10 years

Still no person I'd rather be with then you, my love!

A Masterpiece

I LOVE classical pops music.  I can remember distinctly my Gramma playing great pieces in her house while we visited.  She was a concert violinist and extremely knowledgable of composers like Tchaikovsky.  I also have vivid memories of sitting in the concert halls listening to the orchestra and day dreaming of where those pieces took me.  Not all classical music stirs my soul, but a lot of it does.  I hope someday our kids grow up and have similar memories like these.  

Enjoy this piece.  It was a breath of fresh air a few mornings ago.  It blows me away that a mere man, using his God given talent, can create such a beautiful masterpiece.  

Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee
Originally: Hymn to Joy (by Beethoven)

De-cluttering

This is a text Justin sent to his mom.  :)


On another note, Gi just found a box under her sink with perfume in it and asked Katie if she put it under there. After thinking for a moment (deciding whether she was going to tell the truth or not) she said, "I just got tired of them out on the counter, so I put them up." To which Gi replied, excuse me? Katie followed-up with, "I just can't take all the clutter. They're better in the box!"

Mims & G-pa

YAY!  Mims and G-pa came to visit!  

My mom drove to Ohio to see my Uncle George and then spend some time with my Gramma Stein.  Then she drove down here to NC.  Whew, that was a lot of driving!  My Dad flew in and to get home they both drove the 20 hours back, enjoying the scenery and a book on CD.  THANK YOU for COMING!

We had a great time exploring the city with them....taking them to our favorite spots and also getting to do plenty of things around the house that are also favorites.  :)  

Simply pure happiness on the part of the kids-just look at their facial expressions!!  They had a blast and now we are UBER excited to see everyone in KS in just a few weeks for Aunt B's wedding!

I can remember shucking corn with my dad many many days in the summer.  The kids loved helping and getting the details of how to do it right!

On our way to Marbles!!

I think that the kids are a wee bit excited.

Our little observer watched everyone play before jumping into activities.  After she gets her bearings she is ready to go-and it didn't take to long before she was off and running!

Owen loved this contraption.  Making 'limeade or lemonade', turning the wheel, watching the balls fall down, kept him entertained for a l o n g time.  

I think O's favorite spot was racing cars from the lego type creation station.  He LOVED pulling the lever and watching them zoooooom down the ramp!

And Katie's favorite part was either the art station or the piggy bank ball drop!

Ummm....kiddos the camera is over there. :)

Eating at Centro in downtown.  YUMMMMMMY!

Marbles and lunch get a thumbs up!

It's not summer unless we can play in the water.  G-pa and Mims graciously joined in and the kids thought it was the best thing ever.

Love

Mims was trying her hardest to not get wet.  I thought it was pretty funny that she picked up a kids chair and used it as a buffer.  :)

Showing their muscles!

Justin and I got a date while they were here too!  It was great.  We had a terrific cup of coffee at Jubala -Vanilla Iced Latte, it gets a super high recommendation from us- and a wonderful dinner at Zest -love that place-.  Mom and Dad, thanks for watching the kids!  We know they loved having you two for a evening by themselves!!

 The TEA ROOM!!

Besides Marbles Museum Katie determinedly wanted to take Mims to the Wake Forest Tea Rom.  It was so much fun to take my mom there and to see Katie using her best manners.  :)  Mom had spiced apples and Katie and I a scone.  Then we split two teas, a spring mix and a raspberry.  Super yummy.  

 I think the hats make the whole experience great. Considering they have tons of hats, I thought it was neat we all picked a bright red cheery hat!

 Enjoying La Fayette Village Grill and Gelato!

 Finally we hit the Millbrook Exchange Pool.  Refreshing!

 No, my dad is not in the FBI, but wouldn't that be a neat and a tough job if he was??  

 Oh hey there cool mims!

 Thanks for coming Mim's and G-pa!  We LOVED IT!  Come back soon.  :) :) :)

Keep'n berries fresh

I received this tip from our local spice shop!

Berry-Liscious!
For those of you not on Facebook, we thought we would share this awesome tip to keep those berries we buy at the farmer’s market (which can be expensive) from getting moldy overnight!  This is one worth sharing again! Pass it along to all your “berry” friends.

Berries are delicious, but they're also kind of delicate. Those raspberries, in particular, seem like they can mold before you even get them home from the market. There's nothing more tragic than paying $4 for a pint of local raspberries, only to look in the fridge the next day and find that fuzzy mold growing on them.

