In Season-- The Farmer's Wife

Not to be confused with the Farmer's Market... actually, it is to be confused since that's what Hope kept calling one of our in season trips this month. Never mind, please, that it's now almost July. :)

Small town farmer's markets have that quaint feel about them. The kind that makes you gush all neighborly like and puts you in the mood to buy up everyone's friendly produce. Just to imagine all the folks in their gardens gathering the harvest to bring to us; I love it!


Somehow the purse strings did their job and we made it out with only some of the great looking fruits and veggies we saw along with fun items like lavender laundry powder, raw honey, and homemade pizza dough. As promised, here is an idea or two from the easy ways we made good of our loot.
That very night I couldn't resist the dough, so I attempted a deepish dish pizza in a clearanced tart pan I found a while back. We used ingredients from our trip and included sauteed mushrooms, deli-cut pepperoni (cheaper and yummier than the kind you find in the package-- just ask for 1/4 pound sliced thin from the deli counter to last you a couple pies), Italian seasoning, and fresh basil. Friday nights are almost always some version of easy homemade pizza, and now I need to learn how to make this dough myself. Mmmm!
Stretch the dough over the pan, add your sauce and toppings, and bake at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes or so. Then make a little side salad from some of that other fresh stuff.
And for dessert? Easiest chocolate covered strawberries EVER... just dip them in some Nutella; then try to hide the jar from yourself. If you accomplish this, please let me know how in the world you did it.
Lastly... if you're anything like us, we live for picnics in the summer. Many nights I'll throw whatever looks good from the fridge into a basket and off we'll go to meet Joe for a late evening at work, to the park, or sometimes just out to the backyard. With veggies like tomatoes or cucumbers marinated in a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, white vinegar, and Italian seasoning the grabbing is all the easier. Taste tester two year old gives it her smile of approval.
Up next... who knows? But stay tuned and feel free to share any secrets the farmer's wife may have told you!

Yemonade and a Baby

Another couple we know is in the process of adopting their son. So far we've gotten to snack on concessions, eat Chick-Fil-A, and participate in (thereby, heavily sample) a bake sale.

At this point, it's almost hard to tell who has gotten the better end of all these deals. But, boy, are we full.

Most recently some extra baked goods and a gift from Nana's last summer clearance glories gave us an idea. A really fun idea. "Yemondae... Get your cold, fwesh yemonade!"

"Mommy... Nana... are you sure I'm gonna get my fiwst customah?" She reminds us of no one, absolutely no one, we know. :)
Soon, thankfully, frowns turned around and off rode our first patron into the blazing hot sun over head.

This was celebrated by some...how shall we say... profit sharing.
The evening hour of operation was successful too, especially when a favorite customah helped wrap up the night.

Please join us in praying that Baby Bailey gets to his family before we even have time to roll back out to the end of the driveway again!

We certainly know one little entrepreneur who can't wait to meet him.

Moments with Maddie- Month, Gulp, Eleven

This picture, the one that means we are a month away from no longer having an official baby in the house, was actually taken a whole day after the 18th of the month. Phew, glad to get that off my chest. :)

On the real 18th of the month, we were busy with Maddie's favorite pastimes. You know... going to the park, picking grass, teething on carrot sticks, crawling around, and grinning. Oh and making us want to keep her little forever. Not so sure that last one is exactly intentional.

But, she's every bit as effective.



See you next month with, gulp, birthday pics of our little cupcake!

how do we love thee?

the way you read in the floor with hope every night for "just one more stowy" after another... the way you light maddie up from across the room with the grinning game... the way you just recently made all the prayers for my mom's group without being asked-- even coming back down to check on the font, color, and size-- though you were up to your eyeballs in other work... the way you lift us up on your way to work hard for our family, for the Lord, each day...

...this barely begins to count all the ways!

and to grandpa, poppop, and all the others who courageously answer the call to fatherhood... happy special day.

children everywhere, even us grown ones, are so blessed because of you!

xoxo,

k, h, and m

Another Wooded Weekend...

...with some great friends (since middle school for Mark and Joe!) in a place called Mouth of Wilson. Its name alone should conjure up images of winding roads and a secluded cabin. Add to that taking in beautiful views, gorging on fresh fruit and french toast and grilled kabobs, finding flowers and turtles and caterpillars and snails all while catching up and watching a trio of girls toddle around... ahh, the makings of a wonderful wooded weekend. Things have been so busy around here that these little breaks from the norm and into nature are such welcomed retreats. And a real blessing that we can even do them!




***
Speaking of some other outdoorsy sounding stuff, we simply have to recommend the Seeds Family Worship. Scripture is put to music in such a talented way that just the other morning during breakfast, while I was getting dressed upstairs, I heard Hope console Maddie with, "Whatever you eat, whatever you dwink-- do it all for the gwory of God!"

Then, while winding our way back from the woods, the backseat stole our hearts:

As a bonus, these songs aren't just for the kids. You can take Joe's belting out the Word for it:

Let It Shine

Letting it shine just doesn't apply to the out of doors though, if you left it up to our children, they'd live in the grass and the water for just about... oh, say, forever. There is at least one place that makes for a huge exception.

"Nim-nagstics!!!!"





Forgive the blurry quality of the photos; my little point and shoot isn't really equipped for fun in motion. Nevertheless, I love this place too for a number of reasons. I get to pray and play with her, while Maddie enjoys the view from the peanut gallery of baby carriers. They learn all sort of things like the days of the week, sportsmanship with the coach and fellow aspiring gymnasts, and athletic skills like "pike legs" which Hope just busted out with while swinging at a friend's house. But best of all, her entire tuition goes to support mission work.

Maybe you have something like this near you?

If so, we give it a huge exception of a thumb's up.

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine! :)

Matthew 5:16

Dreaming of Last Weekend

After a long around-the-clock work stretch for Joe, I'd say last weekend had all the ingredients for a sweet time.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say Maddie's first official vacation knocked her socks off.

So much so that she gave us 4 am wake up calls both mornings of it. Out of the pup tent and into our bed she went with a few more hours to go until we sleepily stumbled onto the little porch for breakfast.
As for Hope, she did not meet up with Kentucky-Cheese. Instead, she met another fella and his friends who got hearty hugs and howdies every time we rounded the corner. When Yogi came out live for the hey, hey, hey ride... that just about knocked her socks, well crocs, for a loop!

We really roughed it for the weekend, let me tell you. Swimming, feeding ducks, playing put-put, exploring caves, cooking around the campfire, singing, swinging, reading, and taking in all of God's handiwork that we could see.



But our favorite part? Being together. Even if around the clock sometimes literally means around the clock. Some jobs are never quite done.
Still, the dreaming is sweet.

Happy new weekend to be had, everyone!