For the love of tomatoes

This spring, we constructed a small raised garden. When trying to determine what we would plant there, the one vegetable (fruit?) everyone in the family could agree upon was tomatoes. We all love tomatoes. We ended up planting about 5 different varieties and hoped for the best. We thought we might get around 50 tomatoes or so. Then we had crazy spring weather with tons and tons of rain. Oh well, so much for the tomatoes, we thought. Ha! Starting in July, we began to harvest some of these little gems. Cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, we love them all. By the middle of July, we were getting about 20 tomatoes a day off of those plants. When the heat came, we thought well, that was fun, let's do it again next year. But these plants have been the most resilient things. Here is a sample of what we are pulling off of these plants everyday. In August.

We are giving them away left and right because we just can't keep up. We eat some everyday, but I think we are all just a little weary of tomatoes. Be careful what you plant, you just might get a TON!

For the love of blueberries

It's no secret that I love blueberries. Especially fresh blueberries. I love blueberry smoothies, blueberry muffins, blueberries in cereal, plain blueberries, blueberry yogurt....you get the idea. So when I came across this recipe for fresh blueberry pie, I had to give it a shot. It was surprisingly easy with very few ingredients and a tasty outcome full of yummy antioxidant goodness.

I would suggest serving it slightly warm with a side of homemade vanilla ice cream. Thank goodness I brought this to a party or I would have eaten the entire pie.


Absolutely no leftovers either so there was no opportunity to show a cut piece of the pie. You'll just have to trust me that it was divine.


Today, as I was making yet another batch of blueberry muffins, this time experimenting with a healthier version using blended oats, flax seed and canola oil, I overheard Avery telling her sister, "I like these muffins, I just don't like the blueberry part." Clearly, this is her father speaking. Any child with decent taste buds knows the blueberries are the best part. I have some work ahead of me....

We have had some entertaining times around our household lately. With the girls starting school last week, the "playground stories" have started rolling in. We laugh so much at dinner time about all of their little social interactions. Hopefully I will get to share some of those here soon. We also spent the weekend at a local lake recently where I got some really fun pics of the girls and their first tubing experience.

For now, I will leave with a quick video of Nathan showing his new dancing skills. He loves music and has recently starting learning how to shake his groove thing. Please ignore the shirt/dress. It served as pajamas on a very bad laundry day. As soon as I find the laundry queen and drag her away from the computer, the boy will have some appropriate attire. Enjoy!

Clearly, we have a problem

One thing I love about our kitchen is the large window right over my sink that looks out into our backyard. It's so nice to be able to keep an eye on the kids when they are playing. We also have a covered deck and french doors right off the kitchen. This area has become Nathan's favorite playground. Usually after dinner when he is a mess, he gets stripped down and gets to spend time on the deck while I clean up the kitchen.

It's a lot of time spent contemplating going down the steps and hanging out with the cat.


A lot of time spent testing the boundaries of those steps.


A lot of time spent walking around with a puffed out chest because he is a male and it is a well known male bylaw that you must walk with your chest extended as far as possible at all times.


Then there is time spent running to the french door to be sure that mom is watching all of the action.


Occasionally, there is time spent pleading for attention.


While this is great fun for the little man, it creates a teensy, weensy problem.

Clearly, it's a problem only a bottle of Windex can solve.

This could be dangerous

On a whim last night, I downloaded a free 30 day trial of Lightroom, an Adobe photo editing software. This morning I sat down to play with a picture or two. Oh my goodness. This could really be dangerous. Look for yourself and see the difference between straight out of the camera shots and the Lightroom edited picture. Keep in mind, these were edited with only one or two clicks of preset actions. No learning about color curves, grayscales, or any technical mumbo jumbo. Just click and watch your photos transform!





I think I'm going to have some fun playing around with this for the next 30 days. Then I will have to be creative to find a way to pay for it later!

One Question for You

I am a reader. I cannot remember a time when I didn't have a book that I was dying to read or a magazine that I couldn't put down. I can remember hiding in the bathroom with a book when my mother wanted me to clean the kitchen or some other mundane job around the house. I couldn't understand why someone should spend time doing chores when the Sweet Valley High twins, Jessica and Elizabeth, were having boyfriend issues. Where's the perspective? Dishes could wait! I was always a sucker for any story about an animal. A Dog Named Kitty? Yep, cried right through that one. Where the Red Fern Grows? I can't tell you how many times I have read that book and Old Dan and Little Ann can still tug at my heartstrings. Love, love, love Watership Down, the strange little rabbit story that makes you look at the bunny hopping through your yard in an entirely different light. That's the great thing about books; they transform your environment without you even realizing it. If I have a bad day, I can pick up a book and instantly read about someone who is having an even worse day. (Jodi Picoult, anyone? Man, those books are depressing!) If I need a laugh, I have the entire Marion Keyes collection on my bookshelf. She is chick-lit, but being from Ireland and all, she's a little more saucy than your typical Sophie Kinsella or Candace Bushnell. And if you really want to get away for a few hours, I highly recommend The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. It's action packed and it's "Stephen King approved" as one of the best books of 2008. Okay, losing focus quickly here, which is what happens when I talk about books.

I am always reading something, but most of the time, it's more than one book. I have provided the following visual example for you. This stack of reading material is currently sitting on my desk. It represents a typical week or two of reading for me.



