"doo doo do do doodo doodo do do..."
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Garden Update & a Change
My blog is turning into a Vlog (video blog)... and I've got another video for you! Seems like the only things I'm doing these days is taking care of John and gardening. I do have something that has slowed the blogging lately, but more on that a little further down.
Right now, I've got a video of our produce. John is featured at the beginning, but that's clearly for grandparent's sake.
I've made tomato sauce (turned out excellent!) with the tomatoes in the video and about half of those green tomatoes turned into fried green tomatoes. Although the tomatoes look a little rough it's been our best tomato year yet. We really wanted them to ripen on the vines, but I think we will have to invest in a net to keep the birds out. A friend's husband built a frame out of pvc and used to irrigate their garden... they also used the pvc to hold up a net. Smart. Really Smart.
Anyway. This will probably be the last gardening update for the spring for us. One because it's getting really hot and everything is starting to burn up. And number two leads into the reason blogging has turned into Vlogging (because making a video is so much faster for me then sitting down and writing a post).
We're moving!
Not blogs (our web address will still be the same), but to a house across town.
We've been looking into it for several reason... nothing bad or terribly wrong with our current place, but God put the idea in our lap and didn't remove it... even when I thought it was gone several times. It's a pretty long story that I will probably only share in person, but I'm telling everyone out in my little blogging world so you will know what happened to the gardens and the main reason I'm going to put blogging on hold for a while.
Losing the gardens is kinda sad consequence of moving, but we're moving to a place closer to Steven's work and that is a huge plus. In addition, the place we are moving has a large backyard as well. It will take some work but MAYBE I'll have some fall tomatoes & squash going. Hopefully I'll have time to do a pumpkin patch... but the pumpkins may come in for Christmas instead of Halloween. Anyways, those are all BIG maybes because I've got a lot of work to do packing up our current place and I may just want to sit down and relax for like a month once we get everything settled. And then the fall garden window may be closed. We'll see.
More to come, I promise... just not any time soon.
Right now, I've got a video of our produce. John is featured at the beginning, but that's clearly for grandparent's sake.
I've made tomato sauce (turned out excellent!) with the tomatoes in the video and about half of those green tomatoes turned into fried green tomatoes. Although the tomatoes look a little rough it's been our best tomato year yet. We really wanted them to ripen on the vines, but I think we will have to invest in a net to keep the birds out. A friend's husband built a frame out of pvc and used to irrigate their garden... they also used the pvc to hold up a net. Smart. Really Smart.
Anyway. This will probably be the last gardening update for the spring for us. One because it's getting really hot and everything is starting to burn up. And number two leads into the reason blogging has turned into Vlogging (because making a video is so much faster for me then sitting down and writing a post).
We're moving!
Not blogs (our web address will still be the same), but to a house across town.
We've been looking into it for several reason... nothing bad or terribly wrong with our current place, but God put the idea in our lap and didn't remove it... even when I thought it was gone several times. It's a pretty long story that I will probably only share in person, but I'm telling everyone out in my little blogging world so you will know what happened to the gardens and the main reason I'm going to put blogging on hold for a while.
Losing the gardens is kinda sad consequence of moving, but we're moving to a place closer to Steven's work and that is a huge plus. In addition, the place we are moving has a large backyard as well. It will take some work but MAYBE I'll have some fall tomatoes & squash going. Hopefully I'll have time to do a pumpkin patch... but the pumpkins may come in for Christmas instead of Halloween. Anyways, those are all BIG maybes because I've got a lot of work to do packing up our current place and I may just want to sit down and relax for like a month once we get everything settled. And then the fall garden window may be closed. We'll see.
More to come, I promise... just not any time soon.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Toddler Hygiene
I taught John how to brush his hair... well, I'm not sure if I taught him or he figured it out. Nonetheless, it's cute!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Sunday
Have you heard of Seed Family Worship?
