Strawberry Fields Forever

This may start to sound like an infomercial for Ingram Farm, but we had such a great time picking strawberries and were so impressed with Ingram Farm (located at 6121 Riverdale Drive, High Point, North Carolina) that it's hard not to brag about the place.

When we first got to Ingram Farm (open Monday - Friday 7am - 7pm; Saturday - 7am - 5pm; not open on Sunday . . . good God fearing folk, too!), this was the picturesque view that greeted us.

Then it was down to business. The friendly staff at Ingram Farm (you can contact them by calling toll free 336-431-2369) handed us the flag Finley is holding and directed us to a row to start picking! We were asked to place the flag wherever we stopped picking. They seemed to have quite a system at Ingram Farm!

I was a little afraid that since we were there so late in the day that the strawberries would be picked over. But the row we were directed to at Ingram Farm looked like it had been planted, tended to, and preserved just for us. There were so many strawberries!!!

Good quality strawberries at Ingram Farm, too!

Here is Finley helping his "dada" put the berries in the bucket. If you fill the bucket, you get about 10lbs of strawberries . . . which would cost you a fortune at the supermarket, but not at Ingram Farm (just $1.10 per pound if you pick your own, and $1.70 per pound pre-picked)!

What's more, after you are done picking, there is a great little "country kitchen" at Ingram Farm where you can buy strawberry ice-cream or strawberry ice!

It was delicious. Just ask Finley if this picture doesn't tell the whole story!

Once we got home, we enjoyed some of the fresh strawberries. They were so sweet. You know, the good folks at Ingram Farm (which has been a family-owned farm for over 100 years!) plant new strawberry plants each year to increase crop production and sweetness. Notwithstanding their long history, Ingram Farm has kept up with the newest strawberry picking technology. In 1995, Ingram Farm adopted plasti-culture for strawberries (strawberries are grown on a raised bed of dirt that has a plastic cover on it), which allows for easier picking and cleaner fruit (for more information visit www.ingramfarm.com).

After enjoying some fresh strawberries, it became clear that we wouldn't be able to eat all of them before they started to go bad. In retrospect, maybe we should have shared . . . but instead we experimented with making "fruit leather" (which is basically an all-natural fruit roll-up).

It was pretty easy. You just cut and rinse the strawberries (and you can actually make it with whatever fruit you have on hand).

Then puree in a blender.

Pour out on either a cookie sheet with plastic lining (not wax paper . . . ask Natalie) or on a greased cookie sheet or brownie pan. And then use whatever method you would like to dry it out very slowly (put it in an oven at a very low temperature for many hours, leave it in a car to bake all day, etc.).

Once it is sufficiently dry (or leathery), you peel it off the pan or plastic and cut it into delicious squares (or rectangles) to be enjoyed!

Curb Appeal

When David and I first bought our house, almost 4 years ago now, the house was definitely old but still in great shape. Little did we know how quickly things would start to deteriorate. Our house has Masonite siding on it which begins to crumble once the slightest amount of moisture gets under the wood. So our siding has started to look a little weathered these days to say the least.

Some of our trim work had started to crack and swell.

The wood peckers decided to put holes into our trim around the roof line.

And some of the Masonite had started to rot and crumble!

Can you believe how bad it was?
I mean just the slightest touch and huge chunks of the siding would come apart in your hands.

And then there was our roof.

Which had lots of lovely stains on it from the huge pine trees that surround our house.

So it was time for a home makeover.

A little Curb Appeal (my favorite show on HGTV).

Our entire tax refund and then some went into giving our house a much needed face lift. We picked out some new vinyl siding to match what we already had on the house - with just a slight difference in color. Our old siding was grey and the new vinyl siding would be slightly green. Scottish Thistle is the official name of the color on our house now.

We also choose to go with a darker color roof to hopefully help hide potential pine tree stains in the future.

It has a nice textured look to it as well.

One last before shot of the old roof and siding.

TAH DAH!

So the color of the new siding really doesn't look too different in pictures, but the roof sure does pop now.

