Visiting Charlie's Farm

Today we had a playdate with Charlie's Grandson, Issaiah (pictured here with Cindy).


Also joining us was little Sky, what pretty eyes.



We also took a walk through Charlie's garden and looked at some of the animals around the farm.



pygmy goat


a guinea bird


and "Randy" the goat

We tasted some delicious plums right off the tree. Nothing could beat the sweet flavor of home grown fruits.



On the way home Allison yelled "fun! fun!" She really enjoyed herself.

Cookbooks & Preserving

You know after those back to back parties I was beat, exhausted, tired and I still pulled out this cookbook to get ideas for new parties. What is wrong with me???


She makes a killer margarita and I was SO wishing that I could make up a batch, sit out by the fountain (after the kid is asleep) with Scott and sip the cool cocktail while munching chips and salsa. Next summer I plan on doing this. Maybe I will make it our Friday night date.

I also love how everything is so easy to prepare and there are ideas for assembling meals/snacks for parties which I love. The easier the party, the better off it is, at least I think so.

I also pulled out my old favorite.

I love Patricia Cornwell and have read every single Kay Scarpetta book out there. I am not much of a collector, but I do own the entire Kay Scarpetta series, both cookbooks and read them over and over.

The food in this one always makes my mouth water and in the mood to prepare something nice for the family. It's Italian food, mostly and everything is delicious. The bread recipe is so easy and tastes wonderful. I have yet to try making the pasta, I am kind of intimidated by it. Plus with 2 kids running around soon I just don't have time...but some day.

Now that I am inspired to cook, I am also inspired to start preserving my garden bounty so I will have a bit of summer around in the winter. I am still looking around for something to do with jalapenos, but I have tomatoes and strawberries taken care of.
I think I will start on that project next week. I can't wait. Here's what I am going to try:

strawberry freezer jam that my Grandma Byrnes used to make
sundried tomatoes
canned tomatoes
peach jam
freeze some farmers market corn
and I will make some pesto and freeze that too...oh and also dry some of the basil and sage too.

With summers bounty at its peak and my nesting going crazy I will have this projext done by the end of next week.

Have a great day!!!

I Love Swimmin'

Allison loves swimming. She can have blue lips, goose bumps and shivering while she talks and still won't get out.


She dressed up special to see Aunt Helen

Today we had a play date with our friend Pam and her 2 grandkids, Sienna and Luca. Aunt Helen had invited us to go swimming at her daughters house. I couldn't pass up the chance to see Allison swim in a big people pool so we headed over this afternoon. She had a blast.


She is meeting Sienna for the first time. Allison kept calling her tiny baby even though Sienna is 15 months


She finally went under and got her hair wet. After this there was no turning back she wanted to go further & further into the pool.


Here she is with Luca, she loved playing with her.
Pam let Allison use Sienna's float which was awesome. It gave Allison some freedom, she could kick her legs and move her arms like she was swimming...she yelled swimmin' swimmin' a couple of times to announce that she was actually doing it by herself. She felt like such a big girl, I was so proud of her.


She shared a snack with the girls while floating on a raft. Watermelon and cantalope of all things. I bought, cut up and chilled a huge watermelon and cantelope and she wouldn't even touch them. But these were not from our house, Pam had brought them. I think since the other girls were eating it she decided to partake...either way she liked it so I won't complain.

On the way home she announced "swimming fun Helen!" so I think she had a great time and is ready to go back whenever she can.

Baby Shower for Scott jr.

Sunday we had Scott jr.'s baby shower. It was really nice. I love get togethers and cooking for people.
It was a shame that none of my family showed up though.

Not one person from my side decided to show up. The night before I had a head count of 17, so I finished preparing the food and thank you gifts, exhausted as I was from Allison's birthday. About 1/2 hour before we were to leave the next morning, I start getting phone calls, "Sorry we can't make it...blah,blah,blah."


the day of the party we wanted to sleep in since Scott worked a 10 hours the day before but who should come climbing into bed iwth us at 6:30???

So in the end only 5 people showed up, not including me, Scott, Allison or Gloria.
If I had any idea that most of the people would not have shown up I would have made it a cocktail party with much better food and a more intimate atmosphere. Oh well, live and learn.

At least I can count on Scott's family everytime. Too bad my family are all flakes and unreliable.

Alright, enough of that.

We really had a great time. We got so many cute clothes and gifts. It is so much different when you have a boy. I am used to the frilly dresses and fancy shoes, now I get truck t-shirts and dinosaur jammies.

I can't wait to meet our little boy. The countdown has offically started and I have 9 weeks 2 days left.

Allison had a great time. She really loves to party.

have you ever ridden a bike in the pool???

