What a Peach!

My children have a new summer love. . . peaches! We did some picking last weekend at a local farm and Henry and Harper nearly knocked each other over fighting for the peach. After a few seconds of that, we decided there was enough low hanging fruit to go around, and they each got their own. Now I know that Virginia peaches are probably not the same as South Carolina or Georgia peaches, but I haven't seen any packages in the mail from my deep south girls (Laura? Gwen?), so we have to settle for what we can get! Seriously though, they are amazing and just a perfect way to end the summer. Of course, I had to go home and make a peach pie!

Two tips on peaches:

1. If you are like me, you want peeled peaches for your pie. I recently learned that boiling the entire peach for 2 minutes, then putting in a bowl of ice water, helps the skin separate from the flesh, and makes peeling a cinch!

2. Peach juice stains clothing! I mean, really stains. Especially when your children are just devouring the fruit with both hands and the juice is running down their faces! A few months ago, my mother-in-law gave me a bottle of Lestoil with her seal of approval. She was spot on (or off, depending on how you look at it). A little bit of this deep cleaner removes virtually any stain. If you can't find any in your local supermarket, you can buy a bottle here.

Peach juice all over the front equals. . .


. . .a few drops of Lestoil when we get home!



Enjoy your last few weeks of summer, friends!

The Illusion of Normal

My eyes are barely open as I write this tonight. . . and it's not even eight o'clock. Graham and I were soberly reminded over the last twenty-four hours that we are not living a "normal" life right now. Let me explain. Yesterday morning, my husband called from work to say that he had to take a last minute business trip to D.C., and did the kids and I want to accompany him? Of course, I exclaimed! How fun! A road trip with the whole family, so many possibilities of what sights to see, a free room hotel room, an indoor pool. How could it not be perfect? In hindsight, we now understand that we took leave of our senses yesterday for a brief moment.

Fast forward to bedtime last night. Henry and Harper go to bed unbelievably early (like six o'clock early) but we kept them up later so they would just go right to sleep in the little hotel room that we all were sharing (with no partitions to hide us from the babies). Needless to say, they did not appreciate that Mom and Dad and Maddy were just hanging out with the lights low while they were in their cribs, so plan B was to camp out in the bathroom until the babies went to sleep. By eight, Maddox was also lying down in bed and Graham and I could do nothing but surf on the internet for a while and then turn in. Not exactly exciting.

What happened after that is a bit blurry. It all has to do with Henry waking up every thirty minutes from midnight on. At a few points, he was in bed with us. I also remember Graham moving the crib to the other side of the room (as if that would help), and finally, I fell asleep sitting up with him in bed. Around two, Graham said the words that made more sense than anything we had done up until that point: "Never again." Seriously, it was like the night would not end. I was so happy when morning rolled around and we could just get up already! After Graham got back from his brief, we made it to the national zoo, although I think we all looked like zombies, then headed for home.

What in the world made us think we could take three children to D.C. and all stay in one hotel room? Are we so hopeful to be "normal" that we are not in touch with reality? Can you relate to this? Have you ever assumed that everything will go as planned only to spend your time in misery realizing your mistake? Please, let me know I'm not alone!

The little trouble maker himself at about 6 a.m.

No trouble overnight from these girlies. Could have just as easily been Harper up all night, though!

Attempting to make the face of the toad. I think it sums up the trip!

Goodbye July!

Wow. I can't believe that I am writing this in the final hours of the final day of July. Where has the time gone?! Clearly not to this little blog, because it's been over a month since my last entry! We have literally been on the road from the 1st to the 31st and as stressful as getting from here to there may have been, I have loved the final destination every time. On July 1, we were at Edisto Island, SC for our first family (of five) vacation. The babies adored the water despite those initial timid moments, and Harper ended up eating her weight in sand! The day after we got home from South Carolina, Graham headed out on a business trip to Indianapolis. Vacation Bible School was the next week and we were all happily involved in Pandamania! Then, I got some rare time with great college girlfriends at the Crouch lake home in Lake Lure, NC. We stole away for a long weekend to sleep in, relax, and take some oh-so-funny trips down memory lane. By the time I got home, Graham had flown off on another business trip, this time to Germany. As usual, he is careful how much he shares with me about his accommodations on these ventures because his hotels are pretty swanky and the food is amazing and the places are incredible, and blah, blah, blah! Can't harp on him too much though, because my dear husband just took care of all the children by himself for three days so I could sneak away on another trip, this time with my with my sister-in-laws! With those ladies it is always a great time. So lucky to be part of the family! Needless to say, both Graham and I are looking forward to a very slow and lazy August spent together at home. Whew! Goodbye July!!!


