Life Lately

While I was working on my April books post, I started looking at some of my past posts.  Lately, we have been so busy that all I have time for is my book posts (which I do mostly for me, to help track what I've read and what I think about the books).  I was reading past posts, 5 on Friday, what I'm loving, and what our boys our up to.  And I realized I miss those!  I decided to play a little catch up, so I don't forget this past year!

January

January was a BIG month for us!  We bought our first house.  We closed on the 10th, but didn't move until the 28th.  So we spent every spare second at the new house.  I painted all of the bedrooms.  Bech painted the dark paneling AND pulled up the carpet and refinished the floors.  

White paint on paneling and wood floors (before Bech refinished them) compared to the ugly carpet and dark paneling

The floors mid refinishing

Ahhh, beautiful refinished floors!

This man was seriously the MVP of January!

Our rental house looking all sorts of cray cray while we packed

We did fit in a little fun.  Here's Gil on ice skates for the first time.

February

In February, we crashed.  Seriously.

Every single one of us got the flu.  Ughhhh....

We also drove down to DC and spent several days with Ansley.  The boys loved getting a special capitol tour from their Aunt.

The view from the Speaker's balcony

Jack posing with Vermont's Ethan Allen

We also went on a White House tour.  Jack loved it...

...Gil was not impressed.

This kid is such a little poser.

We swung by Philly on our way home to visit our favorites, the Lugos.

And since Rita's had just opened for the season, we HAD to get some.

These kids are the best car travelers!

March

March was a snowy, snowy month for Vermont. 

We enjoyed a snow day together building a massive snowman.  

I will also be regretting that snow day come June, when I have to make up that snow day with in service.  Because Vermont doesn't build in snow days.  Mississippi, you need to take this moment to bask in the brilliance of built in hurricane days.  And Vermont, seriously???  It ALWAYS snows.  Why don't you build in some snow days?

And we slid down the back stairs.

We had friends over a bunch!  One night I pulled the last of the past summer's frozen blueberries out so make Bread and Wine's blueberry crumble.

We celebrated sweet Eleanor's first birthday with a beautiful unicorn party.

Jack finally read the original Jack.

And we kept hammering away at house work.

April

 

The boys opened their Easter happies.  Most notable present is Jack's watch: now when I tell him it's bedtime, he quickly corrects me.  Maybe I should have set the time wrong...

Jack, as usual, was a willing Easter photo taker.

Gil was, well Gil.

But he cheesed it up with his main squeeze, Viv.

Jack built legos and read, his two favorite things.

Also, I think the whole sibling things is going well, wouldn't you say?

Also, they share a room, so there's that...

We celebrated our favorite, Bech, with a mint chocolate chip cake.

And we had our first creemees of the year.

Jack on top of the UVM mascot, the catamount

I got to spend some time with my friends (Stowe Cider may have been involved...).

The boys and I have been really into cake baking videos lately, so we've been trying our hand at baking.  We made an ombre cake for a potluck we hosted.

And I decided to try my hand at gardening!  We are still doing our summer CSA, but I would love to eventually stop that and grow all of our summer veggies.  Here are my baby seedlings.

Whew, there's a speed recap of the past four months.  It's been busy and crazy and good.  I can't believe my first year back teaching is almost done (19 school days, but who's counting?), Jack is almost a rising 2nd grader, and Gil is almost a legit preschooler.  

We have lots of fun summer plans in the works, including a camping trip or two, a visit to Asheville, and a trip down south.  I can't wait!

SaveSave

5 on Friday

This week has been crazy!  I have been tutoring a bunch in the afternoon and night, and next week, I will be tutoring even more.  But I love teaching, so it's a good crazy.

O     N     E

For Mother's Day, we picked up some fresh herbs at our CSA and the local farmer's market as my gift.  I am growing basil, thyme, rosemary, parsley, and sun gold tomatoes.

I feel a little like Mary from A Secret Garden when she says, "Might I have a bit of earth?"  It's been several years since I grew herbs and I am loving it.  Every morning, I water my little plants and check for any new growth.

See, aren't my little plants nice looking?

T     W     O

You might notice the basil in particular.  That plant is growing like crazy, and I am trying to find creative uses for it.

Yes, I know I can make pesto.  But here's the thing, we are going to get a ton of basil from our CSA this year.  I am going to be making and freezing batches of pesto all summer (I freeze pesto in a silicone mini-muffin pan and then pop the pesto out and store it in a ziplock bag in the freezer).  

Pinterest was somewhat helpful in this department (although at least half of the pins that popped up were pesto related).  Here's what we've eaten this week:

Zucchini Noodles with Creamy Avocado Pesto

Head's up, this doesn't make a ton (I didn't realize it when I made it).  Plus, it really should be a side to something else.  But it was yummy and a good excuse to buy a cheap spiralizer off of Amazon.

Basil Chimichurri

The recipe suggests serving this on a flank steak, which would have been yummy.  I cooked chicken in a cast iron pan, drizzled the chimichurri on top, and served it alongside roasted broccoli.   Bech and I were both fans, although I think it needed a little lemon zest.