Now all we need to do is fix our yard/shrubbery and our Curb Appeal makeover will be complete!

Motherhood

"Motherhood is the greatest potential influence either for good or ill in human life. The mother's image is the first that stamps itself on the unwritten page of the young child's mind. It is her caress that first awakens a sense of security; her kiss, the first realization of affection; her sympathy and tenderness, the first assurance that there is love in the world."

- David O. McKay

"It is not what you do for your children,

but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings."

- Ann Landers

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous.

It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

- Elizabeth Stone

"Before you were conceived

I wanted you

Before you were born

I loved you

Before you were here an hour

I would die for you

This is the miracle of life."

- Maureen Hawkins

"My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw.

All I am I owe to my mother.

I attribute all my success in life to the moral,

intellectual and physical education I received from her."

- George Washington

"As I come to understand the many talents and characteristics of women,

I realize how needed their strengths are in this dispensation. We must remember that we are daughters of God here to provide nurturing care for one another, family and friends - loving care to soften the changes of life felt by all...

What a great opportunity we have to fill our God-given role.

He has given us the privilege to shape the lives of those entrusted to our care.

Even those of us who have not been blessed to have children of our own can still be influential as trainers and nurturers. It does not matter where we live, whether we are rich or poor, whether our family is large or small. Each of us can share that Christ-like love in our 'motherly ministry'."

- Barbara W. Winder

"God could not be everywhere

and therefore he made mothers."

- Jewish Proverb

"In the Heavens above, the angels,

whispering to one another, can find,

among their burning terms of love,

none so devotional as that of 'Mother.'"

- Edgar Allan Poe

"Mothers hold their children's
hands for a little while
and their hearts forever."

- Irish Saying

"The sweetest sounds to mortals given

are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven."

- William Goldsmith Brown

"No matter what you read or hear,
no matter what the differences of circumstances you observe in
the lives of women about you, it is important for you
Latter-Day Saint women to understand that the Lord holds
motherhood and mothers sacred and in the highest esteem.
He has entrusted to his daughters the great responsibility
of bearing and nurturing children...
There is divinity in each new life."

- Spencer W. Kimball

Happy Mother's Day!

Photos taken by Jackie Harmon

Let the Wild Rumpus Start!

This past weekend we had one last birthday celebration for our big 1 year old.

Finley wanted to invite his friends over to play and eat cake!

The Theme: Where the Wild Things Are

The Colors: Blue and Green

There aren't a lot of Where the Wild Things Are decorations out there, so I ended up making invitations and decorations from scratch.

The tables were lined with pictures from Finley's favorite book!

The colored straw is leftover from our Easter Egg baskets.

We hung streamers to look like the forest that grew

and Grew

and GREW

(until the ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around)!

The cupcakes were made to look like scenes of Max sailing off in his boat and scenes of the WILD RUMPUS!

We were able to find a Where the Wild Things Are puzzle for the older kids to work on.

And of course everyone had to have a crown just like Max when he became KING of all WILD THINGS.

We even had some festive food - Wild Thing pizzas!

(Well sort of...they didn't turn out as scary looking as I had hoped)

Finley enjoyed sharing his food with friends (or at least pretending to).


We played pin the tail or crown on our beloved Max.

Here is a before shot of our King.

Then we let the kids get to work!

I do believe that Miss Addie was the only one to place the crown in the correct location.


Finley needed a little help making his way over to Max.

But he did a pretty good job pinning the tail and crown on.

If only he was a little taller!

And here is Max after the kids pinned him.

Poor Max never knew what hit him!

Finley was very blessed to receive many wonderful gifts from his friends.

He even had their help in opening them!

Eventually Finley ended up diving right in.

He sure is one lucky boy!


Finley was sad to see his friends go, but happy to give goodbye hugs and kisses!

After everyone left Finley was able to spend some quality time with Uncle Donovan working on the Wild Things puzzle. Donovan was even dressed for the occasion wearing a Max t-shirt.

I still can't believe he is one!

Happy Birthday Finley!

I wonder what the theme of his next party should be...