Kiddos' beach chairs at Edisto Island.


Our Fourth of July family photo!
With my friends on the boat at beautiful Lake Lure.


Sisters Weekend 2011.



Perfect way to say goodbye to July!

Daddy's Day

Yesterday, we celebrated Father's Day with a few more little people than we had with us last year! We reflected on our fathers and those men that have shaped our own lives. We also participated in the child dedication service at Orange Baptist Church yesterday. Our church family is so precious to us and has been so good to us ever since we moved to Virginia, so we thought it was fitting to share this experience with them. A few weeks ago, I read a poignant verse that says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain." Psalm 127:1. Our prayer this Father's Day was this: Build this house. Protect this city. Watch over Henry and Harper as they become mobile. Guard Maddy's heart as she grows older and is exposed to more in the world. Equip us as parents to do the right thing for our children.




The whole family with our pastor for the dedication.


Henry grunted and tried to grab at things the entire time!


First little Bible.

Reading the call and response.


These babies are all SO lucky to have this guy!


The whole gang!

My New Favorite Blog

While looking up a craft idea a few days ago, I stumbled upon a new blog. What a treasure! It is called How Does She? and it is amazing! Three bloggers, Shelley, Missy and Alison are the founders and primary contributors to this fabulous resource for women who are looking to manage and balance their marriage, children and household while making time for their creative side. I LOVE it! Sign up for their weekly newsletters, and get some fun free downloadable labels. And check out other freebies on their blog as well on the Run Her Household? link for great penny pinching ideas. Enjoy!







Turn your kiddos pictures into a storybook.



Family chore chart!



I love the fashion section!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Back to Nature

Summer is here, and all this time we're spending outside is bringing our family together in new ways. After watching the city workers pick up our trash a few days ago, Maddox started asking questions about where the garbage goes once it leaves our house. After a thorough explanation of landfills, breakdown of trash over time, and all of those other important matters that my four year-old evidently thinks about, we decided we needed to become a family that recycles. Frankly, we don't have a lot of extra kitchen space to store our recycled paper, plastic and aluminum, but after a trip to Target for some cute bins, we made it all work. There. We are helping the earth.

Yesterday, we had a grand time at the farm that supplies our summertime harvest share. The owners invited all shareholders to a cookout. Lamb sausage was the main course, (um, yum) and everyone brought a side or dessert. Let's just say that the majority of people who purchase a farm share can cook REALLY well, so dinner was wonderful. We took a tour of the gardens, saw the chickens that supply our weekly eggs, and even got to check out the week-old piglets. The weather was perfect and we had a fantastic night.

Finally, this morning Maddy discovered an injured baby bird on the ground below one of our big trees in the backyard. After keeping an eye out for a while, we guessed that Mommy Bird wasn't returning and began to try and take care of this poor little thing. Gerald, as Maddox has named him, has been getting water from an eye dropper throughout the day along with some birdseed. Cross your fingers that he makes it through the night! I think I may have a heartbroken kiddo if not!

How is your family getting back to nature this summer?


Mad and I outside our garden in the backyard . . . just kidding. . . this is the garden at Retreat Farm! :)


Little vegetable lesson from Daddy.



Nothing liked a fresh-picked strawberry!




Maddy and Gerald. Graham caught her having a full on conversation with him before dinner!

Last Night of the World

Well, it's May 21st at almost 8 o'clock and the world hasn't ended yet. Guess the predictions were wrong. That's good because I'd like to spend a little more time with my family doing activities like we did today. Graham has been gone for about two weeks on a business trip, making us all feel a little disconnected. He got home late Thursday night, very jet lagged. After a few days catching up on sleep, we were blessed with gorgeous weather today and decided to take the kids to Shenandoah National Park, about 45 minutes from our house, for a hike. We drove fifteen miles on the breathtaking Skyline Drive before finally choosing the Rose River Trail which led us right to an amazing waterfall. It was so nice just to be with my family in the great outdoors, enjoying each other's company. Took a few pics along the way:

The whole family in front of the waterfall. We could hear it almost the entire hike down.



So glad he is home!




Maddox took a tumble along the way and was comforted by Daddy.




After she fell, she cried in between sobs, "I've ruined my skin!" The small, but tragic boo boo is seen here.





If today were the last day of the world, I'd say we made the best of it! Look at that view!