The Beach

The Saga of the Cheese Steak

Note: We spotted one of the few remaining pay phones in the US. An overly helpful homeless chap informed us rather loudly, not once, but three times! that that pay phone didn't work.

Yesterday we put our niece and nephew back on the plane for Colorado. I have mixed feelings about all that. Shelly and I had a blast together, and I miss her already. When the other kids were in VBS, we went off on a few adventures. One day, we dropped the kids off at 9am and drove straight to South Street in Philly. South Street is this eclectic, funky, edgy place...not really sure how else to describe it. It is home to the famous Jim's Steaks. If you are in Philly, the first thing you think of when you hear 'steak' is not a steak in the traditional sense...as in T-Bone, rather it is thinly sliced steak fried on a ginormous griddle and thrown in a hoagie roll along side some 'whiz, as in cheese whiz. The thing you must know is that you can't just meander into the place, spend an hour gazing at the menu, and then mosey up to the counter to order a 'cheese steak with cheese whiz, and...oh, mushrooms sound good. And peppers! Yes, that would make a mighty fine sandwich.' Jim's is usually incredibly busy and manned by some pretty intimidating grill sergeants. Ha, ha! I just made that up. Anyway, the first time we were there Jeff took too long to order and got yelled at. I was so afraid of the wrath of the steak man that I ordered exactly what I heard the person in front of me order. Usually the line at Jim's is out the door and it takes a while to get to the counter. Guess what?! There are precious few people brave enough to eat a steak at 10:30 in the morning. With only one group in front of us, I was feeling pretty fine. Then, one of the GINORMOUS grill sergeants looked at me and said 'Ma'am, with summer school in session we aren't allowed to accommodate school age children until noon.' Now I was taken aback and thought for sure he must be kidding. I asked him as much and he looked at me and said 'Do I look like I'm smiling? I'm serious.' Well, he sure wasn't smiling and he sure looked intimidating, but still! I asked him one more time if he was serious and he said yes. I asked him if I could buy the sandwich and leave the store with it. He gave me this 'I'll let you just this once look' and said yes. I was mentally shaking my head, but also didn't want to tick off GINORMOUS grill sergeant so I just stood there. After a minute or so, he looked at me and told me he was just messing with me. Oh, funny, funny! So I ordered our steak 'wit wiz' because that's the way a Philly steak is meant to be I'm told. My GINORMOUS grill sergeant buddy then harassed me about not ordering a beverage. He kept heckling me about it, but all I could think about was that I was approximately an hour and a half away from a bathroom that wasn't infested with herpes, and didn't want to push my luck.  But how does one explain that to your new-found but intimidating buddy? You don't. After a little back and forth, he went to the fridge to get Shelly's water, and grabbed another one for me. It's 'on me' he said, just in case you get thirsty. Thanks, GINORMOUS grill sergeant buddy, thanks!

P.S. All our adventures were part of our YOLOcoaster campaign. I am not really up on ye old young people's vernacular, but apparently YOLO is the new slang for 'You Only Live Once,' which can surely be used as an excuse to indulge in all manner of sketchy and destructive behavior. We, however, used it as the motto for all our fun adventures, and bonus points for actually being able to remember it all later and with no time spent in the slammer. Woo!

VBS Decorations

Here are a few photos of the VBS decorations. The theme was 'Incrediworld Amazement Park'. I couldn't have done it all without the help of my (lovingly called) minions. Incidentally, while the prep took hours upon hours upon hours, the tear down was completed in about an hour. 

Cousins

Being the super Uncle that he is, Jeff decided to dress in his Sunday best to pick up our niece and nephew from the airport.

I don't think they were too surprised, coming from Jeff. Apparently he ended up getting chatty with a Chinese guy, convincing him that this was the trendy thing to wear. The Chinese guy told him that he didn't look right. Somewhere in the conversation Jeff also got to get the guy to neigh like a horse. I really wish I could have witnessed that whole conversation. Poor guy probably went back to China wondering at the state of Americans these days. We have been having a lot of fun with the kids and I am happy to report that the VBS decorations are set up with only minor mishaps. I'll post pictures another day.

Fireworks

Three blog posts in one day...that's a record. I forgot about posting this and want to write it down for posterity. Jeff took the kids to the fireworks stand over the weekend. He came back with a sheepish grin and said that he had 'spent more than he planned on spending.' He rather quickly followed that up with the statement that 'the kids need to have fun.' Yeah. I am sure it was for the kids. Ha! We had a good laugh out of that one. The kids have had fun lighting off a few things each night. Tyler covers his ears, even when we light the 'nakes' as he calls them. (We always called them snakes...the box says glow worms?) Also, as the kids were watching the first snake coil outward, Katie remarked that it looked like the ground was pooping. And I must admit, she wasn't too far off.

