{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~ 

Every Thursday, at Like Mother, Like Daughter

{pretty}

This is the essence of Evie: happy, with a touch of impishness.

 These gorgeous photos are courtesy of my mother-in-law. She takes the best pictures when she visits. While she was here last weekend we went apple picking, which was lots of fun, and the perfect backdrop for photos. When I grow up I want to take pictures like her.

 

{happy}

 This is one of my favorite pictures of all time.

 The rabbits have become much more friendly lately. This one sat on Zach's lap for a while, enjoying hugs and kisses from two very affectionate little people. We have one female due to give birth (hopefully) any day now, provided tragedy doesn't strike, which is most exciting. The other doe is due next week.

Evie ate nearly that entire apple! She grabbed it from me after I picked it, and never let it go.

{funny}

 Tony can be such a stinker for photos. I see the above look frequently.

The chickies with their Grandma D.

Chasing the bunny. She gets close and then he darts off, which makes her angry. It is hilarious to watch.

{real}

I love the moments (seconds?) of tenderness between these two.

Camping with Littles

At the end of August we went on our first ever family camping trip and it was grand!

I have never been camping before, so we started off easy, at a campground with bathrooms/showers. As much as I love my daily shower, I would give it up to stay at a campsite with more privacy. Canoeing into the Adirondacks next summer, anyone? Seriously, though, having neighbors stacked on top of you is lame. BUT. All in all, it was a great first experience. 

I made hamburgers ahead of time and froze them to cut down on mess. We also brought hotdogs and smoked sausage, sweet potatoes, rice, squash and cabbage (for dinners. Snacks were an animal of their own.). Zach was our camp chef, which was a nice break for me. We used our double-burner camp stove, as well as the grill/fire pit. It wasn't much trouble, and we ended up with a good amount of leftovers somehow (probably because we had three loaves of bread to eat in 2.5 days...).

One thing I did not really anticipate was how cold it would be at night. Next time I will definitely be better prepared for that.

This child did nothing but eat dirt the whole time. She is proving to be a very cautious walker, and only takes steps occasionally. Crawling = seeing every pebble/piece of trash on the ground and eating it. 

Baby legs!

We hiked two of the trails at the park, and saw many beautiful waterfalls. It was awesome. Now that I know I can do it, I'm excited to go again.

Love,

Jess

{pretty, happy, funny, real} - Birthday Edition!

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

{pretty}

 Our sweet Evangeline turned one on Tuesday! I remember her birth like it was yesterday, but here we are, one year and ten pounds later:

We had a nice little family celebration, ending with a visit to the playground by the lake.

{happy}

 Being a parent is such a blessing, and the amount of joy these two monkeys bring to our life is more than I ever expected. I cannot imagine life without them.

The whale I made for her. It went together pretty easily, all things considered, and I will probably make more. This is the (free) pattern I used.

{funny}

This is Crab, crawling around the playground. For a while Tony told us he was an orange bunny. Lately it has been a crab. 

{real}

Since I don't make dessert on a regular basis, I like using birthdays or feast days as a time to try out new recipes. For Evie's birthday I made this apple yogurt cake (only I used peaches). I think I pinned the recipe after it was mentioned in {bits & pieces} some time ago. I made it the night before and covered it with plastic wrap not thinking that the hard sugar on top would soften...alas. It was still really yummy, and would have paired quite nicely with vanilla ice cream if I had had the foresight.

Daddy's girl.

Digging out of my little hole

Whew. Sick kids for the last month and a half and I am one lousy blogger (please don't remind me that I wasn't much of one before, I haven't forgotten). To make myself look even more pathetic, we're going with some reposts from good old Instagram to add a little color to this post.

Things are looking up now, though, and Zach is on summer break, which always makes life better. Since we have been sick for so long, we decided to stay home for the break, and do what we have never really done before - explore more of our area. Almost every break we are driving here and there, and during the trimester Zach is really too busy to do much besides study and take a thirty minute break with us at the playground (I would say that that is an exaggeration, but if you averaged it all out, I think it might even be being generous). Last summer break we stayed home, but a brand spanking new baby kind of put the kibosh on much going out and about.

Speaking of, we have the big numero uno to celebrate on Tuesday! I can't believe this sweet thing has been with us a whole year. 

Her fine, blonde hair.

 On Friday we had the great blessing of attending a Solemn Mass said by our Bishop at a nearby parish. We went there for the Ascension and the music was absolutely beautiful, so you can imagine my excitement at the prospect of a "Solemn Mass" with two choirs and two organs! 

I have never seen Bishop Matano before, and am really grateful that we had this opportunity. He gave the best homily I have heard in a long time, and at the end of Mass gave the most beautiful speech, begging for vocations, and reminding the congregation that the priesthood is irreplaceable, and without priests we will not have the Eucharist, and without the Eucharist we will become a Godless nation. Zach and I are still talking about it. You can tell that he is a true shepherd; he has that charisma that draws people to him, and inspires them. There were many priests and seminarians in attendance, which gives me such hope for the future of the Church. It was wonderful. In the music department we were treated to Gregorian chant. They sang Lotti's Regina Caeli, which I absolutely love. Even Tony could tell that something was special. Mass was just under two hours long and he was very good (I think that the Knights of Columbus in their regalia was a good distraction, too). 

When we got home we enjoyed roast beef, a potato-tomato-squash dish, and zucchini lime spelt flour cupcakes. The cupcakes were excellent, though I will admit that the best part was the frosting - cream cheese based frosting is weakness of mine.

Climbing stairs. In big girl pajamas. I can't handle it.

