cousin J

My little sister Ashly had baby James last Wednesday night. He was 6 lb 6 oz and 19 in long at birth. James is L and A's first cousin outside of Israel, so this is quite exciting for us and we are already making him crafts! He will be in the hospital for a couple of weeks in MD and I hope to get out to see him when he comes home. Ashly and Ronnie are doing really well and are surrounded by many supportive family members, so I'm grateful for that. Hopefully I'll have better pics to post soon if A and R haven't already started their own blog!

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP

A new Mediterranean restaurant has opened up within walking distance of here that serves falafel and hummus, among other Middle Eastern fare. It opened yesterday, and we went by to pick up a menu. Jesika, your life is about to change, it's so close.

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/jul/28/new-grill-has-mideast-flavor/

This is the first Middle Eastern falafel in Evansville since we arrived 7 years ago. And it's close to home. And it sort of looks hole-in-the-wall-like and not gross EVV upscale featuring nasty $7.00 hummus with non-olive vegetable oil poured on top of it. I hope the pita is fresh, not frozen. We'll try it this week.

It could be good. If it is, it will hopefully take away the sting that I feel everytime I drive by that part of Lincoln, as just across the street is the empty building that once housed La Merienda.

she eats!

Well, of course she does. She's been grabbing food, cutlery, and dishes from us for weeks now, and has been an active participant in two meals a day for at least the past week. She seems to like fruit and sweet potatoes in particular. Peas (yuk) are also good.



And guess who likes to feed her most?

The big sister.

100th post!

It's true ...

This time last year (just checked) I was working on ground stone somewhere gross (I can't remember exactly where I was on this day a year ago). I was hot and tired and not yet visibly pregnant, as far as I recall. And now, this is our reality!:

It's nice to be home for a summer, even if I sort of miss being "part of the action." Not that I was part of any action in the nasty Hazor ground stone storeroom last year but at least I was near things archaeological. Hanging out with these two at home is a lot more fun anyway!

Garden update July

Garden season is truly here. M and L's favorite activity of the day must be picking tomatoes. There are a lot of them, mostly green but there are more ripe ones every day (if the rabbits and squirrels haven't eaten them). The cherry tomatoes are next to the patio, and thus easy to keep an eye on ...

while and Big Boys and Whoppers or whatever are in the back behind the shed. Here's a whopper from the other day:


The eggplants are really beautiful. I picked this one a few days ago but it really needed more time. It's still pretty (and as-yet uneaten).

There are peppers. L still had her cast on here (it came off more than a week ago).

And the free Jerusalem artichokes from the co-op (thanks Mollie!) are huge. Here M and A stand in front of some of them for scale.

We need to organize salsa fest in the next few weeks y'all as we're going to be inundated with tomatoes soon. I think we have a dozen ripening on the counter now.

mise en garde! cuteness ahead

Luca's parents let us borrow his awesome exersaucer/overstimulation station. It's a hit!

Some things remain the same

Yay! Another carnival!

The Sykesville carnival is virtually the same as it was ca. 20 years ago, probably longer. It's really amazing. The food is identical, and includes an unholy trinity of french fries, crab cakes, and funnel cakes. A complete (brown, fried) meal.

The rides look vintage to say the least. Lilah only wanted the super slide again (with Todd) and the old standby, the carousel (with Ashly). I didn't get to go on any rides.

Even the small bandshell is the same. Crossfire was awesome; they played Journey of course. I hear that bingo is now held in the air conditioned fire hall, but it wasn't happening the night we were there.

Yummmm, Diet Pepsi.

I (J) regret not getting the $5 candy apple with m & m's stuck to it. Maybe next year ...