life lately & new design

Hello again!

My blog break was nice, but I’m glad to be back writing an update on our lives :) I took some time to redo my blog design—what do you think?

The first half of the week was nice and low-key. On Thursday, I started coming down with something, and on Friday, I was stuck on the couch with a fever and a headache. I’m still not really sure what bug we’ve all had now, but I was so grateful to bounce back on Saturday so that we could attend a beautiful, lodge-in-the-woods wedding for two of Steve’s PhD classmates. The weather was a perfect 75, and there was a yummy vegan dinner and some yard games. We made the hour and a half trip back home, detouring past Steve’s new workplace (which I hadn’t seen yet). I fed the baby while Steve and Nolan dribbled a basketball with a couple of college students who were outside on the court. Nolan couldn’t keep from laughing because he was so overjoyed to be on a basketball court for the first time :)

Last night, we had pizza at my in-laws’ house and hung out with them for a while. I snapped these pictures on the back porch, and couldn’t get a photo of both boys looking at the same time!


Stealing a moment with Hammie before Nolan noticed…

  
I picked my five pumpkins yesterday, and this one is my very favorite. When I let my Halloween pumpkins compost last year, I thought I would be lucky to have some tiny little pumpkins grow. I was not expecting one this huge and heavy to come out of our first garden! Unfortunately, the others are smaller and have some holes and probably little worms in them. At least they can stay outside and decorate the porch for the fall :)

Our 3-year-old wake up call has been a little early lately. On Saturday, he woke up at 6:30 shouting “I want a cookie! I want a cookie!” We’re hoping for some more sleep in the next few days :)

How was your weekend?

friday favorites

F R I D A Y   F A V O R I T E S

I usually write about five things on Fridays—but I’m writing this at 11pm on Thursday, and I am pretty scatter-brained right now, so I may not make it to five :)

Tonight, I’m focused on Nolan’s donut party on Saturday—gluing felt donuts, working on the signs, writing lists for the grocery store. I’m excited to make a big deal about my little man turning three!


This really amazing thing happened in my garden. My raspberries started producing a second time this season! I had read that this was a possibility, but my bushes looked quite done for a couple of weeks, so I was not expecting to find red berries and plenty of new little buds popping out! In other news, I’ve been picking an average of 75 green beans a day! Local friends, let me know if you want some!

On Wednesday, we went on an excursion to Target, Applebee’s, and the university’s creamery. It takes about two hours round-trip to get to the town, but it’s most definitely worth it! The ice cream at the creamery is so fresh that only about four days elapse between the cow and the cone. Yum!
  Ephraim has seemingly grown so much in the past week! He crawled to me for the first time on my birthday on Sunday. Now that he can move, I am continually picking him up and redirecting him away from cords, the dog, and Nolan’s train track. I wish I could show ya’ll how sweet he is. I can’t get enough!

Linking up for Friday Favorites with Andrea, Erika, & Narci.

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my birthday

I had a fantastic birthday on Sunday. We woke up to a rainy and dark morning, and got Nolan ready for his very first Sunday School class. He LOVED it! After church, we went to my in-laws for some always-good Subway sandwiches and a strawberry cheesecake made by Alice. My buddy helped me blow out the candles to practice for his upcoming big birthday :) We headed home to relax and (attempt to) nap. Steve outdid himself again with creative and sweet gifts for me :) Before dinner, we went for a drive through the hill country. There was a nice pause in the rain while we posed for a few pictures with the amazing landscape. Later, my mom and Don grilled out for us at their house. My mom made some bright and beautiful milk chocolate cupcakes for me, and before we knew it, the daylight was gone, and it was time to go home and get the boys to bed. Twenty-seven, I’m grateful to see you, and I’m pretty excited for all that’s in store this year :)

I kept listening to Sanctus Real’s song “Lay It Down”, over and over this weekend, and it’s full of wisdom that I’m taking with me into this year.

