'Round here

Its been a while since that magical Saturday in Blue Hole. 

Dads and lads.

 Running as fast as he can, holding on with all his might.

Gavin and Milo.They remind me of two little turtles perched on a log. 

Letting go. 

 My "mom group." Love these ladies. 

Thinking about jumping in.

Holding on to Mama's leg.

Catching a ride on Daddy's back.

Swimming on his own, with the help of his trusty flotation apparatus, of course.  

I think by next summer he'll be a real fish. 

Summer is ending. The temps are dipping. Sickness is on the way out as well, hopefully for good! I've been in exile for the past two weeks. Bronchitis and double ear infection. Illness set in the Friday of Labor Day weekend, I was bedridden by Saturday, and finally got a bottle of antibiotics by Thursday of the following week. Oye. Let's just say that was awful, I think I may have cracked a rib with the excessive coughing and quite frankly I am surprised I didn't end up in the hospital. Somehow as this was all beginning to happen we managed to host some out of town friends, go to a BBQ/birthday party, and a baby shower. Unfortunately we missed a baptism/BBQ we were hoping to attend, but better to be around babies when not hacking up a lung.

There's other stuff going on that is keeping me distracted these days. Hopefully there will be some big changes around here soon. More details when I'm ready. Distractions of these sorts often lead to the grumps and moodiness. I am looking forward to being on the other side of this.

In the meantime I'm just working on getting my family healthy again. Casey is finished with his z-pack, Gavin's sickness seems to be on its way out as well, knock on wood. I'm training for a 10-mile trail run in a few weeks. Being out for two was not great for my conditioning.

Fun recent meals include: pulled smoked chicken tacos, poblano and turkey quiche (always a great way to get rid of veggies), crockpot applesauce, and  a tex-mex shrimp and grits redeux. Upcoming kitchen adventures, fingers crossed, are roasted cauliflower bites, sesame chicken and chia energy nuggets or crackers for my long runs. Chili season is upon us y'all and my friends and are planning a homebrew and chili cookoff. Big woop for sure!

Gavin's doing well in his Montessori class. Ms. Veronica goes on an on about how precise and organized he likes to be. Weird, because getting him to clean up his room and pick up his toys at home is always a negotiation and battle of wills. I guess its good to know his mama's OCD is rubbing off a bit in the school at least! This week their learning theme is the apple. They are learning about an apple's life cycle and history in America (Johnny Appleseed), experimenting in the classroom kitchen with apple butter and apple sauce, and in general learning how apples are the fall fruit we all love. This ties right in with Gavin's recent love of eating apples. He goes through fruit phases, as I've mentioned in the past, and right now he is in a season appropriate apple phase. Can't keep enough of those shiny red jewels around. Yesterday I showed up early and was able to watch playtime unnoticed. Its always fascinating to observe my child when he doesn't know mom and dad are around. He and the pre-K boys, the "big kids" as Gavin calls them, were playing football in the schoolyard. They did so well organizing a little team all on their own, sharing the ball, etc. Gavin caught, kicked, threw, and ran with the ball just like the "big kids." It makes me very happy to see him being able to play with other little boys that share his love of athletics. I see so much potential in several of these little guys.

My farm work has kind of fizzled out, but fortunately I made some connections through the experience that may lead to a part-time opportunity at a local organic garden nursery. Lots of potential for continued education there! I hope it works out, one way or the other.

Belated crafty time photo. So this was a mommy/son wrapping paper project for daddy's birthday way back in July. I said this was belated, right? Gavin scribbled and practiced his shapes and then I went back in and doodled my little heart out and colored in the spaces. I like the way it turned out. Daddy got a fireside camping cookbook! We have a fall camping trip already planned for next month and we're looking forward to trying out a few recipes.