Chateau Tebeau

Dear Aunt Shirley,

I know you hate pictures and you said you don't want them on the internet... but this is not Facebook!  It's just my little blog.  :)  And you look beautiful and happy and I wanted to share.  Please don't be mad.  I love you!!  And Congratulations!!

Love, Ashley

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My Aunt Shirley (my Godmother) retired this year from her teaching job at Oak Harbor High School after over 30 years (34?) teaching Accounting.  With the birth of her first grandchild (sweet, baby Reese, born in February), I'm sure she will be relishing this new freedom of time.  :)  My cousin Bryan also recently bought his first house and proposed to his girlfriend, Kelly.  So the next couple of years will certainly be busy and exciting for my aunt and her family.

To celebrate her retirement, my cousins Brittany and Brianne (the oldest and youngest of Aunt Shirley's three children) planned a casual, surprise party at a local winery in Gibsonburg that Aunt Shirley loves:  Chateau Tebeau.

The place was really pretty and peaceful with a relaxed atmosphere.  We ordered dinner off the light menu and had sangria and wine to drink.

The beverages and cake were served in gazebo over a bridge beside the pond.

Family and friends arrived early and waited for my parents and Uncle Jim (the decoys) to bring Aunt Shirley to the winery.

My cousin Brittany, the lovely bar tender.  ;)

Casey Lou

Baby Reese with Great Grandma Buhro.

Brianne, Reese and Brittany

SURPRISE!!!

These next few are very similar but I just love the series of Aunt Shirley's expressions... surprised and smiling.  Also love how my mom's holding Aunt Shirley's arm.  :)

I'm sure my mom is explaining all the texting she was doing earlier, while trying to alert Brittany of their pending arrival.

This picture is sweet because Aunt Shirley sees Brittany and baby Reese heading toward her and you can just see how much she loves being a grandma.

Love these too.

Pretty ladies.

This one reminds me of mom and Shirley's senior pictures.  Haha!  The pictures were always a slight profile with the senior student looking off at an angle.  :)

Chatting with guests.

My brother Taylor and his girlfriend, Lindsay.

Craig and I joined them for El Camino and a movie the night before.  Fun, fun!

Wes and Casey

These two celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary this weekend (July 1st).

Happy Anniversary, to one of the best couples I know!!!

The ladies!  Lindsay, Casey, Kelly, Brittany, Brianne and me.

Sisters

Grandma Verna and her daughters.

Man, am I lucky to be a part of this gene pool!!

The Buhro (and soon-to-be-Buhro) ladies:  Kelly, Brianne, Aunt Shirley, Grandma Buhro, Brittany and Reese.

This was cool.  They had a giant Jenga game set out on a small table on the lawn. The boys (plus Lindsay :)) got in on a game.

If I were a better photographer, this would be a cute picture.  But instead of focusing on my subject peering through the game... I was focused on the wood pieces instead. ;)  Ah, well.  I have some learning to do.

Craig with my brother Zach, cousin Bryan and brother Taylor.

Wes gettin' risky.

Bryan, trying to play it safe.

And of course... a bags game.  This kind of winery definitely fits our family well!  :)

A lovely evening was had by all.  Congratulations to Aunt Shirley!

And thank you to Brittany and Brianne for organizing a fun party.

What's For Dinner? July Week 1

{Week of June 30 - July 6}

Week 5 vegetable bag, picked up on June 26th:

Contents:  green leaf lettuce, rainbow carrots, green onion, cabbage, collard greens, cherry tomatoes, radishes, sweet banana pepper, yellow squash and zucchini.

The cherry tomatoes, carrots and radishes all got eaten raw or on salads.

This week's fruit share was another pint of raspberries!  Yipee!

We spent Saturday evening at a winery with family (post to come next) so we had dinner there while kids were at my sister in law's.

