January

i can't believe january is almost over. before long clara will be 6 years old and shortly after a new little addition to our family is scheduled to arrive. i am so excited for clara! how fun it will be to have another little one in the house and i know she is going to be an amazing big sister.

several years later.. playing with her littlest pet shops in the bath is still her favorite thing to do.

the crew.

Life lately

I am sort of obsessed with having a lawn.
This use to be just dirt and a few sprigs of bermuda here and there.
 After a lot of watering I now have something that sort of resembles a lawn.
 I still have a long way to go.

Enjoying the rain

Riding our bikes in the day time during July is a rare treat!
(as I prefer not to pass out while on my bicycle from heat exhaustion)

Grass

 Happiness for Clara is having a patch of grass, large or small, to sprawl out on.

5

My amazing little girl turned 5 yesterday. All day I kept thinking back to her birth and all the sweet memories we've had together so far. On my to do list is to make a slideshow and pick my favorite memories of her from our first five years together!

Then..

and now.. 

Happy Birthday my beautiful girl!! You bring so much light & happiness into our lives.

xoxo

Jen

Library!

     The Library is our new best friend this summer.

Clara loves the grab the Camera and snap pictures ;) It's funny seeing the world from her eyes and what she decides to take a picture of. It's really weird seeing pictures of ME!

And that is all for now..

xoxo, Jen

Beans, Bingo and Bugs

We played a serious game of Bingo during a cool break in the hot weather.

Hello Kitty Bingo..And we got visited by lots of bugs which lead to great conversation about butterflies.. cocoons..and the cycle of life.

Later...Sorted my Tepary beans from Ramona Farms, a Pima Indian farm.

Awaiting another brutal summer..Going to try to be more proactive this summer and trying to enjoy it and make trips out of town as needed to get relief from the heat!

xoxo Jen

First Loaf!

To follow up my previous post, I wanted to let you all know how my loaf came out. My setup was pretty simple. I used my trusty ol' cast iron skillet (think rapunzel!) in the middle of the oven. Then I put an empty roasting pan below it for the hot water. I don't have a pizza peel or anything fancy so I just used what I had.


It turned out AMAZING! Perfectly crunchy crust with an gooey bready doughy center perfect for a nice big pat of salty butter! I was shocked at how good it turned out.

Recipe & Instructions Here!

I ate one too many pieces so I told myself I wouldn't make it for awhile. A week later....

I used up the rest of the dough for a larger loaf to pair it with last night's dinner, organic creamy tomato soup! Hubby and I enjoyed a hot bowl of soup with fresh from the oven bread. It doesn't get any better.. good company, good food.. life is good to me!