In the garden (This is our neighbor's house)

Alex

Lilia and Leo eating popcicles

"Funny face!"

Lilia took these pictures of my parents. She asked them to make a funny face.

Orzo Salad

1 package of orzo pasta

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp peper

3-4 large handfulls of fresh spinach, roughly chopped

1/2 jar of sundried tomatoes in oil, chopped

4 slices of red onion, diced finely

1 container of feta cheese

1. Cook orzo according to package, rinse and drain well. Put in a large serving bowl.

2. Combine oil, vinegar, oregano, salt & pepper. Set aside.

3. Place chopped spinach, red onion and chopped tomatoes in bowl with orzo. Add oil mixture and stir well. Pour in some of the oil out of the sundried tomato jar just to add a little more flavor. Add all of feta to bowl and mix well again. If needed add more salt.

4. Chill and serve.

Side note: You can do a package and a half of orzo if you are going to a picnic and need to feed a lot of people. Keep all other ingredients the same except do probably whole jar of sundried tomatoes.

If you like Kalamata olives, the recipe calls for them and you would add them pitted and chopped.

*This recipe is from a magazine, I just altered it to make it my own.

Negotiations

"If you let me brush your hair you can have a lolly" -Katie

"What flavor?" -Lilia

"I'll let you pick." -Katie

"Cherry, blue, yellow, red." -Lilia (she said this referring to one lollipop)

Note: I very rarely negotiate with Lilia.

Catch a ride on the Alex train

Lilia hopped on the back of the walker and Alex kept going without missing a beat. Lilia weighs 30lbs and Alex weighs about 17 or 18lbs. He was easily walking around the house. As you can see from Lilia's big smile, she thinks it's super fun!

Lilia is sitting in her toy stroller and Alex is pulling her around.

Bringin it back!

If you want to see an awesome bassist rock out, then come to Storehouse Church this Sunday morning! Dave is helping out the band. I'm so excited to watch him play. It's total worship of God for Dave to play bass at church. If only his tendonitis wasn't so bad he wouldn't have retired.

My handsome boys

Great find

I got this walker off of craigslist for $10! What a great deal. Already Alex is so happy that he can get himself around the house.

7 months

Being the big sister

Lilia is such a great helper instinctively. Alex would get stuck in his walker and she would turn him or redirect him where he needed to go.

Here are they playing together.

Of course Lilia had to get in!

Hanging out front

Lilia with her two friends, Simon (left) and Leo (middle)

Walking Time

So Alex is 7 months. His is most happy when I'm holding his fingers while he walks around the house. When we're upstairs he will walk around and then sit down when he's somewhere he wants to be. It's pretty funny/cute.

This morning I am checking out a walker I found on craigslist. It's only $10. Hopefully I can pick it up and it will keep Alex content.

All done PT

Alex has torticollis. He tilts his head to the left and the left side of his neck is really tight, while the right side is very loose. We've been doing physical therapy for a couple of months. Today was his last visit to get evaluated by Kama, his therapist. She rocks by the way!

She said that he's doing great! We don't have to go back and make any more appts. We just have to continue to work with him at home. My Tuesday mornings are now freed up!

Good job Alex.

Alex 7 mo.

This is our neighbor's dog, Jack. He's a labradoodle and he's got a wonderful temperment. Alex thinks Jack is hysterical. He's really belly laughing.

Lilia and our neighbor Leo riding bikes

Pooped out

Alex is so extraverted that he'd rather deprive his little self of sleep just to be around people. During the dinner making/eating hour Dave threw him in the backpack and out he went. He's so cute, they're both so cute!

Family shot at Rittenhouse Square

Throwing coins in the fountain

This picture makes my heart smile

We got to Rittenhouse Square and these 2 guys were playing old style music. People were swing dancing, I think it was a class practicing. It was really cool to watch. Lilia says to my dad, "Poppy let's dance!"

Off they went to jitterbug with the rest of them. It was up there with my top few sweetest moments!!!

Rittenhouse Square with the fam

The famous taco truck

Every Saturday at Clark Park there is a Taco truck that serves breakfast & lunch tacos. The line is always so long. Dave didn't have much of a breakfast so he waited in the long line for a delicious treat.
They served 2 soft taco shells filled with eggs, potatoes, diced tomatoes and chopped avacados. He said it was just as good as he had hoped it would be!

