What's a Girl to do

... with so much kale?  Let me first tell you about the rest of this crazy week and then I will catch you up on my veggie dilemna/opportunity...

The week started with Trace leaving his wallet at a gas station. Total accident, and by the time he went back it was no where to be found. So Monday afternoon was spent canceling credit cards, bank cards, etc. Tuesday he heads to the DMV. Oh, what fun the DMV always is! We still have been carrying IN licenses because they just hadn't expired yet, and who wants to just make a trip to the DMV for no good reason? Well, the out of state issue made his getting a new one trickier. It involved going to the library to print out some form from Indy, several trips home and to different branches.  This takes nearly all day, but finally he gets to a place where he can get one. And he fails the eye exam. It has been since before we got married that he had an eye exam, but he has always said that he 'sees just fine', and he never even wears his glasses. (I guess that should tell me something, but whatever...)  So Tuesday afternoon we all pile into the car for a trip to the eye doctor. (We all have to go because I am the only one with a debit card now... someone has to pay for these new glasses, right?) So, long story longer, Wednesday morning Trace finally got his license and is on the roads legally again.

Then yesterday afternoon a lizard, yes I said LIZARD! crawled across our dining room, just past my crawling angel, and harbored under our couch until Trace got home from work. Weird!

So back to the kale. Yesterday was our first pick-up for our CSA, and I was very (probably too) excited to see what fun things we would have to cook up. Remy, who was in underwear!, and I went in the afternoon to get our box. And we have kale. So much kale that the picture posted, in which it takes up an entire length of countertop on one side of my kitchen, is only about 1/3 of the kale we have. I have a few recipes to try from my girl Martha, but I would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions. We also got some arugula, green onions, strawberries, broccoli and sweet potatoes. The Pfeiffers are about to get healthy (or really tired of kale). I'll let you know which it is soon.

Remy has recently decided that Halle 'really wants me to hold her'. Never mind the fact that she weighs 20 pounds.

Blowing raspberries to say 'I'm awake!'.

I love seeing this happy face as I walk down the hall after nap time!

One weekend, Two Farms

On Saturday we went over to our friends Matt & Estera's farm to get some eggs and see the new baby chicks. Estera told us while we were there that they had ripe strawberries, and Remy just had to have some. The kid loves berries of any kind!

Notice here who is doing the picking and who is eating...

Halle loves being outside, too! And she is becoming quite the Daddy's girl.

Then on Sunday we headed down to Delvin Farms for their Spring CSA picnic. Amidst the off and on downpour we were able to have some delicious food, and Remy got to spend some time in the petting zoo. In fact we practically had to drag him out to go home.

I'm not sure why, but he kept saying that this rabbit 'doesn't seem to be very happy'. My guess is that having a zillion little people with their hands all over her might get to a rabbit eventually.

This is Lulu the goat, and she loved eating grass right out of Remy's hand.

As we were packing the kids back into the car to go home Remy asked Tracey if we could be farmers. Trace said 'no' very quickly. No surprise there... We might not become farmers anytime soon, but I am excited to start getting our farm-fresh CSA food this week. And by the way, our herbs died. I told you I can't grow anything!

Jump Party

Last week Remy's friend Caleb had a jump party. At first Rem was a little intimidated by the size of the place, but after a few runs with Trace through the obstacle course and slides, he figured it out and was climbing all over. He went higher by himself than we realized he could! (Which in itself was a blessing, because the first time up the biggest slide Trace carried him on his shoulders and thought he might die from the climb!)

Up!

At the top

A short break curled up in the letter 'P'

Halle even got a turn on the slide. She wasn't sure what to think...

Sorry that I have been MIA for the last week. We went to Indiana to visit my mom and Trace's parents and to have a garage sale. We had a wonderful time, and it was nice to unplug a little bit. (I say a little bit because while we spent a lot of time outside, my mom has cable and I can't resist watching all the TLC and HGTV I can while the littles were sleeping...)  Remy loved getting his hands dirty 'helping', as much as a three year old can, in the garden. He and Grammy planted all sorts of veggies that hopefully we will be able to get our hands on later in the summer.

Halle was intrigued by the dandelion that Remy picked for her. She kept trying to eat it, but it would tickle her lips on the way in.  She would just laugh and do it all over again.