With fresh berries just starting to hit farmers markets, we can tell you how to keep them fresh! Here’s a good tip on how to prevent them from getting moldy in the first place.  Wash them with vinegar! Yep, it's true!  When you get your berries home, prepare a mixture of one part vinegar (white or apple cider works best) and ten parts water. Dump the berries into the mixture and swirl around. Drain, rinse if you want (though the mixture is so diluted you can't taste the vinegar) and then pop in the fridge.

The vinegar kills any mold spores and other bacteria that might be on the surface of the fruit, and voila! Raspberries will last a week or more, and strawberries go almost two weeks without getting moldy and soft.  So go forth and stock up on those pricey little gems, knowing that now you can keep them fresh as long as it takes you to eat them.

The Ergo and Monkey See Monkey Do

 Katie got an official Ergo baby doll carrier for her birthday!  And Magnolia or Lily have been in it each and every day.  Earlier she was doing her chores with her babies because they were so fussy.  Soooo cute.   Thanks Aunty Pie and Uncle Dustin for the super neat birthday gift!  It's g r e a t!

And Owen not to be left out, has Moe his monkey on his back...like a boy Ergo, aka, a shoulder ride.  :)

Happiness

We are so blessed to borrow the property truck and all the lawn mowing equipment for our yard.  We hope to very very soon get a shed up and buy all the necessary things, but until then Owen LOVES LOVES his ride in the truck for yard stuff.  The ride is about 3 minutes and in his mind it is worth the hassel of moving the carseat over each and every time.  Thanks Mr. Benson and Mr. JoJo for letting us use the equipement!!  It is a hugs blessing.  And Owen obviously thanks you also from the bottom of his heart!  Here's to simple happiness.  :)

Wordless Wednesday

A 5 Year Old Birthday Party

 Katie's 5th birthday party was wonderful! We were so excited to celebrate with her, her past five beautiful years.  

At our house we have decided to celebrate every birthday with family, but not necessarily a large party.  Then we throw a birthday bash, where the kids can plan the event themselves every few years. And this was Katie's first official birthday bash to invite her friends. She choose to invite 5 families since she was 5.  :) And even though one family could not attend, another family has two kids Katie enjoys playing with so there were still five friends.  :)  The Lord worked it out perfectly.

It was a beautiful day out at the Hope Reins Pavilion topped with Mimi (my mom) who was able to make it out from KS to attend.  

Soon, I will blog about all that Katie is becoming and has accomplished so far in her great life.  But until then, here are the photos of her P A R T Y!

Katie's choice of dessert.  Sno Cone Cupcakes!  It was fun trying to pull these off.  I found the paper cups at Trader Joes samples table and they graciously gave me some for free.  I got the mini spoons from Harris Teeter and they graciously gave them to me for free.  And I got the recipe and ideas from Food Network magazine and bakerella blog.  I do think they look like Mini sno cones and Katie was thrilled that I could make them.  I loved seeing her SO excited about all the details.  :)

 She was definitely blessed with lots of gifts this year.

 Love this sweet hug!  Love this sweet friend, Catie Beth!

 Owen was JUST as excited for the party as Katie.  It was wonderful to encourage him to be excited for Katie.  I do think he thought at first it was a party for him too.  Daddy had to talk to him about letting all the girls play together and Owen not jumping into the middle of a group of girls.  If Owen could have he would have joined in on all the hand holding and tire swinging.  

Thanks buddy for loving your sister so well!

 "Okay, lets all hold hands and go see the horses!"

 These are two of the cuties mini ponies out here at the ministry of Hope Reins.  What a wonderfully neat organization.  We are blessed we got to celebrate out there at the farm.

 We made sponge flowers to throw for our water games!

 Hi Mercy, thanks for coming!  Love your colorful flower and love you!

 Alexia, we were SUPER glad you came to celebrate! It's been great getting to know your family!

 Yes, we did.  It was a hoot!

 Squirt gun fight, flower power and water balloon!

Mr. Hunter got in on the action too.  Sorry Ms. Robin, I didn't get a photo of your great skills too. :)  Thanks for being such a great sport and getting pretty wet.

 Dished out more then he could handle....

 Get him...get him....get him...

 Back in the action!

 filling more water balloons

 keeping her stash large and in charage

 Happy Birthday to you

Zoe, we are SOOOOO glad you are neighbors with us and could come.  We loved it!!!

Rieka, Thanks for coming and sharing in the fun.  Katie LOVES getting to play with you.  It's been a treat-first your birthday and now hers!

 We also ate turkey roll ups, watermelon, pretzels, pasta salad and juice boxes-all Katie's choice for yummy food!

 So. much. fun.

 Oh Mimi, we love that you came for the party and stayed for the past week!  It. Was. Great.

 Can't believe that our first born is now 5.  But we wouldn't trade it for anything.  Love you BIG girl!  You did a great job helping us plan your 'water' party.