Community Supported Agriculture

We decided this past winter that we wanted to participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) to support our local community and local farmer's. This was always something that I wanted to do from the very first time I learned about it, but I was afraid we wouldnt be able to take advantage of it to it's fullest each week. We picked Carlea Farms located in Millingport, NC. They are an all-natural (no chemicals) family owned farm. They deliver to the Jewish Community Center each week for pick up. Instead of purchasing a full share we decided it would be better off to try a 1/2 share which we will receive every other week. They give you a green bag (see below) with your crops that you bring back each week to refill with each weeks freshly picked crops. Look at all of these luscious fresh veggies...I can't wait to dig in for my lunch salad!

This is the first week of our Crop Share and this is what it contained:
Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
Limestone Bibb Lettuce
Carrots
Spinach
Easter Egg Radishes
D’ Avignon Radishes
Hakurei and Scarlett Queen Turnips
Beet Greens
Green Garlic

The turnips are salad turnips and are not your Grandma’s turnips. In addition to eating them raw or on your salad, you can sauté them or roast them in olive oil along with the carrots and the garlic. The carrots were over wintered under floating row covers. The garlic is fresh pulled green garlic (bulbed up, but not cloved up) and can be chopped or diced and used the way you normally use garlic.

The beet greens are full of nutrition and can be used with or without the tiny attached beets. They are great in a smoothie, a salad, or as a topping for your sautéed or oven roasted root veggies. The turnip greens are edible and can be eaten steamed or also as a topping to your roasted or sautéed veggies.

The D’Avignon or French Breakfast radishes are a good snack dipped in butter and sea salt. If you don’t intend to eat your radishes or carrots within the next couple of days, clip the tops off for storage.

Looks like I will need some recipies...because I've never eaten turnips or Beet Greens in my life!!!! I just snagged one off the farms website to try:

Sautéed Turnips

6 turnips, bottoms and stalks trimmed, then quartered
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon of crushed red pepper
1 ½ tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

Heat oil over medium heat and cook garlic, shallot and pepper for 2 minutes. Add turnips, stirring occasionally. After 4 minutes, add paprika and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Add red wine vinegar and cook until reduced, about 2-3 minutes.
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Advice will be welcomed each week we receive our crop share...feel free to leave a comment with ideas for recipies or links to recipies your recommend using items from our share.

Just Because

I want to eat your camera...

Fine...I'll be sweet instead!

See my teef ma!?!?


Look at that gap...oh mi goodness...love it!

Asking for trouble!

Daddy is a bad influence on us...



shhh, don't tell anyone we did this to get a few giggles
This isn't a habit we will encourage but definitely funny to see his reaction!

I want my baby back...

As I sit here and the tune runs through my head I want my baby back, baby back, baby back...I am filled with mixed emotions.

We are one month short of Asher's First Birthday.
That makes my head swirl.
ONE? Already?
How is this possible?
I want to bottle him and his sweetness up and keep it forever. Right here, right now.
I guess that would warrant a call to child protective services so I will refrain.
We have come so far. We have a long way to go, but we are so proud of our baby. Afterall, he will always be our baby.

What is Asher up to at 11 months? More like what isn't he in to!?!
- 4 teeth (two large teeth with a nice gap between them on top and two on the bottom...with several more on their way)
- His eyes have settled on Hazel. Blue on the outside and light Brown in the middle
- Thinning out - still in 18-24 mo clothes and some 2T. However we can fit back in to some things that used to be too tight!
- Army, inch worm, crooked crawling (pictured below)

- Cruising on furniture, but still very hesitant
Video of Cruising at PT which is a lot more assisted than normal to correct positioning

- Sitting from a stand
- Does not sit still
- Sees it, wants it, goes for it
- Sings like a rockstar and LOVES it
- Clearly says Mom, DaDa and lots of other things we havent figured out yet. He talks A LOT!
- Eating all people food but still not in large quantities and doesnt demand it
- Still breastfeeding...although his feeds have tapered to less milk with a larger in take of table food. Still 4 feedings of milk a day...we will be working to taper that to 3 in the coming month and then start adding organic whole milk to his bottles slowly after his first birthday
- Drinks water from a sippy cup and regular cup with assistance.

- He loves the bath and wants to sit in the water as it comes out of the faucet. We can't wait till our pool opens on the 29th to get him in the water

- Asher has had 7 episodes since he was 3 months old. His 2nd MRI with sedation is scheduled for 5/17
- He is so well behaved almost ALL of the time. I'm not sure how we got so lucky
- His hair is starting to have a little curl on the ends and is light brown. I refuse to cut it.

He has quite a personality

Philip and I agree that one of the most enjoyable things to watch are Asher take in the scenery and the world surrounding him. He is so observant and doesn't miss a beat. Asher has turned into a cuddle bug and we are truly embracing this big change in every way possible. We love you Asher Davis. You are our pride and joy!


