September 13


Bacon. It seriously makes everything better. Pizza, grilled cheese, & even potato salad. I needed a side dish for the community picnic tonight, so I decided to mix up my regular potato salad recipe by adding blue cheese & bacon. And It. Was. Awesome. I was secretly hoping the picnic would get rained out so I could have it all to myself. :)

In other news, when we moved into our new house, I asked Ruby if she wanted me to create a "rainbow wall" in her room, filled with rainbow pictures & art. She said, "I would LOVE that!" So I've been looking for some inspiration. If you see any rainbow artwork out there, let me know! 

The kids were excited to find hot chocolate at the picnic, stating that it was a perfect day for some hot chocolate to warm them up. And it was! 

How was your day? 



September 12


Took the new stove for a spin today, FINALLY!! You don't realize how much you use it until you don't have one for a week and a half. And how much you miss cooking and baking {never thought I'd say that...} Dinner was one last hurrah for the season, featuring the iconic Summer meal: corn on the cob, cantaloupe, roasted garlic baked potatoes, grilled chicken, and blueberry peach crumble for dessert. And it was good. 

PS, There are few things more precious than a sweet little girl with a love for rainbows. Ruby's homework tonight required her to draw more then three objects in the box. She drew rainbows. She was born with a rainbow in her heart, I think. Very articulate at the age of two, she sat on Santa's lap and asked for a baby doll and a rainbow. A RAINBOW. For Christmas. 

Precious.



September 11


Major accomplishment, & really the only accomplishment for the day: washing, hulling & freezing 32 pints of organic strawberries. I'm thinking we should be set for jam for quite some time! I got the four flats of berries for $22, which would be a complete steal for regular strawberries, let alone Earthbound Farms  organic!! The bargain hunter in me couldn't pass up a deal like that, but my practical side didn't interject about the immense amount of time it would take to prep said strawberries for freezing... Yikes. So that was my day. 

Thankful to live in the land of the free & home of the brave, where I can spend all day chopping strawberries without fear.



September 10


Went to Earth Fare today for the first time in a long time. I came across a 25 lb bag of carrots... I'm all about buying in bulk, but 25 pounds??? I can't imagine walking out of the store with that. I spent $50 on two bags of groceries (and I used a coupon). I used to walk out of Giant Eagle with a cartful for less than that. How the mighty have fallen... But I suppose when you're eating actual real food, it costs more then all the fillers. 



September 6


Wow, my first post all week! We did in fact get ourselves moved last weekend and are tremendously grateful for all the people who helped! I've been wading through all the stuff this week, and it's taking much longer to unpack & get settled then it took to throw everything in boxes to begin with... But I figured I'd emerge from the rubble and share a few pictures. :)

The aftermath of a nice play date this morning, the new kitchen mostly unpacked & put together, Eva loving her strawberries, & my wall collage. The kids were voting on what to do after dinner {watch a movie or ride bikes}, and Clayton would encourage the baby to do a "so big," raising her hand, in order to gain another vote for his choice. Haha