She was non stop entertainment for everyone there. Some how she got into some tea and was running around like crazy, I was sure she wouldn't take a nap but, in the end, she was the most precious thing in the world.


Hope all of you had a wonderful weekend. We are finally back to normal schedule again and it seems a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders since all the parties are over with.
I can now focus on nesting and family again!!!

The List Just Gets Longer & Longer...

Well the baby shower is on Sunday and I still have to make the food. All pretty easy but I am procrastinating a bit. We have to go to Costco tomorrow to get some cookies and other things for the shower. I still have to make the cookie envelopes for the thank you gifts, about 24 of them. And I'm going to MIL house to help set up on Saturday and drop off some of the food, if it's ready...

I have to make a special trip to Walmart to get some onsies for Allison since she is going through a nudist phase and while I am there I should pick up the extra things I need for Scott jr.

Allison's twin bed arrived today. Trying to stuff a twin bed, a crib, a rocking chair, toys, bookcase and stuffed animals into a 10x10 room is nearly impossible, but doable. I have alot of organizing and rearranging to do in there but right now it is a disaster, thank god the baby shower is at Gloria's.

My whole house looks as if every cupboard, drawer and closet exploded and ended up on the floor. I am going to spend tomorrow afternoon cleaning and cooking as much as possible, then fall asleep from exhaustion.

After Sunday though, we have nothing planned, except maybe a few family things, a date night and Allison might go stay with Grandma one night (what a nice break that will be) for all of us.

I gotta go. An ice cream sundae is calling my name and I think I will make a double scoop with chocolate sauce, nuts and 2 cherries on top. Another 40 oz of water and 30 trips to the bathroom tonight and I will be ready to hit the hay...have a good night y'all.

30 Weeks

I am 30 weeks today and had my prenatal appointment this morning. We talked about birthing options, I have to have a c-section, since I had one previously and will be scheduled in about 9 weeks...OMG!!!. We talked about tubal ligation...maybe a option for us, have to talk some more with Scott about it though, before we make a decision.

Baby is doing just fine. His heart rate is 150 bpm, and my fundal height is 29, so he's not too big or too small. Though he feels super huge because he's always pushing on something inside me.

I am feeling really good, a little tired but I think I just wore myself out last week getting everything ready for Allison's birthday party. Baby is doing really great, Scott & Allison are also fine but Allison, I don't think is quite ready to be a big sister.


does she like the attention or what???

We got her a baby doll for her birthday. The realistic type, floppy head and all, so she can practice being around the new baby. Let's just say it didn't go how we planned. We discovered she hates to share anything that is hers, will not lay in her bed if baby doll is in it and cries until we leave the room then grabs it by the neck and puts it back in the stroller. She did however, wrap it in a blanket and cuddled it for about 2 seconds, then took the blanket and wrapped herself in it and pretended to be the baby.

This transition is going to be a hard one for her, but we will still work on it and get her as ready as possible for her baby brothers arrival.

Only 9 weeks to go...I hope everything is ready by then, I still have a huge list to finish and some decisions to make. Time sure does fly.

Happy 2nd Birthday Allison

Happy Birthday Princess!!!

She was definitley the life of her party!!!

This weekend was fun. We did everything that Allison could think of.

Rock Band anyone???

her favorite game by the way, she loves to sing.

Then she chose to eat Chinese food which she remided us of every 5 minutes until it was time to leave, here she is ready to go...waiting on mom & dad again.


I created this flower center piece from a picture I found online. I didn't have enough sunflowers so I filled it in with some shredded yellow paper. I thought it looked cute.


The next 3 I just put in some recycled jars and set up on the mantle. I love fresh flowers and yellow ones at that, especially in the summer.


Scott & I got her her very own pair of plip plops (as she calls them), she was rather excited about this one.


Aunt Helen, Uncle Lance, Cousins Tyler and Cassie hiding in the shade because it was so darn hot. We did end up moving inside for ice cream sundaes and present opening.


Helen & Allison


Allison with my parents munching on chips and fresh from the garden salsa. She must have eaten half the bowl. She won't even touch commercial salsa, I guess homemade is always better.


Scott, Allison and my Dad.


She did have a few more guests stop by. Her great grandpa was there, Grandma Gloria and Charlie, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jeff, and Neta, Allison's favorite neighbor (the one she is always spying on) stopped by with a dolly stroller and got some kisses in return.
I wish I had gotten pictures of them but I was so busy I barely got the pictures I did.
Now I have to start preparing for next weekend...the baby shower. All I have to do is make the food, easy as pie...

Some Days are Just Plain Busy!!

