On The Last Day of August

We scored some basil at the farmer's market the other day, so we made some pesto. I love me some pesto pasta. I was able to freeze some, but boy, it takes a lot of basil to make pesto in large quantities. Ah well.

We went to the beach today to meet some friends, and one of the moms there had five children. All by herself. What I mean is that she was managing five children all by herself at the beach. How she managed to make sure none of them drowned or hurt on the playground is beyond me. I could barely manage two. Maybe it does get easier as you have more (that's what she told me!). We're not going to have five to find out. :)

Speaking of managing two kiddos, L leaves for South Africa in two weeks. I'm excited for him to go. He, his sister and her husband are going for two weeks. It's been eight years since he was there last, and even longer for his sister, so it's definitely worth the financial sacrifice for them to go. I'm nervous to be in charge 24/7, but I know God will give me strength and grace, and lots of friends and family have offered to help.

My little sister has also just left for her schooling downstate, so I am once again feeling old! My sister is all grown up, and living on her own all by herself. She has such a great attitude about it - I just know she will learn so much in this adventure. She adapts to change so well, and is pretty positive about it, so lots of good memories will be made. She has taught me that much of life is what you make of it. Focus on the negative and that is all you will see. See the positive and you will see all of the blessings around you.

My blessing today is a clean house and good beach time. We're trying to squeeze every last ounce of summer that we can, though I always look forward to the autumn too.

Goodbye, August!

Right Now I'm Loving...

1. Dahlias. Really. I need to stop thinking about these flowers.

2. Curling up on the couch while it's raining and reading a good book. Just started Eat, Pray, Love... Our theologies are certainly different, but it's an interesting read nonetheless.

3. Going to the library on a rainy evening. It's even more fun watching E get excited about going... it's one of her favorite places to go. People with kiddos - take advantage of all things free!

4. The fact that I fit into one of my old pairs of jeans. Yes, I'm sucking in ever so slightly, but I'll take it.

5. Dreaming about how our living space and kitchen will look after we get the money and time to fix it.

6. This lamp shade. The hubby's not so thrilled with it, though. Seriously, is it so bad? You can be honest, people, but I'll love it anyway.

7. This rug or this rug. I think the colors of the poppy rug will go with my chair (above). You know, if I did get to choose a rug at this very instant.

8. This and this flooring.

9. Just to prove that I love more important things than just well, things, I am loving all of the friends and family we've been seeing over the past month. We've been blessed.

10. That we have a roof over our head that isn't in need of major repairs (we can live with green carpet), two working vehicles, food, family, friends, and a big God. Not in that order.

Weekend Highlights

L's cousin from South Africa is in town for a couple of weeks, we (along with some of his other family) took a trip to Mackinac Island. E enjoyed the butterfly house, but wanted to touch and kiss the butterflies (I did let her kiss one).

Some of family at the butterfly house

Along the shoreline

The weekend cleared enough for some outside tummy time.

Decided that dahlias must make it into our flower bed somewhere - these were too beautiful. Speaking of garden beds, we used our first bit of compost on our bed yesterday. You can't imagine our excitement.

E and I shelled the last peas of the season, and snipped the green beans. Notice E put most of them in her mouth... seriously, this kid loves fresh peas (and her diaper showed it). Loving harvest season.

Hope you had a lovely weekend too!

Farmer's Market Love

Harvest seasons is here - hoping to get lots of goodies to store for the winter!

Tea and Sleep

I found these little teacups at a second hand shop the other day. I don't shop often, mostly because my patience runs thin at stores, and can't stand stopping at several different places. Still, this little find (it was even half off!) made it worthwhile (amongst other work toys I was initially looking for).

E and I have had a couple of tea parties since, mostly with water, even though she asks me for tea (she's her father's daughter). I'm looking forward to R being a little older so he can play tea party too ( you know, if he wants to...). I mean boys can play tea party too, right?

The past couple of weeks have been a little busy for us, and this week isn't any different - something happening every day of the week. I'm having a hard time staying motivated in the evening after I get home from work. Once E is in bed, I feel like it's my time to sit and breathe for a little bit (if R allows me to). It's been said a million times before, but boy, am I glad I only work outside the home part time. .

Speaking of sleep, R has been sleeping through the night. Well, he slept through the night for a week, and then had a growth spurt (my daycare worker almost called because she thought she was running out of milk for the fella!), so he was up around 4:12 every night. Last night, though, he did sleep through the night, and did my body need that... getting up at 6 am took everything in me!

Well time to get moving on the day. Lunch, check. Pumped and had breakfast, check. Put together, check... why am I ready so early? Oh that's right; I still have to get the kiddos moving!

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

Shiny, Shiny, Shiny

So this was our kitchen sink for the past few months - and yes, this sink had just been washed. Gross, right? We wanted a new sink, but had a few other projects to get to first (and were debating leaving it until we redid the whole kitchen). When my grandfather mentioned he had an extra sink, we were thrilled. What's better than recycled and free?

Seriously, I think this is my favorite project thus far. Simple pleasures, right?

Nothing fancy, but certainly an improvement... and look how shiny....

Picture Time

This often results in this expression

from R... the flash is a little bright, I think. :)

The Kitchen Sink

One thing that is a little difficult to do with my job is pack a lunch. I don't take a lunch break, and am often in my car rushing from one visit to another. Meals that need to be heated aren't an option, so I often take fruit and sandwiches (salads are often tricky for me). Recently, though, I've been in a certain "dippy" kind of mood, and have been taking pico de gallo, tortilla chips, hummus , and pitas made into chips with olive oil, basil, garlic, salt, pepper, and paprika. I may have hit the jackpot with this. I am still full by the end of the day, which is pretty unusual for me.

Speaking of food and preparing food, L is putting in a new sink in our kitchen. Oh my goodness. I should post a picture of how the old one looked... it was really dreadful. My grandparents just remodeled their kitchen and had an extra sink, so now it's ours.

I just started reading "Animal Vegetable Miracle" and am really enjoying it thus far, but it's slow moving on my part. What can I say? I'm mostly reading a lot of Fancy Nancy and other toddler reads. Can I admit that Fancy Nancy is one of my favorite reads that E picks up?

Beuful (E's Speak For Beautiful)

I love farmer's market flowers. Not only are they incredibly cheap, but it's so much fun to make your own bouquet and know you can have even more the following week. Ah, the happiness that exudes when I look these. :)
Evidently, my girl loves flowers too... or at least weeds that look like flowers. Isn't she beautiful in this picture, even with her crazy, won't-leave-a-barrette-in hair?

Thank you, Father, for painting creation so beautifully
and for making each one of us so uniquely and wonderfully made...