Friday, May 27, 2016

We Can Smell Summer


We've spent the last couple of days gearing up for a fun Memorial Day weekend. My friend Ruth, her husband Jake, and their son Joel are on their way from Michigan to visit us, and we are excited! We don't get many of my family or friends to travel this far east, and we haven't seen Ruth & Jake in  years (three!). We're looking forward to showing them around our small town, making some delicious meals together, and letting our boys play cars and trains while we get caught up :)


Last Friday, Nolan, Ephraim, and I visited our friend Jeanie! Jeanie and Rod live out in the country, and they have fun toys at their house for when their grandchildren come to visit. N & E had a field day!

  
They love playing in the sandbox boat!
 


And the motorized John Deere tractor was a huge hit.


Trusting a two-year-old on a pedal-controlled tractor makes my heart race. He did pretty well though!



I love this shot. Eating mac 'n cheese and summer fruit outside. Mmm!


Saturday marked TEN YEARS since the day that I met Stephen. In some ways, it feels longer than ten years, and in some ways, ten feels just right. May 21, 2006 was one special day in my life. Things just keep getting better with this guy.


Sunday afternoon, we checked out a local kids' carnival. Since it was a rainy weekend, some of the activities were cancelled, and the rest were inside. The boys enjoyed it though.



Cherries were on sale, and I had to buy a bag! There is nothing more summery to me than a bowl full of cherries. 


Our baby robins fledged from the nest on Monday. Yesterday, I spotted the baby birds in various places around our yard, so it's fun they are sticking close by. They have gotten so big!


On Tuesday, we had a MOPS playdate at the park with over twenty moms and more kids than I could count. Here's Nolan on the Merry-Go-Round with some of his girl friends.


And Ephraim was enamored with the Paw Patrol chalk.


On Wednesday afternoon, the weather was so gorgeous! I woke Ephraim up from his nap (I have to do that almost every day because he loves to sleep until dinnertime) and brought him outside. He tried to fall back asleep in my arms, and it was a flashback to how sweet it was when he slept on me all the time as a baby.


Nolan kept saying it was Hammie's birthday yesterday. I think it's the second time this year that Hammie has had a birthday, but we celebrated anyway with some chocolate chip cookies.


 I'm hearing that we're getting some storms this weekend. Say it isn't so!


Sweet boy always trying to bend the rules by flashing me cute smiles.



He loves his Ivy.

Hope you enjoy this long Memorial Day weekend! May it be filled with barbecue and sunshine where you are.

XO.

Friday, May 20, 2016

Zimm Life Lately


Sorry for the crickets on the blog this week. Last Friday, I went to upload my photos from my phone, and it just would not work. Luckily, this Friday, it's not a problem! We've had a low-key week - hanging out at home, running errands, and playing with friends at the library. It seems the boys do much better on days that we fill with activities, so I am going to start planning out our summer with plenty of things to do!


We've had our share of cold and rainy days, so any time we see the sun, we all run outside!


With growing boys and all those toys, I'm thinking we could use a second little turtle sandbox! 


Nolan's been my little helper when it comes to gardening. He tries to help weed, and he loves to water the new sprouts. He has a small green watering can that he begged for at Target. One day this week, I was letting him fill it up multiple times in the house. After a while, I realized he was filling it up with super hot water! So far, our plants are still alive :)  He also REALLY wanted gardening gloves, so we found a pair of Mickey Mouse ones at Lowe's last night, and he kept saying, "I am so happy! I'm so happy!" I'll have him help me plant the rest of the seeds tomorrow.


Lovely lilac bushes in our neighbor Yvonne's yard.


This silly face was waiting for me on the porch :)


All I know is, thank goodness this boy still loves to nap! 


These are the baby robins on our porch last week. So cute! The fourth little robin didn't make it. :(


I didn't peek on them for several days, and now they look like this. They are so fluffy and feathery! They will probably leave the nest on Sunday or Monday.

Oh, and I have to show you the photos of the cardinals, too! The babies fledged (left the nest) last weekend.


The beautiful mama.


The bright red daddy.


And one baby right before he took his first flight :)  He landed immediately on the ground, and then waddled all the way over to another bush to his family. It was such an amazing experience to watch it all unfold. I miss having them in our yard!

 I've been doing my first Beth Moore Bible study with a couple of friends, and I'm really enjoying it! She is such a dynamic speaker, and the book is written really well, too.


On Sunday, E and I were waiting for Steve and Nolan in the church parking lot, and one of my favorite songs came on. I started singing along to try and entertain Ephraim, but I turned around and he had his hands over his ears :) He is much too young to have an opinion about my singing! 


I can't get enough fresh pineapple! I don't buy much fruit in the winter, so I'm really excited that some of our favorites like strawberries and blueberries are coming into season.



We've been taking a lot of nightly walks, and this was from last night. It needs a frame :)  These boys are a handful, and they keep us on our toes, but they are the two cutest humans I've ever met. 

Hope you have a relaxing weekend!

XO.




Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Toll House Pie


This is a classic Nestle recipe that I pulled out of an old church cookbook several years ago. It's super simple to make - a basic cookie dough batter poured into a store-bought pie crust. Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite dessert, and I like how this pie shape makes it a little bit fancier for serving at a dinner party. Warm out of the oven with a large scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, how can you go wrong? :)


INGREDIENTS

2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1  9-inch unbaked pie shell
(1 cup chopped walnuts optional)


DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, beat the eggs on high speed until foamy. Beat in the flour, sugar, and brown sugar until well-blended. Add in the softened butter. Stir in the chocolate chips (and walnuts, if desired). Pour the batter into the pie shell. Bake for 50 minutes to one hour. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Recipe can be doubled. Bake two pies, and you can save/freeze one for later use :)



Monday, May 9, 2016

Mother's Day Weekend


It's a sleepy Monday afternoon at our house, and I wanted to post a few of my favorite photos from this weekend! My family made me feel very loved and celebrated yesterday on my fifth Mother's Day. I feel so very grateful for these two little boys, their daddy, and our life together. God is so good.


These pink tulips - have you ever noticed the purple stars and the purple pollen on the inside? So gorgeous!


We had a steak dinner with my mom and Don on Saturday night. And then yesterday, we had lunch with Steve's mom and dad. It's so nice to be with both of our moms on Mother's Day weekend!



And Steve snapped a few photos of the boys, which turned out adorable.




The sweetest little hug!



These are the cardinal babies yesterday! I only see two, but I'm hoping #3 is still in there somewhere. They are black with pink stripes on their sides. Even with the windows closed, I hear their little baby chirps every time they get fed :)

Lastly, I've been watching the robin's nest all weekend, and finally this morning I peeked at these three tiny babies! They are so brand new that there is even a speck of blue egg shell on one's pink skin. One egg hadn't hatched yet, but hopefully it has now!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend celebrating the special moms in your life :)


Come back tomorrow, I have a book giveaway for you!



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