Let's do June!

So my procrastination can hide no more -- posting a brief look at May at the end of July is proof that I am not the most timely of people. Is it my 9-5 job news job... my part-time photography work... motherhood... wifehood... my veggie garden... life... or one of the 100 other excuses I could list? Who knows... but I do know I might as well get the month of June in now before we reach August.

June started off with our entire family brought together to say goodbye to the woman who is the reason so many of our family members exist - including myself and my daughter. My maternal grandmother passed away in May following a lengthy battle with kidney cancer. On that day, I became the oldest woman in the lineage of my grandmother and grandfather. That position should have gone to my mom, but of course she lost her life to ovarian cancer about three and a half years ago. So here we are. A goodbye to the second-most influential woman in my life - her common sense wisdom and common sense lessons and common sense love will be missed.

But as seems to be the case these days, only marriage and death bring our whole family together. And while we all traveled home to the Florida Keys to mourn, we also made the most of our family time together. Georgia was thrilled (still is) to have had so much time with her cousins. It was a few days of good family times dotted with family goodbyes, regrets, loss and tears. Almost three months after my grandmother's death, I still can't find the words, nor do I yet want to, of the woman I have lost and the lessons and experiences my daughter will never learn because of that loss. I come from a line of A.M.A.Z.I.N.G women, but those women are all now left to memories, life lessons and the bits of them that live on in the women my sisters, my cousin and I are today. Father's Day found Georgia and I continuing what has become an annual gift for her daddy: In June, we also see the end of strawberry-picking, and the beginning of blueberry-picking! This was a first for Georgia and I. We also learned fresh blueberries make delicious blueberry cobbler!

Just a few of the moments I caught during the month of June.

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Month of May

Wow... has it really been more than two months since my last post? I knew when my sister texted me, telling me to update my blog, that I was behind, but I didn't realize I was THAT behind!

Time to play catch up, right? So here's a look at some of the highlights of May.

We went to a strawberry festival in one of the little towns (really little towns) near us, Vanceboro. Georgia loved the rides and slides and bouncy houses.

And at a strawberry festival, you have to have strawberries, right? We did our as strawberry shortcake! Mmmmmmm... Georgia burned off that shortcake by chasing bubbles. The other happening in May was Mother's Day. I must share Georgia's gift for me this year. She drew a family portrait - me, her, and Ben - and she even wrote who was who. LOVE!! Her writing and spelling are coming along nicely.

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Building and Growing Our Organic Garden

Since Georgia was born three and a half years ago, we have been moving toward eating more and more organic food, raw food and less-processed food. There are many reasons for it. She was born right when my mother died of cancer (and who knows what causes it), my grandmother has cancer, I became more educated about the state of our food today while I was pregnant and on and on. I would say I'm happy with about two-thirds of what we eat. That other third are the occasional treats, meals out at restaurants and those instances of ordering a delivery pizza when I just don't have time for anything else. (yes, it happens)

So what better way to know your food is organic and know exactly where it's coming from than to grow it yourself? We started with planting organic seeds.

Then we (i.e. my hubby) cleared about a 20' by 30' section of grass in our backyard. What's the saying? Grow food not grass. We went from this... ... to this. A total of 10 raised beds filled with green beans, sugar snap peas, strawberries, broccoli, collards, spinach, lettuce, cantaloupe, corn, sunflowers, carrots, onions, potatoes, asparagus, peppers, okra and tomatoes. Now we just need my green thumb to work well this summer and my anti-squirrel tactics to kick-in. (did I mention we have a crazy squirrel problem?)

Georgia also helped me plant two peach trees on Arbor Day. We also have two blueberry bushes so far, a raspberry bush, two blackberry bushes and I have a grape arbor in the works. I can't wait to see how well we'll eat this summer and so many summers to come!

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I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream....

... for ICE CREAM! We now have an ice cream truck that comes through our neighborhood on some weekends. The first time we caught it was about three weeks ago, just as I was leaving to photograph someone else's kids. That means I missed Georgia's first ice cream truck experience. Luckily, her daddy was there to make sure she got to pick out a cold treat.

So when the ice cream truck came loudly jingling and jangling through our neighborhood this past weekend, you'd better believe I was there for it!!!

So many choices for a little one, and while the truck was empty of Georgia's first choice - the Spiderman popsicle - her second choice was served right up, yellow head, gumball eyes and all. Georgia's ears are now tuned into the blaring melodies of the ice cream truck, and her eyes light up when she hears anything that resembles the sound of sugar-filled treats on a stick dancing through our streets.

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Here Comes Santa Claus... There Goes Georgia...

A couple weekends ago, we did what's becoming our annual trip to "Breakfast with Santa." OK, it's only our second year of doing it, but hey, it's only our second year living here. It's at our local convention center and it benefits our local hospital's foundation, and it's an all in all good time.

This year was no exception. After eating breakfast, in which Santa comes around to each table to say hi to the kids, it was then time to visit the big man himself up on the stage. This year, as opposed to last, Georgia was ready with her list of desires to relay to Santa when he asked.

But just like last year, when we walked Georgia up onto the stage where Santa sat, as soon as she saw Santa, she took off running to him.

She then proceeded to go through that well-rehearsed list.



After our visit with that jolly man, we made an ornament, beaded a bracelet, decorated a cookie and wrote a list to Santa so that he wouldn't forget what Georgia had told him just minutes before.



After breakfast, we went for a walk around downtown.



And Georgia found a poster in a store window with her name on it! She and I were leading a "Mistletoe March" through downtown a couple of weeks after this morning.



A great, Christmas-filled morning for all!

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