They are pretty Amazing! I've been listening to them and I've had a verse in my head everyday this week. I'm meditating on the word of God thanks to song written for children. Seems silly, but I'm totally digging it. I think I might wear out my CD before John is old enough to enjoy it.
Here are some of the videos they have online, but I highly recommend purchasing one or two of their CDs to keep in your car while running errands.
Here is my favorite...
Here are two more that are great!
They are pretty Amazing! I've been listening to them and I've had a verse in my head everyday this week. I'm meditating on the word of God thanks to song written for children. Seems silly, but I'm totally digging it. I think I might wear out my CD before John is old enough to enjoy it.
Here are some of the videos they have online, but I highly recommend purchasing one or two of their CDs to keep in your car while running errands.
Here is my favorite...
Here are two more that are great!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
What's that noise?
I heard this from the other room and came to see what the was going on in my living room. (John found the string while I was packing for Ink's Lake)
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Mac & Cheese Makeover
This isn't a new idea.
I don't even have a new take on it or anything extraordinary to add to it.
But, it is a good idea that I wanted to share.
We like to keep lunch simple around here, I'd rather use my brain powder (and effort) on dinner. Steven takes care of most of the left overs from dinner because he takes his lunch to work. So, what are John and I do to do?
Most days we just eat whatever random stuff I have in the fridge/pantry that doesn't take that long to heat up... like popcorn and yogurt. But I remembered that a friend of mine hid carrots in her son's mac & cheese. And who doesn't love mac & cheese. Total comfort food. I'm not even too fussy, I think the stuff out of the box is great! And super cheap... 55 cents a box (for HEB brand). However, John's a good veggie eater (Praise the Lord) so I did a few things differently.
"Healthy" Boxed Mac & Cheese Makeover
1 box mac & cheese ($0.55)
1.5 cups frozen broccoli ($0.50)
1/4 cup butter ($0.30)
1/2 cup pureed carrots ($0.20) or squash or whatever.
1/4 cup milk ($0.10)
I boiled water (with salt added in) and then tossed in my macaroni & the frozen broccoli. Boiled for 5 minutes (or whatever your package says), then drain. I added the butter to the hot noodles & broccoli and mixed until it melted. Then I add the carrots, powdered cheese & a splash of milk (I didn't measure the milk but I'm guessing it was about 1/4 cup). Add the milk slowly to check for the right constancy.
It made two lunches for me and 2-3 for him (depending on how hungry he will be tomorrow) for $1.65, or 40 cents per person per meal. I don't think you can beat that for simple healthy lunch. You could make your own mac & cheese instead of using the box... but I think as far as cost goes the box may win (I haven't looked into it, though). You could even beef it up with some meat, or bacon bits, or beans (if you want a cheep protein).
Okay... now I've wasted too much time blogging about lunch... Back to work!
I don't even have a new take on it or anything extraordinary to add to it.
But, it is a good idea that I wanted to share.
We like to keep lunch simple around here, I'd rather use my brain powder (and effort) on dinner. Steven takes care of most of the left overs from dinner because he takes his lunch to work. So, what are John and I do to do?
Most days we just eat whatever random stuff I have in the fridge/pantry that doesn't take that long to heat up... like popcorn and yogurt. But I remembered that a friend of mine hid carrots in her son's mac & cheese. And who doesn't love mac & cheese. Total comfort food. I'm not even too fussy, I think the stuff out of the box is great! And super cheap... 55 cents a box (for HEB brand). However, John's a good veggie eater (Praise the Lord) so I did a few things differently.
"Healthy" Boxed Mac & Cheese Makeover
1 box mac & cheese ($0.55)
1.5 cups frozen broccoli ($0.50)
1/4 cup butter ($0.30)
1/2 cup pureed carrots ($0.20) or squash or whatever.
1/4 cup milk ($0.10)
I boiled water (with salt added in) and then tossed in my macaroni & the frozen broccoli. Boiled for 5 minutes (or whatever your package says), then drain. I added the butter to the hot noodles & broccoli and mixed until it melted. Then I add the carrots, powdered cheese & a splash of milk (I didn't measure the milk but I'm guessing it was about 1/4 cup). Add the milk slowly to check for the right constancy.
