blessed beyond measure

one - plant and pray for rain and rejoice over rain and rejoice over new life two - pick make sure they are thick enough and long enough and not already hollow three - break ends go in one bin along with bad spots the rest go in another bin and should be similar lengths four - wash in three sinkfuls of water swishing and swirling each time keeping in mind that if your little helper insists on washing and placing the beans into the strainer one at a time step four may take two hours yes, it did five - cook in a pressure cooker seasoned with salt and brown sugar because there is really no other way six - serve alongside more garden goodies and some homemade flakiness for a classic summertime country dinner

So. There hasn't been enough time for blogging lately. Seems every day I have a thought that might be nice to post. Or a memory that I know will slip away if it's not in binary black and white somewhere. Alas, summer has arrived, and because my children are on a solar sleeping schedule throughout the year, and because my 5AM daily wake-up time occurs not long before the light appears, I have precious little time to myself anymore. Thus the shortage of posts. I love my boys. All three of them. Trey has started reading a little bit. We've been working on sounding out letters and then saying the sounds really fast to make the word. The English language is hard , y'all. A C is either a K or an S, but there is no real defining rule. There are silent Es and Bs. Vowels can sound like pretty much whatever they want, but how do you know what a vowel is? And don't get me started on Y. Alphabetic frustration. But Trey is naive and soaking everything up like a sponge. ...

So an update on one-year-old Aden: He is back on the charts for growth. Not only back on the charts, but to the 50-75 percentile! Hooray for walking! As of last Monday, Aden weighs 24 pounds and is 30 inches tall. Walking is going very well, by the way. He's a bit wobbly at the start of the day and the end of the day, but who isn't?? Got the pivot down, can cruise right over changing floor textures with ease, and has even been trying to run a little. Slow down, sweet Aden! Has his own names for most folks, several "words", and one word . Any guesses as to what Chunky Monkey's first actual word is?? naNAna (translated: banana) Yes, and we are none too surprised, as this kid eats one or two bananas every day. Plus a lot of other stuff. And sometimes some of Trey's stuff too. Loves being outside, and does not want to be excluded from anything Trey might be doing. Swimming, running, playing in the dirt, riding the slide or swings or tricycle. Cries when it's...

Today my littlest baby turns one. One. A whole year has gone by since this amazing, bubbly boy came breezing into our lives. It seems like yesterday. But then it seems like he's always been here. Today I am remembering Aden's birth day. As I did with Trey, I'll share Aden's delivery story on his first birthday. I promise you that this will not be anywhere near as nail-biting as some people's childbirthing tales. Start to finish was a bit longer than an episode of Andy Griffith (love you Kristie!) . And no, I didn't beast it (love you Kelly!) . We had a scheduled C-section, basically because little me churns out comparatively large babies. Trey was 8 lb 9 oz, and though he was delivered naturally, we experienced shoulder dystocia, which can actually be very dangerous for both baby and mom. All signs pointed to Aden being another large-ish baby, so my doctor pretty much insisted on the C-section. So the night before, we take Trey to Nana & Granddad's, and ...