This trip was also a big deal because Remy stayed with Tracey's parents by himself for the first time. (I usually don't let him out of my sight!) He had tons of fun, especially playing firefighter and spraying 'G-ma' with the hose. I'm sure she can thank Pawpaw Frank for that...

Here's Halle enjoying the sun from the wagon. We got a lot of use out of that wagon, or maybe I should say that my mom did. She was pulling Remy around the block and he would say 'I think I'll go again' meaning that mom could take him around another time. She was exhausted, but he was delighted!

Mom has the perfect tree for climbing just outside her back door. I love this first picture. Of course this next one is Remy's favorite.

Halle loved Emma and spent some time bonding with (picking on) her.

Our garage sale was also a big success, and we ended up more than paying for our trip up and getting rid of a lot of excess baby stuff that we no longer need.  I am hoping that now that we are settling back in to life at home I will be able to do a bunch more crafting (I always come home from mom's with lots of ideas...) and tackle potty-training head on. Let the fun begin!

Sandbox

Well, you know it's been a good day around here when both little ones need a bath and it's only 9 a.m. Living in an apartment it is so hard to do outside things. I am so thankful for our porch! Trace picked up some sand yesterday so Remy's surprise this morning was a makeshift sandbox on the porch. He was thrilled to take his dump trucks out and make a mess. (I wasn't so crazed about the mess, but it wasn't anything the vacuum couldn't handle.) He spent quite a while out there making up some songs about the beach and building castles for his trucks to smash.

The sand wasn't such a good fit for Halle, who mouths everything, so she got to play with some water and fish in a 'tank' in the house. Fun was had by all! Oh, and Halle's first two teeth finally erupted over night- Hooray!

I was a little hesitant to put these pics on here, as neither child of mine is wearing pants, but I guess you should get used to it. Pants just aren't part of the warm weather wardrobe at our house (for the kids, that is!). I feel pretty happy if they are healthy, clean, & dry- I won't push it for pants...

Protector of the plants

I should start this post by saying that I have NO green thumb. I have aspirations to be a wonderful gardener, but I have never grown anything well, and I live in an apartment. I tend to let things die, either by mistake or ignorance. But this year I decided that for my little budding scientist it would be fun to have something to grow. We planted some herbs last week, and the cool thing for Remy (and me, I guess) is that they come up so quickly. We have very little patience around here! Remy has given himself the job of 'protecting our plants', and he does quite a good job of looking after them. What he's protecting them from, I don't know.

Here he is flexing his muscles as he protects the little pots. Best I can figure he is the only one who threatens their little stalks with all the sniffing and poking, but whatever...

And here is Halle with her new shopping cart.  It is made from all sustainable materials (very cool!) and is balanced so it won't fly out from under her as she tries to walk. Remy spends a lot of time wandering around the apartment 'shopping'.

"There is, in a word, nothing comfortable about the Bible- until we manage to get so used to it that we make it comfortable for ourselves... Have we ceased to question the book and be questioned by it? Have we ceased to fight it? Then perhaps our reading is no longer serious.

For most people, the understanding of the Bible is, and should be, a struggle: not merely to find meanings that can be looked up in books of reference, but to come to terms personally with the stark scandal and contradiction in the Bible itself...

Let us not be too sure we know the Bible just because we have learned not to be astonished at it, just because we have learned not to have problems with it."- Thomas Merton, Opening the Bible

I have been kind of camping out on my verse from two weeks ago, 1 John 2:6, really examining what it means for me to walk like Jesus did. I have been devouring my Bible. The life of Jesus was pretty scandalous, and I think the above quote is pretty right on. I have been amazed as I have stumbled upon stories that I have read a hundred times and suddenly seeing something I hadn't seen before. I can honestly say that I have been coming away more astonished with each reading.  I'm not sure exactly where to go from here as far as memorizing, so I'm going to take a day or two to think on it.

9 months

Halle is nine months old today!!! We had a great check-up this morning (if you don't count the 45 minute wait with Remy literally climbing up the walls). She weighs a dainty 20 pounds 4 ounces and is 29 inches long. She's still a bit ahead of where Rem was at this age but just barely. We made cupcakes to commemorate, though it hardly seems fair because she isn't eating table foods yet. She had a biscuit for the occasion, and Remy & I enjoyed the cupcakes. 

It's tough work eating a biscuit!

Working on standing

As close to a 'nice' picture as I can get of little man. I think it was an accident that he wasn't making a face, or the camera just happened to snap it between faces.