Squish Squash

Welp, ALL of my squash plants are dead.  I really can't believe it and frankly I'm still recovering from the shock of losing all 10 of them! I worked so hard to nurture and care for them ever since they were just tiny little squash babies.  So much work, all for naught.

 Anyway, I learned of a new garden pest called the squash vine borer.  They are black and red moths (although I think they look more like a strange type of wasp) that bore holes at the base of your squash plants and lay eggs.  The larvae tunnel and eat the inside of the stalk until it dies.  They got every single one of mine this year.  One by one they started wilting and dying. Heartbreaking stuff.

Next year I will be ready for the attack, and prevention is the key. Although they go after all types of vines they tend to stick with squash and zucchini.  There are a few things you can do to prevent the borers from getting to your plants in the first place.  You can cover your plants in the spring with some very fine netting so the moth cant get to the plant.  You can also try placing a yellow bowl of soapy water next to the plant, the moths are attracted by the yellow and it can keep them from getting to the vine.  There are also some resistant varieties of squash you can grow which would probably be the best option.

If the borer has already laid its eggs in your vine, the only thing you can do is try to cut it out with a sharp knife.  They lay the eggs at the very base of the plant, so look there.  You can tell the larvae is present by looking at the base of the vine, it will produce "frass" that looks like this:

  After you remove the larvae make sure you pack the stem with dirt.  The plant won't always make it if it comes to this so it is best to try and prevent them from getting there in the first place.  Another option is to plant your squash super early so they are really strong when the vine borers are laying their eggs, this way they have a better shot of making it.

Luckily, the rest of our garden is thriving, we have gotten a ton of produce this year.  Also, I planted pumpkins in the place of the squash so hopefully I will get enough pumpkins to make up for all of the squash we lost!

The Fine Art of Exercising With a Toddler

It's always hard to find time to exercise.  I remember before I had Kaitlyn stressing about when I would have time to work out.  Ha.  Now, if I can even find the time to squeeze in a workout, I have a 15 month old crawling on my stomach while I'm doing sit-ups, hanging on my leg while I'm doing squats, and at the same time trying to completely destroy everything in sight.  Needless to say, I've had to get a little creative.

Sometimes it's just easier to include your toddler in your workout rather than try to entertain them while you workout.  Here are a few ideas I've come up with so far:

Sit-up baby toss (toss the baby as you sit up)

Baby Squats

And for cardio, a good old fashioned game of "chase"

There are plenty of ways to wear yourself out with a toddler, not sure why I ever go to the gym!

Road Trip Food

I LOVE road trips but I absolutely hate the way I feel when I have to eat a bunch of junk on the road! It always tastes so good at the time but leaves me feeling like absolute poo for several days after the fact. On our most recent road trip to Ohio, I decided to pack all of our meals/snacks in order to save money and avoid eating processed junk.

Now those of you who know Jon and I know that we eat a lot... I mean, A LOT. We are not the kind of people who can get by on just a bunch of snacks. We need meat. We need substance.  And I think I successfully provided these things on the trip.

Here's what I packed:

Cooler Items:
Pasta and bean salad
4 cold cooked steaks
Gallon of milk

Homemade Dressing
Greens (portioned into sandwich bags)
Sliced cheddar cheese
Nectarines

Sliced cucumbers in vinegar and spices

Iced Coffee

Non-Cooler Items:
Organic Morning O's (Whole Foods' version of Cheerios)
Triscuits
Raisins
Trail Mix
Cookies
Bottled Water

Plastic Cups
Plastic Forks

Plastic Spoons

For the pasta salad I just combined whole wheat macaroni pasta with cucumbers, green bell pepper, kidney beans, navy beans, onion, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar and some herbs. We just ate it out of plastic cups with forks. It was really good and also very hearty.

For the cucumbers I just sliced them and placed them in tightly sealed mason jars with peppercorns, salt, apple cider vinegar and some water.

In order to save cooler space I packed the greens in sandwich bags. When we wanted to eat them we just poured on some dressing and ate it directly out of the bag.  I made a simple dressing with raw apple cider vinegar, olive oil, garlic, dijon mustard, salt, pepper and a bay leaf.

Everything else is pretty self-explanatory.  We were able to fit everything into a 48 qt. cooler and a paper grocery bag. It really saved us a lot of time and money on the road, and kept all of us full for the duration of the trip.  We even had leftovers when we got home!  This is the first time we have been able to eat ONLY what I packed for an entire trip, usually we end up hungry and have to buy something along the way.  I will definitely be repeating some of these things for our next road trip!

Mr. and Mrs. Dorinsky

My little bro got married today!  So happy for the new couple and can't wait to see what God will do with your lives! Here are some shots from the day, my camera got commandeered by someone at the end of the day, you can probably guess which shots weren't taken by me!