On Sunday evening, I babysat my nieces for dinner and bedtime so that my sister and brother in law could go out for their sixth anniversary.  (Happy Anniversary, guys!  Love you!)  And it's kind of my tradition to serve breakfast for dinner when feeding all four kids because it's just so readily accepted and easy.  So I made whole wheat oat pancakes and served them with fruit and yogurt.  Easy peasy.  I scooped the pancake batter onto the griddle with my smallest size scooper so they weren't huge, but my kids probably eat about four this size normally.  This night, every kid ate five, except Mya who had EIGHT!!  :)

Instead of pancakes for my own dinner, I tried a new fritatta recipe from our CSA newsletter because I just happened to have a sweet potato that needed to be used and I'm always looking for new ways to use greens.  This week, it was collard greens.

Sweet Potato & Collards Fritatta with Smoked Cheddar

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced

handful of collard greens, thick stems removed

2 eggs

2 egg whites

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp chili powder

pinch of salt

1/4 cup shredded, smoked cheddar cheese

hot sauce (optional - I didn't use)

-Heat olive oil in 9-10" skillet over medium heat.  Add potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 8-10 minutes.  Gradually add the collard greens, wilting them down into the pan.  Cook and additional 2-3 minutes.

-Meanwhile, whisk eggs, egg whites, milk, chili powder and salt.  Reduce heat to med-low and pour egg mixture down over cooked potatoes and collards.  Cover the skillet and cook about 10 minutes.

-While the fritatta is setting, preheat the broiler.  Remove the cover from the skillet and sprinkle with cheddar cheese.  Place under the broiler until the eggs are set and the cheese is bubbly and golden, about 4-5 minutes.

I wasn't sure what to expect about having greens in a fritatta, but it was really good.  There wasn't much egg, it seemed, so I'd probably add more next time, but I liked it and would definitely make again.  I served a slice of fritatta with one of my cheddar biscuits with garlic scapes.

For dinner on Monday, I used the zucchini, yellow squash, 1 tomato and some onion to make another CSA newsletter recipe called Zucchini Provencial.  I made this last year too and it's really easy and delicious.  Kids even ate it well.  This is also great served as a side dish with grilled steak or other meat.

Zucchini Provencial

olive oil for pan (about 1-2 tbsp)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 large tomato, peeled and chopped

several twists of freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp oregano

1 cup cubed mozzarella cheese

1 cup cooked narrow fettucini noodles (I just guessed on this)

1/8 cup sliced ripe pitted olives (optional - I omitted)

1/4 chopped onion

2 zucchini and/or yellow squash, sliced thin

1/2 tsp salt

grated Parmesan

-In a large skillet, heat oil until hot, but not smoking.  Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring for 5 minutes.  Add zucchini and tomatoes and cook 5 minutes more, stirring often, until zucchini is crisp tender.

-Stir in salt, pepper, oregano, cooked noodles, mozzarella and olives (if desired).  Heat, stirring gently, until warmed through and mozzarella starts to melt.  Serve immediately with grated Parmesan cheese.

Tuesday night, we spent out at Maumee Bay with friends, so we ordered pizza for dinner and then grilled lunch on Wednesday.  It was so unbelievably hot outside that we really didn't have much of an appetite at all the whole day.  So dinner was just a light snack.

Thursday was back to work as usual and we were still worn our from the holiday, so I didn't put any major prep work into dinner the night before.  I cut up my traditional, raw, veggie plate to go along side BLT's.  This one contained cucumbers, carrots, radishes and sweet banana pepper rings.

All veggies (above and below) were from our CSA.

Didn't have any avocado to add to my sandwich tonight (boo), but they tasted wonderful even without.  Love BLT's in summer!!!  And there will be many more where this came from.  Tomato season hasn't even officially hit yet.  Riehm's Farm (our CSA) just has them now because they start some early in the greenhouse so that we can enjoy them right from the start of summer.

William Dean at Age 5

To my dearest, first born:

Five?  Holy cow!  Really?  How did time pass so quickly?  Five sounds so... big.

