more family photos and proyectos

We have had lots of snow for these parts. The most, I think, since I have lived here. Makes these pics look nice with the sunshine and tank tops. Our house has been in disarray for over a week now: I am patiently waiting for our kitchen to be finished. Patiently. I am also reminded that it certainly will not make me more complete as a mama/wife and homemaker. It is hard not to be complainy and I give credit to Tyler in this time for putting up with me and showing me what patience really looks like. 

Today Royal and I went to the Seminary to have brunch with Tyler and his co-workers. I made a quiche, crust and all, that was yummy. It was also a hit! Eggs, bacon, leeks, broccoli, sun-dried toms, mozzarella, sage, pepper, raw milk and cream baked into greatness. I normally don't like to make things that involve crusts because the crust part takes extra time. But it is rewarding to make your own, flaky, tender, flour, butter and ice cold water. 

My exploration of handmade products, ie deoderant, shampoo, face wash, conditioner (just use apple cider vinegar, leaves hair shiny and snarl free!) continues as I attempt to make a hand/body salve. I started with 1/2 cup mixed rosemary and lavender from the backyard along with calendula in a glass mason jar with 1 1/2 cups olive oil. Placed in crockpot on top of towel and cover, set on lowest setting. Let olive oil infuse for a couple days than strain out herbs. With double broiler, melt generous 1/4 cup beeswax pastilles than slowly mix with olive oil! 

Merry December

Right now, the snow is falling gently, like a giant is shaking his dandruff laden head in slow motion, only pretty. This doesn't happen too often in Kentucky so I try to take it in. I am sitting next to a fire and drinking homemade hot chocolate waiting for Tyler to return from Kmart. Yep, they still exist and the only reason I know that is because our neighbor across the street occasionally knocks on our door requesting a ride to pick up something that has been put on sale. Last time a boombox and Pepsi, this time a space heater "that more or less (his fave choice of words) is only $44.95 today."

We all are a wee bit under the weather, but that comes with the cold. I attempt some "witchcraft" like eating raw garlic dripped with honey, steeping elderberries, rubbing Royal with olive oil and eucalyptus and keeping the humidifier going, but the noses continue to run. Our bodies can handle it, we just need to give them a bit of encouragement by resting.

Our kitchen has been under construction this week, drywalling in prep for new cabinets. I have not been able to cook much, which has led to a pretty relaxed week. It is amazing how much time I spend in the kitchen. Didn't realize it until now. I do enjoy it and it is a practical way to take care of my family: with some good food.

Love the Christmas season. Thinking a lot about traditions to start with our family. Exciting.

Happy 4X!

Last week we celebrated our 4 year anniversary. Celebrated. It was a memorable time for me, riding my bike for the first time in 13 months. I missed it for certain and felt like a million billion bucks as we whizzed by cars on Bardstown Road and flew down Baxter Avenue hill towards the downtown city lights.  The weather was great and the company was superb. Tyler took me to Palermo, an Argentinian restaurant where we ate meat and drank Bombay gin and tonics. Then we saw the Mystery of Irma Vep at Actor's Theater. We enjoyed ourselves like we were in our first year of marriage when we had no car. Biking was it! 

(The pictures of Royal are for those of you that only really look here for him, Grandma Ann.)

Been a long time.

Hi friends and family. We have been a busy bunch this month, hence the lack of posting. I have not been taking pictures either so this may not be too interesting...but I will try my best.

At the end of Sept. Tyler and I were blessed to be in our dear friends Bradley and Jessica's wedding. It was a joyous time with dancing, good food and fancy dress. In Oct. we had to say goodbye to our dear friends Jason, Kari and their spider-monkey son Izaak. We all knew it was coming but when it really happend, it was sort of unbelievable. They were able to secure an apartment in the south-end, where they feel they need to be, and so after 2.5 years of living together they packed up their things. It was been a surreal adjustment for us all. Tyler and I sit around the dinner table thinking about how we need people in our home. We definitely have enjoyed certain aspects of having the home to ourselves (Royal having his own room!) but are reminded how community, particularly God's community, is vital to our health as a married couple. We can't, and don't want to, go at it alone. So Deeb dinner parties and fireside readings are being conjured up in our hearts and minds as you read this. In mid-Oct my mama came to see us for a weekend. She was able to witness the dedication of Royal at Sojourn and celebrate with the rest of the Deeb family. It was a nice time and I was very thankful to have her here. (She did have a two-person hot tub in her hotel room which was nice to indulge in.) Royal is 7 months old! He sits up on his own, screeches, growls, flails his arms, eats whole bananas, laughs, has pirahna sharp teeth and pretty much makes us smile whenever we are around him. Tyler and I have been researching and taking steps to secure a brother for Royal. It will be a long road, but we are convinced that going through the adoption process will be worth it. Something to be praying about for us! Scripture talks about caring for orphans and widows so there is no need to feel "called" to do this. It is commanded of us already.

Lots of fun things

We made this 16" cake for our friends Randal and Evie's wedding. It slightly resembled a cut tree when it was complete. It was crazy to do and also fun. (We are not cake decoraters!)

My sweet boys dressed all nice-y for the wedding. Royal did really well during the ceremony which we were both a little nervous about. It was a beautiful day to be wed.

Labor Day! We spent 4 hours at Cherokee Park with friends eating cheese and crackers and drinking Malbec out of plastic cups! It was a real nice time. Here is Izaak being a small spider monkey climbing on Tyler. 

