Blueberrry Muffins

I had some blueberries that I needed to use or give away,..... so I found this terrific recipe for "To Die for Blueberry Muffins". They are soooo good. Comments left at the bottom of the recipe say you can substitute any berry. Enjoy!

A Week in Retrospect

We got to go to the zoo this week and we're all loving the new kids hands-on area! It reminds me of disneyland, minus the rides. Well done Toledo Zoo.


Avery is very mobile and loved checking everything out. This is a baby waterbed-type play area.


Zachery's favorite part is the stream. I told him to have fun, but don't sit down.


There are 3 butterflies for the kids to stand in for photos, and Zachery wanted his picture taken in each one. He's getting better at smiling for photos now.


I don't know the girl in the background, but Zach is behind the cheetah mask. There are about 8 different animals the kids can look through/play with. It's all so well done, I love it!




This is at Avery's occupational therapy. Avery was in a swing, trying to eat.
Zachery though, gets free reign of the room (they all know him), as long as no one else is using something. Zach got to try this bungy "Wacky Web".



Why is it that I've been doing laundry late at night? I have plans to get it done throughout the day, but come bedtime for the kids and I haven't started. :)

We've had a busy week, and it's been all good! We, as in all 4 of us, are flying to Colorado on Tuesday!!!! Wahoo!! I am nervous about the flight. Hopefully we'll have understanding passengers traveling on our flight. I think Zach will do alright, but Avery has been crawling, and standing!!! and basically all over the place lately. She'll also have oxygen on during the flight and she's just going to want to take it off. Oh well, we're going anyway and hope the kids do well.

Whenever I visit my old home in Colorado Springs, memories come up in my mind and I start having dreams were the old and present get mixed together. It's always interesting for me. So here's to fun, mixed up dreams!

Who is this person?

(I wrote all this down on another cooking blog, and almost didn't catch it! ack)


I just was upstairs with Avery and she looked so sweet lying there asleep. I thought though, "who is this?". Who is this girl, this person I get to care for? I don't know her very well in some ways, like what are you thinking. Yet in others, I know her so well, I can anticipate her next move (get her to the sink before she chucks a little). ;) I wish she would talk. Zachery talks and I am fascinated often, especially now that he is getting older, by what he says and what interests him, and what he remembers. In some ways I'm still trying to figure out Zach.

They have so much energy. Makes me feel old sometimes. At least they go to sleep and we can do it all again tomorrow. It's full time, but I love it. :)

On a different note. I look forward to Monday nights. I'm a sucker for the Bachelorette. I know many of you have your fine opinions of it, but I'm hooked.
Tonight, she let Reid go. I thought she might, just on how they pictured it all, but I was, am sad. Kypten (however you spell it) doesn't seem to have much depth to him as the others. He isn't so gorgeous as she thinks he is. Oh well. I just hope that when this all blows over, she can hook up with Reid again when Kypten breaks her heart.

Seconds

We've belonged to the YMCA for a couple years now, ever since I biffed it on a sidewalk seam two blocks from our apt. and passed out before I could make it home. :) I've gone regularly to workout on my own but, until now I'd never taken a class (okay, except for prenatal water aerobics-which I highly recommend).

I have been jogging and using the eliptical machine for a loooong time and thought I needed something to mix things up and possibly get a different shape on my two-pregnancy-body. My friend, Alison told me about her spinning class she took and how hard it was the first time (she threw up on the way home). With that recommendation I signed up. And so, "Oh my goodness!" that totally kicked my butt. I hadn't sweated like that in a long time. Although I didn't toss my cookies, I moaned up and down our stairs the rest of the week. I had serious doubts I could even do this class, but a nice lady at the Y said to keep at it, that it'll get easier. So I have.

We had a substitute teacher for our first class, and the next week our regular teacher helped me to adjust my bike to fit me. That made SUCH a difference. Anyhoo, I had my third class today and I'm doing much better and enjoying it!

Funny thing though, I was thinking last week that it would be nice if this class were twice a week, instead of once. So, today, the teacher just happened to mention she wouldn't be there Wednesday. ??? Wed.??? I asked her after class, and sure enough, I've missed the past two Wednesday classes. I am going to blame this on having too much on my plate. But sometimes, I still want seconds!

Botanical Gardens

A friend agreed to take some photos of us for Father's Day at Toledo's Botanical Gardens. Alison did a great job and we love how they turned out! Thank you A!