O-H-I-O

So we drove up to Ohio this past weekend to visit my grandparents.  Kaitlyn has never met either of my grandparents so it was great to visit with them and introduce them to their great-granddaughter.  We had a great time but it was a pretty exhausting trip.

 The drive on Friday wasn't awful, it took about 9 hours with several stops.  Kaitlyn didn't sleep much in the car so we had to give her some opportunities to stretch her legs.

Luckily we didn't ever have to stop for food.  I prepared and packed lots of food to take along so we wouldn't have to spend money and also to avoid eating a bunch of junk on the road.  I will probably do a post on what all I packed because it ended up working out really well, we definitely didn't go hungry.

The drive up was pretty smooth, didn't hit much traffic until the very end.  There was a big Jazz festival going on in Columbus and our hotel was right in the heart of  downtown.  By the time we finally made it to the hotel it was about 1am.  Of course Kaitlyn was wide awake when we got to our room and jumped and played on the bed for about an hour before we finally put her down.

The next morning we headed to grandpa's house for a visit.  Kaitlyn is his first great-grandchild so he was pretty excited to see her.  She was a little scared at first seeing a new face but she definitely warmed up to him by the end.  She also got to meet my Aunt Chris, Uncle Jim, and my cousin Camilla who came by to visit while we were in town.  Of course she was showered by all with lots of awesome gifts and treats.  I think she had a pretty good time.

We left Columbus around 11 and headed to Shelby which is about an hour and a half away.  My grandma lives on a huge farm, it used to be one of my favorite places to visit as a kid. I spent countless summers running around, riding horses and climbing trees on the farm. 

 Kaitlyn had a great time meeting grandma and my aunt Heidi and running around outside.  It was a really nice, mild day so we just sat outside on the porch and talked for awhile.

While I wish we could have stayed longer I'm glad we made the trip.  Though I'm not gonna lie, the drive back was BRUTAL.  Kaitlyn pretty much refused to sleep, I think she was just tired of being strapped down in that car seat for so long.  I can't blame her, I wanted to cry too at some points on that never-ending journey home.  One thing you just have to accept when you have kids is that things just take longer.  I guess you just have to learn to go with the flow!

June Happenings

We have been busy playing outside so it's been awhile since I posted anything but here is a little bit of what has been going on this month!

We celebrated father's day 

Celebrated my bro's engagement

 Took some extremely cute pictures of Kaitlyn with her new teddy bear from Jon's parents

And celebrated my dad's 60th birthday!

We also learned the hard way that Kaitlyn needs to be strapped into her high chair a little more tightly...

In other news, Kaitlyn has decided that her chair is her new favorite toy.  She pretty much does everything in that chair. 

Play with legos

Chair-nastics

Look out the window

Hydrate

And just kick back

 We also have gotten TONS of fresh produce from the garden which I am very happy about.  We are keeping track of how much we put into the garden vs. how much we are actually getting out of it to see if we are really saving money.  Even if we just break even it is worth it to to me just to have fresh vegetables whenever I want them, which is always.

Kaitlyn Turns One!

My daughter turned one this past Sunday! I really can't believe an entire year has gone by since she was born, especially since I still feel like the labor pains are fresh in my mind.  Hopefully one of these days I will start to forget that, yikes!  Anyway, this past year has been one of the most difficult of my life, but also one of the best and most joyful of my life.  I am so thankful that God brought this little girl into our lives.  Her personality comes out in new ways every day it seems, and she really is such a joy.  Here is a picture of the day she was born:

I can't believe how tiny she was! I remember just being floored by how awesome God is after experiencing childbirth.  It truly is a testament to our Creator. 

Anyway, back to the birthday.  I ended up getting sick and we had to cancel her party but we still had family over for a little celebration. My good friend Kaitlyn (whom I will now refer to as Kpo to avoid any further name confusion) volunteered to make a cake for the party, so she came by with her husband to deliver the cake.  She ended up making a monkey cake that turned out awesome! It was made from all natural ingredients and was free of any artificial food dyes. Everyone thought it was delicious.

She made a little cupcake for Kaitlyn to smash into as well. It took her a few minutes to dig in but once she tasted the icing, she was hooked!

I also got a good shot of her in her high chair eating lunch before her cake, I thought it was pretty funny.

 I might have to start strapping her in a little better.  After lunch and cake we opened some awesome presents from uncles and grandparents including a sandbox and a little chair!

 

She got a pretty cool ladybug book from her uncle Will, my brother.

 

All in all, I would say it was a pretty awesome birthday. Thanks to everyone who contributed! If you live in the area check out Kpo's website, Cypress and Myrtle for more info on her cakes and other goodies.