Kleinman Vineyard

 In our backyard we have this little beauty, a concord grapevine.

In the spring we enjoy it's pretty little buds and bright green leaves.  And it's deep green foliage lasts all summer long.  Come September the grapes are so fragrant that simply walking near it makes me feel like I'm swimming in grape juice.  Last year I didn't harvest the grapes.  I had just had Bracken and it was really overwhelming to thing about, so I just let them go and the birds enjoyed them.   But this year I was determined to put them to good use. 

One afternoon while both the boys were napping I thought to myself "Let's go pick the grapes." So I did and here they are.  Now what to do with them?

Nathan and Grandma stripped the fruit off the stems.

Bracken could hardly stuff them in his mouth fast enough.

Luckily my Mother-in-Law has all the equipment for processing grapes, so we were able to get juice and pulp for jam.  I actually did 2 batches of gapes, and the juice is amazing.  It was all natural, no sugar added and perfectly delicious.  Not to mention it's gorgeous color.  The jam on the other hand, not so perfect.  My first batch I tried the cook method without pectin, but a miss calculation with the amount of sugar needed caused the jelling point to be a little off.  Long story short, I ended up with a grape jolly rancher inside my pint jars.   The second batch, seemed to be right but it didn't set up as thick as it should be even with the pectin.  So, I am still a novice at making grape products but there is always next year!

 

Splash Pad!

I have always wanted to take the boys to a fun splash pad, but alas Prescott Valley is not as cool as other places and there are no splash pads to be had.  So the next best thing, was to turn our back patio into our very own splash pad.  This wiggle sprinkler is probably the best summer clearance find I have ever come across.  It is awesome and my boys LOVE it!

When the water is turned on all the way these things wiggle like crazy and spray water all over, my kitchen window has the water spots to prove it.

When these last few days of summer get a bit too warm we are going to bust out this crazy thing and SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH!

"This month is such a special one...

it's Birthday time for You!"

I can hardly believe it, but my baby is 1 year old.

We celebrated Bracken's birthday with a little family party.

Grandma and Grandpa Kleinman, Great-Grandma Ruth, and Uncle Eric and Aunt Karly all came over to celebrate the birth of our sweet little Bracky.

Helping Mom make his cake pops.

We have started a tradition with birthdays and balloons.  Nathan has always been crazy about balloons, and every birthday since has had plenty of balloons to go around.  Bracky loved his birthday balloon.

We enjoyed homemade pizza for dinner with grape coolaide (Curtis's all time favorite drink), drooled over the cake pops and cupcake bites (man those things are good), and watched Nathan open up all of Bracken's presents. 

I am so glad that Bracky is mine.  He is my little snuggle bug and I can't imagine life without him.

We love you Bracken, Happy Birthday!

Table for Two

Bracken and Nathan are really starting to get this brother thing down.  They play so good together (most of the time) and I find myself getting distracted from my household tasks to watch them interact.  I LOVE how much Bracken adores Nathan, he would follow Nathan anywhere, which can be scary sometimes.  We are trying to impress upon Nathan the importance of looking out for Bracken.  Bracken toddles around the house doing exactly what Nathan does.  On this particular day Nathan wanted to eat his snack outside and naturally Bracken tagged along.  They had so much fun sitting at that little table together snacking on Teddy Grahams and apples. 

Summer Time Adventures #2

July

Our Fourth of July Celebrations were sweet and simple. We enjoyed a picnic at the Church Saturday evening (I just LOVE this picture of Nathan eating the watermelon, it captures all that is summer) and watched the fireworks Sunday evening also from the grass at the Church.


We lounged on a quilt and ate "fireworks cookies" (Oreos) a fun tradition we have started for the Fourth of July courtesy of Nathan. We had Oreos once while we watched the fireworks and now he has to have them every time. A funny side note-when Nathan sees other things that have Oreos in them like ice cream he says "Look Mom! They have Fireworks Cookies in there!!" It will be a sad day when he starts calling them Oreos. Once it got dark I pulled out a package of glow sticks, knowing they would really make Nathan's day and before I knew it all the kids around came tracking me down asking if they too could have a glow stick. I think I am officially the Glow Stick Lady. Next year I'll be sure to grab several extra packs of glow sticks.

Bracky's Harvest

Bracky loves to help us out in our garden. He especially likes to pick tomatoes, but he rarely picks off ripe ones. Today he came toddling over to me carrying our harvest basket and he proudly lifted it up for me to see what he had. And this is what was inside, a little green tomato.

He walked all around the yard toting his little tomato in the basket.

And of course being a little almost-one-year-old he puts everything in his mouth.
He doesn't seem to mind green tomatoes at all.

Summer Time Adventures #1

JUNE

We spent a fun weekend in beatiful Cloudcroft, NM for a Bluth Family Reunion.

This is the 3rd time we have gathered at this Mountain Resort. We all sleep in cabins (girls camp style with lots of bunk beds) and enjoy lots of good times visiting, playing games and enjoying the endless possibilities of activities, and eating really good food. Most of my cousins are married and have several children and it's neat to see how we have all grown up and the shape our family is taking. Nathan had so many friends to play that he was exhausted at the end of every day.

The highlight for the younger kids was by far the long, down hill sidewalk. There were plasma cars, trikes, scooters and a few crashes and spills.

Curtis and Nathan having a "sword" fight with long blades of grass.

In the evening we would gather around the big fire pit and enjoy s'mores. Here Nathan is eating his gooey goodness while talking to Uncle Dan on the walkie, who was really only a few feet away but Nathan still thought it was awesome.

All the Corey & Lucy King Grandkids. Boys are so FUN!