, which is deeping my already unhealthy relationship with my coffeepot.
2. My in-laws arrived from India  on Tuesday. (No thanks to British Airways which is on strike and volcanos acting up. Their flight got changed at the last minute so we learned they were arriving on Tuesday, but we didn’t know what flight or what airline, but thankfully, we practically tripped over my father-in-law as we walked into the Philadelphia airport! A miracle if I ever saw one!) But we’re trying to catch up with them and having people in the house makes for a busier schedule.
3. So along with having my in-laws staying here, preschool ended last week. PRESCHOOL ENDED LAST WEEK. So my productivity has taken a major nosedive, as I no longer have 3 sweet hours of the day when no one is talking to me, asking for snacks, or needing me to untangle toys that are somehow stuck in their hair.
4. I’m suddenly swamped with design jobs. Which is good (Work!! Yay!) and bad (Sleep? Fat chance!). I’ll be shutting down my design queue inthe middle of June for a few weeks, so if you’re itchin’ for a bog redesign, let me know.
5. It was like 110 degrees last week in Philly. And the week before, we had the heat on. At this rate, we’ll probably skip fall alltogether and go directly into winter at the end of June.  What the heck, Mother Nature? Am I the only one who is completely unmotivated to do anything except drink frozen cocktails when its really hot out?

Anyway, in the mean time, I redesigned my blog! What do you think? 

I'm swamped in design work over here, so my time browsing the internet for amazing fashion finds is limited.

But I had to share this deal: This weekend at 6.pm.com Privo select styles $19.95 or less! And you know how much I LOVE Privos! This is a fabulous deal, so go see if they have your size!!

I wear my green Acacia Privos nearly every day:

And I'm thinking of picking these up for fall:

Total cuteness, right? And as we're planning ahead, they have TONS of Crocs on sale for like 75% off – including these which my girls would LOVE:

Speaking of Crocs, I have these are they are a summer staple in my wardrobe – they look so cute with little summer skirts or capris:

*****

Gap is offering 25% off your purchase of $75 or more, plus free shipping. Use the coupon code GAPSUMMER.

Any more deals I should add? Let me know!!

Wake up.
Drag self downstairs.
Get down bowl.
Fill with cereal.
Get down coffee mug.
Open Splenda packet.
Pour Splenda.
Get coffee pot.
Pour coffee.
Get milk out of fridge.
Begin to pour milk in cereal.

Notice that you poured Splenda and coffee on your cereal, not in your mug.

Realize this might be a rough day.