Anniversary, parade, and a science experiment

Today we celebrated our 14 year wedding anniversary! We spent the day with a few friends and some good BBQ food. I don't need anything fancy to celebrate. I think that's one of the things I love about our relationship. Neither of us requires a big display or expensive gifts to show the other person that they are valued and loved. We are good together. However, next year we are going to try to do something to celebrate being married for 15 years. We never had a honeymoon. We got married so young and had absolutely no money, so our honeymoon was a week off of work. Next year we're going to go somewhere, just the two of us...

So, today was a great day. We started with Simon and I walking in the Memorial Day Parade with his Cub Scout Pack. Dan took the other two to watch and Seth apparently loved all the fire trucks. This afternoon I got a chance to introduce my philosophy teacher to a few of our friends. When I met him I just knew he'd get along with them. We had to move inside when it started to down pour. The kids ran out and played in the rain, splashing in all the puddles. How often do you get to do that? We even lost power for a while and even with that it was still a really great day.


I have no good segue here so...

I got my garden started last Friday. The yard looks so completely different now. The grass looks awful though and I need to get some mulch or something put around the raised beds.

Before:


After:
Without meaning to I got to show the kids how important sunlight is for a plant when it's growing. Call it our science experiment. The window shadowed the corner where the smaller tomato plant sat. Amazing isn't it?


So, take a moment on Memorial Day and remember all the veterans that have served our country so well. Thank you.

Happy Anniversary, Daniel. I love you.

CSA and napkins

I am really excited about being part of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)! We were able to sign up with Earthen Harvest for the 2010 season. We will get a box of organic vegetables and fruits delivered to our house each week from May until November! Isn't that awesome? I am still such a novice gardener and we buy so much of our produce from the grocery store each year. This is a great way to support local farming too. I love that we can get new things that I usually wouldn't buy. This will challenge me to try new recipes. Dan said the challenge will be to not compost everything. This morning Simon and I were looking through the box. He asked to try some of them. He tried the chives, scallions, and the radish! Great kid. I bet he won't want to eat them when I make a meal out of it!


I decided to continue down my crunchy granola path... I made more cloth napkins. Bright and fun yellow ones. I got this fabric on sale in March for $3 a yard! It's Heather Bailey, no less!


I bought melamine plates, bowls, and cups too. I am tired of having a BBQ and buying paper and plastic that you end up throwing away! This was we have reusable plates, that won't break as easily, and washable napkins. I think it will ease my guilt about throwing things away for no reason. Yes, I am a granola girl.

Since my older two rarely hold still when the camera comes out I took the liberty of taking a picture of their school pictures this year. See, they are adorable (says the biased mother).

Garden and blocks

Boy, things don't settle down here at all. Sadly, my aunt passed away earlier this week. We all thought we were going to lose her last summer when she was sent home from the hospital with hospice. She defied the odds and lived almost another year. She was very sick, so in some ways it's a blessing that she was finally able to let go. My family is in a bit of upheaval with her death, but it'll all work out. When they decide on a memorial service time and place I'll buy my tickets to Denver. I think it'll be a week or so.

In the mean time I will continue to fill up my days even without school work. Yard work, helping at the school, quilting, and some leisure reading. Ahh, it's fabulous. I have so many quilt projects I want to do that I don't even know where to start! I began with some blocks I've been meaning to complete for the quilt guild's charity quilts. I made blocks for 3 different quilts.


The kids and I started tomatoes, basil, oregano, and we just started some peppers from seed.



Seth and Hannah have been my little gardening helpers. Simon isn't interested all that much. When I get out the camera Hannah runs like the camera is her enemy.


Hannah did help me plant a blueberry plant. Is it a bush or a tree? I had a great spot for it in the backyard. I need to get a picture of the finished project.



I am waiting for the landscape guys to come in and clear out an area in the back so we can have a bigger garden this year! There are some trees that need to be removed and I didn't want to have to tackle that by myself.

