Christmas in July

Well I have to admit that I do love free stuff... or at least free stuff that we'll use. Recently a friend offered to let me sift through eight totes of stuff she was going to donate to Goodwill. I found lots of Patagonia, Gap, Children's Place and Gymboree items... and E doesn't wear most of those brands simply because of price.

I found quite tons of free items for the kiddo, which made me very happy. I was also very impressed with how well this woman took care of her clothes. Either E is much messier than her children, or my washing efforts aren't quite as successful.

And generally Saturday mornings are my time to get to the farmer's market and stock up on produce for the week. I had to stop off at the grocery store on the way back, and to my surprise they were giving away free bananas that were getting too ripe. I think one of the ladies watching me thought I was crazy grabbing two grocery bags worth of almost-too-ripe bananas. Now that we have our little chest freezer, we can store extra food items like this and pull them out when in need.

Really, though, it felt like Christmas in July. I guess it's the simple things in life that matters, right? :)

Incoherent Thoughts

This is what I wish I was doing right now. E and I have caught a cold from someone somewhere, and now all I want to do is sleep. Of course as a mom, that's not really possible, so I'll have to live vicariously through my kitty. She looks like she's having a good rest, yes?

It's been a quiet couple of days around here. Dinners have consisted of salad after salad for the most part (thanks to our CSA). Time to start thinking of some ways to spruce up our salads, so we're not sick of them by the end of the harvest season. We are enjoying the peas that we've gotten the past couple of weeks. You must eat them straight out of the pod though - they're more nutritious and taste SO much better. Just try it. You won't regret it.

And of course, with the summer season here, I've been loving the watermelon we can buy so easily... seriously. I think I could eat a whole watermelon, it's that yummy. E's still loving her blueberries. Must find u-pick farm for these. As soon as she sees the container of blueberries she'll point and say "Blue! Blue!!" until there are a few in her hands.

Anyway, forgive this post if it's not the most coherent. My mind is feeling very fuzzy at the moment. I can tell because I've been staring at that sentence for about five minutes now... just staring....

Our Weekend

Hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's house on the 4th. Cousin A is giving E a hug. A's curly hair is just too cute for words. :)

At K and R's house, celebrating M's first birthday. Yes, little M is in there somewhere. :)

Watching horses at T and L's house on Saturday.

This is Uncle T holding E, as she got "up close and personal" with Nick. She was pretty nonchalant about the whole experience, but I wanted to take the horse home with us. I mean, we have a big garage, right? :)

And of course, the beauty of summer. This is a photo of the sunset on the beach.

Ah, summer...

More Joy

This little girl has taught me so much about life in the short time she's been on this earth. These are just a few things:

1. She's taught me how quickly time flies.
2. How much fun it is to laugh so hard it hurts.
3. That life is meant to be LIVED to its fullest.
4. That sitting still can be a blessing!
5. She's shown me how much beauty one person can hold.
6. How to be alive.
7. How we're surrounded by an exciting world, ready to be explored.
8. That simple things are the most interesting.
9. She's taught me how much God has blesses His children.
10. And of course, how much one person can love another.

Berry-licious!

So we've been swimming in strawberries since we picked a few days ago. I have frozen most of our strawberries for future use. We've been eating a lot of berries as of late, and so we've enjoyed Strawberry Spinach Salad (yum), berries and cream, smoothies and most recently:

Smoothie Pops!
Yogurt
Bananas
Strawberries
Milk
Put ingredients in blender and mix. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze, after the molds have started taking shape, put Popsicle sticks in molds, and continue to freeze.
Enjoy!

Just One of Those Days

Ever have a day when you wake up feeling good about yourself? Since having E, it's really a toss up whether I feel that way or not. Today, however, I am feeling good about myself - feeling productive, like my body is down to its pre-pregnancy weight (and I know this is a fact and not a feeling, but today I feel it), and ready to see what God has in store for me today. I like days like this.

In other news, I have another interview on the 15th of this month. This is a little more exciting, since it's social work related, so we'll see what happens. I'm still going back and forth about returning to work, but this position has such strange coincidences, I just couldn't resist applying. :)

Just Because...

she's beautiful, and because her dad's a pretty talented photographer. Thank you, God, for all the good things in life.