It made two lunches for me and 2-3 for him (depending on how hungry he will be tomorrow) for $1.65, or 40 cents per person per meal. I don't think you can beat that for simple healthy lunch. You could make your own mac & cheese instead of using the box... but I think as far as cost goes the box may win (I haven't looked into it, though). You could even beef it up with some meat, or bacon bits, or beans (if you want a cheep protein).
Okay... now I've wasted too much time blogging about lunch... Back to work!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Sunday
I know, I know. It's not a worship song. But it is a Sunday song... kinda. Really it's just funny and I wanted to post it on my blog. Enjoy!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Inks Lake 2011
Our church takes an annual camping trip to Inks Lake. This year was the smallest group we've ever had... only 38 people (I think the usual numbers are around 150). It was a smaller group, but still a lot of fun.
We headed out on Friday with a car packed to the ceiling!
We camped with the Hugghins & Jay (as in we did most of our meals together). The good company helped me overlook that it was 105 degrees during the day.
I brought John's tunnel (and a few other toys) along with us because I thought it would distract him from eating so much dirt. It didn't. Instead the Hugghins kids played with John's toys while he ate sticks. What can ya do?
I think John has camping down. He's been 3 times in his short life of one year (kinda crazy to think he's only been with us a year, it feels like he's always been here). We brought a fan and set it on full blast when he napped during the day. He did excellent. One night (because he saw me) he had a hard time sleeping, but in general I give him an A+ for sleeping while camping. Granted, he wakes up earlier because he sees us in the morning when it's light out, but I'll gladly wake up at 6am if he takes good naps and goes to bed at 7pm.
I took a lot of sleeping pictures. I tried to be better about taking pictures of the activities we did, but it's hard to balance baby, life jacket, splashing water & a camera. However, every time I went to check on him I loved snapping a quick sleeping shot. Here's John after a nap...
Playing with Abby before "church" started on Saturday.
Eating Lunch.
On the first day, we went to the Devils Water Hole to watch the older Hugghins kids jump off a twenty foot cliff into water. I brought John along. He didn't really care for deep cold water so we ended up taking turns supervising John on the rocks while the other parent cooled off in the water. The water was extra cold this year. I'm not sure if it was because we went in May instead of June, but it was really nice to jump in a cool lake when it was super hot out. The only problem was sunburn. Thankfully, John didn't get any, but Steven and my shoulders were a little crispy after the first day... despite several applications of sunblock.
We came back to camp for another nap for John.
Then we let him splash around in a kiddy pool to cool off. I thought it was funny that he wanted to swim in the pool and not the lake that was right near our site.
We make Waffles the second day. I'd never thought to do waffles while camping, but it's a really good idea. Here's everyone... except for John...
He was playing over by some tress. He's so handsome!
And it's time for another nap...
On the second day we got smart. We went to Longhorn Caverns to cool off during the hot part of the day... and see some caves. We went with the Sexton family. I love Inks lake because it gives you opportunity to hang out with families that we wouldn't normal see as much. We have such great families in our church that I wish we had more time to hang out with everyone. I've decided the best way to learn about parenting & marriage is to find people that have great kids and marriages and ask them what they did... so much better than any book you could read about either subject. The Sextons were a treat to spend the afternoon with.
We put John in another friend's Ergo we are borrowed, hoping he would nap... And he did... just as we were Exiting the caves. Oh well. He was just too excited about the echo in the cave and all the things to see.
After Dinner time I made a SMOOKIE! Haha... a marshmallow in between two cookies... two chocolate chip cookies. It was yummy... and messy.
This was the last night. John has seen me making my smookie and realized that there was fun to be had. This was the night it was hard to get him settled down to go to bed. I was roasting my marshmallow when I looked up and saw this...
Crazy kid. He did eventually fall asleep, but it took a while.
