Another round of dishes from Appetite for Reduction:  Quinoa Puttanesca, Pineapple Collards, and Butternut Coconut Rice. 

These were not as big a hit as the previous dishes from the cookbook.  The butternut squash dish was pretty good.  Mr. GV said the sauce served on quinoa was kind of odd to him.  The greens must have been unremarkable, because I didn't hear much about those. 

We'll keep trying recipes out of Appetite for Reduction though.  You can't win them all!

Before and After

Mr. GV had a bike race (excuse me, "fun ride", but let's face it, many of the participants are trying to beat a certain time goal they have set for themselves) in late May.  It was his first ride after being sick, so he took it easy and did the 30 mile. 

I hung around town and enjoyed being able to go to a book store and grocery store that carries a lot of items that we buy.  It's the little things that make me happy most of the time!

Water Time

J and I got the water toys out and had a water fight in the front yard.  J got himself ready, and this is what I found him wearing: 

 He was so eager to get out there that I didn't discover the tag was still on his trunks until the very last. 

 We had a great time playing that day, and made a great memory!

Lunch

Mr. GV has long hours at work.  He's also an avid bicyclist and runs some days.  So he needs a lot of food to keep him going.  Here's an example of the contents of his lunchbox from one day in May:

Hummus with baby carrots/cucumber to dip, strawberries, cranberry-cashew biryani, salad, and potato-spinach curry with rice.  Along with that he got a bottle of homemade tea, a reusable bottle of ice water, a cloth napkin, and silverware. 

Appetite for Yum

Recently I've been cooking from a cookbook entitled "Appetite for Reduction."  I've made several recipes from it, and most of them have been enjoyed here at the GV house.  Every now and then there's going to be a dish that doesn't tickle your particular tastebuds, you know? 

The first two dishes that I made were Cranberry-Cashew Biryani and Potato-Spinach Curry.  Oh my!  These were soooo good.  As I've stated many times before, we love Indian food, and these two dishes were no exception.  They will both be going into regular rotation here in our house. 

Hmmmmmmmmm

I have seen a few hummingbirds this year.  I have a total of four feeders---2 large and 2 small---and I need to keep them filled.  Love when they buzz right by my head.  :) 

Mother's Day Take 2

We visited my mother-in-law on actual Mother's Day.  We picked up J on our way, because we knew Mr. GV's mom would enjoy a visit from him. 

We took some pictures, first of mother-in-law's men.  Here we have Mr. GV, father-in-law, nephew, and brother-in-law. 

We slipped mother-in-law in for this picture.  J wanted to be in it too, so he was included.  I also took a closer picture that didn't include him, but he didn't need to know that!  lol

 In this picture he was trying to look at both me (off to the side a bit) and mother-in-law (who was more straight on) since we both had our cameras. J had a good time playing in Grandma M's footstool that doubles as a toy box.  He also had fun with my other nephew, who although he is 14 didn't mind entertaining J a bit.  A few days ago J referred to him as "...that boy that played with me with that ball."  I had told him that day that he was also my nephew and J got a little bit perturbed about that.  Pretty sure he wants to be the ONLY nephew. 

J moved into his own room that day as well!  I know both he and his mommy were ready for that.  Here they are decorating with the Phineas and Ferb wall clings that the Easter Bunny brought him. 

Mother's Day

I feel so lucky to have my mom.  She is a great person, and a great mom.  She makes the best of ANY situation. 

This year for Mother's Day we gave Mom her gifts and had dinner with her, nothing fancy, but it was good to be together. 

Mom with her new bonnet.  lol

Mom, her girls, and her Doodlebug. 

J tickled that he is hiding B's eyes. 

J being J. 

Growing

Fall is my favorite time of year, but spring is a close second.  I dread the heat that is around the corner, but I do love to see everything growing again. 

Day lilies, which thankfully hang around for quite a while.

The tulip poplar tree, which Mr. GV planted when it wasn't much more than a twig.  Now it provides shade and I just love it. 

The first year we've had groupings of apples growing on our Fuji apple tree.  I have my doubts about whether they will be allowed to stay and grow though, as I fear the critters will get hold of them.

Magnolia flower, with its sweet perfume. 

Crayfish tower.  We have a red tail hawk that lives in our yard and Mr. GV informs me that most likely he feasts on the crayfish while sitting atop the mailbox post.  Thus the crayfish shells stuck between mailbox/old newspaper box. 

I enjoyed watching this bee on the clover. 

Tiger lilies.  One of my favorites. 

Gabby, giving me her usual stare .

Pasta

I placed my first order from Spencer's Market * recently.  We enjoy pasta around this house, and I jumped at the chance to get some different flavors and types of artisinal pasta. 