Love Mom & Dad

The first of a lifetime

Ever since I was a little girl I have always dreamed about being a mom.

My relationship with my mom has always been very close.

She isnt just my mom...she is my best friend.

I pray that I will have the same cherished relationship with my own children.

This mother's day was so very special for me since it was the first of a lifetime of mother's days.

I didn't want a "present" I wanted time with my boys and our families.

I did however make a request for a raised bed organic garden.

Philip worked his big ole heart away all weekend to make my wish come true.

He tilled up the entire grassy area behind our landscaping (that was a pain to mow), killed the grass with a homemade organic grass killer spray and built this beautiful raised bed.

Together with Asher's supervision we planted several kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers, jalapeno peppers, green/red peppers, cilantro, basil and dill. Pray that our vegetable/herb gardening thumbs are as green as our tree, shrub, flower thumbs! I am looking forward to enjoying the fruits of Philip's labor throughout the next several months. You did an awesome job honey and I could not thank you enough!

The Schreibman's Organic Garden

You will notice that three yards fence's meet up at the bottom (none of the fences are ours). We plan to plant three bushes in a semi circle near the back to hide the sewer drain that you can't see in this photo but can see in person. We will lay pinestraw through the entire area once a few more grass killer applications have been applied. A compost pile is in the works!

Yay for sustainability, fresh organic vegetables-herbs and for making use of our mother earth!

The husband's "planned" father's day.

That consisted of me deciding I didn't want to plan my own very first mother's day so Philip took matters into his own hands. Both sets of parents came over for dinner and family time.

Philip fixed flank steak, barbeque chicken, diced baked red potatoes, steam green beans, and corn on the cob. The weather was so nice we were able to dine on the patio for the first time since last summer...which is one of our favorite past times.

We decided now that Asher has 4 teeth (2 on top and 2 on the bottom) and he likes to knaw on EVERYTHING that we would give him a cob of corn and see what he did with it. Um yeah, he loved it....play by play...

Asher got passed around like a hot potato and especially LOVED time with daddy. You can catch a glimpse of his gigantic two top teeth. Not only are they big but they are pretty far apart. Too cute for words!

For Mother's Day Amanda decided to do a water color art project with Asher. She had Asher make a frame for each mom using water color paints. He actually did a good portion of it with her help. Amanda tied ribbons to the back of them so that everyone could hang them up. She also took photos of Asher during playtime and developed her favorites so I could have a few selections to put into the frames. Have I mentioned I love her?

Before we wrapped them for Softa and Nana we burned an extra special message on the back of the frames...

I received TWO very touching cards from both mom's on Mother's Day.

I tend to collect and hoard cards for no apparent reason so in the spirit of purging I thought posting the words of the cards would be a great ways to cherish the memories forever.

These were so very special to me...

From your Mother with Love

We share a beautiful closeness that grows stronger with time as mother and daughter, as women and as friends...

Seeing you as a loving, giving mother has been one of the greatest joys my heart has ever known. I couldn't be prouder of you. Wishing you a Very Happy Mother's Day, Love Mom

To a Special "Daughter"

You mean so Much to Me

Although I'm not your mother, I love you with a mother's heart...

I wish I could have seen you as a little girl, but its fun to see you now nurturing the life you've created.

I feel genuine admiration for the amazing mother you are. And though we don't share the same genes, we've shared lots of good times together.

You've touched a place in my heart, and no one could be prouder of the "daugther" you've become. We didnt start out being family, but I'm so glad we've ended up that way. Happy Mother's Day! Love Sara

Oh how we are blessed to have been loved by a mother and to have each other!

Coast to Coast

We made a very quick 48 hour trip to Santa Monica, California for my cousin Matthew's wedding. Matthew and his sister Robin are my only two first cousins. Their father Steven was my dad's older (10 years older) brother. My uncle Steven passed away several years ago leaving my dad the only one alive in his immediate family. It was very important to all of us that we were there to celebrate this exciting time in Matthew's life. Plus I had not seen him since my wedding 4 years ago. We flew out Saturday morning and came back Monday evening. My parents traveled with me (Philip couldn't go due to a work business trip).

I was so proud of my packing job since we only took carry on luggage. I packed both Asher's clothes, back up Asher clothes and my clothes, shoes, hat, wipes, tolietries, pump and all the of the pump pieces into this carry on piece of luggage. We also took an umbrella stroller and Asher's car seat attached to the GoGo Kidz Travelmate (which I blogged about previously). Side note: This was totally worth every penny I paid for it (I also split the sale price with a friend and we will share it!)