”But if you smile in face of trivial things,
and you learn to pray when you want to complain,
stand up straight when the earth is shaking,
and just keep breathing when you feel afraid.
Don’t you know
those problems you're worried about?
They can't keep you from living now,
when you shake them off and lay them down
at the cross where your freedom's found.”

life lately

Although Steve starts the new school year today (teaching four classes), I’m not ready to admit that summer is over. My birthday is on Sunday (the 31st), and it will always be summer to me until September 1st rolls around :) This past Friday was my mom’s birthday. We celebrated with her—eating a feast at Pizza Hut, enjoying the boys, and singing happy birthday to her at our house accompanied by eight candle-lit devil’s food cupcakes. Nothing but the best for my sweet mama! :)

Saturday morning, Steve had a date with a friend to pour some concrete so I took Nolan to Lowe’s for the Build and Grow workshop. My mom and Don met us there, and we helped Nolan build a “Robot Puppet,” which was a big hit with the little guy :) We made a brief visit to JoAnn Fabrics, and returned home for a lazy afternoon with Daddy. We made some chocolate chip pancakes and did some baking for the church picnic.

Sunday morning was our church’s big “Rally Day” to mark the start of the new Sunday School year. Nolan is going to start Sunday School with the 3, 4, and 5 year-olds, and he is going to absolutely LOVE it! Steve and a friend pulled out their guitars for some classic worship music time. Nolan ran around enjoying the great outdoors. After the service everyone sat down to the annual chicken barbecue, with lots of salads and desserts. Yum! And Ephraim stole the smiles of all the ladies :)

How was your weekend? Hope you’re having a fantastic Monday! xoxo.

county fair

Friday was one of those perfectly sunny, mid-70s summer days, and I couldn’t wait to take Nolan to the county fair! Now that he’s almost three, he has a much better appreciation for seeing all of the farm animals—the two week old baby cows, the towering horses, bunnies, chickens, and lambs.  We filled our mouths with funnel cake, extra-sweet lemonade, and a decadent treat called a fudge puppy (apparently a Belgian waffle on a stick dipped in chocolate.) Baby Ephraim was content to chill in mom’s pouch and take a long nap. We watched a horse-haul from the grandstand, breezed past the award-winning foods and flowers, and caught a set from an Elvis impersonator! You know you’ve had a good adventure when your kid doesn’t want to leave at the end of the day. :)

Yesterday we were happy to celebrate our friend Camilla’s second birthday! The party was held at a local camp-ground and all the kids loved  playing on the playground and feasting on pizza and cupcakes.

Oh, summer, please don’t end too quickly!  :)

friday favorites

Eek! How is it Friday again already? And August 1st?!
I do love August though—it’s still summery and warm, and it’s my birthday month :)

Favorite #1:
Nolan’s excitement to read to Ephraim.

Every night, we read Nolan the book, Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site—which is adorable and boyish, and it’s perfect for bedtime! Recently, he has wanted to share this time with Ephraim—and he loves when E is hanging out in his big boy bed with him. :)

And when Nolan’s new “Highlights High Five” magazine came the other day, the first thing he said was, “I’m going to read it to Ephraim.” His plan was slightly thwarted by Ephraim trying to eat the magazine, but it touched this mama’s heart :)

Favorite #2: Raspberry Jelly Tarts

I found this recipe in my Hello, Darling magazine. Preheat the oven to 400. Lay out a store-bought refrigerated pie crust. Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Spoon 1 teaspoon of raspberry preserves (or other flavor jelly) onto half of the shapes. Use your fingers to wet the edges with water. Then place empty shapes on top and crimp the edges with a fork. Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 18 minutes or until golden. So simple to do with kids! And they tasted really yummy too :)
 
Favorite #3: Hello, zucchini!

Before this week, the only crop we’d harvested so far had been tons of raspberries. I have never grown zucchini, but I’ve now picked TEN from our garden! This is just the beginning, I have a feeling. And those big ones above are about the size of my forearms. I made chocolate chip zucchini bread and I sliced a couple to make chips in the oven. There will be more zucchini recipes in my future, I’m sure.
 

Favorite #4:

I love chocolate chip pancakes for dinner. I could eat them every night. That’s all.

Favorite #5: Ephraim started solids!

. . . And promptly spit that cereal out. :) I’m excited to try new foods with him, and I hope he learns to love his fruits & veggies! I just can’t believe he’s 18 pounds on milk and milk alone.

Be sure to enter my Enough book giveaway (from Tuesday) which ends tonight at midnight!

What are your plans for the weekend? I’m excited to visit the county fair, get some cleaning and painting done around the house, and just enjoy time with the boys!

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Linking up with Andrea, Erika, Narci. And Lauren too. :)