Life has been good. This week, Zach has had some friends come to play here and he's looooved that. We watched Maumee's fireworks on the 3rd, down by the river and completely enjoyed that. I love the 4th of July celebration, bbq, fireworks, sun, relaxing... . Someday I hope to see the history of our nation on TV, with actual footage. See all the effort and sacrifice that has gone on and does go on for us to enjoy all that we have.

Happy Independence!

Strawberry Delight

So I blog next to never, but I was changing the photo on my "desktop" and thought you might enjoy these recent pics of the fam.

Renae and I took the chitlins out for some good midwestern fun last weekend, the Holland Strawberry Festival. It was hot as all get out, but there were strawberries to be had, and Renae was not going to miss out on it!

We pulled in the parking lot and decided to feed Avery before getting out. At the same time, a young couple parked next us in their minivan, unloaded their little one, and were off in a flash. I didn't think much of it as Avery was eating, that is, until we were finally out of the car unloading our kids. The family came back to the car, and were packing up to leave!

It was one of those moments, do you say something, because you know, you're curious, or do you mind your own business and just ignore the seeming odd occurrence. Well, next thing you know we are talking and they are complaining about how there were vendors all over trying to push their products on you, there were carny rides all over (I thought, why is that bad, isn't that good? I like carny rides, I thought I saw Gravitron when we pulled up, that was my favorite, what is wrong with these people?).

Here was the kicker, and what I think put them over the top. They said, "THERE WERE NO STRAWBERRIES." What? No strawberries, at the strawberry festival? I mean, I know the bee population is down and there is concern over the lack of pollinators for fruit, but common. Its the whole festival's namesake, they could have at least flown some in from somewhere.

They proceeded to tell us that they were disappointed because it wasn't like they remembered it as kids, and so they were leaving.

Renae and I look at each other and thought, well, we paid $2 bucks for parking so we should at least take a walk around before leaving, right? I thought to myself, I'll just ignore the salesman in the tents and make my way right to the games and rides, Zach might like to go on one.

Well, the next thing you know, Renae is signing up for contests and giving Everdry our contact information and telling them about cracks on our basement walls........NOOOOOOOOOOO they got to us, now we will get harassing phone calls and emails and letters, maybe that couple was on the right track, get out, get out while you can.

A few free notepads, newspapers, and drawings later, we made it through the gauntlet and it was on to the games. Surely Zach will want to ride some of these fun contraptions. Well, he liked looking at them, but he didn't want to ride anything until he saw them all, weighed his options, made sure the kids already riding were having fun, and whatever else he was analyzing as we toured the grounds.

While he was making up his mind, we wandered over to the food section, and what do you know, there in the back, in a nice covered, unmarked pavilion, the namesake herself in all her glory. Strawberries. Shortcake, pie, flats, preserves, jams, you name, you can have, for a price.

Ten dollars later, we had eaten ourselves into a fruit filled tizzy and guess who was ready to ride, Zach Man, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do, BUMPER BOATS.

He went in circles most of the time, but he loved it. The girl running the ride let him stay in for quite a while since there wasn't a line. He could have stayed there all afternoon, but the super slide was beckoning, and kids were starting to line up for the boats.

Off we went, I to purchase more tickets at a rate that loan sharks in Vegas would be proud of, and Renae stayed behind to hold Zach at bay.

Renae accompanied Zach from top to bottom, and they both enjoyed the ride.

What a fun afternoon, but why the long story? I was thinking that amidst the craziness of life, we shouldn't forget why we are here, or what is most important to us. The Holy Ghost whispers divine truths to us, and sometimes we need to slow down and listen to His direction. The "strawberries" of life are all around us, but sometimes we lose focus and miss the ones right before our very eyes.

Spider Paranoia

It's hard to see, but in the middle of this picture is a spider that wove a big web in my car last night. I got in this morning and nearly ate it! ACK! I screamed and jumped back out. I explained to Zachery that I hate spiders and I was afraid of them (he wanted to know what was wrong). Was that wise? Who cares, I do hate them and am afraid.

Much to my horror, later today, again in my car, another spider was hanging in the open door as I got in at the grocery store. I screamed (a bit more calmly than earlier today due to other store patrons nearby) again and used my key to knock it down and stab it on the floor mat. Twice in one day, and both in the car! They are ganging up on me and I feel doomed to spider nightmares tonight.


On a brighter note, I came back into the kitchen the other day ("the other day" can mean any day from years ago, to yesterday) and Avery had reached over and grabbed my food and was digging in. :) She wants whatever we're having.

Yay for trying new foods!



I took the kids swimming and here is Avery- her first time swimming. She loved it!