It's About To Get Crazy

We found out on Saturday that my niece and nephew are coming...tonight. Craziness! I am really excited they are coming even though things are going to be nuts. I have VBS decorations to set up on Saturday, and I think that might be a bit monumental. Next week is VBS and Tyler's birthday, and then the kids go home on the 14th. Our kids have NO IDEA that their cousins are coming. I decided that with such short notice I could manage to keep it a secret. Tomorrow morning they will wake up to find that two of their Colorado cousins have magically appeared in the house. :) We haven't seen them in 4 years, and they have never met Tyler...I'm excited!

Nitty Gritty Garden Post (Here's To You, MJ!)

The tomato jungle (that's our shed in the background)

Despite the fact that we live right smack dab in the middle of suburbia, I am trying to squeeze in a little piece of 'farm' into my yard. My sister keeps shaking her head at me and telling me to just go and get a farm. And believe me, I wouldn't complain. Although I do know enough about farming to know it is very hard work. I think what would suit me is to have a rambling farm house, with a rambling garden and enough space  for the kids to run free. I would have more chickens, a few fruit trees and maybe convince Jeff to spring for a goat or a cow. Until that happens...I'll make the most of the space we have on our spacious .19 acre Franch. :) 

My main garden

My main garden is about 11' by 50'. It is along the south(ish) side of the house. We actually moved the side fence up to accommodate it. The soil was pretty decent and mainly rock free when I started. However, I have noticed a huge difference over the last 4 years by adding compost and tons of grass clippings. My neighbor doesn't treat his lawn, and he dumps his grass clippings over the fence for me. He also brings me magnolia petals in the spring and leaves in the fall. I use them as mulch to keep weeds down and add nitrogen to the soil. He also brings me scraps for the chickens and the compost pile. Nice neighbors bring you their rotting food, didn't you know? This year I have been able to include compost that includes chicken manure and I think it has made a big difference.

I have three rhubarb plants in a raised bed. They are very productive.

The last two years I have been researching companion planting which has been helpful. Basically, it is about what crops grow well together, even benefit each other. Some plants can repel each other and stunt their growth. Last year, I planted lettuce under a trellis in early spring. Right around last frost, I planted cucumbers. By the time it got a little hot for the lettuce, the cukes were tall enough to provide some shade. I got a ton of lettuce and the cukes did well too. There is a book called Carrots Love Tomatoes that is really good for this. 

The garden (looking out toward the street and my neighbor's giant motor home)

I also recently planted 3 blueberry bushes along the side of the chicken run. I don't think they'll produce this year, but I was able to find nice tall bushes from our CSA for $10 a piece! Along the other side of the yard I dug a bed this spring but it doesn't get a lot of sun so I think I'll stick with greens and flowers over there. 

Oh, look! Chickens! They make sure to trim anything that grows near the fence except of course the poisonous pokeweed that grows everywhere around here (on right). 

This is my lame-o side 'garden'. You can't really tell but there are flowers on the left near the compost bin, and unplanted on the other side. Next year...

There you go...probably way more than you wanted to know. ;) 

Well, That Was Interesting

Yesterday Jeff planned on replacing his radiator. I took the younger two and left James with Jeff. I was browsing in Tar-jay when the cell phone rang. It was James. Now James never uses the phone, so I knew something was up. He was very calm, and said 'Dad cut his finger. You need to come home.' I told him I would come right home and hung up. I felt surprisingly calm, despite the fact that I knew he must have severed a major appendage in order to justify a phone call. I didn't even think to ask how bad it was or anything. On the short way home, James called again to see how long it would be before I got there. Then I started to really wonder what had happened. He told me it was really bad and we needed to take Dad to the hospital. Turns out while the cut wasn't particularly large, it was very deep. He cut through a vein and it wouldn't stop bleeding. His hand had slipped when he was working under the car and he cut it on something. Fortunately the ER got him in right away and stitched him up. He was pretty nauseous and had to get a tetanus shot, but all is well now. And yes, he did come home and somehow manage to install the new radiator with very limited use of his hand. I am pretty sure the doctor would not approve of that one.

Chappy, Garlic, Etc.

A few pictures of Katie and her Chappy

The kids love their Chappy

And I must say, he IS pretty awesome!

James' Class Picnic

My little farmer helping me harvest the garlic

I've never grown garlic and didn't know what to expect, but boy, was I ever surprised when I dug it up! 27 huge heads of garlic weighing in at about 12 pounds total, all from 1 pound of seed. 

The garlic weighed an average of 7 ounces per head, with a few weighing in at a half a pound! I am going to give the credit for this phenomena to the lovely composted chicken manure I added when I planted them. 

