The parents garden

We have had the wonderful benefit of living close enough to my parents to enjoy the delicious fruits from their garden! I had every intention this year of being a major player in the "work" of the garden, because it is without a doubt some tough work, but alas, I have not held up to my intentions! I doubt my parents will plan on my involvement in the future, thus potentially downsizing their crops. It is a wonderful things to have a garden, one I will hopefully undertake myself someday. Pumpkins in July, a bit like Christmas in July, but not
Okra blooms. We made this okra recipe a couple of weeks ago and it was every bit as delcious and easy as it looks! I will be making it again very soon!

Tommy Toes - Oh so good on a salad or just eaten by the handful!

Peas, Squash, Tomatoes, Corn

More of the same, different angle

Me and My Shadows

What a tremendously HOT, HOT July we have had! On a recent trip to the park (that was disappointingly closed) we took sometime to photograph our shadows as it was really too hot to do much else. Caleb, 3 years and 8 months
Eli, 13 1/2 months

Me, 33 years

Jeremy, 36 years

Look Who's Walking Now!

After 2 months of taking a step or two, Eli is walking! I think he took his first step back in May, but then his balance seemed to be terribly thrown off by suffering from repeated ear infections. He has been a complete teeter-totter and it has been so funny to watch! I know they say kids are all different, but it could not be more true of my two.

As far a physical capabilities, Caleb has beem more advanced with gross motor skills. He was crawling at 6 1/2 months and then walking at 11 1/2 months. Eli, on the other hand, crawled at about 7 1/2 months and walked at around 13 months. In comparing their fine motor skills, Eli has been more advanced. He was able to use a sippy cup about the first time I offered him one- I think around 6 months and he could easily drink through a straw by 11 months. In contrast, Caleb was close to a year before he was drinking well from a sippy cup and probably didn't master a straw until problably 15 months (some of this however, could be due to the fact that he had less opportunity to practice from a straw than Eli). I know these are not huge differences, but they are interesting and intriguing to me. Precious, precious boys!!!! Now, if I could ever get them to consistently nap at the same time!

Terrific Third, Fabulous Fourth!

We celebrated Independence Day by attending the annual 4th of July Parade at Langford Farms Club on July 3rd. In all my years as a member of LFC, this was my first time to attend the parade. It was a blast! Caleb and I had worked hard on our little float and to our surprise (and perhaps because of our slight advantage at my being childhood friends with one of the judges), we won Best of Show! The winnings came with a nice $50 bill, which Caleb for some reason referred to as a ticket. There were a ton of participants- bike riders, people on actual "big" floats, skate boarders, the decorated LFC bus and even some little kids riding their motorized vehicles (of which one daddy had to watch his little girl like she was a teenager who had just received her license-hilarious!). Of course, there were a number of wagons and walkers too and there was fabulous music as well. Caleb really enjoyed being in charge of throwing the candy we had purchased as part of our float. We swam for a little while afterwards to cool off, but both boys were too tired to stay for the Coke Dive. Plus, Jeremy had to work and I don't know if I could have managed both boys by myself- they were too excited on tired at the same time! Maybe next year for that one! If any of you live near LFC, I highly suggest this as a fun family event for you to do with your little ones- they will love it! The next day we attended a great patriotic service at our church and then celebrated with my siblings and niece and nephews at Granddaddy and Grandmama's house with a cookout. The weekend was capped off that night when the whole family went swimming at LFC. The majority of the evening was spent with various family members performing stunts off the diving board. It was a great time and I only regret that I did not have my camera to take any pictures as there were some great ones! Especially my brother-in-law flipping while holding his nose and my 61 year old dad doing his one and a half that isn't quite a one and a half anymore!
Family shot

Walking the parade route
Eli rode most of the time standing up biting on an apple, of which he would then spit out. It was quite American and pretty funny.
Grnadmama and Granddaddy always dress the part!

Pizza Taken Poolside

I absolutely love making homemade pizza. The whole process of making the dough from scratch, watching it rise and then creating layers of yumminess using delicious toppings to make a mouth-watering/take back things you never stole/slap yo momma piece of heaven from the oven is loads of fun for me. I use my late Aunt Cindi's recipe for the crust and I guess it's a bit nostalgic for me everytime I make it. I always loved it when she made homemade pizza for our family. Hers is still the best and I doubt I will ever make anything as good as she did, but that will not stop me from trying! Another reason I love making it is that it works well for Caleb too! The only adjustment in making Caleb his own dairy-free, egg-free pizza is that I have to use his special vegan cheese, of which they now have a pretty good brand- it melts! Since I have a beautiful basil plant growing on the back porch, this particular pizza was basically fresh sliced tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh garlic, olive oil and a blend of 6 Italian cheeses. How I wish I had a brick oven, but even so I was pretty pleased with the way this one came out of the oven!
Caleb enjoying his vegan pizza (although sometimes I will add sausage to his, but usually only if we have been able to purchase some from a local farmer).
You have to love a satisfied customer! Thanks babe for hanging with me despite that horrible broccoli cheese soup way back when!

And yet another satisfied customer!

And just for kicks, what makes for a better summer than being poolside watching your 3 year old jump off the same diving board you jumped off some 25 years ago! Talk about nostalgia!

He absolutely loves jumping off the diving board!

Newest Member of the Family

My cousin Angela recently welcomed our newest family member into the world- Summer Dawn. She is beautiful! We just happened to be visiting for a family reunion when she went into labor and thankfully we had time to stop the hospital for a visit. Teeny tiny and just as pretty as can be! Proud Great Uncle Bill and Grandpa Flynn All like 5 pounds of sweetness!

Pretty mama

Surfside Beach Vacation

If you're interested in seeing a few photos from our vacation to Surfside Beach, here ya go! We had a wonderful time relaxing, eating, hanging out and shopping. Things went really well except for poor Eli, who was on the last few days of an antibiotic for an ear infection in his right ear that apparently didn't want to clear up. Thankfully, I was able to take him to a clinic there and the pediatrician said both ears were "on fire." Poor little guy! He improved pretty quickly with a new antibiotic. It has taken us a while to get his sleep readjusted, but thankfully that has improved! Our vacation video

Raspberries, Oh Raspberries!

My parents' vines were loaded again this year, and the raspberries were sooooo good! We ate a ton, froze quite a bit, made raspberry preserves and raspberry bars (allergen free of course). How nice that we were able to enjoy them fresh and then we will be able to enjoy them later as well!

Did you know per cup raspberries contain just 60 calories? They also are an excellent source of fiber- 8 grams per cup- and provide ~half of your daily need for Vitamin C and a good amount of manganese. So, here's to a cup of raspberries!Aren't they beautiful?
Second to my mom and myself, Caleb picked the most- 5 quarts his first night.
I just love looking at the vines!
Eli enjoyed them too!

Eli Turns One!

We celebrated Eli's one year birthday with a party at our house. It was a great day for BBQ and trimmings and the perfect day for the Slip N Slide!

Party-goers relaxing outside
Uncle Luke lends a hand on the Slip N Slide
Rad takes one on his back

Caleb cruisin' on his side

Eli tries out the Slip N Slide

Eli enjoying his cake - which, along with the cupcakes the rest of us had, were dairy and egg free thanks to this recipe from The Food Allergy Momma! And seriously, one of the best icings I've ever made and it was also dairy and egg free!