Colonial Williamsburg

What a great day! The girls were so cute in their colonial costumes...Jenna's bonnet was adorable, and of course Haley needed to wear a boy's hat with her dress. Outfitted as such, they were asked to do special errands around town: collecting a letter from the Post Office; delivering a message to the printer; and, best of all, planting turnips in the garden! We learned about many crafts, from basketweaving, to blacksmithing, to book-binding. Haley knows all she needs to know to make a gun...she asked the most questions at the gunsmith's shop! They even enjoyed colonial fare, corn chowder, stew, and salted ham and biscuits. The most fun was playing on the town green...the hoop and stick was their favorite!

Pickles, anyone?

Can you believe I used to babysit for these little girls? I'm talking about the women, not the kids! They are all grown up now with their own families. It was so great to see them again and to meet their husbands and beautiful children!

from the tiniest seed...

I am getting so hopeful that I may actually EAT a tomato off of this plant. I have not been able to grow a thing since moving south. So discouraging. I say that I've been growing children instead, but still feel frustrated that anything I have planted just dies. The soil, heat, and humidity are just so hard to work around (at least for me.) But JUST LOOK AT THIS TOMATO PLANT! And the amazing thing is it's beginnings: I was slicing a tomato, a beautiful, perfectly ripe tomato at lunchtime. It looked a little strange inside, a little green. What were those little green curls near the seeds?? SPROUTS! We chopped the tomato up and put it in a tiny pot. Three little plants came up, so a bigger pot. One kept breaking off, but we just stuck it back in the dirt. It survived...all three plants did! Another bigger pot! Now that pot's not big enough, but it's too late to transpant again. We water everyday, have picked some big green caterpillars off it, and just leave it in the same spot on the deck. The sun must be perfect there; I am afraid to move it. And we're keeping our fingers crossed that after all this time and TLC we'll really have tomaotes to eat. I am getting hungry just thinking about it!

Happy Birthday to....ME!

What a surprise! Henry sent me and the girls on to church without him, and when we got home, the screen porch was full of friends wishing me a happy birthday! The girls were so good at keeping the secret...I truly had no idea. I think Jenna was even startled by the chorus as we came through the garage door...she expected everyone to be hiding in the house behind the couch :) It took me a few minutes to get over the shock, and then I enjoyed visiting with friends and family. All the kids had the best time tearing through the house. Thank you all for the birthday surprise!

Kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk!

Going blueberry picking with my children always makes me want to read Blueberries for Sal. We picked plenty of berries, and ate a lot right off the bushes, too! Luckily, there were no bears, just good friends to join in the fun! With two gallons of berries, we're dreaming of blueberry muffins, blueberry scones, blueberry sauce, blueberries right out of the bowl, blueberry pancakes, blueberries, blueberries, blueberries!