July Pics

Finding a cicada shell - we were pretty suprised he picked it up.

Trips to DQ after dinner.

Snuggles!

Shaving cream, great activity for kids ;-)

Trying to convince Noah that haircuts don't hurt and if he would just sit still it wouldn't take that long.

Noah - "Like Jr." (referring to Jr. Asparagus on Veggie Tales and how he wears his hat.)

Painting rocks.

Proving us liars - he does play by himself.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

The Legos Have Invaded

David pulled out his cherished childhood tub-o-legos this week. And it has been fun for all, yes I will admit to building a few trucks, spaceships and accessorizing the entire lego army with heads, legs and helmets. But I will have to say that what I heard Noah ask David today after nap will probably rank up there with the absolute best things a daddy could hear his little boy say, "Can we play with Legos now, Daddy? Please."

4th of July Weekend

We didn't see any fireworks this year, a little bummed but in the long run know that it wasn't worth keeping Noah up and dragging him across town to see them this year.  We will have many more years to celebrate.  We did splash around in the kiddie pool we got Noah.  And can anyone tell me when my baby became a little boy?  Look at the face, and those eyes!

We finally went to the Milwaukee Wiener House here in Sioux City after the Farmers Market on Saturday.  It was fun, very old timey made me think of what a simplier time might have been like.  You know instead of just about anything you can think of on the menu, they had the basics: hot dog, chili dog, hamburger, cheeseburger, soda, pie, chips and all at a good price (cash only).  The guys working there all wore those paper hats that you might see at an old diner.  Hope you enjoy our 'stuffing face' shots!

Noah and I drove down to mom and dads (aka Grandma and Papa's) on Monday and enjoyed lunch and hanging out.  Emily (my older sister) and her husband Rami came up from Kansas City.  And my grandpa was there too!  It was great to see everyone and a change of scenery.  Noah of course when he woke up on Monday morning and I told him we were going to Grandma and Papas the first thing he asked was, 'to ride the tractor?'  Papa didn't get his tractor out but a spin on the lawn mower was just as good for Noah.  You can't tell in the picture but it is raining when Papa took Noah on the lawn mower, he really can't tell his only grandchild no, can he?

Noah seemed to think that Great Grandpa's walker was a pretty good jungle gym as long as Great Grandpa didn't let go!

And we did some cooking in the kitchen this weekend, Noah loves to help us in the kitchen.  Check out my Sweet Elder blog for more pics of Noah helping in the kitchen, that is if you want to.

He does a lot of this when we are cooking.  Noah helped make a meatloaf, shuck corn, snap green beans, bake bread and make a cheesecake this weekend!  Let me just say that we ate well this weekend!

Farmers Market and CSAs

Well I have been inspired by friends (Kerry at Taste A Little of  the Summer) and family to get more into gardening, outdoors, good food, vegetables.  I have been playing around with the idea of joining a CSA (community supported agriculture) basically you buy into a 'share' or a local farmers produce and each week we would receive a box of fresh, local, in season produce from the farmer.  Being a lover of outdoors, farming and growing up from a family of farmers and gardeners but not having the space (until recently) for a garden or the time I figured a CSA is the best option.  (I hope to start a square foot garden next year, when we are more settled)

We found a local CSA here in Sioux City, which is The Cornucopia out of Sioux Center, they have a stand at the Farmers Market and we went down on Wednesday morning to talk with the farmer, get a little more information and an idea about what to expect.  We had a great talk and sense we are in the middle of the season we decided it wouldn't be worth the money to join now (we were okay with that, we will join next season) BUT the farmer has what they call a Carrot Card basically we paid and have a line of credit with them and she also told us about the livestock that they raise (poultry and pork) and they have a butcher date coming up for their Berkshire Pork....are are going to buy half a hog worth of meat!

I am excited about supporting local farmers, getting fresh, local produce and meat and the challenge of  (because it will be) eating more with the season that veggies are at their prime.  If anyone has some great recipes please share and any that I come up with I will share on my Sweet Elder blog and check out Taste a Little of the Summer .