Gardening...well, kind of.

My mom came down back in April and helped us plant an adorable little garden. We used some old bricks to section it off in the back corner of our yard. We bought some lettuce seeds and spinach seeds along with a pepper plant, a cherry tomato plant, 3 large tomato plants, and a zucchini plant. I was so excited when the garden began to flourish immediately. Of course, that was back before the drought. My zucchini plant had tons of yellow flowers but now the plant looks like it's dead. I do have some lettuce growing and possibly some spinach. The problem with the spinach is that I'm not sure if it's spinach growing or just weeds. I guess I have to wait and see. (I keep watering it just in case.) The cherry tomato plant is doing the best. Brooks and I went out last week and picked a couple of tomatoes.
He loves looking at the garden and watching it grow. It's a fun project that we can do together and hopefully we'll get more vegetables despite the drought.

Brooks played a big part in getting the garden started back in April.


My little helper. Look at how much the garden has grown!

He was so excited to show off his tomatoes that he picked.

We used the tomatoes in our salad for lunch.

Lady in Red

This red shirt is a hand-me-down from Laney's cousin Megan (who happens to be 5 now). I absolutely LOVE it. I think red could be her color.



I added some adorable ruffled jean shorts to the red shirt and we went out to eat with Birdie.

Getting Creative in the Kitchen

It all started with the neighborhood block party. I wanted to make cupcakes, so I thought I would go all out and make these cupcakes...

I made red (kind of looks more pink than red, though) fondant icing. That alone made me feel like Buddy from "Cake Boss". I cut some stripes for the flag and I used a cookie cutter to cut some stars for the other cupcakes. I mainly did this because I was lazy and it was easier to cut out one star and drape it over then putting on the blueberries and stripes. I think they turned out pretty cute and very yummy. I saw lots of kids grabbing for my cupcakes so I think they were a hit.
Then, when I was looking for a yummy stuffed peppers recipe, I found this one...

...and I gave it a try...

Brooks' response was literally, "Ahhh...it's so cute!" He was very excited to eat it. I thought it was kind of a fun way to encourage Brooks to try some colorful peppers. He ate almost the whole thing!

I guess all this fun cooking inspired Brooks to be creative in the kitchen as well. He said he was making a house.


Now, there's nothing really "creative" about these next pictures, but I didn't want to leave Laney out. She tried some puffs the other day for the first time. She doesn't have the natural "pinchers" that Brooks had, but she enjoys trying to get these little puffs into her mouth.

Get ready for some serious cuteness!

I told you...serious cuteness!

It's not always perfect

I take TONS of pictures before I get one that I'm willing to post. Here are some of the picture that haven't made the blog for obvious reasons:
I'm worried that Laney is going to be the girl who closes her eyes in every picture.


Just trying to get a cute picture of the kids on Memorial Day.


Brooks is usually a very good picture taker, but not this time around.

My Blue-Eyed Girl

The girls...

...at the pool, just lounging in the shallow end.

...hanging out on the floor. Gosh, Laney - drool much?

...more interested in each other than taking a picture. At least they look cute in their matching outfits!

(Delaney at 7 months and Melody at 5 months)