Blueberries

We went blueberry picking today! It was opening day for the blueberry farm, so there was only one other group of people there picking. I loved having my pick of the crop! I could tell it is just the start of the season and had to hunt a bit, but there were plenty of beautiful, large ripe berries. Caleb is old enough now to actually be of some help, or at least stay out of too much trouble! Last year he was not quite 2 and he just wanted to eat and dump out all of the berries I had picked. In fact, he actually dumped out the entire box of someone else's berries last year! But this year he knows his colors and can mostly refrain himself to just picking the blue ones. He actually filled his little container about halfway before he ate some and the rest spilled. Then he ran around and found sticks and other fun stuff while I finished filling my bowls. In all, we got 12lbs, which is about 8 quarts. Since we use them for muffins, pancakes, and smoothies all winter, I think I will go back and pick some more next week. Maybe on daddy's day off!

Pitas!

Ok. So I have been inspired lately to write. Maybe it is that my nausea is starting to get better, maybe it is just the nice sunny summer weather. Whatever the case, I must say that there is nothing quite like the smell of fresh baked bread in you home! For those of you who have made bread before, or for those who are just adventurous, I found a wonderful recipe for homemade pitas you must try. It is a little bit time consuming, but the smell in your home and the taste of hamemade pitas just can not compare to buying them from the store. I tried one fresh out of the oven and they are amazing! My first thought was how good they would be slathered with Nutella. Then I thought about all of the lunch sandwhich possibilities for Caleb - PB&J, Chicken Salad, Tuna, deli meat...it is nearly endless! And what toddler wouldn't love a sandwich that is a pocket? Caleb didn't want to eat his half, he wanted to put it on his pants like a "pocket". How fun! A little note for those who try this recipe...don't overcook them! I tried 4 minutes with the first batch, and the edges got just a little bit too crispy to where they wouldn't soften up and cracked. So I would start with only 3 minutes and then work your way up. Really, they don't need to get very brown at all. Mine just got mostly brown on the bottom where they sat on the rack. Other than that, this is pretty simple, but make sure you have a few hours to tend to all of the rising periods. Then enjoy!! Yum.

Garden

Since being married and a mother, I have found little bits of my own mother coming out in me. One of the ways it manifests is in my love of gardening. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of all of the gardens my mother tended at each of the houses where we lived. Some years it was mostly flowers, other years it included veggies. My mother seems to love growing flowers most, and no longer grows any veggies. But I love all of the plants that produce things I can eat with my mouth instead of my eyes! I also like knowing that the food I am serving to my family is something that is wholesome, organic, and much tastier than what you buy at the store. Someday I dream of having the space for a full in-ground garden complete with corn, pumpkins, and other larger plants. For now, I have some nice raised beds and try to make the most of one little strip of full sun in our backyard. Last year was my first attempt at veggies, and I was excited at the few zuchinnis, cucumbers, green peppers, and giant crop of cherry tomatoes I acheived. I learned some things about my yard and the placement of plants according to the sun. This year I changed a couple of plants around and things are looking really good. Let me take you on a partial tour...

First is my herb garden. I love using fresh herbs when I cook and they are so expensive to buy! The nice thing about herbs is they continue to grow throughout the winter and get bigger each year! I have so much thyme this year, I think I may end up freezing some or drying it to use this winter. I also have oregano, chives (delicious on baked potatoes!), sage, and rosemary.

Next are the tomatoes. My big tomatoes are just blooming, so there's not much to see there. These are my favorite and must have "Sungold" cherry tomatoes. They are so sweet and taste like candy! One plant produces buckets of tomatoes all throughout the summer. They are really good in salads or just eaten right off the vine.


These are romas, you can kinda tell by the shape. This is my first time doing romas, so we'll see how they turn out.

This is a zuchinni that will be ready in about a week. I make zuchinni bread and freeze it to eat all winter. Our family LOVES zuchinni bread. I planted only one zuchinni plant last year and got about 3 zuchinni off of it, but it was in an area that was too shady. This year I have four plants in a much sunnier location and each plant already has 2-3 zuchinni on it!

Here is the start of a cucumber. I also have four cucmber plants and each has several cucmbers growing. I love fresh cucmbers out of the garden for salad.

I am growing onions for the first time this year. Walla Wallas and scallions are the ones I am trying. They are looking like they are growing steadily, we'll see!

And last is the lettuce. I did many different kinds last year, but the only two that weren't bitter where Romaine and Green Leaf. So this year those are the two that I am growing.


I also have strawberries that are pretty much done, pole beans that are being eaten by something unknown (I have tried slug and snail bait but it must not be slugs or snails), and green peppers that are not yet fruiting. I will have more updates as the season continues!

Pictures...finally!

Well we finally figured out a system in our home where I have the ability to do my photo editing out in the main room while the kids are playing or sleeping. It is much better than before when the only computer I could use for editing was in Natalie's bedrooom/office where the kids can not play! So now I will hopefully be able to get my pictures off my camera more often and onto the blog. I suppose then, this is a catch up for the last couple of months! The kids are both growing and learning new things. Natalie is getting really fast at crawling and has even started pulling up and climbing onto things!

This is how we now find her in the mornings or after nap.

Here she was helping mommy unload the dishwasher! She climbed up onto the door all by herself.



Caleb got a new scooter and loved his helmet so much he didn't want to take it off. When I was mopping the floors one day I set the barstools on the couch. Caleb thought it would be fun to put his head through the barstool. But then he couldn't get it out thanks to his helmet!

And here is Caleb all decked out in his gear and going for the first ride on his new scooter.

A Sneak Peek...

So I probably don't even need to say it, but the Stopher household is filling fast! We are due with baby #3 in January. We are so excited to have been able to see our new little blessing this morning! Everything looks good, and the heartbeat was strong. This pregnancy has been a lot harder already, with my nausiousness being overwhelming. Each day, I start getting nausious mid-morning and it gets worse and worse throughout the evening until I finally go to sleep feeling like I have the full blown stomach flu. I had a little bit of this with the other two kids, but not this bad!! I am hoping it only lasts the first trimester, and will be over soon. I have also been really tired and so naps have been a must whenever I can get them in. We have told Caleb that mommy has another baby in her tummy and he seems excited. When asked he usually tells us that it is a little brother. We have decided that we are going to find out the gender this time, so we'll know in a few months! Well, that is the exciting news around our house these days, I am off to take a nap! :)