You say tomato, I say it's time to learn how to can...

The tomatoes are finally coming in; just in time for the long holiday weekend.  I'm hoping my Mother-in-law (who's the best) will come over and help me can these bad boys.  I'll keep you updated. 

Also, thank goodness for my sister-in-laws canning do's and don'ts.  You can read about them here!

Speaking of zucchini...

I thought I would share a few of our favorite zucchini recipes with you.  If you follow me on pinterest, I have a zucchini board where you can find all my favorite recipes.  If you have some that you would like to share with me, shoot me a link, I'm always up for something new!

Zucchini brownies:  Although I think these taste more like cake than brownies, they are a huge hit in our house. Click here for the recipe. 

Lemon zucchini bread:  So super good.  Click here for the recipe.

Grilled Lemon-pepper zucchini:  I love it this way.  I will even saute it on the stove top with the lemon pepper, chicken broth and garlic.  Heavenly.  Click here for the recipe. 

Stuffed zucchini boats:  need I say more...  Click here for the recipe. 

 Zucchini butterscotch bars:  Haven't tried them yet, but I'm going to!  Click here for the recipe. 



What are your favorite zucchini recipes?  I'd love to know!

A {new} cabinet

I got this beaut at work {The Depot} a few months back.  It's been hanging out in our garage waiting to get transformed into it's new life.

 Normally I like natural wood, but I decided to paint this little piece.  I chose classic gray and think it suits it just right.

What started out as my project turned into Jer's project.  He says he didn't mind, and I was there to lend him moral support. It's kind of his thing.  The finished product...

The purpose of this cabinet is to hold a few toys and other odd items.  A lot of times the boys like to work on legos and other projects at the kitchen counter.  They may not be ready to put them away at supper time or at the end of the day, so we can just tuck them away in this cabinet.  We can also put the newspaper or magazines in here as well. 

34 year old ramblings

So I celebrated my birthday this past week and I turned 34.  Here are some of my ramblings:

• I love getting older.  Not that I'm immature or anything, but I feel like such a grown up the older I get.
• I look forward to my hair turning grey.  I will not color it.  I have seen a few silver strands as of lately and I am completely ok with that.
• I have not been a very good christian lately.  I love the Lord with all my heart, but I have been a sinner.  We have not been to church in a few months as we are in the process of looking for a new church.  I feel like a part of me has died and miss our church family that once was.  I cry almost daily for the Lord to bring me close to him. 
• I am completely addicted to pinterest.  As a type A personality, it is the greatest thing ever.  I have thousands of pins and I love finding new recipes, kids crafts and diy projects.  Love, love, love it!
• I love being a Mom.  I never knew that kids could bring this much joy and love into our hearts.  My heart breaks for all the women out there praying to become a Mom.  
• I am inpatient.  As a society we are into instant gratification.  That makes me sad and I am completely guilty of it.
• I am completely sad that I have a kindergartener.  There is part of me that wants to home school my children.  Not even kidding.
• We are 99% sure we are done having children.  I feel like 4 is a good number to our family, but you never know.  Ultimately, it is out of my hands.  If we were meant to have more kids, it will happen.  On a side note, I loved being pregnant and wouldn't rule out carrying a baby for someone else. 
• I am currently going through some major internal struggles.  I yearn so much to be home with the boys.  Part of me wonders if that would make sense since Asher will go to school in two years.  The other part of me says I still have two years until Asher goes to school.  I just feel like I should be there more.  I would love to see them get on the bus from home and off the bus at home instead of them being at a school for 10 1/2 hours a day.  I would love to have fresh cookies waiting for them when they get off the bus and help them with their homework instead of this rat race that we're in.  
• I am loving having a garden.  I am anxious to try my hand at canning.  Hopefully this next weekend we will have enough tomatoes to start canning.
• I can honestly say that I love my husband more today than the day I married him.  He is seriously such an amazing person.  How he puts up with me, I'll never know.
• I have completely fallen off the workout wagon.  I start up and stop, start up and stop.  I miss the energy I had when I worked out daily and am hoping by writing this I will get back at it.  The scale has not been my friend.
• I am starting to hate winter and wish I could back up all of our family and move somewhere warmer.
• I have really enjoyed fishing with the boys, but am no where near being able to clean one up and eat it. 
• I love thunderstorms.
• I love having a blog and hope I can continue for a long time to come.  

