fall: al fresco

Fall has finally hit, and it feels wonderful out!  We simply do not want to be inside!

John has been busy painting away on the house.  Every time I ask him what I can do to help he says things like "oh don't be silly, you're already so busy".  What he's really saying is "you are way too messy of a painter.  I would only have to go back and fix your mistakes.  So please, really, just stand there and bring me an occasional glass of tea."  But he's too nice to say that.  I am fully aware of my shortcomings as a painter, so I'm not offended one bit.  However, I do like to be busy with projects outside when it feels this good, so I've been creating my own- cleaning out garden beds, painting furniture, pulling my back while lifting said furniture incorrectly.

Last night I really wanted to eat outside, but we were having soup, which is not exactly conducive to blanket eating.  I have been lamenting for quite some time now the fact that we don't have an outdoor table.  So last night, I got my act together and made do.  I stacked some old concrete pavers that we had cleared out of my dad's yard, and placed an old door across them.  Voila!  Instant table that didn't cost me anything!  I love the adventure of 'making do'.  Stretching my creativity in repurposing until it's not such a stretch anymore-

rather

- my first response.

tortillas for heather

My friend Heather, her husband Aaron, and their four boys have recently moved to Haiti as missionaries.  I cannot express how proud I am of these people!  I'm like a mama hen!  They are experiencing some really hard things- as you can imagine.  But they are there.  They're doing it.   Please take a minute to check out Heather's blog and read her words about what her family is experiencing.  It is a daily must read for me.  It helps me align my thoughts.  Keeps things in perspective.

Haiti is a different world from where we live.  Heather often refers to it as a different planet.  Things that are givens here are hard and complicated there.  Everyday I think about this family that I love.  I pray for them several times a day.  And usually, I wish that I could bring a pot of soup over to them.  Or maybe some muffins.  Well, I can't.  So the next best thing I can do is offer a recipe or two.

For those of you non-Texans reading this, you need to know that we love our tortillas.  We have shelves full of different types of tortillas in our grocery stores.  When we were in Maryland this summer I walked around Whole Foods in bewilderment.  There was not one tortilla to be found!  Well, in Haiti it's the same (ok- Haiti is nothing like Maryland).  No tortillas.  In an effort to make this new place feel a little more like home, here is my tortilla recipe.

I am not taking credit here, this is just how you make a tortilla!  I simply substitute out the white flour typically used for freshly ground, whole wheat.  And the lard for butter.

This is the rolling pin my daddy made me for my thirtieth birthday.  I treasure it.

2 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 C soft butter (Heather- if you don't have access to butter use your coconut oil)
1/2 C warm water

(this only makes 4-6 tortillas.  Heather- if I were you I'd at least quadruple the recipe)

Mix together the flour and salt
Cut in the butter
Slowly add the water (you may need more or less, just adjust as you go)

In the meantime begin heating up (medium high to high heat) your biggest pan on the stove top- dry- no oil...I always use my cast iron

Knead together in a large ball
Pinch off sections into little balls
Roll each little ball out into the thinnest tortilla you can make (Moonpie usually does this step for me-she rocks the rolling pin!)
Toss the tortilla on the pan
It will begin to bubble
Flip that bad boy over with some tongs (or fork)
Remove onto a plate

That's it!  They are very easy to make and seriously, they are delicious!  I like to make a big batch for the whole week.

it's fall

And I haven't put hardly any thought into my fall garden.  I have some ideas, but no definite plans yet.   That's not typical.  Summer gardening wore me out this year, y'all.  It is just so hot out there!  Still!

However, I have been putting lots of thought into other things.  Homeschool, expanding our family, and, well, paint colors.  You know, all those really important things.  We are finally getting around to painting the exterior of our home!

Here is our current color scheme ( I couldn't find a better picture to get the whole thing in- so here are the kids last October.  Happy Halloween!).  The house has been yellow since we've known her.  And it is the perfect shade of yellow for a happy house, but the paint is very old.  At least 30 years old at this point, if not older.  And about 3-4 times a year we have to bleach it down because of the mildew.

 I came across this palette on Sherwin William's site that I really like.

Please check it out and tell me what you think!

sister by the bay

Last week (wed.- sat.) I got to go visit my sister in San Francisco. All by my lonesome! Can you imagine? It was so weird not having to pre-think about ANYTHING! It didn't matter when we ate, where we went or when we got home. It was fun and weird and hard and great all at the same time.

This is my sister. Isn't she so beautiful!?! She has lived in SF for a really long time now. Long enough that I have done all the touristy stuff at least twice by this point. So this trip was different. I had no plans or hopes while there. Honestly, I wasn't there to see the city. I was just missing my sister. So anything we did was great! She wanted to show me the side of SF that she experiences. We ate at amazing restaurants, like this one for her birthday! Oh my! They prepare food with local, seasonal ingredients- all from scratch! We had a little bit of everything- including the lavender creme brule. Holy smokes, that was good. I mean, just thinking about it right now...mmm...

And, well, ok, I lied. One thing I really wanted to do was go to Bi-Rite ice cream. Again, all organic, mostly local ingredients. My favorite there is the honey lavender, but this time around I got the salted caramel and toasted coconut. So delicious. It was 9:00 pm and there was a line out the door. Yeah, it's that good!

