June Birthdays

Emerson and my birthday were only days apart in June.

We celebrated this last weekend. Our theme was bubbles.

Aunt Terra made stuff for tacos, Grandma made 3 different flavors of homemade ice cream. I made Chocolate Chip Cookies, Lemon Cookies, and Zucchini Brownies.

I didn't plan on making so many desserts, but here's why I did: 

• At first I made extra Chocolate Chip Cookies for our works, and they devoured most of the cookies. One girl from my husband work sent a note home with him saying, "You make the best cookies ever." Needless to say I had to make something else, or more Chocolate Chip Cookies.


• I decided to make Zucchini Brownies. We have so many Zucchini's from our garden. I need to use them up in whatever ways I can. Why not add them to desserts? They were so good! The problem was: The Daddy wrote the recipe down for me. *He used his Smart Phone, since we didn't have internet. The recipe was for a 9x9 pan. I was thinking it would be for a 9x12 pan. I didn't want him to have to find a whole other recipe to write down. So I went with it.


• Looking at my desserts, it still looked like we were limited. A little of this, and a little of that. Our family is growing! We have 10 adults, 2 teens, 4 active boys and Emerson who doesn't eat much and Edison who only gets Mommy's milk. Back to the drawing board. I made Lemon Cookies. They were so good!

All the desserts were really small. Many people took one of everything. All were made with gluten free flour. The brownies had coconut sugar. The cookies were made with coconut oil instead of butter. None of it was healthy, but it was better than the original recipes.

Here's what I got Emerson: Matching hat, tie, and leg warmers. He looked great!

Daddy said, "You really do pick out good presents." That's the first time he's ever told me that. I've been buying most of the presents for years.

Emerson got a bike from one Grandma. His other Grandma got him a swing. He's just learning how to grip things. This is a bike he's used in therapy. That thing on his head is a hearing aid he's testing out.

Here's Edison being passed around:

Terra looks scary in the background. This is Edison with Grandma - my Mom.

This is Great Aunt Becky with Edison. The boys think of her as a Grandma.

Here's Isaak holding his youngest cousin Edison.

Grandpa wouldn't let Edison sleep. He kept touching him. Then Edison woke up crying. Right after Edison woke up I looked over and there is Grandpa - my Dad sleeping away. What was I to do? I tickled my Dad. I touched and pestered him just like he did his grandson. He was annoyed with me, but that's ok. I get this pestering side from him. Secretly I know he enjoyed the attention.

What did I get?

My parents give me money and 1 item. This time I got a Fellowes Laminator. I got 2 bread pans. Daddy gave me a leaf blower | sucker. Romantic I know. I asked for all the above.

Berry Picking

We've mostly I've been picking Juneberries. They come from our Service Berry Bush. It looks more like a small tree, than a bush. In some ways I wish they were all ripe and ready to pick all at once. They taste good in pies, crisps, muffins, pancakes, yogurt, jelly, jam, and on their own. I've never seen them in the stores though. It's probably because they are such a pain to pick.

These are what I picked last night after swimming lessons. I have bags of them in the freezer. On Friday Aunt Terra and I are going to make Juneberry Jam. I've already made to Juneberry Crisps for our works.

I tried getting the boys to help. This is what happens:

Isaak: "Is this one ripe?" After his picks it. This is with every berry he picks. Then he proceeds to throw grass into the berry bowl.

Mica: "I'm board!" After picking 35 berries. He dances around in circles more than he helps.

Sigh! Someday they will be better helpers with berry picking. Until then I'm pretty much on my own.