Onesies for toddlers

Yesterday I was organizing Alex's onesies. I held up this one, which is his size, but it is too short for his long torso. It's really wide though. I asked Lilia to try it on. She gladly did. It actually fit her like a t-shirt.
When we left the house a short time after I tried to get her to change out of it, but she didn't want to. We compromised and she wore one of her shirts over it.

Lilia & Alex playing

A Mother's Day surprise

My mom and I had just finished watching Modern Family on hulu over breakfast. Lilia was sitting on my mom's lap. Without any notice, Lilia started throwing up...about 4 times in a row. We were all frozen and watching. (Why does that happen by the way?)

My mom and Lilia are covered in puke at this point. My dad grabs a bucket and a sponge and I started cleaning up. Dave was helping too. In the process he says, "Happy Mother's Day."

We all burst out laughing. How could you not!

By the way...Lilia is still a little sick in other ways. Luckily the throw up was an isolated incident...isolated to Mother's Day and all over my mom! Sorry mom!

Zoo trip

We went to the zoo on Wed. It's so nice because we have a membership so we can go whenever.

I just bought Alex this hat and he wore it around. At one point he was chewing on it. Then I looked again and it was gone. He had dropped it and I hadn't noticed.

We retraced our steps but didn't find it. I was sad because it was brand new!

Just before we left I turned my name into public safety to call me if they found the hat. About an hour after I got home they called saying they found it! I was so thankful.

Slumber party anyone?

Tonight after dinner Dave, Lilia and I were hanging out front. An 8 year old boy was handing out flyers to the neighborhood. He asked me, "Do you want a card?" I said "Sure!" I glanced down at some of the wording and asked if his mom did these parties. He said she did. He then ran away to the next house.

Dave and I looked at each other with surprised faces as we read the flyer. Here's what it said...

Slumber Parties By Taahirah

You(Not a typo) One-Stop-Shop for all of your Sensual Needs!

Lingerie, Books, Games, Lotions, Potions, Massage Oils, Edible Delight, Bedroom Accessories and (This one is cracked me up) Sexy Home Parties!

I was happy to see the footnote on the back "Exclusively for women 18 and over!"

"The Dirty Dozen"

Get in the know this summer with your produce. This is from Martha Stewart Living Magazine...

As summer is approaching our favorite fruits and vegetables are becoming available (at least locally). This is a list of the 12 fruits and vegetables with THE MOST PESTICIDE RESIDUE.

Peaches Cherries

Apples Kale

Bell peppers Imported grapes

Celery Carrots

Nectarines Pears

Strawberries Lettace

Even though it's a little more expensive think about buying some or all of these produces organic.

The view into our back yard

Our reading nook

I have to comment that putting up the old windows were Dave's idea. He is getting a nack for decorating!

Our outdoor dining area

My parents had this set for over 15 years and took good care of it. They gave us this one and got one that seats 6.

Notice the rocks around the edges. We did that so the kids would have something fun to play with. (I saw it in Better Homes & Gardens.)

Another crazy Kate and Dave adventure!

Legalize pot parade, Ghostbusters and a pretty good look alike to Alan Iverson, all in a days work!

Dave's parent's took the kids for us all day Saturday and into today. THANK YOU mom and dad!!!!!!! Dave and I did a little yard work and then headed off to Rittenhouse square for a restaurant festival. It was block after block of venders selling samples of their food. I tried cucumber lemonade and Dave had a mini crabcake sandwich. Oh, I just remembered there was a pole dancing demonstration so you could sign up for a class if you were interested. VERY awkward!!!

Next we headed to South Street to get my nose ring adjusted. On our way into Starbucks a parade passed by us. It was people who want pot legalized. At one point they were chanting..."We smoke pot and we like it a lot."

As we were sitting in the upstairs window of Starbucks the Ghostbusters walked past us! Luckily I had the camera with me to get a few shots.

Eventually we took the bus back toward home, getting off in a sketchy neighborhood. Then we walked about 6 blocks to the Dock Street Brewery for pizza. While walking Dave and I were so sure that Alan Iverson walked passed us. Turns out it wasn't.

All in all it was an awesome day!!!

The Ghostbusters