Kristen – Page 7 – the perreault family

insanity

Published on June 12, 2012 by kristenperreault1 Comment

Jamie and I just recently started a new workout regimen called Insanity. We had been wanting to start something up again and although we enjoyed P90X when we did it a year and a half ago we just don’t have 1.5 hours each night to commit to it anymore so we choose to give Insanity a whirl. We’ll see where it takes us and if I remember I will let you know that I think of insanity (after completing it), although right now I would say that it’s hard as heck but I am enjoying it. One aspect of the beach body programs that I really enjoy is the way they encourage you to track your progress and while I am sure as heck not going to post “before” photos of myself up here I will show you a few of Jay. He was up while we were taking our photos and wanted in on the action. These photos make me crack up every time I see them, kiddo’s got some serious muscle action going on ;)

Jamie let him “take” the photos of us (I was using the big camera and Jay had Jamie’s phone), he was so tickled that he got to use the camera to take photos.

charlie time

Published on June 1, 2012 by kristenperreault5 Comments

Jay was with my Mom today. They went to the beach and, from what I understand, had a grand ole time. Charlie and I had a pretty great time ourselves. I had forgotten what it is like to have just one kiddo but it didn’t take me long to remember. I enjoyed every minute that we got together, just the two of us, today.

playing outside in the morning before it got scorching hot…

a few post-jammie photos, it got pretty warm out there even in the shade

enjoying some toys that were dug from the depths of the closet, especially since he didn’t have to share them with anyone…

evening swing at the park…

berry delicious

Published on May 24, 2012 by kristenperreault2 Comments

Over the weekend we packed up the boys and headed to Pappy’s Patch, the place where we have picked strawberries this year and last, to take advantage of their last picking weekend. The strawberries were few and far between (the season is way past); however, our mission was blueberries. Sadly, not long after we arrived we realized that the blueberries were also pretty picked over. We did our best to get what we could, and we did get some delicious blueberries, but we were a little disappointed with our pickings. That was until a group of ladies suggested we check out the pick your own blackberry farm just down the road. I was sold at the word black… so we packed up the boys and headed off.

Man am I SO glad that we did!! The berries were/are delicious, they were super easy to pick (the bushes were thornless- AMAZING) and I found it much easier to do with Jay than strawberry or blueberry picking. The way the blackberry bushes grow make it easy for little ones to pick and the farm was set apart from the parking lot so I felt better about Jay just running around on his own.

We have been eating the berries by the handfuls every day since picking them but still have a whole bunch left so I am looking at either of these two recipes… probably both and if we still have some leftover then maybe some jam- we’ll see!

Blackberry Fool or Honey Yogurt Pops

Rows and rows of bushes with my sweet trio of guys down at the end

butterflies

Published on May 15, 2012 by kristenperreault4 Comments

Over Mom’s spring break Jay spent the night at her house twice. It was nice to be able to check a few things off of my to-do list while he was gone and it was especially nice to have some good, uninterrupted, one-on-one time with Charlie. I met Mom over at Lucas Nursery to make the switch and before we parted ways- she with Jay and me with Charlie- we toured the nursery, picked up a few plants for the front of the house and made a trip through the butterfly garden they have. Although it took him a while to look up without prompting he finally got the hang of it and started to spot the butterflies on his own. Jay loved looking at the ‘buhflies’ and held tight to his species diagram the whole time we were there.

frannie’s graduation

Published on May 13, 2012 by kristenperreault1 Comment

A week ago last Friday I traveled up to Jacksonville to celebrate my sister-in-law; she has worked incredibly hard the last few years and earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy!! Yay, Frannie!! I made the trip without Jamie or the boys, which was nice and kind of odd all at the same time. It was nice to have a little time to myself but also a little odd to not have my little companions with me. I missed them while I was gone but received a wonderful welcome back when I returned home- Jay greeted me with an “it’s Mommy, it’s Mommy!” song and dance that is usually reserved for Daddy returning home from work and Charlie practically jumped out of Jamie’s arms to get to me when I walked in… it was nice. It was also nice to be able to celebrate with Frannie. I am very proud of her and all that she has accomplished and am excited for them as they tackle their next adventure in Pittsburgh. Frannie was accepted into a residency program that specializes in neurological physical therapy, so they will be moving in July after she writes her board exam. I don’t know much about this field, however, I do know that they only accept one person for this program each year and Frannie was the one that got it, which can tell you just how special my sister-in-law is. Way to go, girl we will miss you but wish you all the love and luck in the world!!!

“i scream, you ice scream”

Published on May 12, 2012 by kristenperreault1 Comment

We have a new wooden sign in the kitchen that says- I Scream, You Scream and it has a big ice cream cone on it. My Little Bird likes to point at it and say “I scream, you ice scream”, makes me smile…

The other day, Jamie was working from home and Jay had been especially good during the day so we had an early supper, packed up the car and treated Jay to his first ice cream cone! If you know anything about us, you know that we (maybe mostly me, but it’s rubbing off on Jay too) have a thing for ice cream. If you take a look in our freezer at any given time you can find at least 4-5 different flavors- it’s our own personal Baskin Robins ;) So a trip to get an ice cream as a family was a very fitting treat.

