Where’s My Boat?

Oof. We have gotten a ton of rain in the last few days. We’ve had brief breaks between storms, but it really feels like we’ve had 4+ inches of rainfall so far (and it’s currently raining, as I type). I can’t really complain, though. We just entered Stage 2 water restrictions, which means we can only water on our specified day and at a specified time. Hopefully this rain will help! We had a pretty crazy storm a couple of nights ago. It dropped hail the size of nickels (luckily it was really sporadic, so no damage) and a ton of rain. Luckily, it wasn’t as bad as areas further out. They had tennis ball sized hail and there was even a small tornado that briefly touched down (thankfully, it didn’t sound like anyone was hurt). Yesterday’s rain and today’s rain has been a little less volatile.

In other news: Paul has been making the most of this rainy day. Since he can’t do yard work, he’s been doing some work around the house. He’s already replaced the insides of one of the toilets and he’s currently switching out the faucets in our bathroom sinks. He’s also got a new light for the entryway that he’ll switch out at some point. I’m so grateful for all of his hard work that keeps our house looking nice! As for me, I got the second round of my COVID shot last night. So far, other than a rather sore arm, I haven’t had any other side effects. Joseph had a good week at school, and Abigail lost another tooth!

Heading back to the car on the way out of church last Sunday, she reeaallly wanted to take a picture with a stick (🤷). We told her we could do that if we could get her into her car seat first (we were afraid she’d bolt, we’d need to chase her down, and then deal with a tantrum getting her into the car, tbh).
Waiting for dinner (homemade pizza) to be done. She said, “I’m going to sit here and watch until it’s all done!” *three minutes later* “Uuuummm, maybe I’ll go watch Goof Troop instead.” 😂
Showing me the new hole in her mouth. Unlike her first one back in January (which was just loose enough to get knocked out when she bumped her cup against it), we knew this one was loose.
You can kind of see the adult tooth for the first one finally coming in (on the left).
Abigail was excited to find out that the Tooth Fairy was able to leave her some Bluey figurines in exchange for her tooth. 😊
Getting Bluey figurines naturally led to a Bluey marathon. It really is a cute show…and it’s hilarious, which always is a plus.
Dinner a few nights ago: breakfast hand pies. I used puff pastry for the crust and the filling was scrambled eggs, diced ham, cheese, and a bit of chives. A simple egg wash across the top made them nice and golden brown. They were pretty tasty!
We affectionately call this the Darr River. Any time we get a significant amount of rain, it seems to gather right here in the yard (better there than right at the base of the porch, though. You can also see some other areas with standing water. We really have gotten quite a bit of rain.

Bonus Video: the light show from the other night. Our trash cans were on the porch because the next day was trash day, but we didn’t want them to blow down the street or tip over during the storm.

We Have Two Kids, I Promise

I’m starting to notice a trend in our family dynamic. Joseph has taken to hanging out in his room more and more. At first I was a smidge concerned, but then I realized he’s NINE. He’s practically a preteen. Yikes! He’s got a room full of LEGOS, books, and his different video games. No wonder he’s almost always in there. It seems like, as of late, when I post pictures on here, they’re always Abigail and not Joseph. I need to try to get more pictures of him before he turns into a crazy teenager who refuses to be photographed, ha. So, I promise we have two kids…one has just become rather…elusive.

In other news, the mockingbirds have been rather cheeky as of late. I was out watering on Monday and had to duck as about four of them raced over my head, chasing each other. Then, a couple of days ago, I heard them going at it again in the front yard. All of a sudden, I heard a big crash against the storm door (the regular door was open). I realized one of them must’ve hit it, but I didn’t see a bird on the ground. Hopefully it’s okay!

As far as things going on in our lives: Paul’s been busy with work and yard work, I’ve been busy with the kids, house, and teaching piano, and the kids have been busy with their own things. Joseph is doing well at school, but I think he’s ready for summer break. We’ve got about a month and a half to go. Abigail keeps me on my toes with her shenanigans and active imagination. 🙂

Checking out a caterpillar that Paul caught.
It’s a spiky black one with green spots. In this picture, it’s right on the bottom of the jar.
I still get excited when my rolls turn out well! I made these big since I wanted to use them as buns for meatball sandwiches.
A good friend dropped off some clothes that her girls have outgrown. Abigail was excited to find this dress-up dress and matching doll. 😊
She said she was a kangaroo with a joey in her pouch. She then asked me to take her picture. 😁

Gardening and Yummy Food, Oh, My!

This past week was another week full of average events for us. A couple things that happened for various family members (a book club meeting for me, a haircut for Joseph, etc.), while different than last week, were still rather typical events for us. 🙂 Paul did go to Lowe’s this morning and grabbed me another Mexican heather plant so that I could have one on each side of the tomato plant. The tomato plant surprised me because as I was watering other plants, I glanced over at it and saw hiding tomatoes. I thought I just had one growing! I went over and started to take a closer look. It turns out that I probably have more like 8-9 growing! Crazy plant. Paul also got some more mulch to spread around, and he mowed the front lawn. He might have also gotten the back yard, but I was upstairs cleaning the bathrooms (such a glamorous life we lead on Saturdays, huh? haha), so I missed it if he did. I’m so grateful for all the hard work he does to keep our yards looking nice. I’m also grateful that he brings me pretty flowers that I can tend to. 🙂 I did spend this week making yummy lunches (I was getting a bit tired of eating sandwiches every day), which was fun. I also threw some pictures in of the bathroom rug I got a couple weeks ago and pictures of how it looks with the decorations I already had in there. 🙂

This is what happens when I tell her to say cheese. She looks at me and literally says, “Say ‘Cheese!'” 🙂
This was my rose bush on Monday…
…this was Wednesday…
…and this was today (Saturday). I can’t believe how many blossoms it has on it right now!
She’ll just randomly walk up to me at times and ask me to take her picture. 🙂
This is the perfect example of how our weather has been most of the week: warm, humid, and overcast. The sun came out a little bit every day, thank goodness. I need my sunshine!
My new rug. I love how it looks. At first I was a little wary with it being so light, but it is machine washable, so I can just toss it into the washer when it does get dirty.
How it looks with the rest of the decor.
A close-up of the decorations in my bathroom. I got the porcelain flower at Target, I did the cross-stitch of the dragonflies, and a friend took the picture of the hummingbird that happened to be scratching its ear.
She asked that I make a fort for her and her bat.
Once it was assembled, she moved things around a bit and turned it into Minnie’s Bow-tique. I love her active imagination!
Lunch one day was avocado toast and sauteed zucchini.
Another lunch was a quesadilla (I love how crispy I can get them in my skillet) and sauteed yellow squash.
Abigail asked for popcorn so that she could have a movie night (watching her current favorite, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”). I love that i can make fresh popcorn in the microwave without having to have bags on hand. A container of kernels takes up way less room than a big box!
She insisted I take a picture of her with her “hat”. Also, she spent a solid 25 minutes inside the entryway closet with a flashlight, telling stories (with a lot of shrieks and gasps) to her rainboots. No, really…that’s what she told me when she finally popped her head out. This kid…
The big clump of hiding tomatoes. I think there’s five in this bunch.
Another three tomatoes.
My new Mexican heather plant.
I love having a plant on each side of the tomato plant. The one on the right is also Mexican heather, but I’ve had it a year or so…and it got pretty badly damaged from the cold weather in February. I should have taken it inside when we had our first hard freeze…I’ll be sure to be more careful this next winter with both of them…even if it’s just moving them into the garage so they avoid the frosts). I was happy to see the darker green bits pop up. That gives me hope that it’ll recover.
The mint is looking amazing!