Our box included:  rasta pasta, Thai chili mafaldine, lemon garlic orzo, sweet potato orzo, whole wheat spinach garlic fettucini, and chipotle-cilantro paperdelli.  So far we have tried the whole wheat garlic fettucini and the chipotle-cilantro paperdelli.  At first I thought the garlic was going to be too strong in the fettucini with the sauce I made to go on top, but the flavor was much more mellow than I expected, and very good.  I don't enjoy chipotle or cilantro so Mr. GV got that one all to himself, and he liked it as well. 

Spencer's Market has different offers for all sorts of food products every few days, and it's always fun to see what comes next. 

*This link is my invitation link.  I did not know until I went in my account a few minutes ago that there was such a link.  There is no cost to join, but it appears if you do and use my link, I get credit toward a discount or free shipping.  If you are interested and want to click this link, thanks a bunch!  If you don't, feel free to just go to www.spencersmarket.com and go from there. 





Tree

We had a tree that fell down during storms last fall.  It was a pine, which is the case with most of the trees along the side of our property line.  This spring, when it was time to mow, it was time to cut up the tree.  First Mr. GV used his truck and a chain to pull it out in the open where we could work on it. 



Next we plugged up the chainsaw.  Yes, I said plugged.  Mr. GV decided on an electric chainsaw as opposed to a gas one because the upkeep it much easier and it's much less polluting. 

After the tree had been moved, it was time to tackle some of the weeds that had grown up around it. Mr. GV got out his trusty ol' weedslinger (sling blade---"I like them french fried taters."  Anyone get that reference?)  He took down most of the weeds and the mower has it looking much better.

Carnival

This year we went to the carnival that comes along with the festival.  J was old enough to enjoy himself, and that was reason enough to give it a try. 

Mr. GV and J walking towards all the fun!

There were a few kiddie rides that J could do by himself.

J in his jalopy.  I love the detail of the cracked windshield.

And a few that he could not.  Fortunately Mr. GV was game to ride along with him, as I was not. 

On the Ferris wheel.

And then the big fun came, the jumping, bouncing, flying through the air 'ride.' 

J getting on his safety harness.

He absolutely loved it!  I thought he might get scared or sick, but nope, he was thrilled.  The guy kept bouncing him up higher and higher, and J showed no fear. 

One last ride with his uncle, then we were out of tickets. 

We played games too---a racing game, throwing the ball, fishing for magnetic fish, etc.  Mr. GV was of course the designated holder of the winnings---a sword, ball, and something else I can't quite remember right now.  lol

Candy apple and shaved ice drink.  Yep, let's sugar him up right before bedtime.  I think he ate one bite of the candy apple that night, and he still passed out not long after we got home. 

We had a great time, and J behaved wonderfully at the carnival!  We'll be ready to do it again when the opportunity arises. 

HHH, parade, and frisbee

J had been asking for Hungry Hungry Hippos for quite some time.  His mom spotted it at a kids' consignment sale and made J one happy boy that day!  We played that evening, and it's been played with several times since then.  I'm not ashamed to admit I enjoy playing it with him. 



At the end of April, our town always has a huge festival.  It's devoted to the cooking and partaking of a particular animal, so we don't participate in that part.  We do, however, enjoy the parade.  As a teen, I marched in the parade along with the rest of the high school band.  That time of year is flaky around here, weather-wise.  It's usually either broiling hot, pouring down rain, or occasionally freezing cold. 

This year it was a bit chilly to start with, and J needed his jacket and hood.  (I promise, Mr. GV wasn't angry at the time.  I'm pretty sure this picture caught him mid-chew of a snack.  lol) 

The kids around us all had silly string, and I closed my eyes to the fact that it is probably made from the most toxic substance known to mankind, and bought a can for J.  He had the best time with it.

A freebie Frisbee, given out by a parade participant brought on this big smile. 

This was a church float, and Mr. GV pointed out that he wasn't aware that sunglasses and lollipops were part of the dress back in biblical times.  We had a good laugh over that. 

A college band participating in the parade was performing a medley of Michael Jackson songs.  The field commander dressed the part, and by walking backwards was essentially doing the moonwalk. 

J loves Scooby Doo, and his mommy promised him one if he was good throughout the majority of the parade. 

Loved watching what I presume to be a dad and his mini-me.  Just two cowboys, hanging out at the parade. 

Later that day, K left J here at our house and we hung around outside.  Here's Macy, thrilled to have a stick in her mouth and that J was running around trying to get it from her.  She loves to play "keep away." 

Practicing his Frisbee throwing.

Trying to wrench it from her jaws. 

I just love the cuteness in the next two pictures.  I'm a proud Auntie, what can I say?