Anniversary Date

My husband and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary in July. 

It's been 6 weeks--about time give a report!

July 2, 2006

We are usually pretty simple with our anniversary celebrations. Dinner out is typical, usually without kids. The more kids we have, the harder that is to arrange, naturally. But since we've been spending Fourth of July with my in-laws in Missouri, it's easier to arrange for babysitting! (Thank you!!!)

This year, with it being the whole 5-year thing, I got the idea in my head that we should have an overnight date. In St. Louis. Something bigger and more special than dinner. Some real time to reconnect and enjoy being a couple, not just parents of three children aged 4 and under. Since the baby was only 6 weeks old, he would be included in our plans.

St. Louis Arch

Did I mention that the first time we met in person was in St. Louis?

See, I was living in Las Vegas at the time, he was in Iowa. 

We were set-up by his sister-in-law who was a teacher at the school where I taught and a very good friend of mine. 

Me & my sweetheart, spring 2006

After putting off her you-should-meet-my-brother-in-law comments for months, I said, fine, you can give him my email address. She called her husband who was away for business. He called his brother who awkwardly brought up the subject (ME!). 

And I got an email.

Then a phone call.

Then a date in St. Louis.

And the rest is history!

The right Hyatt 

Now fast forward almost 6 years to our 5-year wedding anniversary, and I'm planning a date in St. Louis! So cool right?!

So there I went, planning away. 

Dinner at the fancy Italian restaurant on The Hill.

Reservations at the Hyatt where we stayed (in separate rooms, thankyouverymuch--it was our FIRST date!), and a babysitter for the baby! (My sister-in-law--a different one--lives in St. Louis.)

Perfect.

This was all for Saturday. On Friday, my credit card got rejected three times!!! Turns out there had been "suspicious activity" on my account so the bank closed my card and issued me a new one via snail mail. Without telling me! To the wrong address!! Um, we moved almost 3 years ago... I think it was reserving the hotel online that was "suspicious". Why didn't they contact me? Call me? Ask me if I'd done such-and-such. Tell me they're issuing me a new card, confirm my address, send the card to the right house?! 

I worried that the hotel wouldn't accept our reservation because it had been made with an account that was no longer valid.

Meanwhile, my sweet, easy baby is being cranky! He was up at least three times during the night before our date. He fussed all morning and hardly napped. My husband and I tag-teamed during church and got to sit together for maybe 10 minutes. We ate lunch, kissed our older boys, and listened to our baby cry on and off during the nearly 2 hour drive to St. Louis.

Baby J3, July 4, 2011

We cancelled the babysitter Aunt. 

The baby finally took a nap, so we headed to The Hill to eat dinner.

He started crying on the way inside and continued for half an hour. 

I hid in the restroom, trying to breastfeed him in a bathroom stall. I shushed, I comforted, he cried.

I left.

My husband ordered and got our food to go. The restaurant was very nice to us, but I was so disappointed!

As we drove downtown to our hotel, we realized what the Fourth of July weekend meant to a big city: crowds. 

Duh.

Our hotel  was right by the fireworks display. No, we didn't have a view, but we fought traffic for an hour trying to get to the hotel. Thankfully, the baby was finally sleeping. And the hotel took my husbands card with no problems on the closed account!

The old courthouse, St. Louis, from our hotel

But parking was like a mile away and 7 stories underground and the elevator was closed for the night!

Oh, did I mention it was the wrong hotel? Yup. Who knew St. Louis would have two Hyatts?! Not me!

We finally got to our room, hungry, hot and exhausted. Some date!

This is all we saw of the arch this time!

I fed the baby and he went back to sleep--miracle! I still don't know for sure what was bothering him, but he was back to his easy ways after that.

Our room had these neat windows--kinda like a window seat but too high to really be called that. We had an amazing view of the crowds and sunset.

Beautiful sunset viewed from our room

We ate our 80-dollar meal from styrofoam containers sitting in the window watching the crowds. Not a fancy restaurant, no waiters bringing water, but still nice.

Romantic dinner for two in the windowsill

Then we watched TV. We don't normally, so it was fun! We took long showers, enjoyed the relative quiet and the huge, fancy bed.

St. Louis at night from our hotel room

We headed back to my in-laws and our boys the next day, refreshed. 