That's just a little glimpse of where I'm at at 34.  Sorry for the ramble but sometimes it feels so good to write it all down.  Cheers to another year!

A closer look inside our garden

Everything is so green and lush.  We all know our zucchini are thriving.  We also have green beans, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots and tomatoes.  The sunflowers and marigolds add some beautiful color and all is happy, happy, happy on our little farm.

Shoe tying

I came home from work tonight with a new pair of shoes for Landon.  He needed a separate pair of shoes to keep at school just for P.E.  When I went shopping on my lunch break, every pair of Velcro shoes in his size were out.  I found a cute pair of shoes with laces and decided he would either need to enlist the help of his teacher or leave them tied and slip them off and on. 

Landon was so super tired (only a 20 minute rest in kindergarten) when we first walked in the house and very emotional.  He wanted to learn how to tie his shoes so desperately.  Apparently one other boy in his class knows how to tie his shoes, so Landon thought he should be able to do it as well.  I showed him once when I was making supper.  He couldn't get it and was even more upset.  I told him we would work on it more after bath. 

After bath, we sat on the couch each holding a shoe and tried again.  The first try ended in more tears.  A light bulb then went on.  My sweet little guy is left handed.  I changed my technique, and he nailed it right away.  After a few practices, I shot this video.  This was only his 5th or 6th time tying his shoe and he has it completely down.  This little guy has such determination. 

First Day {of kindergarten}

I won't tell you how many tears I shed this morning, I will only tell you how happy my little guy was.  There were a few jitters this morning, but he was all smiles this afternoon.  My baby...

We will again this year bring Landon to the CFS before school program where he will take the bus to SW Elementary.  At the end of the day, Landon will take the bus from school to the after school program at CFS. 

A short little video of my little kindergartener.

Fishing

My boys have really been into fishing this summer.  We've gone a couple times, but this past weekend was the most memorable. 

Meyers Lake {otherwise known as Lake Meyer} is the fishing hole of choice.  We have this great shaded, comfy spot picked out that's working well.

This time we used real worms.  This was a first and proved to be a learning lesson.  Not too big, not too small.  Dad handled it like a champ. 

Even Asher was enjoying himself, until he found juice in the cooler.

And then the big moment came.  Landon caught his very first fish {at exactly the same time his Dad caught a fish}.  Because they both had fish on their lines, my help was needed.  I tried snapping away, but didn't get a picture of Landon's fish.  I did get a picture of his sweet little face though.  So excited!

Landon asked me if he can have a copy of this picture for his room.  He's so proud and can't wait to go fishing again. 

 A perfect day...

MSP {lego land + the zoo}

We snuck away last weekend for one last hooray before school starts.  Seriously...can you believe school starts this week?  We drove a couple hours north to Minneapolis.

MSP never disappoints, and we had a great time once again.  We left shortly after lunch on Friday and arrived just in time to get checked in at our hotel and head over to Mall of America. 

 We didn't bother packing a stroller because it would take up too much space in the car and we just planned on renting them.  Unfortunately, they were all out at the mall.  Carrying a 32-pound 2-year old around America's largest mall wasn't exactly a good time!

We had one mission for the mall and that was Lego land.

I have to say that I expected a little more, but that was ok.  Landon was in awe and was excited to pick out a new set.  Surprisingly, the prices weren't too bad. 

After perusing through the mall, we headed over to one of my favorite places - IKEA.  I would have loved to spend hours there, but leisurely shopping with three boys just ain't gonna happen.  After a quick walk through, the boys were starving and all the snacks I had packed were consumed.  We decided to head back to the hotel and order some pizza.

I was a little nervous about the boys sleeping in the same bed at the hotel, and even more nervous about how Asher would sleep without his crib.  They must have both been tired because shortly after devouring our pizza, they were both out.

We woke up refreshed in the morning and after enjoying some breakfast, we headed out to the zoo.  There was so much to see and we all had a blast.  We left around lunch time and headed pack home.  Here are just a few photos from our time at the Minnesota Zoo.  Thanks for sticking around and catching up with us!