Boone!

We went to Boone, my favorite place on earth, on Sunday after early church since they were calling for thunderstorms on Saturday. You never know what you're going to get up there! As they say in Boone, if you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes! But we wanted to be on the safe side, so we waited, and we had a gorgeous day on Sunday.

We first went to Price Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway where we ate a picnic lunch and played in the stream, which was refreshingly cold! Then we went to downtown Blowing Rock for ice cream at Kilwin's, which we ate in the park across the street. We played for a while in the park, and then bought the kids a little treat at the Mast Store. It was such a great day!




Every time we go up there, I end up wishing we had moved there instead of Winston. But I console myself with the fact that I would go absolutely nuts during the long winters and am so very thankful that we live close enough now that we can do a day trip. And I figure, if all 3 kids go to ASU, that gives us 9 consecutive years of having a child there, which surely would justify a mountain house, right? :-)

Below are pictures of the kids loving their ice cream treats and climbing on a tree at the park.

Above is Sydney's flower garden and below that is a picture of our vegetable garden. We got a super sweet & juicy watermelon from it this weekend! I'm also going to can our tomatoes. I've been really intimidated about the whole canning process since I've never done it before, but thankfully a veteran canner from our small group is going to come over and do it with me!

Applesaucer

Here are some pictures of Reid in the exersaucer. Ethan thinks it's called an "applesaucer!" It's one of those words you don't correct because it's so cute that he calls it that!"Hey, you tawkin' ta me?"

Reid started on his first solid food last week, which has been a fun new thing to do. He's doing great, and he's now getting more in his tummy than on his bib!First food

Sydney was so happy when I found some of my old Cabbage Patch Kid dolls and this Annie doll in our attic. The past few days have all been about Annie's life in the orphanage. I remember loving Annie so much that I wanted to actually be an orphan myself! My parents found me one night singing "Maybe" next to my bedroom window! That one still makes me laugh...

We are heading up to Boone in the morning just for the day. Next time I post I'll have a new picture of Ethan too.

Reid is 4 Months Old!

Reid turned 4 months old today. He is the sweetest baby! He is full of smiles and loves to coo and laugh. Here's an updated picture of our littlest cutie taken today.

Yesterday, Saturday, Ethan went without a nap. Jeff went out to mow in the early evening. Ethan's not allowed to ride on the Deere while Jeff is mowing because it's too dangerous with the blades out, but he loves to watch Jeff mow. When Jeff is done mowing, he always takes Ethan for a ride. So yesterday, Ethan was sitting on the deck stairs watching Jeff while I was fixing dinner. I checked on him every so often, and he was just sitting there every time I looked at him. After Jeff finished mowing, which takes about 45 minutes, he told me to come outside and look at my son. Here's what we saw:

Fast Asleep!

Overall, the garden has been great. This is our second year, and each year we learn things that we want to do differently next year. Right now, we are dealing with leaf blight on almost all of our 15 tomato plants. We found a solution online, and worked on it (Jeff & Ethan did anyway!) on Saturday, so hopefully they will all be fine. Unrelated to the leaf blight, though, we got a rather large tomato out of our garden. It's so unnaturally large and odd shaped, that we did not eat it, but check out this picture of it. Jeff's hand is next to it so you have an idea of it's size.

Tomato on Steroids

Lastly, and this should have gone in my redneck post, Sydney planned and directed a wedding for her and Ethan to get married. The wedding took place right after baths one night last week. She wore her pajamas with her cream colored satin robe that my grandmother made me when I was a little girl. Ethan wore his pajamas with jeans pulled over them and a tie he wore to Jeff's cousin's wedding last fall. Jeff doubled as the pastor and ring bearer and I was the flower girl. Reid just nursed.

The Happy Couple

The Sort of Happy Couple

The Kiss
The Honeymoon's Over Before it Began!

You Know You Live In The Country When...

You Know You Live In The Country When...
*Your kids know #3 is Dale Earnhardt
*You have to wash your children's feet before you can let them in the bathtub
*You mention something about a camoflauge life vest and your girly 5 year old exclaims, "Oh, pretty!"

Raw Tomato Sauce Recipe

With all the tomatoes we have growing in our garden, we are eating tomatoes every day! Even if you don't grow your own, there's always an abundance of fresh tomatoes at roadside stands or farmer's markets during the summer that taste so much better than what you can buy in the store. Here is one of our favorite recipes for fresh tomatoes that I got from The American Vegetarian Cookbook.

3 large beefsteak or 8 plum tomatoes, diced (I always use more!)
1 large garlic clove, minced (We like garlic, so I use 2 or 3 cloves.)
1/4 cup chopped basil, or 2 tsp dried
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt (real sea salt is best)
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Allow to sit for 30min-1 hour if possible.

I serve this over brown rice pasta made by Tinkyada Joy, available at Whole Foods and in the pasta aisle at many grocery stores. We also like to add feta cheese or grilled chicken and we always have a nice green salad with it.

Enjoy!

Smith Mountain Lake, VA

We had a fun family vacation at Smith Mountain Lake, Va last week. Jeff's parents rented a beautiful house right on the lake, complete with a beach area. Jason (Jeff's brother), Elizabeth, & Riley were there with us too. Sydney, Riley & Ethan had a blast together! Sydney gained tremendous confidence in the water, and by the end of the week wanted to jump off the boat and swim by herself (with a lifevest). Ethan loved being in the water too. While we were there, we celebrated Sydney's 5th birthday. Here are some pictures.

Sydney's Hawaiian Coconut Cake

Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay...

Reid & Papa
Ethan Driving Papa's Boat
Sydney On Her Own!

Sydney wanted a Hawaiian party, and she wanted pancakes for breakfast.

Uncle Jason mixed up the pina coladas!
Jeff & the kids had fun fishing.
Papa was pulling S&E on the rope- a prelude to tubing.
Making cream cheese & olive sandwiches

On Sydney's birthday, I reflected a lot on the past 5 years with her. I remember a few days before she was born, I took off work on a Friday since I was scheduled for an induction the following Monday. I went to Barnes & Noble with my friend Trish for coffee that moring. Her then 4.5 year old son, Harrision, sat and looked at books while we chatted. I remember thinking, "Wow, this stay at home mom thing is really the life!" I think back now about how I didn't know a thing about what I was getting into, but how being a mom really is "the life." Not a life of luxury and ease and hanging out at coffee shops, but so amazingly wonderful. Children are so absolutely precious, and our time with them short. I am so thankful for the privledge of having Sydney, Ethan & Reid, and I try to cherish each day with them knowing I won't ever get that time back.