First Fruits and Broccoli Fritters

This week I bought a bumbo chair for Zeke.  Isn't he precious is it?  To me he is just gorgeous and I tell him that all the time.  Can you believe he's almost 5 months?

We harvested our first round of strawberries yesterday.  I think I've finally blocked out the little baby bunny that was getting in and stealing all the ripe strawberries!  This is Gwen "smiling". :)

Today I made these for Sunday lunch.  If you even remotely like broccoli you HAVE to try these.  They are THE BOMB!  I told Ben I'm going to make them every day.  :)  Here's the recipe:

1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/3 C grated Parmesan cheese
2 T all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp sea salt (I've started using sea salt now)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper (I always add more)
2 T canola oil

1.  Steam broccoli.  I do mine in the microwave with a little water in the bowl too for 5 min and stir... another 5 min.
2.  Stir all ingredients and then stir in steamed broccoli
3.  Heat oil and put in little piles of the broccoli mixture.  Turn after 3 min and cook on other side 3 minutes.  Sprinkle with a little more sea salt at the end and enjoy.  They resemble a quiche without the crust.  The picture doesn't do them justice.

More Baby Fox

These are some shots my mom got while she was here.  I promise I will eventually blog about something else.

Indian-Style Grilled Chicken and More Fox Mania

I tried this while my parents were here.  We all enjoyed it very much.  There are some spices you may not normally keep in your pantry...but I find that these are great spices to have on hand, especially if you like Indian flavors like I do.  Then the next night, I used the leftovers on a pizza.

Indian-Style Grilled Chicken

1/2 tsp black pepper (I always use more because I LOVE pepper)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp garam masala
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro (I used dried, and of course, less)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C hot sauce (I used salsa because that's all I had)
3/4 plain yogurt (I used sour cream)
1/4 C heavy cream (I used whole milk)
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 T soy sauce
cooking spray
8 bone-in thighs (I used boneless skinless thighs)

1.  Combine all ingredients (except cooking spray and chicken) in a large bowl; stir until well blended.  Add chicken, turning to coat well.  Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.  (I did the 24 hours)
2.  Prepare grill and spray grate with cooking spray.
3.  Remove chicken from marinade and place on a platter.  Discard marinade.  Grill chicken skin down 6 to 8 minutes; turn and grill second side 6 to 8 minutes.  Serves 8.

I'm obsessed with foxes now.  I went to the library last night and got every book on the shelf I saw about foxes.  Here's some of what I'm learning:

* An adult female fox is called a vixen; the adult male is called a dog.
* The red fox is one of the most wide-spread mammals on Earth.  It lives in North America, Europe, Asia, northern Africa and Australia.  This adaptable fox lives in deserts, forests, mountains, and arctic tundra.
*  A male fox establishes a territory by marking the borders with urine and feces.  He protects his territory.  A female fox is attracted to the scent of the urine and that's how they find each other to mate.
* By 6 months the baby foxes (which have a variety of names.. pups, whelps, kits...) are able to hunt on their own.  The female fox babies sometimes stay and help with another set of pups, but the males all go off and look for their own territory.
* Foxes do not mate with just one female it looks like.  They may choose a different one year to year.
* Foxes are designed to see things we can't and smell and hear things we can't.  They are remarkable.  You should hear their screeches.  Yikes!

First Asparagus

How every mother wants to see their kid at dinner time... with an asparagus spear hanging out.  She ate it for the first time tonight.  Hurray!

The Fox

Makes me happy.

Corporate Challenge

Ben was in a bike race tonight at the Nascar stadium in town for a thing called the Corporate Challenge.  It's kind of like all businesses in town have an Olympics or something.  I wasn't there to cheer him on unfortunately, but I laughed when I saw these photos he took of himself.

This is a tattoo someone had.  It is a bike cog with a ruler.  Hum... do you think he'll regret this at 90 years old?  Who knows, but it's unusual.

Visits

Yesterday we had Paw Paw Barreth and his brother Bob come by.  How nice to see them!  My parents have left just this morning and now we are anticipating Ben's sister Beki this upcoming Sunday.  She's going to live with us for a while... so we are all excited.  One thing is for sure... this house is never dull.

Paw Paw says Zeke and Bob look alike.  What do you think?  :)

Fox Update

The foxes are being trapped and relocated.  I only saw one trapped this morning, but it made the most awful crying sound and I saw the daddy fox come up to it and it couldn't do anything for it.  SO SAD!  The rest of the young ones have figured out there are traps and have moved around the corner.  They are a clever animal.  I'll miss them around, but I know they have to move on.  They wouldn't have enough food for that many adult foxes around here anyway.  I'm just glad it is live trapping and they will not lose their lives.  They are big enough to hunt for themselves now anyway.  I'm glad God let me see their final chapter here in Broxton Square.  At least I still have my hawk!!  I guess you can take the girl out of the country, but not the country out of the girl.

