Strawberry-rhubarb pie

No roll pie crust

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've been getting my farm share box for a few weeks now and rhubarb has been included each time. I've never bought rhubarb...or even eaten rhubarb that I know of, and its been intimidating me.

The first week I bit off a sour bite off the end of one stalk and then they all went bad, left out on the table. The second week I snuck them all into my friends Dan and Kristin's fridge.

And now the third week...here they are again. More rhubarb.

I decided to go ahead and give in to everyone's fantastic support for strawberry-rhubarb pie.

I've made plenty of cakes and muffins during married/family life but I have not made a pie since I was a teenager. This is the best I could make out of the recipe's call for a lattice pie crust top. They are in the oven. Let's hope for success!

Another first for me is the coleslaw I made with the cabbage (and purple carrots). coleslaw!!!??? This farm share is definitely making me try new things as I scramble to use everything up.

Worked out pretty well!

And just the week before, I got to hang out with one of my absolute best buds from college, Shawnette! She was my most adored roommate in all of my college experience. If any of my other roommates happen upon this blog...sorry! but it's true and I have to play favorites in this case.

Thanks for reminding me about the times you blotted the puke off my face and tucked me in on those late drunken nights...turd! hahaha!

Check this out...

Sister and brother...

Sister <not sister in the middle> and brother...

Sister and brothers...

Then our guys...

Brothers....and more brothers! hahahaha! Gotta use this one again because it's all I have (and I love it!).

and Xander at 2 doing the same thing with two dinosaurs. Again...just for me and Jason. These are ridiculously boring to anyone else;)

During the two hours of games Isaac sat on this merry-go-round thing getting to know all these guys. It was hilarious to sit a few yards away and listen in;)

Today we went and visited the "Peachy Pig Farm". My goal was simply to u-pick some strawberries with the kids but Peachy Pig Farm gave us SO much more. Wow! This is a farm with plenty of character. A 10 or 11..maybe 12 year old boy came bounding over to welcome us and gave us a tour.

These folks have figured out how to make farming easier! just let the shit pile up. Other farms who include clean up in their daily animal care routine are suckers!

The smell up in here. I've always heard that about pig farms but dang!

The boy says, "they have food. It's right there!" and "oh we don't clean out the poop. we just let it build up." Gotta love that honesty but need to work on the eyesight because that food bowl is as empty as it gets. You can sorta see the front duckling has his entire back wet and caked in doodoo.

anyway...the boy was great and gives a fantastic tour! There was plenty to see and the kids and I count this as one memorable day.

Somebody got loose and was eating the roses! haha!

Berry picking at last. Simon got three into his bucket before he ate them all and then started eating the berries in my bucket.

Then we got distracted by the cherry trees! gorgeous rows and rows of cherry trees.

eating along the way, Xander? hehe

Our bounty cost us $3.75 but the experience was worth it!

I don't care about coordinating outfits, posed perfection or the perfect rule of thirds. I don't need popped colors or fancy angles. I threw my expensive grey card in the garbage (did you know those things actually go bad??) and have not purchased another.

We had a fun day! I got a kick out of Xander. He stiffens up and looks uncomfortable when I try to take pics of just him but when he has Isaac by his side his natural, cuddly self shines. They have such an amazing bond.

Simon is just a blur...so not too much of him today.

(xander's "five" portrait I'll be printing big for the living room. yay!)

A couple calls on the cell phone and it was confirmed that it was not Father's day yet but we had fun raiding the store for junk food and cards that...

"are a surprise that is in the car right now, but we will be hiding it somewhere different when mommy gets home from work."

That quote is not from the 5 year old as you'd expect but from the 8 year old. Isaac blabbed already. jeesh! His excitement over the cards may have created some misconceptions on Jason's part so I made sure to let him know there is not a flat screen TV or a new iMac in the car...just cards.

and a bonus pic: "We made new beds. Can we sleep here tonight?"

Absolutely!

The farm had an open house today and we dragged our friends with us to go take a look.

mmmm strawberries!!!!! and the kids investigating a mole hole.

Discussing the possibilities of bad luck from black cats.

Bonus pic...simple block castle is not enough for Xander. A door drawn on paper, cut out and taped on completes it.

It wasn't until I looked over at him cozy on the couch cradling his puke bowl that I noticed the bright red mask in the glow of the TV light. It was peeling and very slightly pink from his sunburn but nothing like this. Yowza!

Admittedly his passion has been more about numbers and science than reading. We have let it develop in his own time and recently he has been letting it slip that words are coming alive to him wherever we go. ie "why does it say Do Not Pass?" or "what does it mean by 24 hour savings?"

Xander is less secretive about his new reading skills and showing signs of reading already. I don't want to scream with pride and do the happy mama dance in front of the kids because, eh-hem...reading is just another part of life, a tool we use not something we do to make mom proud. Sound like a grinch? oh well, that's how we roll...

But anyway let me scream with pride on my blog!!!!! Xander is starting to read!!!!!! No instruction, no assignments, nothing.

We first noticed it when he was navigating netflix and asked if it was okay to hit the "add all" button for the Ben 10 series. Then he read something over my shoulder and asked me why I typed in "work" on facebook.

Today He made this Transformer sign and printed it out. It led to a quick note about sentence structure, that "Xander's" comes first in "Xander's room" and also about the apostrophe. I couldn't believe that he thought to put something there between the 'r' and the 's'.

They really do connect all the dots of information around them.

Xander's self portrait

Oh and this was on the camera too. Simon cleared out my jammy drawer and was having a good time I see.