Rub a dub dub-- Three super heros in a tub

My three super powered boys LOVE to take baths together.

 

Here's the big boys playing superheros.  

They are now obsessed with superhero EVERYTHING.

Even Levi enjoys chewing on a super hero now and then.  Mr. Incredible's foot was Levi's chew toy today.  When I took him out of the bathtub, he cried so hard.  He was so sad that I had taken him away from all the fun.

 

Lastly, here is our real superhero, Joel, with the power to dive nose first into a brick fireplace.  Ouch.  You can't see all the gore, but his nose is scratched, swollen, bruised, and possible broken.  I'll ask the doctor tomorrow.

Happy Independence Day!

We had a great holiday weekend.  We played hard, worked hard, and ate GOOD!  Michael and I built another raised garden and planted three apple trees and two blueberry bushes. The kids enjoyed fireworks and staying up late.  Here's some pictures as of late.

Joel and Levi hanging out.

Levi was smiling and giggling like crazy, so I tried to capture it with the camera. 

 

I got it here.  This is a huge, belly shaking, toss your head back, and pee in your pants LAUGH!

This is supper.   I am so thrilled to be eating stuff out of our garden.  I made homemade salsa with the peppers, tomatoes, and cilantro from our garden!  It was DELICIOUS!!   And the stuffed peppers are home grown too.

Blueberry Breakfast

 

For an exciting food adventure this morning,  I made blueberry syrup and blueberry walnut pancakes.  YUMMY!!!  

I LOVE summer with all the fresh fruit and veggies!!

CHECK! One domestic goal completed....

Well not really completed.  Just making lots of progress.

This year, one of my domestic goals was to become a better chef. And the goal for being a kitchen pro is actively being persued. 

Clark is so thankful for my kitchen experiments--most of the time.

STEP ONE: Getting Organized

I have organized all my favorite recipes in a handy dandy binder with sheet protectors.  I have a list of 14 "go to meals" if ever in a pinch and in need of inspiration.  I even have a section for recipes I want to try.  My husband has commented time and time again that he has been impressed with meals lately.  I think it's because I have been really working  hard to be organized.  I can cook better meals when I have a handle on the contents of the pantry and frig and garden.  I also plan meals one month at a time with my self created meal planner worksheet.  I plan 20 meals that includes two meals to freeze for later.  I also plan several meals that I call hospitality meals for unplanned guests.  I think good planning goes a long way at meal time.

STEP TWO: Practice, Practice, Practice

One of my kitchen goals has been to start canning.  I have great memories of my grandma and I sweating it out in her kitchen for days canning all kinds of things when the harvest came in.  

So with the help of my domestic diva mother-in-law, I have learned how to "can".  I have made plum jelly under her supervision.  And today, I ventured on my own and made strawberry jam!!!!  And it's DELICIOUS!  I was surprised how easy it was.  The cost per pint jar of jam was 80 cents verses several dollars at the store. (That is not counting the cost of the jars since I will use them over and over.)  What a deal!

Next on my agenda is canning blackberry jelly and salsa from my garden veggies!!!!  :-) YUMMY!!!

So do you have any domestic goals?  I'd love to hear about what you are working on!

Levi at 3 months--Could he get any more scrumptious???

 Happy quarter of a year, Levi!  It's not fair that my baby is growing up so fast.  We are enjoying this little guy so much.  He is such a great baby and little brother.  He's sleeping 9 hours straight at night.  He cries very little (compared to my other babies).  He's so laid back (I can cut his his fingernails while awake).

He's rolling both from his stomach and back.  He's actually inch worm crawled across the floor.  And he loves to play Baby Monster.  It's the game where Levi steals all the boys' toys. It gets lots of giggles, but I figure it's preparing the big boys for when Levi starts to crawl and really takes all their things. :-)

He's about to move into 9-12 month clothing and size 3 diapers are fitting kind of snug.  He's my little gentle giant baby with lots of buttery rolls.  Delicious!!!

To Cake Pop Or Not.....

