Garden Update and Yummy Jam

Here are a few photos of my garden. Tomatoes are doing well. This year we tried some small yellow pear shaped tomatoes that are great in a salad. One bell pepper plant seems to be producing some. Carrots are growing well and one cantaloupe is growing on my large cantaloupe vine. We have lots of grapes growing which I have no idea what to do with yet. Last year they were really sour so we will see how they turn out this year.

Also, over the gate on one side of my house we have this vine. It mostly gets in the way so we always hack it back. We haven't cut it back in a while and, this week, I noticed some beautiful flowers on it! Maybe it will stay tall awhile longer.

This morning Lily and I made our first batch of freezer jams! I was inspired by my friend Hannah and thought I could give it a shot. I used this "no cook freezer jam pectin" that was supposed to be great because it is low sugar, which I'm thinking Tommy will love more. It seems a bit sour and a little runny but still delicious. Maybe next time I'll try a different pectin. Lily still prefers the store bought jam without the chunky fruit but I'll bet she won't notice in her PBn'J.

Look What I Can Do!

I am officially a "handy woman"! Picture this: Melonie stuck up under a sink with a wrench... I know, hard to picture right? Well, today I installed a new faucet on our kitchen sink! The old one started leaking really bad and Tommy was going to attempt to take it apart and fix it but he couldn't even get the handle off. The next day the handle fell off on me while I was using it, thanks to my husband for not putting it back together after he couldn't fit it. That night we decided we should just get a new pretty faucet. I'm super excited. Tommy wanted to hire a guy to fix it but I decided to give it a shot. It wasn't that hard after all! Yes, you can all be proud of me for my handiness.

Here are some other photos from this week:

Giveaway from Kirstikoo

Check out my sister-in-law's website. She is having a little giveaway so I hope you all enter. I'm sure you all know someone that has or is going to have a baby. She has some adorable gift ideas.

And This is just a little project idea for me. I really want to make one of these for Lily. Do you think I could pull it off? Where do you find this raincoat fabric?

Fun Fun Day at the Fair

Lily, Isaac and I went off to the fair today. We had a great day! It was pretty hot but it didn't seem to bother the kiddos. Lily enjoyed looking a little corny for this picture!

Lily and Isaac had a great time petting and feeding all the animals. Lily loved brushing a cow and milking a cow. (Click on a picture to see it larger.) Isaac loved seeing all the goats and sheep and timidly petting them as they stuck out their heads for food.

Lily got a special treat... thanks to "family day" at the fair, she got an unlimited ride pass for 3 hours. She LOVED going on as many rides as she wanted (or that would allow her height!) Because it was just Lily and Isaac and me, Lily had to do all the rides by herself. She was really brave and had tons of fun.

Here is a video of Isaac meeting a goat. The goat enjoyed licking Isaac's stroller, probably tasting remnants of the funnel cake we had just eaten. Better make sure to wash the stroller well before our next outing!


Here is a video of Lily milking a cow. A big highlight of the day.

Happy Birthday to My Best Friend!

We had a nice time celebrating Tommy's birthday. He was spoiled with lots of love, treats, and presents. It's great to feel soo loved on your birthday. The kids and I got to take him some mint brownies to his work. He really liked seeing us there and getting his favorite treat. We had a yummy enchilada dinner and played his new game, Wits and Wagers, with friends after dinner. Tommy won, of course. :D Tonight the partying continues with a fun BBQ with some friends, a cherry chocolate cake, and Liars Dice. I'm sooo glad Tommy was born! He's such a special man and a great friend to me.

A few more Wedding Photos

Here are a few more photos from Katie's wedding. (Remember to click to enlarge!)

Cute Family Photo!

This picture cracks me up. The boys were all crying "get me out of here" and Lily was doing such a good job keeping her cool. Tom just had to laugh at the situation. Good memories!

A little Mischief, a Root Canal and Bike Decorating

This week has been eventful already, and it is only Wednesday! On Sunday I started getting a toothache, and it got super worse on Monday. While uncomfortable from my tooth and laying down all over the house because of an upset stomach from pain meds, Isaac found his way into the pantry.

Tuesday I had a root canal done at a new dentist office that specializes in them. What kind of a specialty is that? I don't know why anyone would want to be a dentist in the first place but to specialize in the most painful aspect of dentistry? Guess you get the big bucks for this non-appealing job. Anyways... the hardest parts of the procedure is laying there with your mouth pulled open for an hour and a half... and telling the dentist that you must be a wuss because you need more local anesthesia. I actually had a first time experience. I got to watch a movie through these movie goggles. It was very weird at first, and I felt very bizarre when I took them off. (NOTE: This is not me the picture.)

While I was enjoying the sound of screeching drilling, worse than nails on a chalkboard, my sweet friend was watching my two kiddos. She even helped Lily decorate her bike for the neighborhood "National Night Out" BBQ that evening. It was sooo nice of her! She also let Lily do whatever she wanted... so it didn't exactly look like what I would have done, had I just gone and done it myself. But Lily was happy that she got to do it her way! Guess what? She won third place in the bike decorating contest. She had a fun time riding her bike around the park, following a policeman on a motorcycle. I heard she even fell down across the park and cried for a bit. Then she had to be brave and get back on her bike to get back to us. I was really proud that she did that. Included below are pictures of Lily with our next door neighbors, Braden & McKenna, and Lily's "desired-to-be-husband" Roman. :D Isaac LOVES being outside.