a big load

No, I'm not talking about one of Liam's diapers! Bah! Ha! Ha! 

But our garden, it's going crazy this year! 

As I always say though, I take no credit, except for picking. 

I'm a good picker.

blackberries

Our first crop of the year has been blackberries and the kids have had blackberry-stained fingers, toes, and mouths!

I was able to make three desserts with this year's crop and I think there might be a few stragglers left over for snackin'! 

I made two blackberry "cobblets" and the yummiest lemon blackberry cheesecake!

Mine looked exactly like this! Here's the link to the recipe. 

And good ol' Martha passed this recipe on to me. Here it is! 

stepping stones

The other weekend both the kids were fighting off the flu, so we pretty much just hung around the house trying to help them feel better. There was lots of snuggling and t.v. watching, followed by a little bit of cabin fever. And that's when I decided it might be good to get outdoors and do a little backyard project. So...we made stepping stones! 

the nursery

Last weekend someone asked me how old Liam was and I replied, "10 months." Then my heart sank as I thought about the change in months. In a matter of days my baby would be 11 months!

 Now as I write this my sweet Liam is officially 11 months! He's one month away from being a year old! It is so bitter sweet.

I realized that I've never posted pictures of his nursery all complete. So for the last 11 months this is where I've changed him, rocked him, sang, played and read to him. I love this room. To me, it is much more than just a room, it's a place that has been his since the day we bought this home. As much as I've talked about wanting to move, it will be so hard to say goodbye to the house on Potrero Circle someday. It is where I brought both of my babies home.

The saying on his wall couldn't be more true.

We kept the bed in here for guests and will keep it in there for as long as we can. Then it's the air mattress or couch! Sorry.

One of my favorite places in the house, where I get to rock my baby to sleep.

I love that many people have had a hand in his nursery. Kevin put up this closet where there was once a built in desk, my Mom and Aunt Jan helped buy his bedding, Auntie Pam bought the sweet giraffe that soothes him to sleep every night, Grandma Jody gave us Kevin's old baby shoes I used for decor, and even Addie made a decoration for Liam's room, with the help of Kim, our babysitter. 

blackberries

Often, I think Addie tends to take more after her dad, but the other day it got really quiet in our backyard. When I went to look for her, I found her grazing on the blackberries, Kevin had planted (yes, bought and PLANTED) on the side of our house. This couldn't be more like her mama as a kid! My mom and dad would look all over for me, only to find me out by the blueberry bushes just grazing away. 

In Oregon, blackberries are rampant and no one welcomes them in their backyard, so my dad and I would go down by the river and spend hours picking buckets and buckets of blackberries. (I'm sure I ate buckets and buckets too while picking.) We'd take them home to my mom so she could make yummy blackberry cobbler! And that's just what Addie and I did one evening! Except we got to pick them right in our own backyard!

picnic-ing and gardening

It's most definitely spring/summer here! I feel like our spring is always mingled with quite a few hot summer-like days. We've been slowly trying to get out of the house as a family of four to enjoy it, but most of the time it's Addie and Kevin playing outside and Liam and I snuggled in on the couch. This weekend though, we all got out! We packed a lunch and had a picnic at a park in Napa. It was a perfect day!

Later that week, Addie came running in to tell me she had broccoli and peas for me! She was so excited! So I went out to the garden with her and took a couple of pictures of what her and her daddy had picked from our garden. I really should've had Kevin in the picture too. He does all of the hard work on our garden and is currently expanding it! I'll have to post pictures later.

addie's big girl bed

Kevin and I had much deliberation on what to do for Addie's big girl bed. 

The little girl in me wanted something like this for her...

but the mama in me just kept thinking of broken arms and not being able to snuggle in bed with her and read books.

So...we decided on something more practical and this was the bed Kevin used as his model.

And here's Addelyn's very own big girl bed, at a fraction of the price and more importantly, made with love by her Daddy!

Busy Bees!

I know it's been a while since my last post and here's a little explanation...

Kevin redid a dresser that once was my mom's, then my parent's redid it for me as a little girl and now it's Addie girls!

We painted stripes in the baby's room! I'll have to keep you posted on our progress with the new nursery. We also moved a few things in and a few things out for a weekend garage sale!

Making room for our new family member! It's amazing how much junk you can acrue! I don't love garage sales and dickering with people but I did love the opportunity to meet many of our neighbors. We got invited over to dinner with an Indian family, that makes THE best smelling food! And we also met a nice Lebanese doctor and his wife, who also invited us over for dinner. There were several other nice neighbors we got to meet. Who knew we had so many nice neighbors?! I guess we kind of just stick to ourselves.

Our neighbor Susan, whom we do talk to often, asked if she could put these items out and we said sure! It cracked us up when Addie moved on in. We told our customers, "kid for sale!" Hee! Hee! She was so social to the all the people who came by. She'd say "Hey Guys!" and "Have a nice day!"

