35 week beach trip!

Tim has been so great about going to the beach with me this summer, even though he really doesn't enjoy it as much as he enjoys going to a nice mountain lake.

This was last weekend.

Keelin was with her dad, but I felt the need to take another trip, since we're getting so close to having the baby!

We went to Southport, NC.

And Tim has been out of town since this trip, so none of these photos are edited.

Forgive me!

:)

Yummy seafood- Jackson had grouper chowder and calamari!

Enoying the ferry!

My handsome guys!

Jackson telling Daddy that he wanted to be a seagull!

Jackson made a buddy! He shared his stale pretzels so Jackson could feed the birds!

The buzzards, I mean, seagulls!

:)

So precious.

I painted my toenails!

And yes, that is momentous!!

Took my 35 minutes.

*sigh*

Hey, Jackson...

That 70's show called.

They want their hair back!

The love of my life!

And my baby daddy.

;)

Checking out a tide pool with my boy!

I'm sweating and Jackson is escaping!

bahahaha!

Mister Sandman.

Little sandbar!

Jackson was not impressed.

Eating at Provision Company for lunch!

Tim and I had grilled tuna sandwiches.

Jackson had conch fritters and cucumber salad.

DELICIOUS!

Keelin's 1st Day of School

Keelin's first day was August 4th!

She's going to a Montessori magnet school, hence why her classroom looks a bit different from what one might expect a K-5 class to look like.

Here, she's exploring the math corner of the room during orientation.

Reading Jackson a story in his room the night before school starts!

All tucked in!

Walking out the front door!

All ready to go!

Showing off her first day of school style

:)

"Mommy, stop taking pictures or you're gonna make me late!"

We had a little Starbucks treat on the way!

She takes a Planetbox to school-

this is year two and I can tell you, that thing is worth it's weight in gold!

Best lunch box EVER!

Monogrammed bookbag!

Her Ecogear bag from pre-K was a bit too small for this year

:(

But we're going to dye it for Jackson!

She was so excited!

Off she goes!

Or so she thinks...

Picture with Daddy, first!

He met us at school for her first day and that made her so happy!

AND I was stoked to have help carrying in the ridiculous amount of school supplies

:)

A picture with Mommy and her brothers!

Jackson was NOT happy that we left his sister at school.

He marched right in there that afternoon to get her back!

lol

Didn't take a picture of her first day lunch, but this was day 2!

-fresh figs from Kate's house

-peanut butter sandwich with homemade strawberry jelly and local honey

-fantastic veggie chips with flaxseed

-homemade dill pickles from my cukes

-dip for the chips, sour cream and homemade salsa from my tomatoes!

-pistachios

35 weeks!

35 weeks pregnant!

I've been wearing what has lovingly been referred to as "the Preggo-kini" this summer.

Not far from my due date.

Not that it really means much, since he will come when he's ready.

Everything he needs has been acquired, I'm almost finished prepping his diapers and clothes, and my next midwife appointment is a week from today!

Oh, and I've been killing my to-do lists!

I pretty much finished everything today that I had on my list for the whole week.

My new goal is to have finished my canning projects by the end of the week.

I still need to make spicy pickles, ketchup, and pasta sauce.

We'll see if I can pull it off :)

If I finish those things, I can forget about the rest of it until our blackberries ripen!

After that, nothing really to do preserving-wise until fall.

YouTube on this Tuesday!

I've been singing this song for two days straight.

"If I Die Young"
by The Band Perry

When I'm singing, Finn is a lot less likely to act like a Godzilla baby.
I think he likes it
:)
Hopefully that will be something he enjoys when he's on the outside, too!

34 week update

Taken at 34 weeks and 1 day

Can't believe how close we are to meeting him!

And yes, he officially has a FULL name-

will let you guys in on it next week

:)

I'm not sleeping well here lately.

I sleep, but the quality of that sleep is lacking a bit.

Instead of organizing and cleaning at night, I find myself reading, dozing, or watching movies-

I just finished watching the entire Sex and the City series (all 6 seasons) tonight.

I guess that's what happens when Tim isn't here to save me from myself.

Oh, and thank goodness for Redbox!

I'm off to watch a $1 new release. I have 8 pillows waiting for me, since that's what it takes these days to keep me good and comfortable.

Canning with Mom

My mom, cool lady that she is, insisted on learning how to make pickles and salsa yesterday!

You know I'm happy to oblige!

She bought the pretty "Better Homes and Gardens" jars

(seriously, they're adorable and textured!)

and we went to work!

Here are a dozen quarts of dill pickles!

4 quarts and 4 pints of medium salsa!

While she was in town, we went to Babies R Us to check out carseats for the new baby.

All I can say is- thank goodness I have a mini-van.

I am so serious about carseat safety... and the carseats I choose for my kids would not fit 3 across in my station wagon, so thank goodness for the Honda!

Since the kiddos were so precious in the store, they asked to "steer with the worm" and so fork over $0.50 we did!

Today, I tried to use up a few more cucumbers.

I made 7 quarts of bread and butter pickles.

This picture was taken after I sent home a quart with my dad!

He stayed with the kids for an hour so I could run a couple of errands in silence!

It was some much needed quiet time.

This is part of what Tim gets to haul into the basement and shelf when he gets home from work!

I've been busy this week!

:)

Canning with Kate

My friend Kate brought over an entire farmer's market worth of veggies and we canned on Saturday!

Well, that isn't entirely true...

it was mostly grown by the two of us-

and it was a perfectly reasonable amount for two people!

Kate's pressure canned goodies!

-corn

-green beans

-salsa

Up close and personal with our delicious salsa!

What is left for Tim of my part of the salsa...

The one with the white lid?

That one went in the fridge-

and it is gone now!

I only put up 3 quarts of pickles

-2 dill

-1 bread and butter

But I put up 8 pints!

All bread and butter.

A shot of Kate's goodies, minus...

her pickled peppers!

her quarts of dill pickles!

her pints of bread and butter pickles!

I told you my friend had a TON of cucumbers :)

We were on our feet for 8+ hours prepping and canning, but it was so fun!

Nothing beats waiting for things to process in the canners and eating salsa that is so fresh that it's still warm!