Wine Making

Mike had gotten me a wine making kit for Christmas but I hadn't realized that you need a lot of equipment to make the wine from the kit. So for Mother's Day he got me all the equipment. I set to work making my fruit wine. Surprisingly I had a little helper throughout the whole 4 week process- Isabella! I thought it a little odd that she was so excited to help make something she couldn't even enjoy but she helped with every step! I was a bit worried about how the wine would turn out when the directions said it should stay around 65 degrees seeing that it is the middle of summer & my house doesn't get below 73 degrees (which is at night!) and usually is around 76 degress. So I alternated ice packs around the carboy (the big glass jug it sits in) & hoped for the best. When it came time to bottle, it ended up making 29 bottles of wine (the kit said 30 but I didn't skim very low when transfering it into bottles in order to avoid the sediment). And thankfully it tastes pretty good so the temp must not have effected it too much. I look forward to making more wines in the future but will probalby wait until the temps cool a bit so maybe I can keep it cool in the garage. I want to try some not so sweet wines next!

Arkansas Trip Summer 2011

We FINALLY made it over to Camden, AR to visit Grandpa & Granny! We had planned to go at Thanksgiving but then Isabella got pink eye. We then planned to go again at the beginning of the year but then the roads were icy. So finally it worked out for us over the July 4th weekend. We had a really great visit & the kids enjoyed being spoiled by Grandpa & Granny. They loved playing out on the back porch... with bubbles, chalk, & a bucket of soapy water. In a few of these pictures the kids are enjoying some yummy watermelon Granny cut up for them. We are already looking forward to the next trip!

Jackson's 2 yo well baby check

We had Jackson's 2 year old well baby check on June 20th (which was about a month and a half late). Dr. Morrow said that Jackson was looking really great & healthy. (We are really thankful to not have had any illnesses in a while!)  He measured above average on developmental things including speech.  Jackson did super well for his exam and was very cooperative. He even answered Dr. Morrow's question about where he slept saying, "mmmm bed".  And she could hardly believe that sometimes Jackson is mean! As far as his stats go, it appears our little Jackson is a little short. :) Maybe he'll take after my Dad with short legs. ;o) He weighed in at 30lbs 2 oz which is about the 75% and his height is 34 1/4" which is about the 25%. His head was 19 1/4" which is 50-75%.  We're so happy to have such a healthy, growing boy!

Another recent happening in our house is that Jackson is no longer nursing.  We were down to just nursing before nap and nothing would distract him from it! Well, I had a doctors appointment during nap time on the 24th of June so Mike put Jackson down to nap. The very next day when I went to put him down for a nap, he was excited about a new library book that he didn't even mention nursing (normally he points to the chair & says, "me, me" & that is him meaning he wants to sit there & nurse). Day after day it went on this way w/ him wanting to read his books from the library. Then on the 28th he did say "me, me" & point to the chair at nap time but I quickly grabbed a book & said, "don't you want to read this book?" and he did. So he hasn't nursed since the 23rd and I consider him weaned. My belief that gentle child led weaning is the right thing to do is confirmed again with Jackson (confirmed for the first time with Isabella just before she turned 2). I was slightly doubtful b/c it didn't seem like he was ever going to give it up but it really had to do with when he was ready.