Santa bought me a sewing machine! I can't wait for my mom to get here to teach me a thing or two! And although I don't have any new pictures Kevin's been quite the brew master lately!

And Addie, well, she is officially wearing Big Girl Panties! (Except for at night.) We are so proud of her!

Nothing cuter than a little bum or "bunkey," as we call it in our family! It's what I grew up knowing it as and it cracks me up to hear my husband telling her to wipe her "bunkey!" Ha! Ha! Ha! We never even talked about it and somehow it just became a "bunkey."

The Real Widmer Brewery

Okay, so maybe not the real Widmer brewery, but a pretty good one if my blind taste buds must say. It's funny how many times I've been asked if I married into the Widmer Brewing Company's family. I always love to play it out for a little bit, but can never keep a straight face long enough. 

So for Kevin's birthday this year, Addie and I bought him his own brewing kit. Every year he grows hops in our backyard only to let them die and when I happened to see him researching home brewing kits, I knew exactly what to get him for his birthday!

Here's a few pictures of Addelyn hanging out with her Daddy while he dabbles in his new hobby!

This is how I found them the other night after I was cleaning up our haunted gingerbread house.

Enjoying his first batch of IPA! He's working on a winter ale now. 

Coming Home

When we got back home we were greeted by a tall handsome man, lots of glorious sunshine and few other things too...

 

A Recap of March

I can hardly believe that tomorrow is the last day of March. I know I haven't posted much this month, so here are some highlights from this third month in 2011.

On the 15th I turned 31. Sadly I have no pictures, but I can tell you good memories were made. Kevin and I went on a much needed hot date! The next night, we had a great dinner with our friends Michelle and Ryan. I also got to see family in Oregon, which included a shopping trip with my dad and dinner with my mom. I got many calls, cards and of course Facebook posts. (Also known as MyFace according to Kevin.) All in all, I am loved and I couldn't ask for anything more on my birthday.

Kevin started our garden this month. I love this about him.

Helping Daddie water the garden.

Bentley sunning and sniffing the freshly laid manure.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

My first try at making Mustard-Glazed Corned Beef & Cabbage. 

Addie and Daddie have a new tradition after bathtime.

Paawwcorn!!

And for a little DIY...with the inspiration from my friend Meg, I discovered Mod Podge and spruced up Addelyn's old white letters in her room. See Addie Ann's Nursery, for some before pictures.

And the new book shelf, didn't exactly happen in March, but I've been wanting to post this for a while now.

Addie's original crib had been recalled so Kevin took the old parts and recycled or "repurposed" them into a new piece of furniture!

A New Camera!

If I had a dreamboard (you know one of those boards Oprah said to have in your home with pictures and words of things you want in your life) a new fancy camera would be on mine. With big green envious eyes, I have looked at beautiful blogs full of amazing pictures that were surely not taken with a point-and-shoot camera like ours. Well, today I came home to a brand new Nikon camera! It's beautiful and I can't wait to learn how to use it to it's full potential! I have my wonderful Auntie Pam to thank for such an unforgettable gift! I'm bubbling over with gratitude! I love-a-love-a-love-a-you Auntie Pam!Enough pictures Mama!

Indian Summer

It's been in the 90's this last week and Addelyn has thoroughly enjoyed a few more days of summer. She is fascinated with the hose and of course still loves our fruitful garden.

Fall in Cali-forn-i-a

It's challenging walking out the door in your fall boots or cooking up a pot of homemade chili in 90 degree weather. But that's life as we know it in this last week of September. I keep thinking I am acclimated to California, but every fall I look for the beautiful foliage and cooler weather, only to find dry brown rolling hills and flip flops on my feet a bit longer. A bit longer...who am I kidding, until mid to late October, and even at that I still remember some sweaty Halloween's. I remain firm that spring in California is beautiful, but fall in Oregon is the best! I miss you Oregon.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Spring! It is evident the season is changing. I love the fall in Oregon and I love spring in California. My favorite tree is starting to blossom. I need to find out it's name.

Her pretty flowers.

Kevin has planted our garden. This year he planted an artichoke, strawberries, cucumbers, onions, jalapenos, and of course tomatoes. He also planted grapes along the fence and the hops are still hanging on from last year. Maybe someday we'll brew our own beer and wine...or maybe not and I'll just keep dreaming we live on enough land to grow that many grapes!

A bird's nest right out our front door. Every spring eggs have hatched in this nest. We can't wait for them to come back this year.

The beautiful green grass on the 52,000 acres of wetlands a block away from our home. The Potrero Hills are beautiful and the picture just doesn't do them justice. I found a great website which gives more information on what is known as the largest wetland preserve. Check it out if you are interested, http://www.iep.ca.gov/suisun/facts/index.html.

The blooming Japanese Cherry Blossom trees line our path along the marsh. We try to take this walk daily.