Food Week pt. 5

It's the last day of food week, so let's have dessert. Here are some pictures of Myla helping Matthew make some chocolate mousse. Yes, this is similar to another recent post of Myla making mousse (different mousse). . . but I just love these pictures of dad and daughter in the kitchen.


Myla is always so proud of herself after she's helped us cook something. I'm really looking forward to seeing our kids' skills in the kitchen evolve as they grow.

Food Week pt. 4

As noted in the last two posts, we've been growing a garden. It's in the little area behind our house, which used to be completely overgrown with ivy--you may not remember it, because we never took anyone back there. But Matthew transformed it into the spring, pulling up the ivy, adding rocks and creating a path, and building the little area for the garden.



Once he built the garden, Matthew turned it over to me and Myla to grow things. We started out simple with some herbs (basil, rosemary, thyme, cilantro) and tomatoes. We have since added cucumbers and some impatiens. Those pink and green things in the middle are caladiums.

Myla loves going back there with me, poking around in the dirt and checking on the progress. She has her own set of gardening tools and makes sure things get watered.



For my first attempt at a garden, I'm pretty happy. So far we've only been able to eat the herbs, but it's so great to have them on hand for cooking. The tomatoes and cucumbers look promising but aren't near ready yet. If I get to eat one tomato and one cucumber from my own garden this year, I'll call it a success.

Food Week Pt. 3

This summer I discovered an incredible and incredibly simple recipe for grilled mussels on my favorite food blog, The Bitten Word. If your grocery cleans the mussels for you as ours does, this recipe takes about 10 minutes. But the result is so fresh and feels very fancy. This night, we paired it with pasta and pesto, made from the basil in our garden. Grate a little parmesan cheese over the top and serve on the patio--awesome!

Luke missed out out the mussels, but liked his sweet potatoes enough to smear them all over his hair!


P.S.--Aunt Kelly comments on how gross mussels are in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .

Food Week Pt. 2

From corn dogs we move on to their distant ancestor, actual corn. I have never lived anywhere that provides the delicious and varied produce that we get here in Michiana. It probably doesn't surprise you to hear that we get amazing corn and tomatoes from Indiana, but who knew that Michigan was home to blueberries and peaches? We hit the farmer's market every Saturday, and most weekends at least one meal is fresh corn and tomatoes. Matthew and I like to make a salad of cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil from our garden. (What? We have a garden? Yes we do--more soon!).

Corn on the cob is one of Myla's favorite things, along with eating outside. Ahh, summer.



Luke has to forego the corn but does love dining al fresco.

Food Week

As I was downloading our photos from the last few weeks, a clear theme emerged--food. So I'm declaring this week "Food Week" on our blog, and each day will feature some member of our family eating or making something delicious. Prepare to be envious.

First up, here is Myla enjoying a corn dog at the St. Joseph County Fair. We went to the fair for two reasons: 1) to see the birdhouse Myla entered in the 4-H competition (seriously), and 2) to eat some fried goodness. We had fried vegetables, fried potatoes, and these incredible corn dogs.



Here, Myla watches "Galaxy Girl" perform while she eats. Galaxy Girl climbed a 10-story ladder and did a handstand on top. Myla was entranced.

Best. Videos. Ever.*

Matthew shot these videos of the kids playing together the other night. In the first one, I absolutely love how Luke will chase Myla and then turn around and run (crawl) away when she turns around.

This video is a lot shorter and not nearly as funny, except that I love how Myla says "ottoman."

* Only applies to videos on this blog. Designation subject to change. No refunds.

Update: Luke at 10 months

Luke turned 10 months old a few weeks ago! It's time to share the photos from the 10-month shoot, plus an update on what's new in his world (everything!).

First, the pics with the sign--ever harder to get, so not so great this time.


Without the sign, I was able to get some pictures of his favorite activities:

Cruising--the kid is on his feet and loves to find trouble this way. Nothing is safe, and we just had to put the gates up because he has figured out how to climb the stairs.



Smiling/styling--Luke is super happy and friendly right now. When we eat dinner in restaurants, he smiles and waves at anyone passing by. And strangers often comment on his hair, which is growing ever upward!



Annyoing his big sister--Luke's cruising abilities put him in Myla's way a lot of the time. It doesn't help that he wants to see whatever she's doing. Plus, she's barely taller than him so there's no safe place for her to put her things where he can't get them. But she's pretty tolerant and also finds him a lot more interesting and fun now that he's so mobile. They chase each other around the house a lot, which is really fun.



In other news, Luke is now waving, clapping, saying "bye bye" and "da-da," and I swear he said "hi" to Holly this morning. He still loves to eat and at meals will screech if you allow five seconds to pass without putting food on his tray. He's been sleeping all night most of the time lately, but still gets up between 6:00 and 7:00, which Matthew and I still can't get used to. His favorite activity is sitting in his stroller and catching this miniature basketball that we bounce to him. He claps and giggles at just the sight of the ball.

We've been having lots of fun this summer with both kiddos--stay tuned for more pictures in the coming days.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Two funny exchanges I recently had with Myla that must be shared. On Friday morning, I got Myla up out of bed and we had this conversation:

Myla: Daddy, is today a mommy/daddy day or a school day?
Daddy: Today is a school day. But tomorrow is a mommy/daddy day and also my birthday!
Myla: It is? (with a big smile on her face)
Daddy: Sure is. We're going to have lots of fun!
Myla: How old are you going to be?
Daddy: Thirty-four!
Myla: After a long pause to think...."Do we have candles for that?"

I laughed because it kind of sounded like she was making fun of how old I was going to be. In reality I think it wasn't that she was thinking of 34 candles on a cake, but wasn't familiar with the number 34 and didn't know what kind of candle that comes with.

Then, just this morning we had another fun exchange when I got her out of bed.

Mommy: Myla, do you remember what today is?
Myla: Daddy's birthday!
Daddy: That's right! Do you remember how old I am?
Myla: No.
Daddy: Thirty-four! That's kind of old, isn't it?
Myla: But daddy, I still love you!

Already a great day!