For two of the days we left the city and visited Napa Valley (my first time):

my sister kept insisting that I take a picture with just me in it. So here is my floating head.

I don't think I mentioned that mom came too! This is my mom- the lovely lady in blue! we are standing in a vineyard! Don't tell anyone but my mom stole a grape. Ssh!!!

this is a winery that was designed to look like an authentic Italian castle. It was really amazing!

sheep on the grounds

a building that I showed to John as an inspiration for our dream home! minus the handi-cap accessible bathroom sign, that is.

We visited Palo Alto to see where my sister works. While there we went to the Stanford Shopping Center. I went into my first Bloomingdales. And, being the non-shopper that I am, I thought that it looked an awful lot like any other giant store I've ever been in. But here, the ladies come with their tiny dogs.

dahlias as big as my sister's face!

We also went out to Half Moon Bay. A dreamy little beach town that was wrapped in fog. It was full of craggy rocks and surfers. As we pulled away from the town and went over one large hill, the fog was gone and we were driving in sunshine. That Bay Area fog is baffling!

We had a great time. I loved the farming towns we drove through, the hugeness of the Golden Gate Bridge, being able to walk to really great restaurants and stores. I love the people of San Francisco. Such a mish- mash of nationalities and people that were born elsewhere. I was intrigued by families with multiple small children making city life work- knowing what rent costs and the size of the homes. I loved spending so much time with my mom and sister. Getting to see the side of the city that is more adult oriented (like the ice cream shop **wink**). I loved meeting my sister's friends. Her family away from family. I loved getting to see her work, her commute, her daily walks, her favorite restaurants...and her.

I loved getting to see her.

"stay golden pony boy"

John took Buddy to get a haircut this weekend. One of the things I love about living in a small town is seeing this barber shop. I have never been in, but just seeing it makes me happy! When John recommended cutting Buddy's hair, I asked for him to go to Otto's instead of the home haircut we usually do.

doesn't that floor just make you all swoony?!?

Mr. Travis cut Buddy's hair. John said that he didn't speak to Buddy the whole time. Buddy, being the quiet sort that he is, was fine with that system. See the man getting a haircut in the background? Remember him, he comes in to play later in the story!

When Mr. Travis asked John what to do with Buddy's hair, John replied "give him the Ricky Nelson".

And Mr. Travis did just that! He put two palms full of 'tiger oil' in Buddy's hair and then combed it in.

When he was all done, the man mentioned above said "he came in looking like a girl, but he's leaving looking like a boy". Ha!

Would you just look at my little handsome man? I can't stop kissing the back of his neck. You know, that sweet spot right behind the ear?

That night we washed all of the goop out of his hair before going to bed. When I was lying with him singing and tickling his back, he wrapped himself around me like a little spider monkey and asked if I could "please, please, please just stay a little longer". That little boy holding me tight still smelled like an old man.

It made me all melty inside.

Every time I see this picture I think of the line

"stay golden Pony Boy" *.

I was so tempted to rush him home and put him in a white t-shirt, jeans and some black converse. And I wanted to teach him some moves and songs from "West Side Story". You never know when you're going to need to have a 'snap-off' with some hooligans!

*Ten points AND a gold star for those of you who guess the literary reference.

louisville, ky

all i can say about louisville is H.O.T.

it was over 100' that day. on an asphalt skate park it was about 107'- melt your face kind of heat. but the skatepark was awesome!

we didn't stay too long because of the heat and no trees for shade. but we enjoyed it while it lasted!

there is this awesome feed store behind the skatepark. look at this 'silo'!

this is a full pipe.

i love how hard core buddy looks in this picture! in his little spit fire shirt and helmet. john helped him drop in a couple of times. brave boy!

have you fallen off the face of the earth?

This is the question I've been getting. And the answer is no. Sort of. We got home last week from our major road trip and we began our homeschool year on Monday. So, while I'm here, I definitely have been very busy trying to get things straightened out and children schooled and straightened out.

Our trip was great. It was fast and felt like forever all at the same time. There were wonderful moments- like the whole family playing UNO, and Buddy beating us fair and square! And not so wonderful moments like being stuck without electricity and a broken slide-out in inner city Pittsburgh. At night.

We met some wonderful people and heard their wonderful stories. I was humbled by the sweet hearted family planting a church in the middle of the city and by the hard life of a woman I met in the bathroom at an Arkansas truck stop. These stories open you up, revealing the hurt and beauty of humanity. And how we are all the same in our hurts, but all so very different at the same time.

We gave away lots of boards and t-shirts and magazines. All that 'stuff' opened up some pretty great doors for conversation.

We saw the beauty of the earth over and over. Just when I thought I was in the most beautiful place ever, we would turn the corner and be delighted by even more beauty.

The kids were road warriors. I was impressed by their flexibility and patience.

And by Moonpie's eagerness to share who we are and what we were doing with everyone. I'll never forget the look on the waitress's face in Little Italy Baltimore when Moonpie told her that we were there to share God's love with her. And that "God loves you very much". She was very quiet for a second and then softly told Moonpie, "well, that's just beautiful".

And it was.