Chef J

Oh, Judson! The kid's whole world revolves around Lego's. That is all he thinks about and talks about is Lego's. But every once in a while he'd tell people, "I'm a good cook you know". So it seems that every once in a while when he wasn't thinking about Lego's he was trying to cook. Hmmm, maybe this interest in cooking could distract him from Lego's a bit more often! So, being the 'favorite sister' that I am - I bought Judson a kid's cookbook and a set of oven mitts/potholders. I gave him the cookbook and he flipped through the whole thing and had several recipes he wanted to try. His fav recipe is Broccoli with Magic Cheese Sauce - though mom says he usually just makes the cheese sauce! He has been cooking pretty regularly and really enjoys it - I think mom enjoys having someone to help cook, too! Again, being the 'favorite sister' I decided every chef needs a chef's hat - so I bought a yard of fabric and made him one. He's a full fledged chef now! He's not Judson anymore, he's Chef J!

Meet Lela

A couple from our church had recently rescued a golden retriever who had puppies and they wanted to give the puppies to good homes. Well, of course, after losing Hilo, we wanted to get a new puppy. All the dog experts around here decided that Hilo most likely died of poisoning from something he got into under the house and most likely not from parvo or some other virus. Though we did take precautions and bleached everything down before we decided to bring home a new puppy. And we blocked off the hole so the new puppy couldn't get under the house!
Monday evening we went to the couples house to take a look at the puppies and we found a sweet little one that we brought home. We named her Lela. She was quite scared in her new surroundings, but after the first day she started warming up to us! She loves to get out and play with us! The first evening we had Lela, our nieces, Morgan and Bethany, came over to see her. They both crawled right into the kennel with her and held her and pet her! When it was time for the nieces to go home, I didn't think that we would ever get Bethany away from the puppy! I told her that at least I knew if I ever needed a dog sitter, I knew where I could find one!
I hope our little Lela stays with us for a VERY long time!

First Pick

Our first pick of the season were the radishes! I was so excited when I went out yesterday and saw them pushing up out of the ground! I picked a small handful and we had them on a salad for supper - they were so good! And to think, this is just the beginning of a summer full of fresh pickings from the garden!

Hilo

On Friday, we adopted a puppy from the pound - a sweet little black lab. He loved Joe, followed him around everywhere. We named him Hilo and in a few short hours, he had stolen our hearts! Saturday morning, however, he started throwing up and kept doing so through out the day. We called the vet and he said it was probably a virus and could get very costly to treat. He told us to not let Hilo eat or drink anything for 24 hours in hopes that it would pass. We woke up Sunday morning and he had died sometime in the night. I was amazed at how attatched I had become in 2 days - which is a miracle because I am allergic to animals. But Hilo did indeed find a place in my heart. I'll miss our sweet little puppy. But at least he had a home before he died - at least he didn't have to spend his last days locked in the pound. Rest in peace, little Hilo.

Grow Garden, Grow!

This is our first year to have a garden and we are super excited! A month ago we planted our peas, carrots and radishes. They are all up and we actually ate our first radish yesterday - it was great, though it wasn't very big.

Today we planted green beans, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, cilantro and squash! I am so anxious for everything to start producing - though I know that that will mean alot more work: picking, chopping, canning, freezing, etc! But it will all be worth it!