But I know it's true and I know you're so excited for the big things in your very near future.  You're going to KINDERGARTEN this fall!!!  Are you sure you're ready?  Are you sure you don't just want to stay home and be little for awhile longer?  Of course you don't.  Silly me.  That's not how life works.  I know you'll be fine and you'll do great despite being one of the youngest in your class... 'cause God sure broke the mold with you, kid.  ;)  How did you get to be so fearless and confident when it comes to new things?  I have a lot of prayin' to do that God will guide me in being the best supporter I can be for you in this great big, new step in your life.  I really am so excited for you!

Thankfully, we don't have too much clothes shopping to do before school starts.  You're still comfortably wearing mostly 4T clothes (almost no size 5 at all).  When daddy took you to your five year well check and Kindergarten exam, the nurse weighed you at 38#6oz.  And at home, (cause the doctor's office always seems off) we measured you at 41 3/4".  You've had quite a growth spurt!  1 1/4" in the last 6 months and you've moved up to between the 25-50th percentiles on the growth chart.  The doctor's office gave you two final vaccinations before Kindergarten starts and, though you really didn't want them, you never cried and daddy was SO proud of you.  You passed all your screenings with flying colors.  Way to go!

Recently, you have taken on a few new responsibilities around the house and I'm so proud of you for really taking them seriously.  You immediately dress yourself upon waking on week day mornings, pull up your bed covers and feed the dog.  You're also helping me empty the dishwasher and/or set the table from time to time when I ask.  For this, you are earning your very first allowance... and will hopefully learn some valuable lessons with managing your finances.  ;-)

So let's talk about what's new with you lately...

Well, for starters, you earned your orange belt in karate back in May.  Great job, Little Dragon!

You, of course, have become a speed demon on your new bicycle and are making me nervous with how quickly you fly around our driveway.  But, somehow, I totally trust you because your balance is definitely one of your best physical strengths.

Without any formal lessons, you are practicing diligently in learning how to swim.  You've got a ways to go, but we've seen big improvements so far this summer!  You love to have us count while you go underwater by yourself.

Hmm.  As far as your favorite things nowadays?...

That's easy.

TRANSFORMERS.  TRANSFORMERS.  TRANSFORMERS!!!

You think and talk about them almost 24/7.  They are your very favorite toys right now and you just obsess over every detail and memorizing all their specific traits.  Thank goodness daddy is patient with actually transforming them, 'cause you'd get so frustrated with mommy's pathetic efforts.

I will never forget the look on your face the day your Sentinel Prime arrived at the house.  You'd counted your birthday money with daddy very carefully a week before and figured out that you were able to afford to pay for him (your first lesson in managing money).  So daddy placed the order and you patiently waited... and waited... and waited... for one whole week for it to arrive. 

Your excitement was electric!

Here is a washed-out picture of your beloved toy...

He's joined the collection and you play with each of them daily.

What else?

Oh, you have really gotten good at getting haircuts with daddy!  Such an improvement over previous years.

And whenever you get one... you look so suddenly older afterwards!  :(  Kinda' pulls at my heart strings.  But gosh you are handsome and a clean cut always makes your eyes POP!  :)

So let's see...

In the next six months, I am looking forward to:

1) enjoying the rest of the sweet summer days with you and our family

2) shopping for your school supplies (first time ever, really!)

3) your first day of Kindergarten!!!

4) watching you mature and grow within an awesome school system

5) hearing all about your highs and lows each night at dinner

6) continuing to read our daily devotions at bedtime and praying with you that you learn to love God

7) fall and winter holidays and all the festivities that go along with

William, one of your latest "I-love-you-bigger-than's" goes like this (with slight number variations each time):

"Mommy, I love you bigger than the tallest scraper with 47 seismosauruses stacked on top and 36 blue whales stacked on top of that!!"  (The largest dinosaur and animal that ever lived.)

First of all, holy cow, that's huge!

And second of all... right back at ya', kid.  ;-)