{Farmer's Market}

We have fallen in love with our new Saturday morning routine of trying our best to get out the door early, piling into the car with snacks and coffee, and hitting the road to our local(ish) farmer's market. We have a pretty good drive {45 minutes each way} so we have plenty of time to fully wake up, point out every single cow/truck/motorcycle/bird/cool thing, and talk about what each child wants to spend their dollar on this week. Honestly more often it's $2.50 for a bear claw, but they are so darn good I can't really tell them no. 

My sister often comes with us, and pushes Nomi around in the stroller while Jenny browses to her heart's content and dances to the live music...whenever she finds some must-have produce they come to collect Bobby and I or to tell me how many "dollars" it is for the most amazing "fill in the blank with produce" so that she can go make her purchases. She carries a tote bag around and is just outrageously cute. Seven is so big. {I wasn't prepared for that At.All.} Meanwhile, Bobby and I make our way to our favorite stand and get most of our veggies for the week. Getting to choose his own veggies has really {REALLY} worked miracles on his willingness to try them, and he often strikes up conversations with the sellers about his favorite way to cook cauliflower. Be still my heart. A bit of wandering around always yields some other goodies {this week it was purple potatoes and raddishes.}This weekend everything seemed to have tripled...all of the produce was bigger, there was more of everything, and far more variety. Summer is here...and I think I love it.

Easter Pictures...and nothing much to say

Keep an eye on Jenny posing in the background ;) 

A little of everything, including my kitchen sink...

 In a flurry of spring cleaning I recently scrubbed down the sink area in my kitchen from ceiling to floor. The shiny happiness is so much better...and actually being able to see through those big beautiful windows is lovely. I have re-purposed a darling sugar and cream set so that I can see them every single day, and I like using beautiful things for my everyday needs...it helps us remember that everyday is special. Above this picture (but not in it due to the sun) I hung a small crucifix and a small icon of one of my patron Saints (particularly for this year), St. Michael. Our dishwasher has been out of commission for a while now, and even with a reduced number of dishes I spend allot of time here...it's nice to have the reminder to offer it up!  

The other day was GORGEOUS...think 65, breezy, sunny...and after that stomach bug we needed some fresh air! However due to certain attitudes (this always comes up after a big illness, like they forget the rules while they are sick? Or just want to check that they are still there? Please tell me this happens at your house too!) I knew I couldn't chase after the big two while carrying around that giant love of a baby... enter the car picnic. A basket full of nummy lunch stuffs, water bottles and our new read aloud and we were ready! The town park was the perfect spot, we parked by a tree full of birds, rolled the windows down and spent the next hour+ munching, reading, and watching a man practice his uni-cycling skills. My children have both requested we get one...I told them maybe we should start with tricycles...(I know, boring). We are loving the read aloud time each day...I haven't gotten the hang of being super consistent with it yet but we will get there. Right now we are reading Redwall, which is certainly a bit above their usual attention level but so far so good. I am very slightly editing on the fly some of the more thrilling adjectives regarding the bad guy...I think they get the idea just fine and I wont have to answer so many questions about blood, guts, and such. I love that the story has such clear heroes and villains but, I mean, they are still 5 and 3. :) We will now skip ahead over the part where I left the headlights on the entire time and had to call my brother to come jump start my car...*ahem* Yes, we shall skip over that and I will distract you with delicious baby pictures. Nomi hasn't quite gotten over his baby aversion to the way grass feels (neither have I...) so in order to get him to pull his legs out of his neck, we put him on a blanket...and there he (for now) stays.

 Grass may not be this guy's favorite...but outside in general is totally The Best!

Oh, and because I couldn't resist, here is a picture of the ISS (International Space Station for those of you with me in the "not in the know" category)...the brightest speck there...rather SE of center? It was SO cool to get to see it and has prompted requests for LOTS of library books about astronauts and what they eat.

St. Valentine's Day

This year, I found myself in need of a valentine for the first time in many years...despite Joe being gone for work I was determined to make the most of this oh so delightfully pink day. So I called up a sister and made some plans...because really I will take any excuse for a girls night! Olivia picked up "Crazy Stupid Love" and "The Help" from Redbox and brought her laptop with her (we have no sound on our current computer and no other way of watching movies)...and we got busy with a proper girls night in....

Gluten free pizza, thanks to the Bob's Red Mill mix, it was very good and I will certainly be using it again, most of their gluten free mixes have corn in them, which makes them not really an option for us, but this one is really really good. Yummy sauce, orange peppers, chicken breast and cheese finished off this amazingly yummy pizza. The movies were both really fun, I was so excited to finally see "The Help"! I read the book last month, and while I do prefer the book, the movie was really excellently done. 

 {Beautiful Sister}

 Next morning we had a festive breakfast of gluten free banana bread and freshly squeezed orange juice. The freshly squeezed juice is really something that just slipped in...Bobby LOVES oranges in all forms, and asked me so sweetly for a "Juicing thing to make orange juice", how could I say no? However he learned that despite being the biggest almost-four year old I've ever seen, his hands were not quite up to the task. So now I make us orange juice and oh my is it delicious! Three oranges meet their end every morning, we each sip our 4oz with delight, and I wonder how on earth I wound up squeezing oranges every morning. ;) I'm pretty sure it has something to do with this face...

I mean, you'd make that face orange juice too...

 {Roses for Miss Olivia}

Our breakfast table, due to all of the painting and room moving around we actually haven't had proper meals at our table in quite a while, so it was nice to get back to normal with a meal all together. Olivia was nice enough to offer some atmosphere with her 80's power ballads pandora station...my children were very impressed that I know all of the words...

This little fellow on his first St. Valentine's day...he really should have been asleep, but I think he could tell something exciting was going on because he kept fighting those long blinks...his favorite teething toy right now is this lemon, and it leaves him smelling delightfully fresh. I leave you with extra pictures of His Plumpness...hope you all had a great day yesterday!

 <3