lately...

our beautiful, freshly mowed baby pecan orchard

enjoying a quiet cup of coffee on the porch after mike comes running in, yelling that he saw wild pigs, and taking off with his gun. then the boys quickly avoided the rest of their chores, breakfast, and school and took off with paw paw to get in on the action. i was left with a sleeping baby, am empty chicken bucket, and freshly harvested greens.

aaaaaand he got one!

honeysuckle jelly from a local market

michael learning how to drive the backhoe

picking fresh blackberries!
actually, they are dewberries but taste exactly like small blackberries.
we have harvested almost three gallons so far!
lots of cobblers and lots of extra to go on top of yogurt :)

after every run in the morning, we pick a few cups!

yum.

he was so excited.
he planted these beets and now he gets to harvest them!

and gabriel gets to "harvest" the snow peas, i.e. eat as many as he can stuff in his chubby cheeks.

fresh broccoli and snow pea stirfry from our gardens!

homemade sunscreen!
tis the season!

me and my cutie at the zoo :)

my beautiful boys.

and ice creams on the way home!

uncle vince came to visit and we smoked mike's pig!

exciting day!
pouring my grandmother's slab!
lots of big trucks and excited little boys!

mike left for south america and he always leaves me coffee, ready to grind!

jumping boys!

i know that little girls learn to cook quickly but little boys take a bit longer.
but hey! we're there! our 6 year old can make scrambled eggs, fried eggs, and eggs in a hole! woohoo!

fresh cabbages from our garden, ready for homemade kimchi!

after paw paw mowed the pasture and let the hay dry out, the boys scooped it all up and refilled the chicken coop!

fresh rose veal from our friend! can't wait to enjoy a date night at home with my love!

picnic (or pignet, as they say) outside to watch the workers at grandmommy's house!

a picture for grandmommy!
look at all your new wood!

hot days call for naked boys and water hoses.

thinning the baby carrots and eating the babies! dirt and all!

some hard days call for boxed mac and cheese.
oh the horror! ha!

date night with my parents!

kimchi is fermenting!

curried cauliflower and leek soup!

bad storms call for evacuations to nanny's house :)

off to church!

the house is coming along!

more piggies!

oh so exciting friday nights when mike is gone ;)

and then, just like that, he's home again!!

may the fourth be with you!

poor baby rob came down with some sort of virus and was so, so sad.

"mommy, you 'tend."
"okay, gabe, what should i pretend to be?"
"a wock, mommy"
"a rock?!"
"yesh. so the mountain wion can cwimb on wu."

three perfect eggs and a perfect avo to go with

brave boy yanked his second tooth out all by himself!

enjoying a gabe date with fresh carrot and orange juice and homemade hummus and cukes

my parents took the boys during the baby's evening nap so i got a glass of wine and veggies by myself!

puzzles with paw paw

"hey dad, can you get me a couple lemons, some carrots, a head of garlic and a cucumber?"

my heart.

sunrise on our farm.

mv found tons of loose change in the back of one of my dad's old cars in the barn.
so, he asked if he could have it, after he washed it :)

lunch with my brother!

we had to do a drive-by after church for nanny to pull mv's 3rd tooth!

pretty picture of my smoked salmon and caper toast :)

my parents stole the two big boys for a couple days and they headed off to my uncle and aunt's new house!

they had a great time.

and had the first swim of the season!
they retained almost all of their lessons so i am happy!

gabe and i had a date while they were gone :)

and drank lots of hot chocolate during thunderstorms!

on the saturday before mother's day, a local and absolutely fantastic snow cone place offered free snows to mamas!
my mama got pineapple coconut and i got lemon, lavender, and sweet cream!
yum!

then that night, we went to a dear friend's housewarming/bbq!

on mother's day, mike made me homemade eggs benedict in bed and jack made me toast!
i nursed the baby and the other two boys were still asleep :)

fresh flowers!
but they couldn't find a vase ;)

mother's day pictures before church!

presents in star wars paper of course.

the men made us homemade egg rolls!

and homemade ice cream sandwiches!

then we went to check on my grandmother's house progress!
she'll be moving in soon!

a great day and a great month!