VBS, Etc.

So somehow I got wrangled into doing the decorations for our church's VBS this year. I did actually say yes, and there was no gun to my head. I decided to do it because it was a way to use my artistic skillz, which have been sorely neglected since I had babies. That is the really nice thing about being at a large(ish) church. There are a lot of opportunities to use creativity. The thing to know about our church is that I think their motto for VBS is 'Go big, or go home.' I have been told that one year they transformed the platform into a Pirate Ship. No pressure or anything. This year's theme is 'Incrediworld' and it is a creation-themed amusement park. All I can say is that I am having a lot of fun working on it, and it's going to be cool. I'll post pictures when it's done. That is, if I have any remaining brain cells after the spray paint fumes wear off.

P.S. They gave me minions! All sorts of lovely people showed up over the last several weeks to do whatever I needed them to do. It was awesome, and I felt like jumping into the air and clicking my heels. Until I remembered that I'd probably break a hip or something. And don't worry, I refrained from calling any of them minions, although one girl asked permission to go to the bathroom. Um, yes! You can! No hall pass required. :)

In other news, James finished school today! Finally. He came out sad, and I asked him why. He found out his best buddy is going to be going to another school next year. :( I am sure he'll get over it but it was sad to see him so disappointed.

I Hit The (Trashy) Jackpot

A few days ago on my run I spotted something on the curb. It was a street I never run on, and wouldn't really have paid attention to. I just saw the corner of it behind a truck, but went over to see if it was really a) a doll house, and b) not totally trashed. I ran home as quick as I could and got the truck and came back and got it. That sucker is heavy! Every single missing piece was in the attic of the house, even down to the missing shingles. I am so excited to fix it up for Katie, and it further enforces my belief that sometimes God puts awesome things in the trash for us to find! :)

Lancaster Photo Dump

The view was quite nice!

The farm cat napped under the tree by the door. Tyler was obsessed with the cat. I don't think the feeling was mutual,
however the cat did stick around and put up with his antics.

Swing and playhouse right out the door

Finally got a cat to make friends with him

I don't want to hurt you, really I don't.

The innkeeper went and dug this out of the barn for the kids. It ended up causing a lot of fights and we had to put it away, but that's another story...

Pretty flowers (and the girl is pretty darn cute too!)

Swimming in the pond

Tyler spent his time relocating the baby frogs back into the water where he thought they wanted to go. He ended up squeezing a few a little too much.

James was in heaven!

Katie wearing the bonnet I wore as a little girl

One of the little frogs. They were everywhere!

Catching frogs and tadpoles

Neighboring Farm

Old-fashioned Fireplace

Chicken Dinner: All the (Slightly) Gory Details

Rachel, this post is for you! :)

It's Hot

So classy!

I was going to post the whole "how Chicken Dinner became chicken dinner" post today, but it is just too darn hot! Over 90 degrees up here with the air on. I am pretty sure the 50+ year old insulation is no longer insulating. I am going downstairs where it is cool, and come back later when it isn't an inferno up here.

Running, Amish Walmart, and Other Delights

So I have apparently let the blog go. And now I'm back to spew forth loads of random tid-bits for you to suffer through enjoy. First things first...running. Jeff and I alternate mornings to run, getting up about 5:30am. Being out so early I see a lot of interesting things. I have found money on several occasions, discovered more about the mysterious ways of bucket man* and have seen more ground hogs than I need to see in a lifetime. I even saw a groundhog about 15 feet up a tree!! So much for the fence around my garden. Maybe I'll hang up a sign stating 'Protected By Smith and Wesson.' Hey, if they can haul their garden-pillaging butts up a tree, you never know if they can read too! But I digress. I have also been buzzed by a bat (took years off my life!) and  encountered two good-sized snapping turtles, the most recent of which was spotted on Sunday morning. I promptly went home and rounded up the kids in their jammies to go see it. Fun times. And this morning I had a very strange encounter with a bird. I heard a bird fly past me, or so I thought. (I am TERRIBLE at hearing where sounds are coming from.) I didn't think anything of it until I saw my shadow ahead of me, complete with the shadow of a bird flying precipitously close to my head. I turned around and it dropped back a little. I kept running, but heard it again. This time I turned around and looked at it, and it flew away. I am pretty sure it mistook my messy curly morning ponytail for a nest. Ha!

*Bucket Man is an older guy who wanders around the neighborhood swinging an orange bucket from his hand. We have yet to figure out what bucket man does with his bucket.

