Acting Debut

Lauren's class put on an impressive performance of James and the Giant Peach last week. We scored front row seats, thanks to the early arrivals of Grandma and Grandpa. Lauren played the role of the ladybug, and only had a minor costume mishap - an accidental tear to the wings when the peach rolled down the hill.

Fall Harvest

Our fall/winter garden yield is quite low... So far we have 1 radish and a handful of yellow pear tomatoes. Better luck next time :)

In the Garden and Around the Yard

Prepping and planting of the seeds for a fall/winter garden.

Lauren cutting some burlap to protect our cactus from the blazing sun.

Oops, too late. And yes, a cactus can actually die.

But never fear, a replacement has arrived.

One of our garden visitors, a tomato hornworm.

And a visitor in waiting - look closely.

Right Now | Aug 2013

Lauren (age 6): Prefers cartwheels over walking. Is a tad feisty. Earned a yellow belt in Karate. Loves a long shower. Is addicted to reading. Likes avocados, and apples.

Cole (age 4): Loves to swim. Can tie his shoelace. Enjoys singing 'God Bless the USA'. Is learning to read. Always asks "Where's Lauren?" Still loves cars, trucks, and trains....

In the Kitchen

Tried 2 new recipes plus one old favorite this weekend. Cole was my sous chef for the baking activities; he did all right :)

First up was the old favorite, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, based on this EF recipe with substitutions to make dairy and egg-free. They were a tad on the crispy side (maybe because of the substitutions?), so need to make a note to decrease the baking time.

Next was the first attempt to recreate Pita Jungle's hummus :) I used this recipe, adding cilantro to half of the batch (yum!). It was very tasty, and pretty straight-forward. Although I think I'll aim for a little thinner consistency next time.

And finally, tried a new vegan banana bread recipe - it smells delicious, but we won't have our first taste until breakfast tomorrow.

Fresh and Delicious

Pita Jungle in Ahwatukee, is my new favorite restaurant. Love the $1 Happy Hour tapas, hummus trios, margaritas/sangria, 'choose your own' kids meals, and the large variety of entree options.

My entree of choice is the wood-fired salmon salad, or over potatoes and sauteed spinach (shown).

And I love the restaurant's nice open space, and eclectic decor. Seems they also do a large take-out business - we tried that this past weekend. Yum.

They're Back

It's that time of the year again.... Their high-pitched buzz, and molted skins are telltale signs. No cicada artwork from Lauren this year, but she did collect a nice pile of their skins from the tree bark at a local park.

Garden Pests

Last week, Cole and I went out to check on our tomato plant and noticed the leaves were missing on several of the branches. Upon closer inspection we discovered.... the tobacco hornworm! And not just one, but ten! The kids picked them off one by one, and dropped them into a bucket of soapy water. A few more days and that tomato plant would have been no more.

Sneak Peek

Final installation of the mirrors/art is scheduled for tomorrow, yay! After that, the only remaining item will be for Stew to wall-mount the TV. Almost done!

Bookworm

Lauren can't stop reading these days. Thanks for the Nancy Clancy book, Emily & Amy! We just checked out a fresh batch of books at the library. And Lauren has one book 'in progress' in each of our cars, for reading during the 5-minute trip to/from school :)