Autumn Harvest

Guess what I've been doing lately? Turning this:

Into this:

I love canning. It's one of those things that make people think I'm a grandma trapped in a young person body. Tomatoes are the best because I use them all winter in pasta sauce and soup and I know where they came from and that they were grown in the summer. Tomatoes from the grocery store in the winter are yucky.
This is the first year that our tomato plant decided not to grow five feet tall and produce until October, so these are from Shaun's grandpa's garden. We did get tons of cucumbers and I canned five jars of pickles (yum!)

I requested these awesome books a while ago at the Library:

They are so easy to follow and great for beginners. I haven't had a chance to do much with the Dairy book, but I did make some ricotta that was tasty! Ashley English has two other books that I want to read. Not that I'm at all prepared to keep chickens or bees, but I think it's amazing.

Three Month Old

Yesterday my good friend Sarah Faubus of Boxwood Clippings shot some three month photos of James for me. They turned out amazing so I thought I'd share my favorites. Technically he's almost four months so I guess I dropped the ball on that one, but at least I had them taken before he turned.

Mobile

Last week I made a mobile for James' nursery. I never liked any of the expensive, stuffed animal looking ones at the store. This one is pretty simple but I think it turned out great. I'll post some long overdue pictures of the finished nursery once it's up.

Jane Eyre

I love a good movie adaptation of a classic novel. I've been waiting to see Jane Eyre but it just happened to come out around the time I had James. Let's face it, getting to a movie when you have a newborn is not easy. I have it on hold at the library so I'll let you know how it is. It's been getting good reviews. Here's a link to the preview.  

Those Were the Days

Do you have a favorite toy from your childhood? Having a baby has made me think about some of those great toys you just can't get anymore. My siblings and I were just discussing this little gem:

This sprinkler toy was THE BEST! It attached to the hose and the water pressure would build up and shoot the clown hat in the air. Good times, good times. It tops the ol' hose laying on the trampoline, that's for sure. Interested in purchasing one of these? Want to know where to find one? A cool $190.00 will buy you this one on e-bay.

(It's moments like these when I get one step closer to the inner-workings of the hoarder mind. Why throw things away when they end up priced like this?)

Anyway, I am so excited to buy toys for James but I like traditional toys instead of things that require batteries. A friend introduced me to Melissa and Doug about a year ago. Here are some toys I am dying to get for James in the next few years:

This is the set that initially got me hooked on Melissa and Doug. 

The pieces all velcro together so you can pretend like you slice them apart. Adorable, I must have it!

Some of them are a bit pricey so I may have to acquire slowly, but these are toys that will last a long time instead of running out of juice and breaking, right? Worth the investment.

I figured since it's been a year I should probably blog again! So much has happened in such a short pan of time that I haven't been able to catch my breath. That will be the case for at LEAST the next 18 or so years because of this guy:

 James Paul Steele, born May 29 2011

And here he is at 3 months.

He's keeping me busy but I'm hoping to be able to post every once in while!