Happy Father's Day!

My boys have a Dad who works hard, gives all he has and always makes time to play with his boys.  He gets up early with Owen letting Mom sleep in almost every day, changes poopy diapers, washes dishes and occasionally scrubs a toilet.  He's awesome with the vacuum cleaner, lets Holly burn through rollerblading wheels like no tomorrow and loves us with all his heart.  We love you, too, Daddy!

Animals

Just a few pics of a caterpillar, Zach played with him for a bit while I practiced getting up close and personal.  Oh, how I long for a macro...

And then there's Holly, so big now.  And so pretty.

Happy Birthday to Grammy and Granddaddy!

Zach decided that Grammy and Granddaddy "would REALLY love a meal cooked for them by their grandchild!" so he did.  He made chicken pot pies (individual ones) using a recipe that we perfected the week before, baked mac and cheese with 5 cheeses, salad, and caramel custard for dessert.  I tried to take photos of the whole process, but I fell short (sigh) mostly because I had to keep putting the camera down to help out a little.  But dinner was super tasty and we all had a great time and Zach learned how painful your feet get after a day in the kitchen :)

Caramelizing the sugar, getting the egg yolks ready for the custard, double checking the recipe and chopping veggies for the salad and the pot pies...looking like a professional chef ♥

We bought a cow!

Well, half a cow.  And before you get that gory picture in your mind, it wasn't half of a full standing cow.  It was the meat from half a butchered cow.  A GRASS FED cow!  I've been doing research on the health benefits and from what I can tell, the meat that comes from a cow eating as nature intended is a lot better for us than the meat from a feed lot cow.  And buying it in bulk saves a LOT of money since grass fed ground beef alone runs about 8.00/lb.

Since I have the advantage of typing this about 2 months after the fact, I'll give a little review.  I LOVE the meat.  The flavor is crazy incredible.  It tastes like I've added seasonings or bouillon or something.  I don't, however, have the best methods of cooking it figured out.  It is tougher (steaks and roasts) than regular store-bought beef.  Not hard to handle if you crock-pot it or braise it.  But for a nice rare steak, well the T-bones I cooked still took a bit of chewing and they were pretty bloody.  The tenderloins were nice, though *drool*  The one thing I don't like is the fat content.  It's supposedly leaner meat, but this beef definitely had some padding.  The fats are where the benefits are (more omega-3's) but still, fat is fat and too much isn't good for you.  I find myself trimming a good chunk off most cuts to remove the clumps of fat, and skimming the surface of the crock pot liquid to remove more.  Just more work, basically.  But it sure is tasty!

Anyone local who might be interested, we bought from Deep Roots Meat and they are at the Brevard Farmer's Market at Wickham Park on Thursday afternoons.  Swing by and buy something to get a taste of the goodness!

I guess it's time...

to get back on the horse.  The figurative, blogging horse that is.  I don't even know where to start, what photos did I last upload, every time I think about getting on here I get overwhelmed with all that NEEDS done to really play catch-up.  So I figured I'll just get on here, post some photos, and go from there :)  Btw, if you are on my Facebook page, none of this is new.  Yeehaw!

Ok, these are from a fun day at the Mayhews' house.  Owen is getting to really be good in the water...he'll be swimming soon!

My Dearest Boom-pa

I hope this finds you well.  From what I've read, you've been extra tired lately, and to be honest, I can't blame you.  You've been alive and well for a pretty long time now, I guess you'd need a little extra rest right about now.

But I want you to know, you are loved.

You and Granny haven't been able to come to FL for a while now, and now I realize how much I took that time for granted.  A young 20 something girl doesn't need her grandparents checking in, but an almost 40 yr old with young boys of her own sure wishes her Granny and Boom-pa were nearby.  Heck, I remember when Granny was 45 yrs old.  I can't imagine being a grandparent at that age.

I remember spending the night at your house, dressed in an 'angel' shirt. That would be a Boom-pa t-shirt, so big on an itty bitty girl that the sleeves would drape and hang like the wings of an angel.  And while wearing that shirt, I would crawl into bed between you and Granny and marvel at the light she had on her side of the bed, allowing her to read.  But you were sleeping!  What an amazing arrangement...together, but different.  At that time, so hard to fathom.

