Summer's Bounty

The results of 2 hours of blueberry picking at the local organic blueberry farm.

We have gotten TONS of roma tomatoes (hundreds) from our 6 plants.  (see this post for how we grow them)

This . . . . .

. . . . . equals this.
One 9 x 13 dish full of tomatoes, rubbed with olive oil, stuffed with fresh garlic, cooked in the oven at 375 for 3 hours, then pureed in the blender, equals one quart of tomato sauce.

My canning efforts for this season have been squelched due to the fact that my canning equipment (hot water bath canner and pressure canner) are made of aluminum and not compatible with my new induction cook top.  I love, love, love my induction cook top (I can boil a kettle full of water in 60 seconds), but it has crippled me in the canning department.  I found a stainless steel water bath canner online that the manufacturer claims is induction compatible and am awaiting its arrival.  Finding a pressure canner that works (and that I can afford) is going to be a challenge.  If the new stainless steal water bath works, canning diced tomatoes is in my near future!  In the meantime, I'll keep cooking and pureeing tomatoes and freezing the sauce.

Our zucchini, yellow squash and cucumber plants are still producing.  What we don't eat of the squash goes in the freezer.  Christian makes sure we don't have any cucumbers left!

Henry Players Present The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

 Henry Performing Arts Center

June 23 - 26, 2011

 Christian (with sword and shield) as Peter

 Peter fighting Fenrus Ulf, the wolf

 The white witch

 Peter fighting the white witch

 The four children are crowned kings and queens

 

The Company bow- they got a standing "o!"

 Mary was a wood nymph - how many people do you know that can look that beautiful with green make up on?!!!

 Nana and Papa came up for the show

 

Hannah Studdard - Susan, Christian Thomas - Peter, Ryan Gaylor - Edmund, Ansley Frickey - Lucy

Mary and Christian with Frankie Asher who played Fenrus Ulf

SNEAK PEEK!!!

I had a new photographer, Kanella Brown, come to the house this evening to photograph Luke!  This is the sneak peek she gave me of the shoot!  I cannot wait to see the rest!!!!!!

The Lukester

At Nana and Papa's house in The Villages

Snugglin' with Nana

Luke and Papa in their Ohio State shirts

Great Grandpa Vermillion and Luke

Cruisin' around on Nana's floor

Bye bye Nana and Papa!

I put him on his tummy mat (top of the picture), but he decided he didn't want to stay there.

Up on all fours!

Sitting up!

Sucking his toes - hee hee!

Enjoying some yogurt and mashed banana

Bonus Picture of Luke's Favorite Dog
Dumb dog!  She was outside with me when I was picking in the garden and she confiscated one of my cucumbers.  Ewwwwwww - into the trash it went as we were not about to eat it after it had been in Molly's mouth.

Fun Facts About Luke

Fact 1
Luke is fully mobile!  He has multiple means for getting to where he wants to go.  He rolls until he gets there, or he has learned to push his body along with one foot, provided he can get some traction.  As long as he's barefoot, he can get there!

Fact 2
Luke loves to look at himself in the mirror and squeals and giggles when he does.

Fact 3
Luke can now sit up.  He's not real steady, but he can sit for quite awhile.  He can also be laying on the floor and push himself up into a sitting position.  The downside to this new activity is that sometimes he pushes himself up, but gets his leg stuck in a very uncomfortable position, which happens most often after I've put him to bed.  If he's fussing at all when I lay him down, I have to check on him every 30 seconds to make sure he's not fussing because he's gotten himself into a pickle.

Fact 4
Luke has discovered that his toes will reach into his mouth.  In the picture above where he is sucking his toes, he started crying right after I took the picture because he bit his toe and it hurt!  I picked him up to comfort him, but I confess that I was laughing!

Fact 5
Luke likes to hum in the car.  It is the sweetest thing!  He sits in his car seat and hums away until we arrive at our destination.  He is a great little traveler!

Fact 6
Luke needs a new car seat.  He is 20 pounds is trying to sit up in his present car seat.

Fact 7
Luke has become very aware of big people food and cries for it if he sees us eating.  He has tried lots of new foods since my last post.  Let's see -- mashed banana, mash avocado, mashed peaches, yogurt, mashed chicken, mashed egg yolk, mashed blueberries, and a few other things that he probably shouldn't have, like ice cream.     Oh, and Cheerios, his favorite.

Fact 8
Luke is such a happy baby!  Every morning when he wakes up, and after every nap, he jabbers and plays in his bed.  When I go to pick him up, he greets me with the biggest smile!  Melts my heart!

Fact 9
Luke has started trying to pull himself up to things -- I'm not ready for that!  Of my four babies, he is the most mobile and active at this point in his little life.  

Fact 10
Luke is learning how to be affectionate.  I spend so much time smooching on his little cheeks that he's learned how to kiss!  Well, baby kiss which translates to an open slobbery mouth pushed against my face!