Farmer Groces showed up later after some hard work (servers and farmers dont get a labor day). It almost appears as Royal is the one taking the photo, but nope, he just has a big head. 

Yea! We got to go to a real fancy dinner with Luke and Katherine sans Royal. It was a last minute surprise that we had someone to watch the little guy. I had lots of fun eating octopus, chicken liver pate and pork jowl as well as Gnocchi and cornmeal fried okra. 

We got up and out one morning...took our coffee to go to Cherokee Park of course. I joked that we should have made Royal's middle name Cherokee instead of Oakland because we go there so much. He likes being in his sling looking all around at the trees and leaves. It is sweet.

First time in a park swing.

We got a surprise visit from Royal's great-uncle Art of Florida. We got to have lunch at Flanigan's with Art as he was passing through. I hadn't seen him in 9 years so it was nice to catch up.

I am learning different ways of presenting food to Royal. Pureed foods are not totally necessary and probably are not the exciting of a texture anyway. And I have learned that you may as well teach them to feed themselves right away since you will have to eventually. So, I have tried cutting up carrots real small and mashing them a bit with a fork and putting them on his tray. Right now he  mostly just yells at the carrots and smashes them around but every once in awhile he will get some in his mouth. I am looking forward to him trying new yummy foods but keeping him breastfed as well for some time yet. A good book that I found through Passionatehomemaking.com is Real Food for mother and baby by Nina Planck. She pretty much just talks about feeding your baby what you are eating (as long as it is good for you of course) and making sure that they are getting fats from fish, meat and healthy oils like coconut and olive. 

By the way, Royal is 6 months old! Whew, God has really blessed our family through this stage. I am still able to stay home and can't imagine being anywhere else: learning patience over and over again! I am happy that this is all a process that will not end. There is always room for growth.

Blue eyed babe

It's been awhile since pics of Royal have been up. He is 5 1/2 months, 19 lbs. He weighs more than most babies we know, including those that are quite a bit older! What a chunk. He is working on sitting up, grabbing things and of course putting everything possible in his mouth ( he grabs my arm and tries to shove it in his mouth often). 

All is well otherwise. We anticipate the fall! It was one HOT summer, making it difficult to do anything really. Now we can get out in the park more often and take regular strolls through the city. 

We love Jessica!

Gentlemen's Swimming Hole taken over by the ladies (katherine really jammed her toes right after my brilliant idea to get a pic of us jumping)

me, katherine, jess, erin, steph, shelley, rebecca and lyndsy

crispy black bean and bacon tacos with scallop ceviche and guacamole!

This past weekend a great bunch of girls got to go out of town to celebrate the upcoming wedding of our dear california -turned -kentucky friend Jessica! We all had the most fun eating great meals, yelling at bears that we could not see, swimming and hot tubbing, laughing until our shoulders hurt and our eyes burst....serious goodness. 

midwest tour: the end

OK, we had some serious fun and beach bummin with our dearest friends Bradley and Jessica. Who would have thought that Traverse City, Michigan was this beautiful? So much Lake Michigan to go around, no humidity at all, mid 70's.... sorry Louisville, kinda wanna stay. We spent the whole day today at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, the water was perfect, the wind was just right. The only bummer is that little Royal may have gotten a bit too much sun. He was under an umbrella the whole time, but you know that sneaky little sun has its ways. We are cooling him down and giving him an extra dose of breastmilk to make sure he is hydrated.

A long drive tomorrow, and goodbye to this place. I can't say that I miss Camp st. I know though that Royal will be a bit less crabby when he can get all the sleep that he needs. Moving him around so much has certainly taken its toll.

midwest tour part 1

Here we are in Chicago! We visited my family in the Appleton area for 4 days than headed to Milwaukee where we stayed with our dear friend Ashlee. We enjoyed awesome pork fries and ginger snap cocktails at Honeypie, so yummy. Following, we retired to the back porch of Ashlee's apartment.

We made our way to Chicago on tuesday not before stopping to see my sister in law Kerri for a few minutes. We ate dinner at De Cero our first night in the big city. A very loud place, which was good since Royal was being a bit fussy. But very good food none-the-less. We walked back and were pleasantly surprised to turn on the tube (something that is a luxury when on vacation) and see that The Office was on. That show is something.

Today is wednesday. We got up to the sweet cooing of our son. Tyler and I love it when this happens. We lay in bed and giggle to ourselves as Royal makes the smalliest, cutest sounds in the dark. (Good News! Royal has been sleeping from 10:30-5ish! I only have to feed him once!)

We got a hold of our dearest littlest friend Elizabeth and went out for coffee at the Star Lounge. Tyler found out that the owner had been to some of the same coffee farms as us in Guatemala. Crazy! It was nice to catch up with Liz. I love seeing obvious growth in people that are dear to me.

Since we have left Louisville Royal has learned how to put his foot in his mouth as well as sit upright without help for small periods of time! It is real mind blowing how these things happen so quickly. He also is eating avocado with gusto.

Tomorrow we spend half our day here, than off to Traverse City, Mi to see Jessica and Bradley.

summer time

I am so big, I roll around and push myself up all the time!

Watch out for these baby blues.

Concentrating on my hands keeps me occupied.

Lounging with my papa.

Royal and his cousins, Roman and Elias

We got 4 blueberries, one for each of us! They were tasty; next year we look forward to more.

Me and my bubba.