Reader

Daniel has always enjoyed being read to, and we've read quite a few chapter books together over the past couple years. Last week I decided to introduce him to one of my childhood favorites, The Boxcar Children. We read almost half of the first book together, then Daniel decided he couldn't wait for me to read it to him again so he finished it himself! Since then, he has been reading them non-stop. He's nearly done with the fourth book in the series already. I love that he's enjoying them so much, and because he's so interested, I've been following along, reading them myself after he's finished. :)

 I love my little reader!

Last day without Daddy!

Daddy gets home late tonight! To celebrate our last day without him, we went to Dick's for dinner.

 Eating in the car is a special treat.

 Usually they all want to sit in the far back, but today Aaron wanted to sit in front.

 Mirrors are fun!

Things started to get goofy in the back.

Then this happened.

We can't wait to see Daddy in the morning!

From the garden

 After a rocky start, our garden is finally starting to look nice and producing lots of yummy and pretty things for us to enjoy.

 Butternut squash 

[This was taken on Monday, it is now nearly twice as big!]

 Cucumbers are growing like crazy over the edge of the front porch.

 A harvest from earlier in the week.

 A true garden salad...all freshly picked that day.

 Daddy loves cherry tomatoes.

 Marigolds grown with seeds collected from last years flowers.

 I'm loving crocosmia this year.

 Today we picked a bunch of kale, a few more green beans, cucumbers and another yellow squash.

 Quick pickles, using the cucumbers, Daniel's red onions, and garlic from Grandma's garden.

And, today's potato harvest! Whenever I had potatoes that were starting to sprout, I would tuck them in whatever free space I had in the garden. Last year I only got a handful of tiny little potatoes (which were still yummy), but this year I've dug up four pounds already. What a fun way to get more for your money! :)

Goo

We made this today.

 The recipe says it does NOT stick to your hands. Hmmm...

 That's okay. It was still fun to play with.

[Maybe our microwave isn't as powerful as others and we need to cook it longer? We can definitely try it again.]