We got some corn the other day. It made me happy to see Seth shucking the corn. I can't wait for summer.

Florida pictures

Indian Rock Beach.

This week went by in a blur. Study, study, study, test, test. Then, you have to catch up all the things you've neglected while you studied. Finally I had a chance to upload and share a few pictures from Florida.

Wedding.


Graduation.



Beach fun.

The pelicans went fishing even though people were in the water!

Crazy family.

April, Aunt Vonnie, Miranda, Christina, and little ol' me.

I have sewn a bit since Thursday. Do you need pictures to prove it?

Florida

I am back from an awesome weekend in Florida. April's wedding was so quaint. I love the small backyard weddings. They seem so much more personal and intimate. Don't get me wrong, I like big fancy weddings too.

Her college grauation was the next day. She's spent 10 years working toward her degree. That's dedication. She's going to make a wonderful teacher. In the face of small prewedding disasters she stayed so calm. Her cake top slid off on the drive home from the store and she still held it together. Don't worry, we got a new cake all fixed up for her before the wedding began! Also, her niece got a pair of real hand cuffs locked around her little ankle and they couldn't find the key. They had to take her over to the police station to get them opened. Poor little Hope was a puddle of tears because she didn't think they'd be able to get them off of her. She didn't know they were real cuffs. April just laughed. She will definitely be a great teacher for special needs kids!

We managed to go to the beach twice too. The water is so warm in the gulf.

Right before I left my main computer got a nasty virus on it. The resident computer guru aka Daniel, is trying to figure out what to do to save ALL of my photos so he can clean up the box. It's a big fat mess. You hear this all the time and it's true, back up your data!!! So, I'll attempt to upload my new pictures to my netbook. Dear God, please let my pictures be okay! I've got a disk that Dan burned for me about two years ago and that's it. All the photos I take reside on that box.

Go back up your data now. Buy an external hard drive and BACK UP! (This has been a public service announcement.)

Ok, I've to get Simon off to school, me ready for school today, and prepare for my presentation at the quilt guild tonight. Phew. I can't forget to study for my two finals this week as well.

I really had an awesome weekend. I got to see some of my family members that I haven't seen in a really long time. Loved it. We've got to get together more often. Easier said than done.

Weekend at a glance

Simon got his next belt. He is 4 belts away from getting his black belt!


Seth and I had some time just the two of us, so we went to get ice cream.


Misty and I spent a few hours in the city on Sunday. I sure wish she still lived out here, but she is home where she needs to be. We had so much fun though. Mani-pedi's and sushi for lunch... a great day in the city!

Look what they did to Times Square! They blocked off the traffic and have cafe style seating.

Devon and Monica's wedding reception was fabulous. They held it at Queens County Farm. It was awesome for the kids and grown ups too.

Congratulations to them both. They are truly perfect for each other! (Oh, and they loved their quilt too!) Here's a picture of my disheveled family!

Seth and a little girl named Abby hit it off... at least, Seth thought so...

Enchilada sauce

I had a request for the enchilada sauce recipe. It's one of those "ish" recipes.

Dried red chiles, like guajillo chiles
Garlic
Salt
jalapenos, if you want it hotter

Cut the tops off of the chiles. Said told me that if you leave the seeds in, it'll be hotter, but these chiles are rather mild in my opinion. Put the chiles in a pot and add enough water to cover the chiles. Bring it to a boil and then turn it down to a low boil. Let it boil for about 15 minutes until the water is red. Remove from heat and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Pour all of it into the blender. Add your garlic, probably one or two cloves, and salt to taste, I'd guess about a teaspoon. If you want to add jalapeno to make it hot you can. Then, puree away! If it's too thick you can add some water to it. Taste it... see if needs more of anything. I haven't experimented with this recipe too much yet but you could probably add onion powder or cumin to it. Once it's done you can use it as is or strain it to get the seeds out that didn't puree. I'm in the lazy camp over here, so I leave it.

Or, you can go to the store and buy a can or two of enchilada sauce!