Gardening is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite hobbies and one that I love sharing with my kids. Since moving into our new house I’ve struggled to find a great place for our vegetable garden. Out of ease and with my “hurry get it done” attitude, the veggies were planted along the back of the house very close to the brick that gets the afternoon sun. Needless to say this area hasn’t proven to be the most successful for gardening and we decided to make a change for this summer.
Ta-Da! 
Look at the beautiful box gardens that Mr. Herron and Rick built for us and we have certainly utilized every last inch of space for the veggies this summer:
- Grape Tomatoes
- Sun Gold Tomatoes
- Big Wonder Tomatoes
- Mystery Tomato courtesy of Sandy, courtesy of my Mom, courtesy of my Uncle Tom – this will be a miracle tomato plant if it produces!
- Squash
- Zucchini
- Chocolate Peppers
- Orange Bell Peppers
- Yellow Bell Peppers
- Sassy Peppers (I think these are red bells??)
- Garden Salsa Peppers (on the spicy side)
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Cilantro
- Cucumbers
My mouth is WATERING just thinking about the yumminess that we are going to produce this summer. All we need to do now is give it some water and love. Hoping to have as much success as we did on Willfleet, I love going back to this blog post to remember my little garden helper and the beautiful plants that surprised the heck out of me. This year my Abbey-girl and Jack were both helping and I think their green thumbs will prove to be good luck. THUMBS UP!
Not sure about birthday celebrations in your family but our celebrations typically last about a week and this birthday is no different. The celebrations began on the Thursday before her birthday when George and I met at Abbey’s school to celebrate with her preschool classmates. Daddy showed up with donut holes, which are THE most popular item to bring into a classroom of three-year-olds. The teachers encourage it and the kiddos go bonkers for it but of course they have it RIGHT before they leave. Coincidence? I think not! Abbey was wearing the birthday hat and all her friends at school sang their special birthday song and made Ab her very own special birthday “cake” during the song. She was glowing and smiling ear-to-ear! It was great to also get to see her in action with her friends at school. 
Birthday” song! Daddy missed some of the snuggles but he had an important job, picking up the birthday donuts for the birthday girl to have at breakfast and for her to share at soccer. Again, donut holes are the best treat to share with little ones. When daddy got home there was some morning present opening to be had and of course a brand new pink soccer ball and Doc McStuffin water bottle were a big hit. Balloons were just icing on the cake. After she opened these little gifts she was so happy and thanked us right away for her “best birthday presents ever.” Thinking back, George and I could have stopped there but of course we had more treats up our sleeve…when will we learn that a cardboard box is just as much fun as the $50 toys you buy at the store? 
oach Nicole (great coach at Wall2Wall in Mason) and then started kicking the ball and sharing with a little boy whom we have never met, but hey! Then Grandma and Grandpa Bird (Herron) showed up. Then Uncle Matt, Aunt Jami and Bubby showed up. Then Neighbor (Sandy) showed up. Then Grandma and Grandpa Weazel (Wenstrup) showed up, what a crowd! Uncle Matt came onto the field RIGHT away and took over as Ab’s buddy, no surprises here! Aunt Jami made an appearance on the field and really gave George and I a break this time. After her “game” we hauled off to play and each at Chick-fil-a, our favorite Saturday post-game lunch. Uncle Matt, Aunt Jami and Bubby were all there to have a birthday lunch celebration… you guessed it, 
Abbey – she is turning THREE in a few days and that makes me want to burst into happy tears! She has been such a light in our lives with her sparkling personality and witty words. {More on this in another post, can’t fit it all here} She is the best big sister and prides herself on knowing that she can get Jack to laugh at her all the time. Dinner takes about two hours but we are lucky to have them act so sweet to each other. The picture where she looks like Hollywood is from her very first dentist appointment. On the way into the building she grabbed my hand and told me she was going to be brave and that she was! It took a few minutes to get her in the chair but with the help of a Doc McStuffins book and the great staff, she was in the chair in no time and really enjoyed checking out her teeth. Our dentist, also our neighbor, gave us the grim news about binky and how it is effecting her teeth. We tried to get rid of the bink cold turkey and MAN did George and I pay for this dearly. We have cut her back to only at night and it feels like I’m weaning my toddler off crack or something. Lucky it is not her thumb!
Jack – my little monster is almost 8 months old, has two teeth and is THIS.CLOSE. to crawling. Little boy can get up on all fours, rock back and forth, has moved ONE knee then he falls to the ground and army crawls instead. He is super fast in his walker keeping both Ab and Housch on their toes. Or keeping Housch hiding from Jack in the living room where he is safe…for now. There are lots of babbles and some “da-da-da” going on these days plus his new favorite game is playing peek-a-boo with big sister. He has constant entertainment with all the toys, Abbey, grandparents, Abbey, cousins, Abbey, the dog, and ABBEY! Jack’s world is 100% his big sister, she makes him laugh, she plays with him, she snuggles him, she squeezes him and basically they adore each other. Not sure if it is the age difference or how what we have done but so far it has been the right formula. Sleep….well, we are working on that. He is doing better in his crib but man we were spoiled with princess sleeps-alot!
George and I are trying to not kill each other with the house updates, I have the HARDEST time focusing on what needs to be done and therefore try to tackle one hundred projects at once. My mom has begun painting the family room and our goal is to have that complete before Thanksgiving. The bedrooms are mostly complete and I seriously am in love with our bedroom, in the words of Abbey, it is “comfy-cozy.” We did get away as just the two of us to two amazing concerts, we saw Paul McCartney and Garth Brooks live in Kentucky this past month. If you ever get the opportunity to see either, DO IT! Loved seeing Paul again and Garth was a fantastic entertainer in the LOUDEST arena ever, Rupp. #BBNation was insane and I can’t wait to go back to Lexington, seriously loved it.
Many more exciting things are happening at The Herron Nest, we couldn’t be more blessed! So many people and opportunities to be thankful for this year. We are surrounded by our family who loves us all so much, George is doing great at work and was just promoted to a new position which gives him the title of B.A. (truth) and the house is slowly coming together which feels like a home more and more every day – even though we are exhausted! As you know, when one project ends the other is just beginning and so we feel like we are chasing our own tail sometimes. P.S. buy stock in Ikea and Home Depot, QUICK!
The Herron Nest 