So today I blew off the patio and garden, did all Thursday & Friday housework, took back a canopy that collapsed right after Allison & I had our picnic under it,

bought drinks for the party, cleaned the ice chest, washed and hung the towels, watched Allison swim,
clean some poop off the carpet (we are potty training and she doesn't quite have it down yet, she takes her diaper off after she does her business then sits on the potty), cleaned her room twice,

watched Cinderella with her, folded 2 loads of laundry, made dinner, gave her a bath, took a shower and in between all that stuff I did the usual day to day stuff (make lunch, read a blog or two did dishes, etc.) and now I am relaxing. FINALLY!!!

AND...I did all of the above with a two year old who didn't take her nap!!!OMG!!! What a nightmare!!!

I have a granola bar in the freezer waiting for me to come and eat it and a cold bottle of water in the fridge. I am going to kick back tonight and enjoy watching a movie with Scott, he has the day off tomorrow, yeah.
Then I am going to bed and sleep until the garbage trucks roll through the neighborhood and wake up the little one at 6:30am...so much for sleeping in on a day off.

Gardening 101 & Please Vote for Allison

Good Morning!

Since it is such a beautiful morning and Wednesdays are my gardening day I thought I would take you on a tour of our vegetable garden. It is not a very big garden, just enough for the family with a bit extra to put up for the winter. We designed the garden area and did all the work ourselves around 8 years ago. I just love our garden, it gets the right amount of sun and is small enough to maintain easily.





Here is our harvest so far.
The tomato season is a little slow this year, but I bet by mid August we will have tomatoes coming out our ears. The jalepenos are delicious, I throw them on the grill with steaks and eat them as a side dish...so yummy and not too hot.

Allison and I also headed out to the farmers market this morning to pick up a few things for breakfast, some cinnamon rolls & strawberries. They were good. I also grabbed some corn for dinner...nothing beats fresh corn and an order form for chickens from a local farm.


Have a wonderful day, I'm off to do some more yard work in preparation for Allison's birthday.

Side Note:
Please vote for Allison as the next Gerber baby.



Click here and cast your vote, you can vote everyday if you wish, we have until the end of July to get as many votes as possible. We appreciate your vote and please pass the word along!

Backyard Waterfall & Other Weekend Stuff

This weekend we finished our koi pond waterfall. For 10 years we have had a dinky little water spitting hose that barely oxygenated the water.
before

Now we have Niagra.
after

Scott cleaning out the years of sludge off the bottom...totally stinky but good for compost.

The koi are so happy and active. The water is so clear you can see the bottom.

Scott worked very hard to rig up solar panels and attach a different filter the the pump. He got everything working on the first try. Awesome!!!



All I need to do is get some plants and ping ping fish or algae snails and we are finished.

We also had to replace some sprinklers around the yard.
(she loves the sprinklers)


2 years ago, when a huge storm hit, it knocked over one of our evergreens and we are finally replacing it with some sort of fruit tree, so we added an extra sprinkler where the tree will be and replaced some that broke after the tree fell.

Allison's second birthday prep is going well, got all the shopping done yesterday, just need to get her a gift, maybe a trike or baby doll. She really liked the power wheel cars, maybe we'll get her a car!! What do you think?

We got a shade canopy, that I will put up today. I also have to bake some brownies for the brownie sundaes. Everything is going pretty smoothly. Yesterday I was exhausted since I had to run tons of errands and clean the kitchen and then regular housework so today I am making it a point to only do the regular chores and then take Allison on a picnic and swimming.

I think we can both use some fun and sun.

Have a wonderful day, I am off to make some grits and ham.

I'm Back

pic by Gracie, thanks Gracie, you captured her true hamminess

What a week. I finally got all the invitaions out and Allison's party planned, now all I have to do is shop for everything: presents, food, decorations.

Tomorrow we are doing yard work and putting a new waterfall in the pond, maybe get some plants to brighten up the backyard. We are creating a shade canopy back there where we will set up the table and chairs.
I chose a really simple menu.
chips & dip
pulled pork sandwiches
coleslaw
corn on the cob
browine ice cream sundaes with the works

The baby shower is the weekend after and I already have the menu planned. We are having it at Scott's mom's house so no yard work for us that weekend...yeah!!!

With all my free time I have had I started planning some "staycations" for us to do before baby is born. I also chose a few special ones just for mom, like a spa day, so I can relax and destress as I get closer to the due date.
I also planned a backyard camping trip (until 8:30 at night). I really don't want to be sleeping out there being this pregnant plus Allison will never go to sleep if she is near her pool, she would swim all night if we let her.

I also planned a picnic, a trip to a farm, movie night, go on a hike, and make your own pizza night.

It should be fun and we are not spending a lot of money to do these activities, they are either free or very low cost.

I hope you all had a great week. I will be posting regularly starting next week so be sure to check back on the soon to be 2 year olds birthday party progress.
Have a great weekend.