Lately

My dad and Zeke.

Today we went to Kingsville Baptist Church to celebrate Ben's Grandpa's 80th birthday with all of the family from around here.  I can always depend on Kingsville for blog material.  I'm not sure what it is...but this part of the country invites quirky.  On the way out there we saw a llama and I had to have my picture with it.  I know, I'm a dork.

Also on the way we saw these Grecian statues near someone's driveway.  Mind you, we are out in the country and it was just bizarre to see these amidst trailers and fields of wheat.

Ben's Grandpa and Grandma.  What a wonderful couple and what a good time today.

Gwen was home with a fever with the grandparents and Zeke was there being passed around and adored.  Here he is with cousin Tiffany.

Anthony and his little girl, Mia.  She's just three months older than Zeke.

As we turned onto our street we finally saw the fox kits out playing!  They were living a street over, but have recently relocated onto our street.  The kits are getting so big though that I'm sure they will move on soon.  I'm glad I got to see them.  Just a note... this is in front of my neighbor's house in the middle of suburbia, and both times that have located to a house with dogs in the backyard.  The first house even had a great dane!!

Grand Times

A picture of Zeke and Paw Paw Barreth before he left.  My parents think they look a lot alike.

My two... looks like the beginning of a wonderful friendship right?

Gwen and I attempted another concoction with oil and water and food coloring inside of a plastic bottle to make "ocean in a bottle."  It turned out lame..but she enjoyed making it.

What she really enjoyed was stirring water in a pot in the sink.

Here I am to let you know I do truly exist.  I'm usually the one behind the camera.  Do you think Zeke and I look alike?  Check out those noses!

Grandma Morris talking with Zeke.

The Zoo

Today we went to the zoo with Paw Paw Barreth.  Here we are at the sea lion show.  We made it just in time.  Ben is holding Gwen and the sea lion got pretty close.  They are beautiful animals and Gwen was entranced.

Gwen having some Paw Paw time.

I thought she would be super excited to see an elephant for the first time in her life, but she just stared at it.

What she DID think was incredible were the meerkats.  This has to be my favorite picture of the day.

Here's Zeke with daddy.  Ben is such a great daddy.

A Chimp.

Gwen got to ride on Paw Paw's shoulders.  She was happy about it.

A Giraffe.  Such a stunning animal... so majestic.  I said "thank you" to God when I saw it.

Ben and Gwen getting a close up of a bird.

Gwen feeding a deer.  All in all a good day.  Gwen and Zeke both fell asleep on the way home.

Zeke and The Day

Today was a pretty eventful day.  Ben's dad is visiting and we've had lots of funny moments like when we went to the dollar store and got this huge balloon in the shape of a motorcycle for a little boy's party on Saturday we've been invited to.  I was at Hobby Lobby with Ben and Zeke and Paw Paw and Gwen in the car.  Paw Paw went into the back to get a stuffed sheep we had bought and out came the motorcycle filled with helium.  I didn't see it, but I sure laughed at the thought of Paw Paw running across the parking lot chasing after the floating motorcycle!

One of our neighbors is having a birthday party for their six year old son tonight.  This is the pirate ship they set up for their little boy.  I am constantly amazed at the parents in Johnson County.  We are the type that we'd turn on a sprinkler and say "go and play" for their birthday. :)

Today Ben and Ray went to watch a movie and I was home with the kids for dinner time.  I got Gwen some food and then I went to feed Zeke in the living room.  Mistake number 1- leaving Gwen alone eating pasta in the kitchen.  Mistake number 2- leaving a full glass of water on the table with Gwen in the kitchen alone.  I didn't realize these mistakes until I was well into feeding Zeke and I heard Gwen "talking" into the cup of water.  Then I heard water sloshing and I just sighed and thought... well... what can I do about it now?  So I finished with Zeke and then went into the kitchen to see the damage.  She turned over the water and had pasta in her hair and face and all over her jacket that she happened to be wearing.  (yes, I know.. mistake number 3- me not putting a bib on her and letting her eat in a jacket)  She was happy though and standing there watching the birds take baths in the rain water.

Zeke is now 4 months and had his doctor's appointment today.  He weighed in at 15 lbs, 10 oz which is in the 63rd percentile and was 25 inches long which is the 51st percentile.  He's a big and healthy boy and I'm so grateful to God.  He is quiet and gentle and beautiful.  I have a song for him about being my little guy.  I made up a song for Gwen too and her's was about her having a pretty face.

GORGEOUS

Today at the doctor's office I was looking through their stickers in order to choose one to take home for Gwen.  I chose two of their more unusual choices that made me chuckle.  Here's a toaster on wheels with a reflection of the dessert in the toaster which I LOVED. :)

Here's an orangutan sticker with the actual word "orangutan" at the top.