Strawberries

We planted a 25' row of strawberries two years ago and got a lot last year. This year that amount easily doubled. I love berry season! Here they all are as flowers.

This was what Sara and I picked one afternoon.

We turned them into jam...

...and pie, and syrup for our waffles, and tonight I will be blending them into smoothies. All this right out of my own backyard! I really love berry season.

Spaghetti Night

To say that Emily loves spaghetti would be an understatement. She opens her mouth as wide as she possibly can in anticipation of the next bite. Too cute.

And her curls are pretty awesome, too.

When All Else Fails, Play in the Rain

It has been raining non-stop here for what seems like months. We had a beautiful, sunny morning, but the girls waited just a little too long before going outside to take advantage of the brief respite and had to settle for playing in the rain. Our basement flooded for the first time since this house was built, 14 years ago. We didn't get a lot of water, but enough to cause some stress. Luckily, I got a nice new steam cleaner for Mother's Day that came in handy, and some friends loaned us a dehumidifier. After 2 rounds of pulling up water with the carpet cleaner, and emptying a full tank in the dehumidifier twice, I think everything has dried out and little or no damage was done. I've had my fill of all the fun Pennsylvania has to offer and quite frankly don't see myself ever missing it. Maybe I'll miss the blueberries...

Why We Use Antihistamines

The pollen has dropped with a vengeance in PA. This is what my car looked like this afternoon. No wonder I'm sneezing like crazy!!

Funny Birds

I went to feed my chickens yesterday and found them like this. Not only are they all snuggled up together (in 80 degree temps?), but they managed, with the exception of one rogue silver-laced, to sort themselves by breed. One of my buffs is missing from the picture. She was more interested in food than friendship at the time. Chickens are funny!!

Melissa's Birthday

Melissa turned ten last week. I now have two children in the double digits! It's crazy. She had a very perfect day. She opened her presents in front of the webcam, so the pictures are at a bad angle. She got the all-important pillow pet. It's an Easter bunny.

And because I am of the belief that no one should pay $100 for a doll (American Girl is robbing Americans), she got a Madame Alexander doll and has taken it with her everywhere since.
The cake has a suprise inside.

It's a rainbow! Happy birthday, my Melissa!

The Garden

Saturday was the last sunny day in our forecast for a week, so we worked all day in the garden. Jason hauled the mulch from the driveway to the garden one wheel barrow-load at a time, while I spread it all with a rake. I think I got the easy job. Our chickens love the mulch because it came with many, many white flies in it. Eat up, girls. Our blueberries are doing amazing and I'm looking forward to eating those in a month or two, along with my lettuce and spinach (if I can keep the rabbits out). I love my garden!!