road trip: day 4

Monday we will still be in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We will see my Grandma Becky. Meg's middle name is Rebecca, named after my grandmother. She is one of the funniest people I know and is so special to me. If I am lucky, I will also get to see my Uncle Jim, my cousin Michelle and her baby Cassidy. This is my cousin Michelle:


And these are my Uncles Jim and Randy:

road trip: day 3

Sunday we are driving from Louisville, Kentucky, to Fort Wayne, Indiana. We will be staying with my Aunt Carol and Uncle Randy in their beautiful home.

road trip: day 2

Saturday we are driving from Macon to Louisville, Kentucky, to visit Mark's and sister-in-law Katheryne's grandparents, Helen and Harold Webb. The picture below is of beautiful Helen, taken this past Thanksgiving.

road trip: day 1

Today Meg and I are leaving for our big road trip North. We will be driving with my mom, my brother, his wife and their 3 girls. Since I might not have access to a computer every day, I have made posts ahead of time about people we will be visiting during our trip. We will be stopping in 5 cities and 4 states . Our first stop is tonight in Macon, Georgia, to spend the night with my brother and his family. The photo below is over a year old but it works to explain who's who. From the far left (excluding kids): my brother Mark, his wife Katheryne, me, my husband Mark. Katheryne and my husband Mark are also brother and sister!

new threads

Meg is striking a pose in her sweet new seersucker outfit. It was made by my talented friend and neighbor Natalie who has started a clothing line called Lovely Lou. I am completely inspired by my friends who can sew. They make it look easy when I know it is hard to do!

huge hibiscus

In an earlier post, I wrote about how I have been putting a little more effort into the yard, meaning about once a week I spend maybe an hour at most. A few weeks ago I weeded a scrappy-looking section of the front yard and this morning I received this lovely surprise as my reward:

For almost 2 years this has never bloomed. I didn't even know that this was a flowering plant!

crime and (no) punishment

I got pulled over for the first time in my life yesterday afternoon for entering a turn lane too early, of all things. After the police officer gave me my license back I drove away wondering whether or not I had just gotten a ticket because he never said anything official about getting a warning, like "today I'm just giving you a warning." So I thought maybe they would send the paper copy in the mail?? After consulting a few people who are smart about such things, I realized I did actually get off the hook. Relief.

sink holes

When you live in a 78-year-old house, you get to deal with strange problems that require creative solutions. If you have ever used our guest bathroom, you have probably been slightly scared of the holes above the sink that go into the deep dark recesses of the wall. I have been trying to come up with a way to fix this since we moved in. I finally found something that will tide us over until some day when we get the whole room retiled. I found 4 vintage glass knobs on eBay, wrapped the stems in cotton and masking tape, and stuffed them up!

The first photo shows 3 of the 4 holes:

And here they are, all plugged up:

flag dress

Meg wore this to church today. The 4th of July isn't for a few more weeks, but I figure if you are going to have a flag dress you might as well wear it while you can! [And thank you, Katheryne, I'm pretty sure this is a hand-me-down from you.]

founding mothers

I am finishing Founding Mothers, a book my mom gave me on my last birthday (I was still in the hospital after having Meg). For some reason it didn't get the best reviews on Amazon, but I think it's really good and worth reading. It gives an idea of what it was like to live as a woman in the Revolutionary Era (hint: lots of babies) and how politically involved and influential the wives, mothers, and daughters of the founding fathers actually were. They didn't have a formal education but that didn't keep them from being extremely knowledgeable about current events and being able to articulate their ideas about how the U.S. should take shape.

baby food

Meg is transitioning from baby food to table food, and I am emptying the freezer of all of the colorful little food cubes I made. Photo below is not mine but reminds me of my freezer about a month ago. Photo is courtesy of www.wholesomebabyfood.com, which is hands-down the best website about babies and eating that I have found. I really enjoyed making baby food - it was surprisingly fun and satisfying. I will miss it but at the same time I am ready to close the door on that era.

fabric

I am teaching myself how to sew. It is slow going but each day I learn a little more. I have a pattern for my first project but the people who write those instructions make a LOT of assumptions about what you already know! [I learned yesterday from youTube (!) how to pin the pattern to the fabric before cutting it out.] At the very least, I love the fabric I am using, even if the little dress I am making ends up a disaster.

blonde brownies

I made blonde brownies for the first time a couple of nights ago, on kind of a whim after realizing that I had all the ingredients for it. They were surprisingly easy to make -no mixer involved. I froze half of them (this is an experiment) and the other half is...almost gone. The morning after I made them Mark told me he dreamt I ate them all before he got a chance to have one! I got the recipe from my Junior League of Tallahassee cookbook. I will e-mail it to anyone who wants it.

meg (10 months)

Every month on Meg's birthday I take a picture of her on the couch. I got this idea from my friend DeAun and her son Logan, little does she know.

vinca

I have a brown thumb. I wish this wasn't the case since I love flowers and vegetables, but I've grown to accept this about myself and haven't worked in our yard since we moved here (1.5 years ago) because it frustrates me to see plants die after I make the effort to put them in the ground. A few weeks ago I tried yet again, this time with a purple vinca, and I am delighted to see that they are not only still alive, but flourishing! Ahh, what a refreshing change. [Note to self: watering really does work.]

fathers' day

Mark is as wonderful a dad as I imagined he'd be. Meg loves him and lights up when he walks in the room and it's obvious the feeling is mutual. I have no doubt that Meg will grow up to love her dad as much as I love mine.

This is my dad, holding Meg for the first time after she was born. What a blessing he has been to me as a father and he continues to be a blessing to Meg as a grandfather. He has been a source of completely unwavering love, support, and stability.

Click here for an excellent editorial on the importance of fathers to children and to our society as a whole.

blueberries

Mark, Meg and I got to pick blueberries that are grown organically by a friend who lives about 30 minutes west of town. I always enjoy picking blueberries, but this morning was exceptionally great - the berries were the most beautiful and flavorful I've ever had. [Meg loved them too, although we had to fish an unripe one + the stem from her mouth that we didn't see her pick.] When we got home I let them air dry on baking sheets and then froze most of them.

little black dress

I got my much-anticipated dress in the mail today that I won on eBay. I really guessed about my size and I was so excited and delighted to find that it actually fit! This is only my third time ever winning something on eBay. It also made me feel VERY good to get such a great deal...it is still full price at j.crew but paid $40 for a perfectly perfect one.

not my first blog attempt...

This is actually my second try at a blog. I started one a few months ago but didn't really know what I wanted to do with it. I also never shared it with anyone. This time I have a purpose for my blog, albeit just a humble one: each day, I will try to blog about one good thing happening at 416 Beard Street...either TO the house (lots of little projects always happening here), or to the Webb family. It is also open to anybody who wishes to read it!