 

For my friend Melody's baby shower, I made cake pops for the first time.  I've heard they are growing in popularity, and I love an adventure.  Definition of cake pops: cake and icing mixed together, rolled into balls, and covered with some sugary substance (I used melted chocolate and fondant).   It's a lot like a bonbon or Ho Ho.  It took me about two hours to make 20 pops while taking care of four small children.  That's my first pro.

Pros to cake pops:

1. Fast--I baked the cake and froze it until the day.  I used ready make icing.

2. Tons of ways to decorate and design.

3. Kids eat every piece not just the icing

4. Portion sizes are easy to control

5. No need to for extra cake plates, forks, or knives to cut

6. Easy clean up

7. You can get a major chocolate fix with chocolate cake, chocolate icing, and chocolate shell

8. Easy on the hands--no piping to aggravate carpal tunnel

Cons:

1. Cake and ice cream are deep in my subconscious for parties

2. The wow factor of a big cake is missing

3. Where would candles go??

4. No difference in taste between icing and cake.  I have to admit I love icing!!!

 

Here's the big spread with the cake pops in the left corner.  See what I mean...they just blend in with the other food.  I like a big wow factor with a cake!

So my final decision...cake pops are fun for special occasions, but they'll never beat a cake. :-)

Little Boys Are Made of ......

 A wind storm blew up some 70 degree weather, so we ran out to enjoy the break from the heat.  (It's been burning hot and sunny forever.)  The boys discovered something while they were watering the garden.  Look and see....

 Obviously it fits into Clark's hands.  What could it be?

Mr. Hoppy!!!  

He jumped out of his hands and made it to safety as soon as I took this picture. But Mr. Hoppy sure did bring great enjoyment to my boys while he graced their presence. 

Afterwards the boys had a water hose war.
I love summer (aka spring that feels like summer).

Little boys are made of.....curious minds and a sense for adventure.

Memorial Day Weekend with Family

 Grandparents and Cousin Hannah came for a long Memorial Day weekend!  We had so much fun!
The first day they dressed up and played outside in the yard.  Well actually, they ran up the stairs and down the stairs and outside to the playhouse over and over!

 

Levi got lots of attention from everyone.  He steals the show.

 

We went downtown and played in the water.  It was HOT! But the water felt good!

 

Then we rode the a Chattanooga Duck which is an amphibian WWII vehicle. We took the 8:00 pm ride to enjoy the sunset and cooler temperatures.

Here's a picture of another Duck that we passed while on the water.

My Spider Man Loves Levi

 Clark is a baby person.  He loves loves loves holding Levi.  He'll hold him for 30 minutes or longer, and he asks often to hold him.  He leans over periodically and kisses his baby brother.  It is so sweet to behold.

Clark had been Spider Man all day.  After a long day of fighting bad guys, he needed his baby fix all 16 pounds.  Levi is wearing 6/9 months and size 3 diapers.

Mud, Smores, & Oh yes and...Our 12th Anniversary

The picture below is how our anniversary weekend started.  Little finger prints all over my door.  When I opened the door, I was shocked to see Joel covered.... (see next photo).

The boys decided to paint themselves with mud.  And no. The shirt will never be the same.  I love it!!

That was Friday night....Saturday, we garage saled and  we sodded some of the rocky backyard to avoid scraped knees and hands.  Then all five of us had a camp out in our backyard!

I am so proud of that sod.  It was just dirt and rocks before!!

 Here we are getting ready to roast hot dogs in our fire pit.

 Clark didn't like the fire.  It was already 90 degrees, so I can't blame him.  So he decided to forgo the roasting.  On the other hand, Joel was fascinated by the fire and burning marshmallows.  I think he sacrificed 10 marshmallows to the fire in an attempt to roast just one.

 

Even Bentley got to enjoy the S'mores as he cleaned Joel's face!

 

To cool off, we played in the water and had a water gun war!

After, we cuddled up, read some books, and slept the whole night in the tent. 

Clark and Joel woke up wanting to sleep every night in the tent!  

We had so much fun celebrating our marriage with our kids at our home.   

Thank you, God, for 12 amazing years!