CSA, Week 11

In this week's CSA box, we got green peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, onion, purple hull peas (or are they pink eye peas? anyone?), potatoes, corn, cantaloupe & garlic.

This week, I'm thinking these things look yummy: Pink Eyed Pea with Smoked Paprika, Texas Style Fresh Field Peas, Ratatouille, Eggplant & Ground Beef Casserole or some eggplant patties, from "The Essentials of Italian Cooking."

I'm looking for a tomato sauce recipe. Last year I used this one, but I'd like to try a new one. Anyone have any good recipes for tomato sauce

Be on HGTV

Every once in a while, I google something like "Be on HGTV" because who doesn't want a room makeover for free? (I'm really needing to pull some rooms together, but budget & inspiration are on hold!)

Anyway, today I found that HGTV is looking to feature some outdoor living spaces in Nashville. We have none to show (I don't think a rehabbed playset counts), but if you do, click here to find out more.

Looks Like New!

Lance has been working hard on some home projects the past few weeks. First, he installed some irrigation in the flower beds & veggetable garden. And yesterday, he finished freshening up our playset, which was looking a little sad & worn. Also, the ladder had broken a few months ago, so Lance put in a little climbing wall! Here's the before:After a pressure wash, and a few coats of solid stain, and some climbing holds, it looks like a brand new playset!!

Canning Lessons

My good friend Marge is helping me get together some "canning lessons" for anyone interested in learning. She's got some expert friend on hand who can come give us expert advice. Before she asks, she wanted to see if there would be enough people interested.

So...Wanna learn to can? If so, drop me a line! If there's enough interest, we'll get a lesson together. Hopefully we'll get this pulled together pretty quickly, since the tomato season is beginning locally! More info to come!

This Ain't My First Rodeo

Just getting home from my Granddad's 96th birthday in Texas! We had a great time! Traveling with kids is quite a chore! I hope we don't have to do that again anytime soon!!! Here are the two kiddos, first time meeting their great-grandfather. (Here's my granddad way back when. I always thought he was the handsomest granddad ever.)
And then we went to the 4th of July Parade. His FAVORITE part was the tractors. Go figure.
Me & my babies
My Uncle Don is a Corvette fanatic. For as long as I can remember, he's had one which he keeps super-shiny & clean. Ethan is having more fun than he's letting on.
>We went to the rodeo & Ethan got himself a light "saver." He loved it so much he fell asleep with it in his hand!
Ethan, his dad & papa (my father) watching his cousins on the mechanical bull.

Advice for my Babies

Lance & I have just started our list of Things We Want our Children to Know. Hopefully we'll combine it into a little book for each child, complete with a few additions from the grandparents. I was inspired by this blog, Prudent Advice for my Daughter (above image from here). Another website with the same principle (although a bit more edgy, perhaps) is Rules for my Unborn Son.

So...what are some things you would hope your children knew? Any that I should add to my list?

CSA, Week 9

This week's CSA gave us green pepper, zucchini, pole beans, blackberries, cucumbers, potatoes, corn, cauliflower, cabbage, garlic & carrots. I'm planning on freezing the green pepper, zucchini (shredded), pole beans (blanched). I've made some potato latkes, cucumber salad, and maybe I'll make some more bierocks with the cabbage. The CSA is lots of fun these days!
Ethan eating potato latkes (pancakes)!!

The Lake

Last weekend, we went to the lake with the McInteers & Adcocks. We had fun hanging out with them. It was my first time ever on the lake in TN. I went once when I was little with some family in TX, but that's it! As you can see, KB did not like the life jacket.Lance & E loved playing in the water. Ethan LOVED riding on the boat! A few more pics on Christine's blog.

Make-A-Wish Wall

Lance, his dad, & some other volunteer contractors just built this climbing wall in a little girl's home for Make-A-Wish. Doesn't it look cool? They just have to add some climbing holds & pads underneath.

Allergy Support & Giveaway

Hey Friends. For a while, we have been organizing a support group for Middle TN for food allergies. We meet every 2 months and have speakers talk about stuff such as research, psychological impacts of food allergies, etc. Our next meeting is Tuesday July 7 & we will have a nutritionist come talk with us & answer questions. If you would like to receive my email updates about meetings, please let me know.

Also, I have a super-cool giveaway on my food allergy blog, AllergySupport.blogspot.com. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment! Anyone can enter to win!! Please check it out!! (I mean please! No one ever comments on that blog - it's a ghost town!)

Am I Just Crazy?

Or have you ever thought your kids were so cute you could eat them?

