NUMERO UNO!

Ephraim is one year old tomorrow! He is the most wonderful little guy. I love everything about him. He is easy going and doesn't mind being alone but he's always up for some snuggling with mama. He loves to wrestle with his big brother Jairus, actually he loves to wrestle with anyone and everyone. He's got the longest reach and the quickest grab of any baby I've ever met. I think he managed to dump the sacrament water tray in my lap three Sundays in a row.

He loves to eat....tomatoes, grass, dirt, rocks, you name it.

I don't know why but I just never want to be away from him. It makes me so dang meloncholy to think of him growing up and leaving me. I know it will happen someday so I cherish all of his slobbery baby hugs and kisses right now.

He loves his big sister Marley. She was there when he was born and got to be the first person to hold him. They seem to have a very special bond. It is so sweet to see.
We are so blessed to have Ephraim Isaac Judd in our family. We love him so very much.

Husband Tag

I was tagged by my darling friend Sarah. It has really forced me to strain in recalling all the little details. I remember our early days more as a exultant blur of utter of joy, not so much specific details.

What is his name? Thomas Francis Judd II

How long have you been married? Twelve and a half years! Weird.

How long did you date? From first date to wedding date was just shy of four months. When you know, you know.

How old is he? 36. He is five years older than me which works out great. Whenever I start to feel old I just think "He's almost 40" and I feel a little better.

Who eats more sweets? If we're talking about pop, he does. If we're talking about chocolate, there's no question it's me.

Who said I love you first? I'm sure he did. I like to play coy. But really it was kindof just understood that we loved each other from the very beginning.

Who is taller? He is 6'5". I am 5'7". When we hug my nose conveniently reaches his armpit.

Who can sing better? Him. He is actually quite skilled at modeling his voice after professional musicians. Most recently he was singing The Police and sounded exactly like Sting.

Who does the laundry? Until recently I did. Now sweet Marley Mae has taken over at least half of the time. It's wonderful! Laundry is the bain of my existence.

Who pays the bills? I do.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do. It's closest to the baby's room.

Who mows the lawn? He does. Somehow when I was pregnant with Jairus I developed horrible seasonal allergies. I can not mow the lawn without my eyes swelling shut. Nice picture.

Who drives?He does. I'm not really a fan of driving, especially long distances.

Who is more stubborn? Him, or wait....me. It probably depends on the situation.

Who kissed who first? He kissed me. Again, I like to play coy.

Who asked who out first? We met at a Christmas church dance and were together pretty much every day thereafter. I don't really know that either one of us asked we both just knew we'd be together a lot.

Who proposed? He did, with a box of bordeauxs and an engagement ring inside.

Who has more siblings?I do with 3 sisters and 2 brothers. He has 3 brothers and 1 sister. In the very beginning he said "A family just isn't a family without at least 5 kids in it."

Who wears the pants? At first glance one might say that he does. But secretly I'm really the pants wearer. Although I do enjoy wearing skirts and dresses from time to time.

And now I will ask to hear from Marrianne and Helena. I am very interested to hear your dating stories.

Retro

My mom has a whole bunch of cool old patterns. This is one of the many that I have stolen from her. I think it is from 1952. The pattern peices were so old they were just falling apart in my hands. I had to trace them onto something sturdier.



The dress went together pretty quickly. Since we are on a budget I used some pink gingham that I already had on hand. Luckily Aislyn adores everything pink. I usually like to make my own bias but this dress needed something like eight yards so I decided to just use the premade stuff.
Here she is enjoying the superb spinability of this full cirlce skirt. She has been a very dizzy girl lately.
It turned out to be an excellent bribing tool. I actually got her to willingly brush her hair two days in a row!

Eragon

Townsend just finished reading Eragon which is a 730 page book. I am thoroughly impressed. To top it off, it only took him a week to do it. He wasted no time in picking up the sequel Eldest which he is already half through. These books are especially cool because they were written by a 17 year old homeschooled boy. Homeschooling rocks!

450

That's how many quarts of green beans, tomatoes, and peaches I canned this last week! It has to be some kind of record. Many thanks to Fran Peterson and Ida Simmons. Together we were able to do 205 of those in just one day! Marley and Townsend were excellent peelers and green bean snappers.Thomas even learned to use the pressure canner. I promise there's nothing sexier than a man operating a pressure canner!
Here's the cooling table.
We couldn't keep Ephraim away from the tomatoes. What baby can resist a bright, beautiful, red ball? They tasted good too.
Here's what happens when two little boys are left to play outside all day long. They had so much fun getting absolutely filthy.
A long day of canning wears a girl out. We finally ended up making some dinner at 11pm. Aislyn was so tired she fell asleep in the 30 seconds it took for me to dish up her plate. We woke her up and asked if she wanted to eat. She said yes but she needed a pillow first.

Here's some of our pretty green beans just before they were cut and put into jars. All in all it was a good week. It was a TON of work, but it's the kind that just makes you feel really good when you're all done and looking at what you've accomplished. We definitely have a year supply of at least a few things.

Up next.....make more time for sewing.