AV Fair

Last weekend we took the kidlets to the ever popular Antelope Valley Fair. Peter especially *loves* going to the fair. Seeing all the animals, watching the funny shows, eating cotton candy, and yes, even mutton busting. He loves it all and this year was no exception.

Our first stop was at the livestock barns. Benji is enamored with our chickens and he especially liked seeing all the different breeds of 'bock bocks.'

Peter made friends with a nice box turtle while Benji could not be pulled away from the goat pens. 

 And, here's the moment you've all been waiting for...

Just like last year, Peter has been dying to try out his mutton busting skills again. We got him all prepped and signed up first thing and he went on to ride that sheep for a stunning whole 2 seconds! He wasn't scared at all -- which was impressive since every other kid (including the ones 20 lbs heavier than him) before him wouldn't even go near their sheep. He wound up with a helmet full of sand but fully enjoyed his ride and is all set to try again next year.

 After the ride to last all year, we headed over to the petting zoo, which boasted not only boasted pigs, sheep, goats and chickens but also miniature horses, deer, and wallabys. 

Travis now desperately wants a wallaby. Surprise, surprise. 

 Then it was off to ride the tractors...

 Play with all the corn...

 And pump water... 

Peter has literally been talking about this all year and still tells us that 'pumping water' as his favorite part of the fair. Go figure.

 Then we had to grab some cotton candy...

 And meet up with friends to ride on some silly rides.

 Trav and I even got a chance to ride the big ferris wheel and watch the fireworks at the end. 

We had a wonderful time even if we did make ourselves sick on funnel cakes and cotton candy. But it was so worth it. 

Particularly since both boys were asleep before we even made it out of the parking lot.

The kids had the best time and are already asking when we can go again. 

365 days and counting boys.

Our glorious garden

I just realized that I've never gotten around to sharing pictures of our garden. Frankly, I am amazed anything has come up at all. But it looks like our backyard has been turned into a little oasis out here in the desert as our garden has really started to go crazy lately. 

This is what it looked like back in July. Modest progress.

And our first harvest: zucchini. 

Of course it was zucchini, a four year old could grow zucchini. Which, technically, ours has.

And THIS is what our garden looks like now. Completely grown up. We've got tomatoes coming out our ears, zucchini, pumpkins, onions, spaghetti squash, watermelons, cantaloupe, bell peppers, basil, and potatoes all fruiting. 

Our strawberry plants started out as seedlings and have now taken over both beds. They've started sending out tons of runners and even though we only got a few puny (yet delicious) berries this year, we have high hopes for next summer. 

 I made fresh caprese salad the other night with our abundant supply of tomatoes and basil. Yum-O.

 Did I mention watermelons? We have two huge guys hanging out and two more little 'uns just getting started. I cannot wait for these bad boys to get ripe.

 Our corn. Which is shorty and a little puny, but still edible.

Though I am thinking of saving the stalks and then drying them out for Halloween this year. I think they'd make a cut door decor even if there's no way we'll ever get trick-o-treaters out here.

 It just keeps popping up more and more veggies every day. Although since we did plant on a particularly windy day (who am I kidding, it's ALWAYS windy in spring out here) we keep finding plants popping up in the randomest places. A carrot in the middle of the zucchini, basil among the strawberries, and watermelons sprouting alongside the corn. 

 Peter loves to help me look for things to pick every morning. It's like his very own muddy treasure hunt.

Our cucumbers are particularly going crazy at the moment. We're getting ready to can pickles so we picked a ton, but this was a single nights harvest a few days ago. Though to be fair, I usually get 5-6 cucumbers a day! Ridiculous, no?

There you have it. Our bountiful, fruitful, glorious garden. 

I never realized what a satisfying experience it would be.

Unexpected

I had one of the most eye-opening and astounding experiences this past weekend.

Yesterday I had to go to the doctor and since it was urgent care, I ended up seeing a lady I'd never been to before. As soon as I walked into the room however, she said "Oh, I know you!" I sorta looked at her funny because I had never seen this woman before in my life. She went onto say "I saw you the other day at Costco getting lunch with your boys. I sat at a table behind you and watched your family for a really long time. You had a baby on your lap and your bigger son across from you and I was so impressed with how well behaved they both were. Your older son helped you when you asked him to and he ate all his food and your baby sat still and didn't make a fuss. How did you do it?! I have a 3.5 year old and he's crazy and never listens!" 

Well. 

You can imagine I just sat there for a few minutes stunned. Firstly, I had no idea anyone was watching us that day. And secondly, I sure was glad my kiddos had behaved. 

After finally regaining my wits, I sheepishly told her "Well, they're boys so they're pretty crazy most of the time but you must have caught us on a good day."

The doctor continued on asking me what I was doing to raise such good boys for several minutes. And I just kept sitting there, thinking "I can't believe this! All those stories I heard about people watching you when you least expect it are true!" 

As I left the office I was immediately filled with an overwhelming love for my two precious boys. Peter is truly an incredible helper. I remember him taking things to the trash and holding things for me that day at Costco while I had my hands full with Benji. He is always willing to play with his little brother and I love his constant sweet smile and thirst for life. A friend told me the other day, "You just have to love Peter. There is no malice whatsoever in that child." And he's right. Peter is one truly happy boy and I am so grateful to be his Momma.

And there's Benji. My sweet baby who is growing up waaaay too fast. I love his strong-willed personality and his desire to be loved. He's so silly and cute and everybody who meets him instantly falls in love. I don't blame them. Especially with his curly hair which I still refuse to cut.

I feel so lucky to be a mother, to be able to stay home with my sweet children and to know that I am doing something important for them. 

Thank you random doctor for reminding me how much I love them. I won't mind paying that co-pay for once.

Don't you just love his curls? There's enough of it that the babysitter put it up in a ponytail while I was at girls camp last week.

 What would I ever do without LEGOs?

And I finally made something off my Pinterest boards. This pillow mattress. I really couldn't find a complete tutorial for it -- my only instructions said, "use 4 pillows and 3 yards of fabric." Well I got creative and after sewing and unpicking and resewing edges more times than I can count I finally finished! Love the finished product and that Peter can fold it in all different sorts of combinations. It's our newest addition to his reading nook.