At the end of it all Jay was a super sticky mess- a head-to-toe mess of melted ice cream. But I am pretty sure he loved every single bite of his super huge “banilla” cone (btw- we ordered him a small cone, I would hate to see what the medium or large looks like). And as for this Mamma, the ice cream was yummy but spending a quiet evening just the four of us was more of a treat than I could ever ask for. Lately, the days and evenings have been kind of crazy, with Jamie’s insane work hours and everything that comes along with having two boys under 2.5 years old, so these moments have been rare but oh so sweet when they happen… Can’t wait to do it again ;)

ordering- he loved watching the cones being made

“that’s really huge Mommy”

ice cream smiles

happy boy along for the ride

a fantastic mess

good to the last bite

late sunday swim

Published on May 11, 2012 by kristenperreaultLeave a comment

Most of our Sunday was spent cleaning up from the shrimp boil on Saturday (many thanks to all who stuck around Saturday to help pick up; many hands made light work). However, when the majority of the cleaning and packing up was done Jamie headed over to help his Dad build a trellis for a new bougainvillaea plant they added during his parents re-landscaping project. I stayed back while the boys napped but joined him after they woke up. Charlie got to take his first turn in the porch swing, or any swing for that matter, and both boys along with me, Jamie and Mimi took a dip in the pool- which was also Charlie’s first swim. It’s still a little bit chilly, Jay’s teeth start chattering pretty soon after getting wet, but it didn’t stop either of them from enjoying the water. Charlie splashed and giggled the whole time and Jay went non-stop regardless of the shivering. The swimming from last year is starting to come back to Jay and right now he adores jumping in and taking submarine rides on Daddy’s back. I am pretty sure by the end of the summer we will have made a full blown fish out of him… gills here we come!

sweet husband!!

Published on May 10, 2012 by kristenperreault3 Comments

A few days ago Jamie told me that last night (Wednesday) I needed to be dressed up and ready to go at 6pm; he had arranged for his parents to watch the boys and he was taking me out! Sweet thoughtful husband right? He gave no reason other than he wanted a night out with me and I was thrilled. Honestly, I looked forward to it for the few days that I knew about it and Wednesday afternoon drug on… I just wanted him to get home so we could be on our way :)

Wednesday after work he arrived home, Mimi took over the boys and we headed out. He told me we were going downtown to a burger restaurant, Pine Twenty Two, and that we were going to ride the downtown bus and make a night of it. Super- fun! Pine Twenty Two is a new (ish) restaurant that serves 100% natural, hormone free burgers with all kinds of delicious toppings- gruyere cheese, chipotles aioli sauce, fried eggs, sautéed mushrooms, and charred onions just to name a few. When we were waiting to place the order Jamie nonchalantly pulled out two tickets to the Lion King on Broadway (yes you read that correctly) and said hope we will make it in time! I was super surprised and thrilled! We grabbed our burgers to-go, the sweet guy who took our order grabbed them as soon as they came out and brought them right to us (he actually skipped out to us but that is a whole other story)- and we ended up eating outside of the Bob Carr theater by the fountains. The show was fantastic! I am by no means a writer and would do the show no justice if I tried but know that the music and the costumes are EVERYTHING they are said to be and that you should go if you ever get a chance.

All and all it was a fantastic night- dinner was delicious (really you should try it sometime if you are local), the show was AMAZING, and time out with my sweet husband was the icing on the cake. Not sure how I got so lucky but I sure snagged one of the best!

I happened to have my camera with me and grabbed a few before we headed back to the theater, supper in hand.

momma and her little bird

Published on May 10, 2012 by kristenperreault1 Comment

random photo from this weekend of me and my sweet little bird… love this kiddo to pieces!

shrimp boil 2012

Published on May 9, 2012 by kristenperreault1 Comment

I am not sure how many years now the annual Shrimp Boil has been going on… I would venture a guess that Jamie has been hosting it with his Dad for a good 10 years and then George probably hosted it on his own prior to that for another 10. This is my fourth year of joining the festivities and I must say I look forward to it EVERY year! I mean what is not to like- good food, good drink and good people. What more could you ask for on a sunny Saturday afternoon?

Since having the kiddos I find myself not as “free” to shoot as much of these events as I would like (putting sleeping babies down, getting not sleeping big brothers up, etc can really eat up some time). However, I did manage to grab a few photos of the day… although none of the pouring and unfortunately very few of anyone other than family… Either way, documented or not, there were family, many great friends and a wonderful assortment of colleagues that joined us in bellying up to the table. Thanks to all that came, it was great seeing you, and for those of you who couldn’t make it- you were missed but there is always next year ;)

pretty flowers compliments of Publix… I really do love me a mason jar ;)

banana pudding bites, check out a recipe here

Pepere and Charlie- prepping the water ;)

I was trying to get a photo of me and Jay but he was way too distracted with all of the people in the backyard to smile… not even tickling really worked