In case anyone reads this soon, my Mom is at the hospital right now with complications from a miscarriage, and I would appreciate prayers for her, please.

Love,

Jess

Happy Birthday, Tony!

On Sunday we celebrated Tony's 3rd birthday. I still remember the day he was born, and cannot believe he is so big. (Which I will probably continue to say every year until I die. It's the truth, though.)

This is one of two good pictures we took on his birthday. The other one is the cake.

We had a little party with a couple of his friends. It was perfect - laid-back and enjoyable for children and parents. We planned it for 2-4pm, which is between meals, but because food is an integral part of how we party, we served mini meatballs, hotdogs (cut up - a smart idea that I saw online), fruit salad, baked beans*, and strawberry-infused sweet tea (strawberry idea thanks to this). 

The cake was a new recipe, and it was ah.ma.zing. "The Reese's Cupcake" Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Sunbutter Frosting. I did not think about the fact that it only makes 12 cupcakes, and happily poured the batter into my 9x13 pan...to pull a thin cake out of the oven at the end. Thankfully, it was Saturday night, and I was going to have the oven on in the morning for bacon, so I made another cake and layered them up with a smear of sunbutter frosting in between. There was enough frosting from a single recipe to frost in the middle and the top. The whipped cream was my own addition. It was so good that the half left over from the party was gone the next day (with very little refined sugar, I didn't feel guilty eating it as a snack all day long).

Now, for a little then-and-now humor...

One week old, I think.

Three years old.

 He was so sweet opening up his presents in the morning - the pure joy with each thing just warmed my heart. We try not to be materialistic, but do love giving gifts, and this year coordinated with my Mom to we give him the Duplo train set. It is a lot of fun!

*I made these beans for the Fourth of July and they turned out really well, so I made them again for the party. I did the whole thing in the crockpot - on low overnight. Be aware that it makes a lot, so unless you love beans and will devour them soon, you are probably going to end up with some for the freezer. I really like them, but I can't eat many without feeling sick (not these particular beans, just legumes in general). Everyone at the party said they were the best baked beans they had ever had, so if you are feeling like baked beans from scratch, give that recipe a try.

Answer Me This...Swimwear I Want but Don't Need and Swimwear I Plain Ol' Don't Like

I have been trying to get my act together to join in this link up since Easter. Pa-the-tic.

Catholic All Year

1. When's the last time you got a new bathing suit?

Two years ago. I scoured the Lands End clearance and ended up with a blue top and orange bottom. If I had unlimited funds, and actually spent a fair amount of time near the water, I would love this one:

2. Who made the last incoming call on your phone?

My Dad tried calling me last night, but I was outside weeding the garden with Zach and the babies.

3. If you receive communion, do you receive it in the hands or on the tongue?
 

On the tongue.

The only time have ever received in the hand was when John Paul II was in Baltimore in 1995. My Dad was the youth director at our parish and managed to get tickets for our family and the youth group. I was only 6 years old, and the Eucharistic ministers were handing it out - literally.

Zach and I always try to kneel when receiving and the two priests at our parish here finally reached the point that they will wait for us to kneel down. A couple of years ago I had a horrible experience in Florida with the pastor trying to force me to stand up before he would give me the Eucharist. Now I get anxiety any time we visit a new church, though thankfully I have not had another bad experience. It surprises some priests, but that is usually the end of it.

4. Do you have a tattoo?

Nope.

5. How many dinner plates are in your house?

I think we still have 16 of these:

Years before I was married my Mom ordered two sets for me when they were greatly marked down. I still like them, though I have started replacing the bowls with white ones since they are less expensive than ordering actual replacements.

I don't have any fine china dinner plates at this point in time, though some day I might try to acquire a nice used set - perhaps to match the serving pieces that my Mom brought up for me last week (formerly belonging to my Grandma):

6. Do you have an accent?

I don't think so. I say "y'all" all of the time, which probably sounds a little strange to Upstate New Yorkers. My husband constantly gets comments at school about his southern accent, which I have never noticed. I did have to laugh when I called the doctors office back in my hometown and noticed how southern-redneck the receptionist sounded. How I miss the South! 

Happy Pentecost!

This is how 98% of the pictures of them together turn out.

I have been trying really hard to do more reading this past week (The Little Oratory and In This House of Brede, as well as listening to Mansfield Park), and I have been hard at work on a wedding dress for my uncle's fiancée...

The dress form is a little too big for the dress, hence the kind of odd look.

 I just finished the zipper and hooks & eyes, and now need to attach some rope trim and it is done. Once the dress is complete, I need to make a simple cotton slip, which should take me less than an hour (please, Lord). Then tomorrow we ship it off to a lady who will be carrying it with her to the Dominican Republic, which is where my uncle lives and will be getting married. The wedding is in August, so I used an embroidered cotton, with a chiffon overlay on the bodice. The pattern went together easily, even though sewing with chiffon is always a bit of a pain. (In this case, I brought it upon myself, but foresight doesn't remove the pain.) The worst is over, though, and tomorrow it is out of my hands, sent with prayers for a happy union. Will you please pray for them, too?

Has anyone else read the Otis books? We came across the first one at the pediatrician's office, and found the rest at the library. The illustrations are so lovely, and the stories are fun, without being annoying like a lot of modern children's books.

This was one of the "9 month" pictures I took. She is getting so big. I started feeding her food last week, and she has been enjoying it for the most part. She keeps putting her fingers in her mouth and gagging herself. Yesterday she puked twice after doing that, poor thing.

Dinner, the dress, and Tony are all begging for my attention (Evangeline is sacked out in the carrier, or she would be throwing her hat in the ring, too).

Much love,

Jess