Ok, so 2 issues of Better Home & Gardens, a Wishcraft catalog (with some ah-mazing Halloween costumes), Good Housekeeping, Creating Keepsakes (for all the scrapbooking I'm not doing), Parents, Charlene Harris' book 4 of her Sookie Stackhouse series, Fade (sequel to Wake, which was so intriguing I read the entire book in one afternoon), Entertainment Weekly (note the vampire headline, because between Twilight, the Sookie series, and True Blood, I guess I can't enough of the blood suckers), Garnet Hill catalog and a Ballard Designs catalog.

**Disclaimer** Yes, I also read the Bible, although not every day like I truly desire. So please don't be shocked that it's not included on this table. Don't worry, it's on the nightstand. **

So here's my question for you: "What are you reading?" Every book mentioned on this post came as a recommendation to me from someone else. It's how books are sustained year after year. People can't help but talk about a great book they've read. I want to know what you can't put down. I want to know what book keeps you up late at night. I want to know what book you are looking forward to being released. Any if by chance, you are not reading a book, then by all means, quit reading this boring blog and go out and find something uplifting, exciting, fantastic and transporting to read. Trust me, your local Barnes and Noble will have you covered. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a vampire calling my name....

Headed back to Stars Hollow

I took a vacation this summer. Sure, I went to St. Louis and a few places closer to home, but that's not the type of vacation I am talking about. Nope, I took a vacation from Stars Hollow, home of the Gilmore Girls. I spent all winter and spring in Stars Hollow with Lorelei and Rory. It was a great place to be. Then came the dreaded end of Season 6. You see, I only have one season left. One more season of Luke and Sookie, Emily and Richard, Logan (please, don't let her stay with Logan - whatever happened to Marty at Yale? He was great!), Paris, Taylor, and Miss Patty. I love these people like they were my own neighbors. Actually, I wish they were my neighbors! I would love to have a cute little diner to walk to where everyone knows you and your business. And if it had an ice cream shop attached with a huge see through window occupied by a very bossy and controlling mayor, it would be just perfect. Lorelei and Rory have seen me through sleepless nights with a newborn, countless hours of mundane ironing and many rainy Sunday afternoons. I have had Season 7 DVDs sitting on top of my DVD player for 3 months now. I just can't bring myself to finish because I'm not sure what will replace them. Who will entertain me while I iron? The View? Absolutely not. Oprah? I don't think so. Lost is just too heavy and requires too much attention. American Idol is just too loud. Dancing with the Stars is too bright and shiny. No, only Gilmore Girls will do, and I am tempted just to start the whole series over. Thankfully, I have remained relatively unspoiled for Season 7 (amazing since the show ended years ago) and I think I am finally ready to finish the journey. There a huge pile of laundry and ironing waiting for me and I think it's time for me to return. Yep, today, I am going back to Stars Hollow!

A little of this, a little of that

A warning....

Parents of small children, advice just for you is forthcoming...do not let your children watch the movie Coraline. Here's a sneak peek in case you don't know about which movie I am speaking.




Now, the music is outstanding in this movie. The colors are amazing. The story? Well, it's straight out of Stephen King's library if you ask me. I don't have a problem with scary stories, I just don't like my 8 and 5 year old watching them on a stormy night right before bedtime. So now I feel compelled to warn other parents in the hopes that they may avoid a sleepless night filled with little tugs on the arm from girls who are too scared to go to sleep. AND please be warned there is a very, ahem, robust woman who appears on screen in nothing but panties and pasties over her nipples. Yes, my girls have now been introduced to glittery nipple covers, thank you very much Coraline.

A "the world viewed by a 5 yr old, verses the world viewed by a mom" moment
Ok, so while we are watching this Coraline movie, it becomes apparent very quickly that her parents are well, pretty crummy parents. They ignore her requests and spend way too much time on the computer and working instead of interacting with their daughter. I started feeling a tad uncomfortable like maybe this hits a little too close to home. (Girls, go play, I am busy on the computer...guilty) In one scene Coraline and her mother are in the front seat of the car and the mother is ignoring all of Coraline's attempts to get her attention and finally just snaps at her to be quiet. Out of nowhere, Avery comes up with this dialogue:

Avery: Man I am so glad we do not have a mother like her.
Me: (feeling smug) Oh, so you don't have a mother like Coraline?
Avery: Oh no, you are nothing like Coraline's mother.
Me: (feeling even more snug) Really? How am I different from Coraline's mother?
Avery: You are very different. You would never let me sit in the front seat of our car.

Coraline's mother is so terrible she causes her own daughter to want to run away to a fantasy world rather than be around her and this is how Avery thinks we are different? Her mother lets her sit in the front seat. Hmmm.... Thank you Avery for helping me keep it all in perspective. Kids are funny little people.

A prayer
Tomorrow morning my grandmother is having open heart surgery. The same grandmother I blogged about many months ago here. She is going to have a valve replaced which will hopefully make her heart stronger and bring more oxygen to her blood. I have complete faith that God is able to fully restore her heart and to work through the surgeons to bring her through a successful surgery. But, I also know that things can go wrong, and God usually works out details according to His own plan and not our plans. So, for the next 12 hours I will be fasting and praying with out ceasing and singing this song. Love you grandma!