BUSY

So I haven't posted in a while. I have been so busy. I've been painting for a friend who is selling her house to make a little money till Joffre's new job at a restaurant starts. But I have also been making things like crazy. I decided to use Anna Maria Horner's book Seams to Me to learn how to sew stuff and it has been fun. I made a bunch of sewing caddies, a hexagon ball for Ward (still needs some more stuffing, and I also got a little crazy making bean bags. I have a weird affection for bean bags. (they are not in Horner's book). It is also canning season and that has been fun. I put up 20 jars of blackberry jam. We had fun icking these at a local place. I also put up 20 jars of peach jam. They peaches are so yummy! We ate 1/2 a bushel and canned 1/2. I am also trying to make refirgerator pickles. I put up 5 Qt. jars of these . We'll see how they turn out. I have not had a good batch of pickles yet. I also put in a cute picture of my cute baby and cute husband who also are keeping me busy. I have a couple more post to do soon with kids and finds.

So this giveaway is really worth linking too. I love this dress from Amoretti.

Kids

Renata
Loves: Clothes, Reading, Drawing (Yea!), Compliments, Helping Dad Cook, Climbing Trees
Hates: Raw Onions, Having her Hair Brushed

Joffre
Loves: Legos, Battles, Soldiers, Sliding Backwards Down Slides, Deviled Eggs
Hates: George messing with his Lego creations, Mushrooms


George
Loves: Cowboy outfit, Italian Salad Dressing, Batman, Pancakes, Wearing his Clothes Backwards
Hates: Naptime, Bedtime, Picking Up


Ward
Loves: Eating, Playing Gallop on Mom's Knee, His Green Blankie knit by Grandma Swait, Zeberts on the Belly
Hates: Grass (except to eat), Dirty Diapers, Not being Held when he made it perfectly clear that is what he wanted.

Garden

So we've been getting bowls full of plums everyday and it is wonderful. My cabbage are forming heads and we are eating cucumbers regularly. The boys had great fun helping me find cabbage worms to kill. My tomatoes and beans are blossoming and I have lots of fresh dill. I love to use fresh dill in salads. I have potato plants shooting up and broccoli and carrots too. Yeah!
My neighbor gave me a 1/2 bushel of beets yesterday so I started canning them. I've gotten 12 jars so far and probably will get 6-8 more. We had a big fresh salad of them with onions, rice vinegar and olive oil and it was delicious.
I think I am going to try putting up some plum jam soon.

Skirts

I made myself a skirt and finished my dress. I also made a skirt for Renata. Hers came out a little too long and not quite full enough but still cute. My skirt is cuter on and the dress is really great. I highly recommend Anna Maria Horner's Socialite Dress pattern , nice for moms who have a bit of belly.

Wow

This video by Lisa Hannigan is so great. ( Sorry, I don't know how to post the actual video.)

Alaina's Visit

My friend Alaina came for a visit with her daughter, Eleanor. Eleanor and Ward were born on the same day and her other kids were born really close to mine as well. A little crazy. We had a great time barring my getting us lost a few times. Alaina and I are definitely kindred spirits. We are very much in agreement . Our conversations were so fun because of this. Such a blessing.