4 years today

There are no words.

A & Q

Ada helped me work a bit today on taking photographs for the other gig I have. Is it strange that my daughter finds it normal to pose food and take pictures of it? 

She added a bouquet of clover blossoms to "make it look awesome." She was right. 

I take my art direction from an almost 4 year old now.

Quentin was mad because I wouldn't let him play with the food (he did grab one egg while I was I taking a picture, and tossed it on the table, only cracking it a bit).

This is him showing me he is not happy.

No shortage of drama around here.

Thank goodness Dad started the lawn mower, which is apparently hilarious.

Strawberries, chocolate, and dirt covered face. 

Don't you just want to squeeze those cheeks? I'll go do it for you!

Just Dance!

I love my kids.

Garden time

Ada spending time with her friend, Madison, in the neighbor's backyard while Dad gardens.

Quentin "helping" Dad garden - does eating dirt count?

 Man grows food!

Earth Day in Richmond

Sam and I took the kids to Richmond's Earth Day Festival yesterday, which was held in the Manchester District of Richmond, an area I have not spent much time in (we live on the North side of the James River, and rarely travel on the South side of the James...this is pitiful).

Aside from the "I need water and food to cheer up" grumps that Ada had, we enjoyed ourselves on a surprisingly hot and sunny day.

Sam and I were able to choose several seedlings to bring home, and the kids each painted a planter box for us to use for our new plants. 

I mentioned in a post a while back that I was working on a new project, and am very happy to share that I am now blogging for The Farm Table -- a local farm to family produce service. 

Sam and I joined The Farm Table last year, and it changed the way we eat in our home. The food is picked fresh from various local farmers, packed by Farm Table staff, and then delivered directly to our door. It is surprisingly affordable, as long as you use the food and don't let it spoil, which means diligent planning our part to use it all up (especially since we also have the bounty from our garden to eat). This also means that we are trying on new recipes (most of them successes, a few nasty disasters), and expanding our exposure to fruits and vegetables, all the while feeling pretty darn good that we get to support local farmers and eat amazing food. The only downside is the wintertime when the produce supply is low and we have to count on the grocery store for tasteless, colorless tomatoes. Boo. 

I hope you'll join me at Follow The Tractor, and "Follow" the blog -- it may be local information about Richmond and Virginia, but there will be recipes, information on gardening, farming, and all sorts of other topics related to food, food traditions, and how we eat. I hope you enjoy it!

10 years!

Sam and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last Friday, which was a rather emotional day. We started the day with an ultrasound, and I got to see our sweet little BOY rolling around, scratching his chin, and evading every attempt of the technician to tell us if he was a girl or a boy. I even got to count every last toe on his two sweet feet. When you start a day like that, it can't get much better. I was wrong. 

Sam surprised me with the mother-load of surprises. A night away from the kids (for the first time in 4 years) at The Inn at Willow Grove in Orange, Virginia. Telling you that this place is nice is an understatement. 

We drove 90 minutes outside of Richmond into the rural back country of Virginia, and happened upon the most quaint town of Orange. Historic, adorable, and peaceful, full of sprawling estates and farms. Aside from the gigantic confederate flag in the backyard of a house we drove by, it was a lovely, "small town selling honey on the side of the road" kind of place (cue banjos). 

The Inn offered serious Southern hospitality.

 Oh, and I met a butler for the first (and likely last) time in my life. He was awesome.

Our room was in the "Carriage West" of the 2 room cottage above - and had the most peaceful porch to sit and look at the cows in the nearby field (the photo that is now the large banner for our blog is actually part of what we looked out upon -- scroll up and check it out).

This is all I need, folks.  A porch and some cows.

The little building above, which you can rent by the night for a hefty price, used to be the schoolhouse for the entire county long ago. Bet those kids and their one teacher never thought it would be a fancy getaway for honeymooning couples.

Shame on me for getting my finger in this shot, but this is the one-room cottage where Sam scheduled a surprise hour-long prenatal massage for me the following morning of our stay, which the massage therapist stretched out to 1 hour and 15 minutes. This kind woman worked out some evil demons in my back, which have sadly returned, but what an absolute treat given that I get a massage about once every couple of years.

The barn below (which really isn't a barn) is used for weddings and receptions. What a great setting for a wedding!

The rest of the grounds were beautiful, peaceful, and had some quirky, but nice touches.

I married a comedian 

The Inn has a swanky restaurant on the grounds, and I had to beat the frugal voice in my head with a big broom (shut up, Michele - you deserve it!), and just sat back to enjoy this 3-hour meal.

No one interrupted the conversation to tell us that dogs are sometimes brown. I didn't have to remind anyone to eat their peas. I didn't have to clean olive oil and spaghetti sauce out of any one's hair. I didn't have to pick up sloppy, half-eaten food that had been flung on the floor, or dig it out of the back of a onsie. Heck, I didn't even have to do the dishes.

And our server thought we would be offended that she served us from "the wrong side of the table." She could have served the food on the floor for all we cared.

Totally worth it.

And we had fried pie -- we are in the South after all. Nice touch.

Sam had a bouquet of flowers delivered to our room prior to our arrival, attempting to recreate the colors and flowers we had at our wedding. I like that it wasn't identical, but still captured the gorgeous hues of orange, purple, yellow, and blue. I think it is safe to say that I blubbered like a fool when we arrived.

Perfect.

We likely won't ever come back to this place, which is a shame, but we will never forget it.

Good job, Sam. Good job.

Happy Easter

We prepared for the Easter Bunny last night 

Enjoyed the morning together, along with treats! 

Listened to directions for the second Easter egg hunt of the season

Collected Alleluia eggs in the Memorial Garden

And enjoyed the rest of our morning together

Time to prep for dinner and enjoy the newest addition of our family, Ms. Stella Blue (a combination of A Streetcar Named Desire and a cover Willie Nelson did of a Grateful Dead song with the same name - Sam loves to hear Brando yell, "Stella!", and I love the song).

We are wildly in love with this good-natured, highly tolerant, and beautiful feline!