Quick Successions: New Mexico Edition

I planted some tomatoes this year like I usually do, but I also planted basil, parsley, cilantro, mint, and some peppers. I put them in pots to keep the rabbits from eating them, but I also bring them in the house whenever we have a frost warning (yes, we are still getting those) and the pots greatly facilitate that.  I was able to start harvesting some of the herbs this week. Hannah helped by holding the tray while I cut. I used them to make a homemade pesto sauce at the suggestion of my friend Kate. I left the sauce a little thicker and we used it to make these yummy chicken sandwiches with some homemade wheat rolls I made earlier in the week. We really enjoyed these. It was nice to have some time to make something. Monday we went to Target. Brian pushed her over to the bakery section and she sat in the cart singing Do You Know the Muffin Man? The baker came out smiling and gave her a chocolate chip cookie. She savored it all through the store. If you look carefully at...

 We bought Hannah a little inflatable pool. She calls it her "puddle." She keeps asking us if she can go play in her puddle. She sits in her puddle with her arms out and we throw a little Nerf ball to her. She doesn't really catch yet, but she is starting to watch the ball more closely.  The people at a local restaurant really like Hannah. When she came in the other day they gave her these cat ears. She calls them her "cheese ears." I finished my finals last week for the past semester. During the summer I am taking one class and working. Brian is taking the summer off. I have many projects for him to do. We also have some fun places to go, so stay tuned...

We made a weekend trip to Lafayette/Indianapolis, Indiana this past weekend. We left about 11 a.m. on Friday morning with our Pringles chips, grapes, and 7-grain Kashi crackers for snacking. Hannah rode very patiently playing with her dog and drinking her milk for about the first hour and half and then she wanted to know if we were in Indianapolis yet. I had been telling her that we were going there and she was very excited, responding "Oh yes, I love apples." Get it. IndianAPPLEis?  Anyway, it was about time for lunch so we stopped somewhere in Missouri and ate. Then we continued on to Hannibal, Missouri for our gas stop. Hannah played with my iPad during this phase of the trip. She likes listening to music and playing a drawing game. She also likes reading books from my Kindle app.  After the fuel stop, we drove into Illinois. Hannah napped during this leg. We stopped for dinner close to Decatur. While there, we discovered that I hadn't packed any pants for Hannah. ...

I think I have posted before about Hannah's attachment to my childhood doll Zachary. This past week, she has started to put him down for a nap on the stairs with a little doggy and his bottle.    I saw her doing this and I told her that the best thing to do when the baby goes to sleep is for the mama to take a nap too so she is ready to play with the baby when it wakes up. So she took a pillow and blanket and laid above him on the stairs. Then, like a true mother, she got up after a few minutes and started doing other things.  On Friday we took the children of my visiting teachee for a picnic and then went to our house to watch a movie because the husband was sick and they live in a 400 square foot apartment and so the guy needed some peace. I didn't get permission to show the kids (an 8 year old girl and a 10 month old boy) but here is one of Hannah enjoying the evening. The next day we went to a picnic with the other docto...

We all got up at 7 a.m. and piled into the truck for the 2014 Kansas City Temple Run. It's a 5K run and 100-yard dash for kids. Registration was free. The Kansas City LDS Temple is actually close to Liberty, Missouri.  Brian pushed Hannah in the stroller and I ran. My time was just over 28 minutes, which I thought was very respectable for a 33-year old momma and doctoral student who used to annoy her PE teacher by making him wait outside with her while she finished her 15-minute miles. Brian was a few minutes behind me. Hannah beat him by just a little. :)  Before the race.    Brian and Hannah's big finish.  After the race.