Farmer's Market Finds

Today was the opening of our local Farmer's Market here in Sewanee. It's fairly small-scale, but for such a small town, it's actually pretty impressive. I was glad to see it so crowded too! Last summer when we went, we'd only see a handful of people. There were probably 7-10 vendors selling everything from veggies to flowers to homemade baked goods. *A* was sad she couldn't get a pepper because everytime we went last summer, this nice farmer man would give her a yellow pepper to munch on, I had to explain that it was too early in the season for peppers, nothing like learning about locally grown food when you're 4! We're hoping to make at least 1 completely local meal each week and we'll have lots of leftovers to supplement other meals with local food.
I want to go to the Chattanooga Farmer's Market one weekend, it's mucher larger and has live music and crafts too, but it's really nice to be able to walk or bike down the road and pick up some veggies for the week. Here's what we came home with and we only spent $10.50:

In case you can't see everything in the picture, here's what's there: Broccoli, carrots, onion, collards, celery (with the roots still attached, I may actually plant it and see if it gets any bigger), snow peas, and a big basil plant because our basil has been washed away from all this rain.
We're off to a birthday party and maybe we'll find a strawberry farm to visit since we weren't able to get any this morning. Happy Weekend!

More Beachy Goodness

In honor of Stefani and her family's beach yearning over at Blue Yonder, here are more glimpses of our beach trip. Enjoy!

Blah Day

It's been one of those days, you know, the kind when you wish you could just hit a reset button? It seemed promising, we had fun plans and lots of sunshine, but when that pitcher of pink lemonade turned over in the car on the way to *A*'s friend's going away party, I just knew I was in for a mess of a day.

As the puddle of lemonade sloshed around my feet and I bit back some choice words, I realized I had not had coffee this morning. I'd like to blame it all on lack of coffee, but I'm not sure one cuppa Joe has that much influence. After the going away tea party, I had a quick meeting for one of my part-time jobs. I got a bunch of files to bring home and as I pulled in the driveway, all the files tumbled onto the floor messing up the important order they were in. I've just spent the last 30 minutes trying to get them all sorted out while ^J^ took the kids to run errands and get them out of my hair. *H* has been clingy all day and keeps asking questions which is normally cute but today it's grating. On top of all that, *A* and I had to say "goodbye" to our best gal pals as they are moving today. I know we'll see each other, but it's not the same as being 5 minutes away and being able to drop the girls off for a impromptu playdate.

One positive thing we did today was get *A* signed up for soccer for the Fall. We're all pretty excited about that and (H) thinks he's playing too. He has 2 years before he can play, so hopefully he'll think he's a part of the game cheering from the sidelines.
Ok, enough ranting. Tomorrow is a reset button and I'll be sure to have lots of coffee to start it off right.

Beach Trip

We're back from the beach, not so tan due to the rain, but very much relaxed and ready to tackle the next new thing: ^J^'s chaplain internship and Summer!!! Today has gone pretty much how I envisioned this summer going: breakfast together, ^J^ leaves, lots of play and exploration (today this was with *A*'s best buddy who is moving tomorrow: we took a walk to the lake, counted butterflies, and did some wildflower picking), ^J^ home, lunch together and naps. Who knows what the afternoon will be like, but so far, summer seems to be going well!
Here are some pictures from our adventures last week at the beach with ^J^'s family:

The view from our porch: lake, dunes, Gulf of Mexico

Playing with the fish we caught

Ready to enjoy Uncle Jake's delicious Low Country Boil

The Gulf on one of our nice days

Castle Builder

We thought you was a toad...

We LOVED the outdoor shower!
The curly-headed cousins

A wagon full of cousins

Leaving the Pool

A Silver Sunset
And there's more to come if I can get them all downloaded.

One Down

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been taking it easy lately, mostly just to get life settled back down after the fun-filled craziness of gradutaion week, but also because I have a lot of work to do for my "jobs" and ^J^ is home so we're out having too much fun. It's really strange to think this year is over and we only have 2 left...I know everyone says this, but it went so fast, too fast. I'm super-excited about the summer up here though! The town/campus is so empty and I'm looking forward to exploring all over and meeting new people as they move in.

For now, we're taking full advantage of this in-between time when school is over and ^J^'s CPE hasn't yet begun. We have not quite 3 weeks of time together to play, read, relax, and get into our summer routine. This week has been so nice, it seems so luxiourous to have 2 people home at the same time, or going to the grocery store together! Next week we go to the beach with ^J^'s family, so I probably won't be posting much then either, but I'll be back with lots of pictures I'm sure!
Here are some updates from the past week or so:

Neighbor Buddies After the Children's Crossing Ceremony

Patient Grads

Graduation Picnic at the Lake

What the Rain Dragged in...

Here are some of the newest creature finds around our house. These little guys were quite the hit around here with much speculation about why one had "lost" his shell.

It has rained for days and days and everything is constantly damp. This morning I went walking in the fog and my t-shirt was practically hanging to my knees when I was done. We're so ready for the sun to come back so we can go play at the park while Daddy does his final studying of the year. He has 2 finals left and then this weekend is full of parties again as we celebrate undergrad and Theology gradutaion. Here's a few shots from last weekend's Dean's dinner party. We've had a dinner to go to everynight since this one last Friday, and I think the only night we don't have plans this week is Wednesday. If I make it to next week, I think I'll sleep a few days straight. The Crows from Georgia.

Oh, so patient Spouses

And here's a send off to our friends The Krouse's who'll be spending most of the summer in jolly ol' England...we'll miss you guys!