The House That Jack Built

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Friday, August 7, 2009

Well the big news around here these days is that Jack has traded in his diapers for big boy underwear! I am still getting used to finding his little undies in the wash and seeing the bright colors and Ernie, Elmo, and Thomas mixed in with our clothing.

The girls are becoming more and more adventurous and like to come up on the deck and peek in the sliding glass door. This can be very creepy at times...

Okay, I don't normally do this, because this isn't that kind of blog, but I am sharing a recipe with you all because I just KNOW that some of you out there are being bombarded with zucchini right now and looking for creative ways to use it up...

Amazing Zucchini Pancakes

2 eggs

1 cup white flour

1 cup wheat flour

1 cup plain yogurt

1 T brown sugar

2 T melted butter

2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

pinch of cinnamon

handful of grated zucchini

1/2 cup chocolate chips

milk

Mix together and add enough milk to create desired consistency. Cook, eat, enjoy!

We are starting to see how much fun two boys are going to be...

Jack and Lily painted a big box. After looking at these photos, I decided it was finally time to give Jack a haircut...

Sawyer has become the smiliest, happiest little guy. He is a joy.

Not only does he suck his thumb, he has also discovered his toes.

The summer seems to be slipping away, but we are making the most of what is left by picnicking in the park, hitting up the local wading pools, picking green beans for the freezer, and spending time in the back yard. I hope you all are savoring this season as well.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Hotter than a Match Head

It's HOT. They are talking crazy about a high of 105 today. Ugh. We are now down two air conditioners- the car AC, which you will recall went out last summer while we were en route to Montana (tip: don't drive through eastern Washington in August without air conditioning- even if you do not have morning sickness and/or a cranky toddler with you, you will be miserable). So not having any AC in the car is pretty bad (this is the car with black leather seats that bakes in the sun ALL DAY LONG because there is a giant BOAT taking up precious garage space... but I digress...)

So now, NOW during this major heat wave, now that we have four warm bodies in our house, NOW the window unit AC has died. This was discovered only after my dear brother gallantly wrestled the thing into the window one steamy morning. So there we sat, poised and ready to feel that whoosh of cool air on our sweaty brows only to be greeted with the sound of a dying fan. Like I said, ugh.

But instead of continuing this whiny rant about the heat and our apparent bad luck with heat relieving appliances, let's turn instead to some of the things that we are enjoying this summer:

Peas, zucchini, broccoli, basil, tomatoes, and tons and tons of pumpkins that are growing in our garden right now. We bought a chest freezer for the garage to preserve some of this year's harvest (and the 20 pounds of blueberries we picked last weekend), because as much as I would like to impress you with tales of canning my preserves, the truth is that I'd rather throw things in a bag and freeze them and be done with it.

Improvising hats with pants.

Jack camping and cultivating friendships with my friends' kids.

Swimming.

Lavender outside my bedroom window. Sawyer. And Brent, too.

There, now I feel better.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Kate and Aaron Get Married!

Our friends Kate and Aaron got married last weekend at Sylvan Ridge Winery. It was a super fun wedding with great people, delicious food and wine, and funky music. A good time was had by all!

This is Jack's fairy godmother, Doris, feeding him a stolen cupcake before dinner.

Sawyer was so excited for Kate and Aaron that he sported his necktie for the occasion.

Beautiful wedding, beautiful day. We stayed late- Jack, the party animal, hit the dance floor around 10 pm. The next morning he woke up and said, "Wanna go to Kate's wedding again."