When you would come to visit us, it was like a cloud of peace settled over our household.  I'm sure you know there was a bit of stress, to say the least, but when Granny and Boom-pa were coming, everything was set aside.  Now I suspect maybe it wasn't, but from a child's eye, it was a holiday.  Rusty and I would go out and climb the rusted horse's gate in order to get the first glimpse of your car.  Then we'd scramble down and go running into the house shouting "They're HERE!  They're HERE!"  Nothing could go wrong.  Granny and Boom-pa were HERE and that's all that mattered.  An umbrella of happiness and contentment settled over us.  It was like a breath of clean, fresh air.

I remember one time, a few of us (Rusty, Mindy and myself, maybe?) were staying over and you and Granny went off to church on a Wednesday evening.  We balked at the idea, claiming religious differences (although I'm sure it was more to do with the fact that we were just tired of going to church period) and as a result you were taking us to see Dave and Cindy for the evening.  However, we had left certain messages on the hallway chalkboard.  Which we had to point out to you, because you didn't see them.  And as a result, you and Granny told us how being up front and honest could be to our benefit.  If we want something, we should just ask you.  So, Rusty and I decided to test you by asking for a camera.  Which taught us another lesson...the answer won't always be 'Yes'.

I mostly remember being on your shoulders.  I know it was exhilarating, yet frightening.  I'd clasp my hands around your head, afraid I'd tip backward and fall off.  But you would calmly tell me that you couldn't see if I held you like that, take my hands off your eyes and hold them, and we'd have the best time while I was on top of the world.

I remember your garden.  I remember sliding down your back hill.  I remember Uncle Joe with a canoe in the river down there.  I remember being up a tree and thinking "It won't hurt TOO bad if I jump down!" and your telling me that it probably would.  I remember the chestnut trees in the back yard and the swingset I fell off of, getting chestnut burs in my knees.  I know Granny helped pull them out.  I remember flying over your head as you flipped us through the air and somehow, miraculously, we always landed on our feet.

I remember your hands and the piece of shrapnel I always played with.

I remember your grace and dignity and strength.  I remember your love, forgiveness and compassion.  I think of you as the best and greatest man I have ever known, or could know, as well as the best person I could strive to be.  And I also know that you would say "Beth, you should strive to be Christ-like".  But, Boom-pa, you are the best example of Christ-like that I have ever seen.  And I am so blessed and honored that you are my grandfather.  And I love you.

PS...Thanks for teaching me to put peanut butter on pancakes.
  And for teaching me to drive a stick shift and not freaking out when I lost the window in your Rabbit.

School's out for the summer!

So what do you do with a super smart boy ready to go into the 4th grade?  Seriously, smart.  He made straight A's the entire year, not a single B on that kid's report card.  Way to go, Zach!  So proud of you ♥

He's been at me a lot recently to let him cook more.  Making his own tea and scrambled eggs isn't cutting it anymore.  So I let him help me make a cake, and then he got to try his hand with the pasta cutter.  I need to put my feet up and let him do the dirty work around here ;)  And I need to learn how to work with fondant...but the taste is all that really matters, right?

Ta-dah!

Have I ever mentioned that Owen is a bit of a handful?  No? Are you SURE?

Ok, I see you are being facetious.

Owen keeps my busy.  Even when I'm sleeping, I'm wondering in my head what he's up to and the minute wakefulness is near, my brain is practically jumping out of my body to check and make sure he's safe.  And make sure the house and all inhabitants are safe as well.

Potty training is going well.  He goes in, sits on the potty and does his thing, climbs up and washes his hands, and comes out.  Well, that's what he WAS doing.  He's decided to change things up a bit.  These photos were taken a few days apart and you can see why I realized I had to put the childproof knob cover back on the bathroom door.  It's not so much that I don't agree on the cleaning powers of detangler for glass, but the sink is a bit high off the tile floor for a bitty boy to fall and crack his head on.  Sigh. 

I'm not sure I totally approve of his dance-wear, either, but we have time to discuss that.

May 20 = Elmo Day

Can you believe it's been a year?  A whole year since we lost Elmo.  We still miss him.  Yes, we have Holly and we love her but at the same time she reminds us of the things we didn't realize were so special about Elmo.  He was an awesome dog, the most gentle you could ever imagine.  We were so blessed to have him. 

A rare occurrence...

Owen falling asleep on the couch.  Unsolicited sleep, sleep that didn't require at least SOME amount of effort, not to mention the massive amount of effort it often takes...SLEEPING in an open, public, active area.  Ahhhhh.  How peaceful.  Can I take a nap now?