Strawberries!

This past week Violet and I went to visit my grandma in Visalia for the day. We helped her run errands, went to lunch, and afterwards enjoyed a yummy surprise! My grandma and aunt (who lives next door) have leased part of the seven acres they live on to another farming family. One of the many crops they've planted this year is strawberries! Recently, they have had to stop picking strawberries to have enough time to tend to their other crops and told my aunt and grandma they could pick all the berries they want. Grandma gave me a bucket and sent me and Violet to work! Violet found a good one! We love sharing strawberries with GGMa!
Thank you Grandma, for letting us come and spend the day with you! Thank you Marcy, for picking up Audrey and Isaac from school so I could spend the whole day in Visalia! And thank you Christa, for helping me turn most of those yummy strawberries into five big tubs of freezer jam!

Baptized!

Don't know if her Sunday school story last week had to do with the apostle John, or baptizing, or what, but Violet found it necessary to "baptize" all the fruit on the table the other day. Our family is studying the fruits of the Spirit, so as a visual reminder we gathered nine plastic fruits from our play-kitchen and labeled them accordingly. Of course, since I've inherited my mom's brain for analogies and word pictures I picked certain fruits to match each virtue. But that's another post. Here's two cute videos I tried to sneak in as she played at the table.

Isaac's birthday

This past week we celebrated Isaac's 7th birthday! Friday night we went to Old Spaghetti Factory (still referred to as Ol' Pasketti Shop) with Grandma Arlene, Uncle Kevin, and a few other extended/adopted family. He ordered grilled-cheese sandwich (really? it's a place named for pasta?) and also enjoyed his spumoni ice-cream with a candle in it! Some favorite memories shared for the year? How about getting a pencil eraser stuck up his nose (well, he DID learn to Okie blow because of it)? Or cutting his own hair at school under the super-watchful eye of a substitute (you are hearing the sarcasm, right)? Or playing the "BOOM" game with Uncle Aaron (fantastically annoying...just ask Christa)?

Saturday was his party with some friends. Randy and I planned lots of things to keep the little boys busy. We were pleasantly surprised at the small turn-out (one friend was sick, two others got mixed up about the day/time), and Isaac was none the wiser...he had a fabulous day! They started out making a Buzz or Woody "vest", played "Pin the Tail on Bullseye", and played "Woody's Shoot-Out" (with a Nerf gun, you tried to shoot off the water bottles worth 1 point, and green army men worth 5 points). Lunch was Pizza Planets, Little Green Men, Banana Moons, Strawberry Suns, and Galactic Lemonade. And then we had cake! Randy and I made it the night before (Randy sketched out the design/blueprints) and placed it in the freezer, then took it out at the start of the party. It worked great! In went the candles, we completed it with the characters, and Isaac thought it was super-cool! Who doesn't love funfetti cake? After the cake they all got on their swimsuits and went out front for some water play. We got a Buzz Lightyear Water Rocket on sale at Target this week and the boys LOVED it! They liked the wiggly sprinkler too! Happy Birthday Isaac! I love your energy, your laugh, the extreme ease with which you make friends, your hugs, our prayer-times before bed, your love of music (Toby Mac's "Get Up", Justin Roberts' "Tickle My Toes", and Brandon Heath's "He's Not Finished with Me Yet" are his three faves right now...he's also learning to play piano), and so much more! We love you Isaac!

Farm tour

Our family had a great, fun-filled weekend! Friday night we celebrated our kids' accomplishments with a dinner at Claim Jumpers. All three of the kids had coupons for free kids' meals that they'd received for different reasons and we finally found a free night! They better remember it well, since we would never take them to that restaurant if we had to pay full price!

Saturday, we started our morning with a drive out to north-west Madera to visit T & D Willey Farms. For over a year now we have received a weekly box, full of organic fruits and veggies from this local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). A couple times a year, they give tours of the farm, so we finally signed up for one! It was great for our kids to see EXACTLY where most of our fruits and veggies come from. Do you know where your food comes from? It was also great to meet the farmer, hear his passion for the land, and his views in general. A couple interesting facts...their small, 75 acre farm sends vegetables to over 800 families each week (about 30% of their crops), sells to over 200 specialty stores in and around the valley (about 70 % of the crops), and employs almost 70 farm-workers year-round, thus allowing them to become established in the community, and keep their kids in the same school all year! That's only a little over an acre to support one full income, and 11 families with fruits and vegetables...AMAZING! Sitting on the tractor-trailer, with a fresh carrot for a snack, ready for the ride around the farm! Halfway through the tour, we stopped to pull some English peas straight off their plant, opened 'em up and popped 'em in our mouths! Super yum! All the rain and cold weather has been good for the snow-pack and the underground water table, but has kept the spring/summer crops a couple weeks behind schedule. They have had to tent a lot of their vegetable to protect them from the cold and the rain and hail. Rows and rows of red La Soda and Yukon Gold potatoes. A gorgeous, Spring day! We finished our tour and they had fresh-picked strawberries waiting for us! Could it get any better than a sunny spring day with a fresh strawberry?

Saturday evening we enjoyed the cool breeze as we sat in Grizzlies' stadium, watching a baseball game as a family. Sunday was just as relaxing, with a morning outing to church followed by a lunch of cinnamon rolls, asparagus, spring onion and goat cheese quiche, and fresh strawberries. Sitting at the table, I munched on my strawberry and said, "This is so yummy, all this fresh food." To which Isaac replied, "My favorite is the cinnamon roll" (of course our sugar-loving child would say this). Audrey retorted, "What? That is a processed food! It is NOT better than this strawberry! Or mom's quiche!" Could I be any prouder on a day like Mother's Day?!!! Ah, the wonderful sense of fulfillment that if I have taught my kid only one thing, they have at least learned it well!

After lunch, Audrey and I made a fresh strawberry cake to have after dinner. Randy's mom also joined us in the evening for a dinner of BBQ steak, mashed parsnips with spring onion, a green salad, and fresh bread. What a wonderful weekend!

Footnote: To find a CSA near you, check out localharvest.org. If you are interested in learning more about T&D Willey Farms and their weekly deliveries, check out their website or call 559-ORGANIC. Tell them you heard about their farm from the Mack family!

Angel Babies Walk

This past weekend we walked with a group of 29 friends in the 6th Annual Angel Babies Walk, organized by Hinds Hospice. It was a wonderful way to remember Caleb, , the Wiens' first son, and also raise money for the Hospice as it cares for other families that are grieving the loss of a baby or child. While all the races were going on (there were 2 adult and 3 kid races altogether) there was a pancake breakfast, vendor booths, and activities for the kids. Since the boys ran in the 5K first, Jane and I had a bit of time to play with our kids before our 2 mile walk started. Randy, Jason, and Aaron finishing their 5K! Way to go dads! Audrey and Isaac walking with Caleb (on their sleeves). The two-mile walking group (our family, the Isaac family, and Aaron). The rest of the group walked the 5K. Audrey, after running her 1/4 mile race! Violet running her 1/8 mile race! Check the Wiens' blog for more pictures!