California dreamin'

Jonathan, Shepherd and I took off last weekend to the Bay Area for a visit with my family. It was the weekend of my Nana's memorial service and I am so glad we were able to attend. Thank you so much to GranJan for coming back and staying with Charlotte & TJ! We stayed at my dad's place and just spent lots of great time with him and the rest of my family.

Look at these 2...my favorite guys :)

(that's my brother, Paul, with Jonathan)

I had to try on Paul's sunglasses...we were all doing it...don't think they're 'me'
Driving in G-Pa's truck. Look at those cheeks! Ahh!!

With my dad & Shep at a beach in SF - nice background, eh?

Same spot...with my 2 guys :)

I love this - taken out of the sunroof of my dad's truck. Touristy? yes. You'd never guess I grew up just 45 minutes from here, based on the pix I was taking :)

Tried to get the bridge in the background...you can see the tip

Sunday was the memorial service at the country club where my grandparents were members forever. Our whole family was there and it was a very special day. I was able to speak as part of the 'line-up' in the service, and it was a blessing to do so. We had lots of fun taking pictures afterwards...who knows when we'll all be together again, as we live scattered all over the country.

My youngest cousin, Kimberly, holding her youngest 'cousin' (or whatever Shep is in relation to her - 2nd cousin?)

The 10 Cilker grandchildren...our first photo all together since 2004. It was great being together again.

The girls...some are very short, some are very tall!

The boy cousins (+ Jonathan). They are just so silly.

One last shot of my brother & me. I always love spending time with Paul!

A Shepherd in our Fold

Welcome to the family!

Shepherd Cilker Dodd

born July 7, 2011 ~ 12:59pm

7 lbs. 5 oz. ~ 20 inches

'born to be cool'

After 9 months of waiting and guessing, we welcomed a BOY and are so excited! Although he's now 6 weeks old, it feels like he was born yesterday. He's such a joy and a relatively easy baby, as long as those basic needs are met. He is so accommodating, putting me into labor on July 3rd, but not insisting he arrive until after the 4th, Charlotte's bday on the 5th, and my bday on the 6th. What a good child...hope that continues :) He's gaining weight rapidly and can hold his head up pretty well already...smiles are slowly starting and are so cute. Big sister and brother love him to death and would sit by him & sing & tell him stories all day long if they could. We couldn't ask for 3 more wonderful children!

*****

This is the last non-hospital preggo picture of me (by me), taken July 5th at the zoo in a mirror...check out that huge belly!
Last picture of me preggo...ready to get this baby out!

He came out SCREAMING...it was insane!

First kiss!

We love our #3!

Latched on and goin' to town

Jonathan introducing TJ & Charlotte to Shep...TJ's not too interested

Sleeping angel

Sweet cozy thing!

First (kind of) smile :)

Charlotte's first time holding him...she's trying to shield him from the paparazzi

Family pix

October stuff

Here are some random shots from October...we have been doing more than just farming! :)

We had a family day at the Brevard Zoo, just 15 minutes away. If you look hard, you can see a giraffe off in the distance.

You can get sticks with birdseed on them to feed the birds in the aviary. The kids love this!
There is an area with turtle shell 'backpacks' to pretend what it's like to crawl in the sand with a shell.

Charlotte's favorite part of our zoo is the great water park area! It's just some pools and fountains, but the kids just love it on a hot day!

The kids and me as a sea turtle family

Aaliyah, Ms. Robertson, Charlotte, and Mrs. Cichetti on 'decade day' during homecoming week - it's so fun having Charlotte go to a PK-12 school that has homecoming - the preschoolers get to participate in all of the festivities, too!

Our first family outing on the boat - we were going fast!

Little man loves 'driving'

All of that boating tired this boy out!

Charlotte and some friends at a park after school one day

Okay, I had to put in one pic of veggies - this was our very first harvesting, around 1 month ago. And it's been non-stop since then! Veggie madness!

September work...

Here I go again, playing catch-up. Here are pix from September - the work day as well as other shots throughout the month of what's been developing on the farm :)

The babies! Tomatoes, tomatillos and eggplants shot up last month

Within 3 hours of posting our Local Harvest page, this angel, Marguerite, called and came over to meet us! She is a wealth of gardening knowledge, is super encouraging, and has the sweetest spirit of almost anyone I've ever known. (She also helps wash my dishes if my sink is overflowing - she has completely won me over!) Here she is 'starting' zucchini and cucumber seeds in early September.
Ah, yes, a scarecrow butt-grab (that's not me, but I won't tell you who it is). It's standing right next to our first corn area - this was right after Lindsay and Allie rowed out those beautiful rows - they then planted corn and pole bean seeds together. It's a great planting pair (beans give nitrogen, which the corn needs - corn gives height and support, which the beans need!)

Lindsay on her way to get more compost. Cucumbers lined up, ready to be transplanted!

Skyler thoughtfully planting the cucumbers along the fenceline.

My boys!

And my girl, gathering small sticks to 'cook' with :) Yes, she's wearing a princess dress.

Checkin' out the work going on beyond the gate. Like his camo boots? They're his new favorite accessory :)

Ethan, Juan, Christian, and Jonathan taking a break after putting up poles for our pole bean trellises. This was one of the hottest days of the year and these guys were dying!

A pumpkin sprout! (just wait until you see these on the next post - you will not believe your eyes - I think pumpkins are the fastest-growing plants in the world)

Cassie and Eva, sisters who were just here on vacation visiting family - they heard about our place through a mutual friend and decided to spend an afternoon working with us! Eva (left) works on a tomato/potato farm in Washington state, therefore, we put her to work transplanting the baby tomatoes into bigger pots and into the ground.

He looks zonked, but loves 'helping' with the potted plants

On big work days, I wear ankle socks under my knee-high boots. This is what my legs looked like after spending over 10 hours outside this day.