And now, on to Amish Walmart. We went to Lancaster for a few days which turned out to be a not so relaxing mini-vacation. One of our neighbors helpfully informed me that we went on a family trip, not a vacation. There is a difference! Anyway, while we were there we visited a store called Goods. My friend Erin described it as Amish Walmart, and that it is. It is a splendid place where you can buy a vinyl table cloth, fishing waders and Carhartt overalls. You can buy a John Deere hat, or an Amish straw hat. You could buy some toys, and a gun, and fabric all in the same place! There is also an entire aisle of canning supplies. I realize I am probably one of a select few who actually find that exciting. They even have the newly reissued pint and a half size jars. Woo! Living large, I tell you. It is quite the place, and we came out of there with one of those big tin stars they hang on barns and a box of pellets. Amish suspenders not included.

P.S. I went running while we were there and it was the prettiest run ever. The beautiful green farms, the huge white barns, roosters crowing and complimentary eau de bovine. I saw an Amish couple out picking in their garden. The woman had a five gallon bucket she was using to pick peas, and I could only look on in a combination of sympathy and wonder. Sympathy because I know that peas have to be shelled, and wonder because she would probably have them shelled and canned by 9am. Oh, and Jeff found a plastic Power Ranger in a (possibly Amish) graveyard while on his run. Random!

And last but not least, I do believe I mentioned 'other delights' in my title so I must produce. Would you know that Saturday is a big day? THE big day? Yes, it is when Chicken Dinner will pass through the veil (of gravy) and onto our plates. I may or may not have put a little too much thought into the method of preparation for El Pollo Gordo. I mean, if I'm gonna raise a chicken it better be tasty! The preferred method will be grilling at the hand of the Chappy Chapster. Anything he grills tastes pretty much divine, so I am expecting no less from our accidental meat bird. No pressure Dad! :)

Beach!

Yesterday our preschool co-op went on a beach field trip. It was a lot of fun! I realized that having the kids around the ocean freaks me out, but other than that things were peachy. Tyler spent most of his time digging. James played tag with his friend Isaac and they jumped over the incoming waves. Katie mostly busied herself digging and making things out of sand. Sometimes I think she is my exact clone. She spends all day, every day making stuff.

In other news, Tyler is all about bugs. He has some serious ninja fly catching skills. He will stalk them around the house and literally catch them with his bare hands. He does this just about every day. He also has no fear of other bugs, as evidenced by the bee sting he acquired this morning when he tried to hold a bee. I guess he had to learn for himself, but I sure felt bad for him. He cried til he fell asleep in my arms.

Legos As Motivator

James has been begging for Legos lately. Silly me, I didn't realize it cost $29.99 for approximately 150 tiny little pieces, and then an extra $10.99 if you want, say...wheels or a mini-figure. Eek! I have been keeping my eyes peeled but haven't really found any good deals. At the same time, I have been trying to come up with a fun and encouraging way to get James to practice his reading skills over the summer. (yes, my boy is reading!) It dawned on my that I could use legos as a reward for reading, and I ended up ordering some legos on Ebay. Today was the first day of the 'program' and he read to me for FORTY minutes! For a kid just learning to read, that is a long time if you ask me. He did great and needed very little assistance. He even read the book 'Fly Guy,' which is beyond the scope of the words and sounds he has learned at school. I have always loved to read, and it is so fun to listen to him read to me. I am excited for him, just thinking about how many adventures he can go on by reading books. I might run out of legos, but that's a small price to pay. :)

I'm Having A Moment (And Other Randomness)

Lately I have been freaking out about how my baby is going to be three. 3! He is pretty much potty trained (a good thing), and has officially left his crib for the bottom bunk. Waaaa! Where did time go, and anyone want to donate a new baby to our family? That would be great. Last night, Tyler woke up crying. I went to him and he was just sitting there holding his blanket, saying 'I cared' because he can't say the S sound. I laid down with him and pretty soon I was bawling like a baby along with him. It all just hit me that its going waaaaay too fast and I wish I could freeze him in time. Well, except for his terrorist-like tendencies.**

**Tyler managed to throw the camera bag hard enough over the weekend to break the LCD screen of the camera. Good times. At least camera still works, and I will soon get used to using ye olde view finder again.

In other news, Jeff's graduation party is coming up. While I wanted to invite everyone and their uncle, I did restrain myself because I'm pretty sure he would freak out. James is off from school, probably for two weeks as the teachers are allowed to strike for 10 days. Today we met some friends at the CSA and showed them around the farm. James absolutely loved having his friend Isaac there to run and play with. Speaking of growing up, he is old enough to go off exploring and come back in one piece (albeit a little muddy). Tyler touched the electric fence and seemed totally unfazed by it. Should I be surprised? Worried? It was on, as someone else got a shock. Well, enough rambling for now. I fear this post is pretty incoherent but that's all I got for today. :)