We got to the gate as they were boarding, opps! So, we had no time to refill our empty water bottles, go to the bathroom or get any snacks. Our flight heading out of Charlotte took off around nap time so I thought we would be in great shape. What I forgot was that my child is a busy body and wants to know everything that is going on at all times...so nap time didn't really happen THE ENTIRE 4 1/2 hour flight. Thankfully we had an entire row for Asher to crawl over us on, but that didnt mean everyone brought ear plugs. Asher was not his normal angel self. He was constantly wiggling. The turbulence was pretty bad the entire flight. Drinks were not served until almost 3 hours into the flight...let's not forget that we didnt have time fill up our water bottles. My mom was smart and brought us all sandwiches to eat since we would be flying during lunch time. Asher finally crashed for less than 30 minutes. We decided that despite the pediatricians wishes we were giving him benadryl on the way home. Sorry Dr Matt!

When we arrived at our hotel we knew we needed to get Asher down for a nap. As we walked into our room I noticed a very distinct odor which I exclaimed, "uhh I think someone was smoking in here" My dad replies, "yes, marijuana". We quickly called down to the front desk to find out that the person that stayed in this NON SMOKING room left without paying for the room. Go figure. During the time we were waiting to switch room my mom noticed Asher cut his top two teeth!!!! No wonder why he wasn't on his best behavior on the flight. He was in PAIN! After we got some tylenol in his system he finally napped (and he thought he was out for the night)! The time change fooled him. We woke him up to take him to rehearsal wedding festivities.

The next day we headed to the Annenburg Community Beach House for the wedding at 1030am. The ceremony took place on the beach and the brunch reception was at The Beach House. The Beach House is so green it was awarded a LEED Gold rating by the US Green Building Council. The wedding parties rode their bikes to the facility and they made it their priority to make very "green choices."

Pre-Ceremony Photos

Spencer and Robin cheesin before the ceremony

My Dad and Matthew exchanging words before the nuptuials

Asher and I hanging out before the wedding

My boy loves the beach...even when its cold and windy!

When we arrived at the ceremony we found out that Ashley (the bride) knew a few folks at TLC and they asked to film the wedding for the season finale of "The Wedding Story" to air in November. Not to mention both Matthew and Ashley both work in the film industry so there were cameras every where!

Asher loved spending time with Nana and the Parasols

...and running his hands through the sand...

and eating it!

My dad was one of the chuppah (wedding canopy) pole carriers

Matthew and Ashley are very non traditional and we love them for it! Matthew wore dark denim pants, a denim jacket, and converse shoes. Ashley's dress was made of 3 vintage gowns from a costume shop and her mother's wedding gown. It had an old Hollywood meets Vintage Rocker feel. I personally thought it was awesome and it fit her personality perfectly.

Aunt Doris and Matthew before walking down the aisle

It was quite a chilly and windy day...but it made for a gorgeous veil shot!

Ashley had a MAN OF HONOR. He wore a feather in his kippah.

After the ceremony they escaped to this LifeGuard house on the beach! Can you see them?

The centerpieces were amazing. Chunks of Hydrangea were scattered throughout the branches

The food was AMAZING.

They served peach and watermelon martinis that were amazing.

Bagels, Lox, Cream Cheese, Fresh Organic Salad, Chicken Tenders, Fruit Tray, Egg Souffle with Goat Cheese, Potato Latkes with freshly made chunky applesauce, Challah French Toast and homemade Cupcakes.

Poppy and Asher with full bellies!

Check out that stunning bride!

Dress detail

Nana and Asher

Asher with his ladies. He was obsessed with them.

After the wedding we returned to the hotel for Nap time. We ALL needed it by then.

Our entire family met up that night for a dinner at a local Italian restaurant by the Santa Monica pier and Ashley and Matthew joined us...still in there wedding attire!

Matthew and his nephew Spencer

Robin and I with Spencer

Matthew's other cousins, Amy and Shari

Asher always goes for Nana's necklaces!

Asher was such a trooper the entire time we were in California. We did drug him on the way home...and he did sleep a little over and hour. The flight was much better and he was a little bit calmer. We survived and were thankful it was a direct flight.

Upon arrival our plane had to wait on the tarmac for the other plane to pull away. Once we pulled up to the gate the plane started to deboard. All of a sudden they stopped letting people off. Right after my dad got off the plane. The gate had dropped and they were afraid it was going to rip the plane door off which would cost $200k+. My mom and I were stuck on the plane with a baby who had a stinky diaper (of course my kid pooped as we were landing!). While all the craziness was going on in front of us the pilot invited us to bring Asher into the cockpit for photos. ASHER LOVED IT! Maybe he will be our future pilot!?!? After some time passed we finally were able to get off the plane even though they never fixed the problem. We have no clue what happened and at that point we didn't care.

We made it coast to coast in 48 hours!

Mazal Tov to Matthew and Ashley. The wedding was perfect.

They will spend the next month in Bali on their honeymoon.

ps. I had an eye infection and was forced to wear my glasses the entire trip except for the ceremony per the dr's orders. Ugh!