In the morning we packed up and were off! I put John on Jay's motorcycle before we left because I thought it would be cute... and it was, Thanks Jay!
We aren't going to be traveling much (or at all if we can) this summer because car rides are the WORST part of going anywhere. John can handle about 30 minutes and the he starts to lose it! He screams & cries no matter what I do. I tired everything from food to making silly faces at him, but this is what he wanted to do...
We were ALL glad to be home. John went around the house grabbing all his favorite toys and turning around to show us. I was most excited about showering!
We headed out on Friday with a car packed to the ceiling!
We camped with the Hugghins & Jay (as in we did most of our meals together). The good company helped me overlook that it was 105 degrees during the day.
I brought John's tunnel (and a few other toys) along with us because I thought it would distract him from eating so much dirt. It didn't. Instead the Hugghins kids played with John's toys while he ate sticks. What can ya do?
I think John has camping down. He's been 3 times in his short life of one year (kinda crazy to think he's only been with us a year, it feels like he's always been here). We brought a fan and set it on full blast when he napped during the day. He did excellent. One night (because he saw me) he had a hard time sleeping, but in general I give him an A+ for sleeping while camping. Granted, he wakes up earlier because he sees us in the morning when it's light out, but I'll gladly wake up at 6am if he takes good naps and goes to bed at 7pm.
I took a lot of sleeping pictures. I tried to be better about taking pictures of the activities we did, but it's hard to balance baby, life jacket, splashing water & a camera. However, every time I went to check on him I loved snapping a quick sleeping shot. Here's John after a nap...
Playing with Abby before "church" started on Saturday.
Eating Lunch.
On the first day, we went to the Devils Water Hole to watch the older Hugghins kids jump off a twenty foot cliff into water. I brought John along. He didn't really care for deep cold water so we ended up taking turns supervising John on the rocks while the other parent cooled off in the water. The water was extra cold this year. I'm not sure if it was because we went in May instead of June, but it was really nice to jump in a cool lake when it was super hot out. The only problem was sunburn. Thankfully, John didn't get any, but Steven and my shoulders were a little crispy after the first day... despite several applications of sunblock.
We came back to camp for another nap for John.
Then we let him splash around in a kiddy pool to cool off. I thought it was funny that he wanted to swim in the pool and not the lake that was right near our site.
We make Waffles the second day. I'd never thought to do waffles while camping, but it's a really good idea. Here's everyone... except for John...
He was playing over by some tress. He's so handsome!
And it's time for another nap...
On the second day we got smart. We went to Longhorn Caverns to cool off during the hot part of the day... and see some caves. We went with the Sexton family. I love Inks lake because it gives you opportunity to hang out with families that we wouldn't normal see as much. We have such great families in our church that I wish we had more time to hang out with everyone. I've decided the best way to learn about parenting & marriage is to find people that have great kids and marriages and ask them what they did... so much better than any book you could read about either subject. The Sextons were a treat to spend the afternoon with.
We put John in another friend's Ergo we are borrowed, hoping he would nap... And he did... just as we were Exiting the caves. Oh well. He was just too excited about the echo in the cave and all the things to see.
After Dinner time I made a SMOOKIE! Haha... a marshmallow in between two cookies... two chocolate chip cookies. It was yummy... and messy.
This was the last night. John has seen me making my smookie and realized that there was fun to be had. This was the night it was hard to get him settled down to go to bed. I was roasting my marshmallow when I looked up and saw this...
Crazy kid. He did eventually fall asleep, but it took a while.
In the morning we packed up and were off! I put John on Jay's motorcycle before we left because I thought it would be cute... and it was, Thanks Jay!
We aren't going to be traveling much (or at all if we can) this summer because car rides are the WORST part of going anywhere. John can handle about 30 minutes and the he starts to lose it! He screams & cries no matter what I do. I tired everything from food to making silly faces at him, but this is what he wanted to do...
We were ALL glad to be home. John went around the house grabbing all his favorite toys and turning around to show us. I was most excited about showering!
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