CSA, Week 8 & My Garden

The CSA is getting much easier these days. But I'm bracing for the influx of okra which will soon be upon us. Here's this week's produce: cauliflower, yellow zucchini, garlic, potatoes, green beans, cucumber, cabbage, squash, beets, onion & green pepper.
This week's meal plan includes: The Most Awesome Zucchini Bread, my Grandmother's Baked Squash recipe, Corned Beef & Cabbage, Mashed Fauxtatoes, and Roasted Beets.
(The Cauliflower, Zucchini, Beet & Squash recipes are all in the Climb Nashville cookbook, if you've got it!) I'll probably freeze some of the green pepper.
And Look at all these flowers from our garden! What beauty!
Finally, here's the aerial shot of our veggie garden, with a few flowers thrown in. We've got some tomatoes, corn, blueberries, peas, lettuces, cauliflower, broccoli, peppers, herbs, pumpkin, asparagus & squash. Can't wait to make homemade salsa from our tomatoes, peppers & cilantro!

Climbing Buddies

A few weeks ago, Ethan & his buddies from preschool went to the gym for a little early morning climbing & pizza. The gym was closed that day, so they had the whole place to themselves! Thanks for the break for the mommas guys! I can see more fun papa playdates in the future!

CSA, Week 7

Another fun week of the CSA Yumminess. Tonight I'm trying Corned Beef & Cabbage. This week we got green beans, cabbage, blackberries, carrots, onion, cucumbers, zucchini, beets, greens, broccoli, green onions, some herbs, radishes & onion. (Anyone know if the greens are a lettuce, or mustard greens again? And is the yellow veggie a Yellow Straightneck Squash? Or something else?) Any CSA subscribers get any other fun stuff this week?

A CSA Tip for my CSA Buddies: You can always look at the Cook's Thesaurus to help ID your Veggies!

(Background Noise right now: It's amazing how funny "Underwear" can be for 2 Three Year Olds. Will it ever end?)

Our Song

KB & I like to sing. Here's the song that we usually sing together.
Secondary note in the video: This perfectly illustrates Ethan's behavior since KB was born. If I've described to you how he "won't leave her alone," this is what I'm talking about. (Notice, some part of his body is touching her the whole time.) He's not mean to her, but he is on top of her all day. It's like she's an amusement park ride. Any advice for this type of behavior? It requires so much constant attention. I've asked lots of people, and I don't know anyone who has this type of relationship between their kids. I hate to discipline too much, because it come from a place of love. But I've really gotta figure something out. Advice? You guys are the best.

Moving On

Here's a more pleasant post to keep at the top of my page. The adventures of the Brock children. Here's a lovely scene from my life - carrot juice spilled ALL over the counter, cabinets (in the cabinets too!), the floor & all over Ethan. This picture does not adequately capture the mess. Believe me, it was fun to clean up.And do they look like they love each other or what?

Stupid Internet World

Well, I'm mad at the internet for making information so easy to spread. Today I am in the unfortunate position of having to tell the whole planet my heartbreaking news that our baby's heart has stopped beating. As surprised as we were to find out about the pregnancy, we are even more shocked to find out that at 12 weeks, there is no longer a heartbeat. Even though the pregnancy was unplanned, we were so excited about having a crazy, wild house full of kids so close together.

If you would remember us in your prayers, I will be having minor surgery on Friday morning. Although I have had a previous miscarriage, I have 2 wonderful, beautiful babies who I love dearly. I hope my story is somehow helpful to someone out there.

CSA, Week 5 & 6

The CSA has been tough for me this year. I was ready to do the planning & adventurous eating that it requires, but then came a pregnancy! Now my tummy does not want to try new things, and I am in constant need of a nap! So I've been giving away lots of veggies this year. Hopefully I'll be feeling better soon & ready for the challenge again! So here are the Avalon Acres 1/2 Shares for the past 2 weeks.
2 Weeks ago, we had several kinds of lettuces, peas, green onions, cabbage, kohlrabi, swiss chard, broccoli, potatoes, strawberries, and garlic snapes. This week, we had purple cauliflower, carrots, onion, potatoes, some herbs, cabbage, lettuces, tons of peas, peaches, green onions, garlic snapes, and some other type of green.

Coldplay & Snow Patrol

Remember when cameras weren't allowed in concerts? Those days are long gone - everyone was taking pictures & video last night at the Coldplay concert. Those guys put on a good show! See that guy up front? That is Chris Martin, yep, right there in front of us. Taken with my phone - no zoom lens or anything! Otherwise, I would have had a super-close up for you! Any of you guys there too?

Party of Five

Lance accuses me of having a boring blog lately. But I haven't sewn or done anything crafty in ages. I haven't gotten fully back in the swing of cooking. Ever since Ethan has been able to eat more foods, I've been taking a big ole break from cooking...everything. Most days I've been napping as much as possible. The reason? Looks like pretty soon we're gonna have another one of these guys!! Suprise part two? The due date is Christmas Day!!!

Now that the cat's out of the bag, can I stop sucking in my belly now? Since I was pregnant just like 2 minutes ago, this 3rd baby is really out there!