First Fruits

My garden has finally started to produce, though we have had a few peas and beans. Yellow pear tomatoes, beefmaster tomatoes, dill, rosemary and a pepper

My makeshift mortar and pestle, with olive oil, rosemary and dill.  I don't usually like Rosemary, but it the aroma of the herb was so intense and amazing.  I have never smelled it like that before!

Pepper. It smelled so sweet!

Red, white and purple potatoes (store bought), onions, yellow pear tomatoes and the pepper, drizzled with olive oil and kosher salt.  Rack of lamb with white pepper, kosher salt and the rosemary/dill/oil rubbed on the inside.

mmmmm

Life goes by...

...so quickly.  In two days it will be August, and the last month before school starts again.  I was bound and determined to DO things this year, and so far I am doing really well.  We have Zoo'd,

Farm'd, Playground'd, Splash Park'd,

Had a concert,

 had a baptism,

  Vacationed at the beach,

 swam at the pool,

 visited with family,

went to vacation bible school,  gone to too many birthday parties to count and had a few of our own...WHEW~ Today we visited the Stony Creek Nature Center, which was very different from the LAST time we were there when Maddie was 3 and Ben was 0.We went with Sara and Michael and William and saw a snapping turtle eat goldfish. Ben said "He ate them and RIPPED them apart and parts of the fishies were FLOATING!".  Then we went on a walk and fed the fish pretzels.  Maddie, Ben and Michael put their hands together and shouted "Bird Watchers!" except Michael shouted "ROCK STAR!!"

I am watching all of my children grow by leaps and bounds in the past 6 weeks.  Maddie turned 6.  She is tall and elegant with her golden tan and sun-blonded hair.  For her birthday she told me to "surprise her" and when Grammy asked her what she would like, she said, "You always get me such nice things, whatever you pick is fine".  

Ben is...Ben. He is constantly in motion. He love his baby brother with his teeth bared.  Literally.  Like he has so much love he can't hold it in.  Scares me a little!  He is tanner than I'll EVER be and always has to be "Mario" when they play an imagination "Game".  He can write his name and recognise many letters.  He CANNOT wait to go to school. 

Owen is growing steadily, though he is my smallest baby at 14 lbs, 1 oz as of July 16.  I think he grew last night, though because he feels heavier.  He has rolled over and can grab things and SHOVE them in his mouth.  He still has a mohawk.  He love to eat and to have attention paid to him.  His giggles are like fuel for my tired brain.  He mostly sleeps through the night, and I am the most blessed mamma ever.

I'm glad I write these things down. I probably won't remember what we did next summer!  I'm also glad I write a journal for each of them.  It helps me recall those funny things that I didn't remember and hopefully, one day, we can sit down and share the memories.