Fact 11
Luke has learned how to fake cough.  He coughed a few times when taking his bottle the other day.  I coughed back at him, he laughed and coughed back at me.  The next day, I fake coughed to test if he was really mimicking me the day before, or if he really was coughing.  To my surprise, he fake coughed back at me and we kept it up for a bit.

Fact 12
Luke has started doing this fancy maneuver with his arms where he holds them out in front of him and waves them back and forth over each other.  He does it most when he gets really excited.  It's comical to watch! 

Fact 13
Do not take Luke to the grocery store if you are in a hurry.  My older kids were helping out with Bible School last week at church, so I had to take Luke to the store with me.  I was constantly stopped by people who wanted to observe Luke closer.  "He is so beautiful!" they would tell me, and he would smile at them with the biggest, two-tooth smile ever.  It took me TWO HOURS to get through Publix for just a few items!!!!!  I confess that I was beaming.

Fact 13
He has become so much fun and we absolutely adore him!!!!!!!

Sarah's Annual Birthday Tea at the Garden Gate

After Tom and I were married in 2002, we moved to the quaint, little town of Mount Dora, Florida.  The one year we lived there was pure bliss -- what a joy to be his new bride and what a sweet little town to share with family and friends!  Sarah turned 6 while we were living there, and to celebrate, I took her, her friend Abby and Abby's mom for high tea at The Garden Gate Tea Room.  Sarah and Abby were quite a sight all dressed up in their frilly dresses, large Victorian hats and feather boas, eating PB & J tea sandwiches and chocolate covered strawberries!  Since then, it has become a tradition to return to The Garden Gate every year to celebrate her birthday.  The owner, Karen, and her staff of precious ladies make Sarah feel like a princess every year!

14 years old

A tradition - Sarah always orders hot raspberry tea with two lumps of sugar. 

First Course - Salmon Souffle on Mixed Greens

Second Course - Assorted Tea Sandwiches
Chicken Salad
Asparagus with Butter and Cream Cheese
Egg Salad
Orange and Ginger Butter

Third Course (and the best!) - Dessert Tray
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Cream Puff Swans
Scones with Devonshire Cream and Raspberries Preserves
Fruit Tarts

Sarah with The Garden Gate owner, Karen, who gifted her with a beautiful, hand-painted porcelain tea kettle charm, and some specially blended Garden Gate tea.

The first year we celebrated Sarah's birthday at The Garden Gate, we sat at a table located at the front window overlooking the sidewalk and passersby (who had a ball gazing in at Sarah and Abby in their "tea attire!").  The next year and subseqent years, we have always been seated at this sweet table that has a sofa along the wall, which is always Sarah's favorite place to sit for tea.  In years past, the fourth person at our table has varied from aunts to one of Nana's friends.  This year, Sarah wanted to invited Nana's friend Elsie, and let me tell ya, she's a hoot!  We had a grand time!

Chris, Sarah and Marlaina
Chris has been at The Garden Gate for as long as I can remember, and Marlaina is the hostess who served us on Sarah's 6th birthday.

Karen gathered all of us together to hold hands as she prayed a very special prayer for Sarah, which left me in tears marveling at this precious daughter that the Lord has blessed me with.

Momma crying started Sarah crying . . .

. . . . and then we were both crying.

Whew!  Glad to be done crying and smiling instead!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!!!!!

Happy birthday my precious girl!  I pray that you will continue to grow in grace and wisdom, possess a gentle tongue, and that your inner beauty would match that of your outer beauty, and would be a fragrant aroma unto the Lord!

We celebrated Sarah's 14th birthday (June 4th) with the Fowlers, Hawkins and Caisons this evening!

Andrew announced the day before our party that he would like to make Sarah's birthday cake.  She ordered a chocolate cake with raspberry filling and butter cream frosting.  IT WAS TO LIVE FOR!!!!!  Great job Andrew!

It was a very hot day, so we chose a "cool" menu - sub sandwiches, chips, cucumber salad, Caesar salad, and fresh fruit.

Luke got to enjoy some of the party before he went night night.

L to R - Allison Hawkins, Melissa Hawkins, Ruth Fowler, Grace Fowler, Sarah and Hannah Caison

The older siblings - Joseph Hawkins, Kristin Hawkins, Taylor Fowler and Andrew

Sarah, Allison and Ruth

Melissa and Grace in the fort

The moms - Beth Caison, Kristen Fowler, Melinda Hawkins and Me

The dads (and some sons) (minus Steve Caison who couldn't be with us) Tom, Alan Hawkins, Reid Hawkins, Kolt Fowler and Jeff Fowler

Sarah made quick work of those candles and blew them all out with one breath!  The whole cake was devoured by everyone just minutes later - oh my!  It was scrumptious!!!!

 We got Sarah an aquarium for her birthday - something she has been wanting for awhile.  Looking forward to getting it all set up!