Christmas in October

I cannot tell you how I have longed for this new lens. I have come so close to buying it multiple times when I had an upcoming photo-shoot of some sort. Finally after saving for it....it arrived just in time for several approaching shoots. Yesterday I was nearly ecstatic when it arrived.

So, as Parsley was playing with chalk yesterday evening, I was messing around with my new lens in terrible shadowy lighting. Too much fun.

Look who thinks she's big stuff standing on the railing.

I didn't even realize until we got out there that Little Miss Muffet had grabbed her camera too when she saw me bringing mine.

"Cheese!"

Thank you God for these good gifts: a new lens and my darling little photographer.

Family Time at the Zoo

Last week we had very fun family time at the zoo. Joshua made the mistake of mentioning it to Parsley the day before. All she could talk about was going to the zoo in the stroller. For some reason the stroller was a very important element to the trip.

Viewing Joy and Ladybird, our elephant friends.

The gibbons can be the most exciting part of the zoo. When they get going, you can hear them calling out from outside the zoo. When we heard them making noise, we rushed over to watch. Unfortunately it was not a pleasant experience for all of us. In fact, the "monkeys" were "a yitto bit scary" and caused us to shed a tear or two.

Seeing the beautiful male lions.

We had hoped that Autumn the giraffe would have given birth by this time, but alas, some of us are destined to late arrivals. Walter seemed to be taking good care of her in the meantime.

I guess the pacing leopard was the only animal fortunate enough to make it into the pictures this time.

Visiting the playground was a nice finish to our trip.

Thanks for a fun trip to the zoo, Daddy!

One of the Few Things the South is Lacking

Rhubarb.
I miss it.
I know, I should be posting about pumpkin instead, but it's a high of 83 today. Let's linger on one last summery recipe.

My friend Amanda made a strawberry rhubarb crumble for us last year. It was so amazingly good.

On the night of the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics we enjoyed some time catching up with our friends Ray and Adrienne (who were visiting from the D.C. area). I was craving this dessert excessively. Unfortunately, rhubarb is rare, expensive, and the fresh rhubarb that I found in the store looked a bit shady. So I resorted to using Publix frozen rhubarb.

Fresh strawberries. Wonderful.

Delicious. 

Especially when you add a scoop of Publix vanilla ice cream. Best vanilla in the world. Yes, I'm about the biggest Publix fan you can find.

Here's the recipe. You won't be disappointed.

Rosemary

Last week we had our first ultrasound for Rosemary (yes, although originally referred to as Thyme, I'm switching to Rosemary. I'll let you guess the gender).
We were excited to find out that our baby is a girl!
Parsley is excited to have a sister.
She wanted us to show you her profile shot.

10 ounces of cuteness. She looked perfect.

I like how her hand is resting on her head.

We love you, baby Rosemary!

Cookie Time

I stumbled across this recipe the other day on another blog.
It was my first time seeing that blog and somehow the recipe sounded good. In my obsession to make cookies just slightly healthier (so I can eat more with less guilt) I had to make a few alterations. I switched the flour to whole wheat, very slightly lessened the amount of butter, and altered the baking temperature, etc. Usually when that happens, my whole family suffers. The delicious smell leads to utter disappointment.
But....This time it was a success. I have often tried to figure out some sort of clue on altering cookie recipes to use whole wheat flour instead of white. I finally found these helpful hints that helped me know what changes to make. Very helpful.

I have made them twice now, and I won't tell you how many actual cookies I have eaten.
I like them because they don't seem to dry out as quickly as some, and they have a nice chewiness to them. You can't go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate.

Here's my altered recipe...check out Kellie's blog if you want the original.

Oatmeal Peanutty Chocolate Chip Cookies

6 1/2 T butter slightly softened
1/2 c white sugar (although I don't use quite the full half cup)
1/2 c brown sugar (I don't pack it, but I make sure to do the full half cup. I hate the taste of more white than brown)
1/2 c peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 c whole wheat flour
1 c old fashioned oatmeal
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
chocolate chips (I never know how many I put in....whatever looks good)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Beat butter and sugar. 

Add peanut butter and beat well until creamy. 

Yes, Smucker's Natural is the only way to go.

Add egg and vanilla and beat some more.

Combine dry ingredients (except the chips) and mix.

Let me mention that the whole wheat flour I use is ground at home and is used right from the freezer. For making bread, it works well to add it straight from the wheat mill, but for some reason my cookies seem to work better with frozen flour. I guess maybe it settles differently when I measure it. 

Add to other ingredients and mix by hand. 

Add chocolate chips.

 And eat a few.

Drop on parchment paper on ungreased cookie sheets. 

Slightly flatten with a fork (like you would for peanut butter cookies). 

Bake for 8-11 minutes. 9 minutes is about the perfect time for mine. 

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing them from the cookie sheet.

And eat them all. Or share a few.

A Happy Labor Day

On Labor Day weekend we made a quick trip down to Atlanta for a Braves vs. Phillies game.
We had so much fun with our friends Rob, Aaron and Riley. Why I didn't take a group shot, I'll never know. Well, I guess that it never crossed my mind since I didn't take my camera. Fortunately, Joshua took advantage of his iphone and got some shots of the day.

I love Turner Field. 

 Ahh. Beautiful.

 You may be able to tell that it was blazing hot. To top it all off, our air conditioner died on Saturday evening. 

Yay for a long weekend. 

We held off on using a repair man (who would have likely charged us twice as much as normal on a holiday weekend). Last time we had to have a repair, it cost $150 and it took the repairman 15 minutes to fix. This time Handy-Man-Joshua came to the rescue. Once the hvac stores opened again on Tuesday, he bought the part for $11.60 and fixed it himself. 

Now I'm going to go spend $138.40 on a cute fall outfit. 

Well. Maybe not.

But back to the game.

 For most of the game we were way down. (Sorry, I can't give you the exact scoring run-down inning by inning....call Joshua.) In the 8th we were down 7-3. Lots of people were leaving. I couldn't blame them. My confidence was low too. I did, however, say to Joshua, "Wouldn't it stink if you left and then we came back and won?"

In the 9th we got two outs before scoring two more runs. Then, our own Chipper Jones was up to bat with two runners on. Unfortunately, he had been having a rough game so far. On the second pitch, he cracked that ball hard for an amazing home run. We all went crazy. Parsley enjoyed that I was jumping up and down while holding her. Joshua looked like he had won the lottery. It was by far the best game I've been to....or likely that I ever will go to.

Thanks for a great final season, Chipper. Let's go all the way this year.

Darcey

I had the privilege of shooting Darcey's pictures when she was just a few days old and again for her 6 month photos a few weekends ago. She's such a beautiful baby (you'll know why when you see her Mom, Amy), and I thought you might enjoy getting a glimpse of her personality through these photos.

Infant Photo Shoot

Six Month Photo Shoot

Let me mention at the start that Amy made this adorable dress for Darcey. So cute.

Happy Half-Year, Darcey!