Me & my sweetie on the way back from our date

Happy 5th Anniversary, sweetheart!

Granola

We live in the country, have a huge garden, we're avid DIYers, plan to homeschool and I had a baby at home.

So yeah, we're pretty granola.

We also like to EAT granola!

My awesome in-laws are coming to visit for the weekend, so the boys and I made a batch of granola. It's super easy and quick! 

This is my Mom's recipe. Where's it from, Mom?

Gather all of the ingredients. 

Ok, I don't usually do that, but I've found it's easier to cook with the boys when everything is right there. Less time for them to get into stuff when I'm off searching for vanilla!

Mix together the dry ingredients:

7 cups oats

2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes

1 cup wheat germ

1 cup whole almonds

1 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup sesame seeds

Have your 4-year-old mix the dry ingredients with his hands. 

While he's doing that, quickly mix together the wet ingredients:

3/4 cup oil

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup hot water

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

Pour wet ingredients over the dry ones and let your 2-year-old mix it up with his hands.

Really, use hands for this! It really helps the dry ingredients soak up the wet ones. 

Right, Mom?

Licking your fingers is also highly recommended.

Oh, the memories of when I was little! 

I loved that we got to use our hands!

Isn't it pretty?

Spread the mixture out on a couple of shallow pans.

Bake at 250* for an hour or until dry and lightly toasted.

Stir often while baking.

Enjoy your granola with the milk of your choice (we had rice milk today) and fruit. 

Or with yogurt, banana and peanut butter, right mom?

Or fantasize about breakfast in bed!

Wordless Wednesday: Why I Garden

Midsummer Garden

This is one hot and muggy summer in the midwest.

Our garden seems to like it!

Come take a peek at it with me!

We have zucchini

and yellow squash.

The watermelon vine has grass clippings around it to keep the weeds down.

Carrots are ready to be dug up

and the lettuce has gone to seed. 

We just let it go--it's heirloom and the seeds will plant themselves!

We spent time this weekend putting cages around our tomato plants.

I hope they appreciate it--we have cuts and bruises and blisters to show for our efforts!

I've been adding straw to the walkways between the raised beds to hopefully reduce the amount of weeding I do every summer.

We let these onions go to seed so we can have some to plant next year.

Oh, basil, how I love you!

I planted marigolds partly because they're so cheerful, so easy to grow and because they're stinky. It's supposed to keep critters away... Who knows if it's true!

Speaking of critters, there's a cute one! 

J2 loves playing in the garden, even when it's 90 degrees.

Our sweet corn has tasseled out.

That's a term I didn't know before moving to Iowa.

Oh, look! Another critter!

So where's the baby when I garden?

Napping in the stroller! 

I'm done when he wakes up. Sometimes it's an hour, sometimes it's two.

Thanks for joining me on that virtual stroll through my garden!

Shock & Awe

My nursery closet

and gallery wall

were featured over at Under the Table and Dreaming!

 

Thanks, Stephanie Lynn!

Now I'm off to get my son ready for VBS. 

Since when do I have a kid old enough for VBS?!

Nursery Reveal: Window Wall

Things seem to evolve when I put a room together. 

When I imagined how the baby's room would look, I pictured drop cloth curtains.

I even bought the drop cloths and washed them!

But the board and batten was so pretty and white ... 

And I already had these silk ones...

And they were the perfect shade of blue!

Quite coincidently, cuz I mixed paints I had to make the nursery's blue. 

I had my husband rig up this contraption a couple years ago when I first painted the nursery a warm brown. I hung sheers from the curtain rod, then used tacks to hang fabric from the plywood to make a sort of valance. (Sorry no before photos in this post--I'll do a before & after when the nursery is done. Only two more projects!)

I wanted to keep the look of the valance, but the brown no longer matched. 

Enter barn boards!

I tried to use scraps to hold the two boards together, but it didn't work. Oops!

I ended up using 2x4 scraps in three places and screwing them in as screws hold better than nails. My husband hung the boards (very securely, don't worry!) with a little modification to the frame that was already on the wall. 

I love how the pretty, shiny silk looks next to the crusty, grungy boards!

I'm loving how this room is coming together!

Thanks for visiting,