Salmon with Avocado and Basil

This might be my favorite of the three!  I have always been scared of cooking fish.  For a while, I didn't like the taste, and then, even after I started liking the taste, I just was so unsure about my fish cooking skills.  But when I did the Focus T25 5 day fast track plan (just a 5 day meal plan you can use), fish was on the menu so I actually had to cook it.

The past month, I have been cooking fish a couple of times a week, and every time it has turned out really good.  In fact, that's what we are eating tonight.  I used the cooking tips in the recipe and the meal turned out really good!

Any amazing basil recipes to share?  As soon as tomatoes come in season here, I will be making lots of caprese, but I would love some more options!

T     H     R     E     E

The children's church curriculum moves through the bible over the course of 3 years.  Right now, the kids just learned about David and Goliath.  Jack is obsessed with slingshots so Bech made him one.

If you know my husband at all, you know this is just how he is.  If he can build something himself, he will and it will be beautiful.  So Jack is the proud owner of his very own slingshot!

We took it to a nearby park to test it out (and not break any windows!).

F     O     U     R

We had a great Memorial Day weekend here.  We went to several different parks and spent lots of time outdoors.  Our church had a cookout on Saturday at our favorite local park, Oakledge.  We love Oakledge Park because there is so much to do there!  The park has a playground area, lots of trees, an actual tree house, tennis courts (not that we use them), tons of green space, and it's on the water!  Jack even got in Lake Champlain this past weekend.

Gil LOVES music so he didn't stray too far from the guitar player.  

Also, those curls!

This picture just melts me.  I would love to say that it's an anomaly, that Jack really still looks like a little boy.  But, nope, it's pretty accurate.  Jack totally looks like a big kid!  And the older he gets, the more he looks like Bech.

F     I     V     E

I mentioned two weeks ago that I wanted to get some pillows for our couch.  Well my latest ebates check came in so I went for it!  (which is a miracle in and of itself...I can be SO indecisive about purchases!) 

Ignore the bike in the background and the big cardboard box from Target.  What do you think?  

I love the bright colors.  For so long I had everything in brown tones, but I needed some color!  And I think the gray couch keeps it from being too crazy.

Alright, that's what is going on around here.  We have a fairly calm weekend planned--I'm babysitting for a friend tonight (babysit swapping is the way to go), Jack has his last swim lesson tomorrow, and we might hit up the farmer's market.  Nothing too big, but I'm sure we will be outside a bunch.

Have a wonderful weekend!

5 on Friday

O     N     E

A little over a month ago, I won a Tula baby carrier in a raffle!

I have actually been interested in a Tula for a while.  A good friend has one and she loves it.  But I have an ergo (an older one but still in great condition) and couldn't really justify that amount. 

But then I won...so a brand new Tula for $12!

I got to pick my pattern and I went with the Shenandoah.  

Y'all, I am loving this carrier.  I am still glad I have my ergo, because I think it's better with smaller babies.  But this carrier is perfect for Gil.  It feels better on my back and it's easier to put on by myself.  I am officially a Tula fan!

T     W     O

We made it all the way through the winter without any major sickness and then Jack got sick this week.  He just had a slight fever and was sort of mopey on Tuesday, so nothing big.

When Jack takes a nap during the day, you know he's not feeling well!

By Wednesday he was fine, but he hadn't been fever free for long enough, so we had another quiet day at home.  He enjoyed playing out back in his (Christmas) pjs.  Also, those pjs were a splurge and a bit more than I usually spend on pjs (which is not saying much because I'm a total cheapo).  We have gotten every penny worth from them.  Jack loves these pajamas SO much.

T     H     R     E     E

Bech was home yesterday so I used the extra help and got some sewing done!

I have had this fabric since last fall and finally made some throw pillows.  I made two, but only had the insert on hand for one.  But I've got a craft store coupon so I'll grab another one this weekend.

I want to add some more pillows to our couch to go with this fabric.

I'm loving this one from Target.

Here's another fun option.

I just love the look of a gray couch (which we have) with lots of fun throw pillows in bright colors, like this:

F     O     U     R

I also worked on some shorts for Gil.  Gil has an absurd amount of smocked bubbles and jon jons for the summer.  But Gil is SO messy when he's outside so I knew I needed some play clothes for the summer too.  I wanted something cheap (so I wouldn't be too upset when he got them dirty) but still cute.  I bought some fabric at the Cotton Patch in Bogue Chitto two years ago to make shorts for Jack and never got around to it.  So I pulled the fabric out and picked up some cheap striped shirts at Target.

Here he is modeling one of his new pair of shorts.  Also, that's the face he made when I told him I wanted to take a picture.  He's a cheeseball!

F     I     V     E

We have a busy and fun weekend planned.  When the weather finally gets nice up here, life gets busy!  It's like we've all been bears, hibernating through the winter, and now we are just so excited to be outside and with other people again!

This afternoon, I'm going over to a friends house for a mom "happy hour."  We are drinking wine and cider and letting our kids run around their yard.  Perfection!

Tomorrow we have swim lessons, Jack's best school friends' birthday party (oh fine, she's his girlfriend, at least that's what they say), and then Saturday night is a cookout at a friends.  

On Sundays, we don't have church until 3 p.m. (the perks of being a church plant!), so I'm sure we will be at a park that morning!

Have a wonderful weekend!