Father's Day and Canning

Last Saturday night, Greg and I took advantage of Parents Night Out at our Y and dropped the boys off and had date night. We went to Carolina Ale House, then shopping (every single date night always ends up at Target--every time!) and then we got some ice cream. It was a nice little evening and we really enjoy these parents night outs twice a month. The boys also love it and have been asking to go back ever since.

I picked some flowers from the hydrangeas I got a couple weeks ago. This was the only reason I wanted hydrangeas, so I could pick them and have them in the house whenever they were in season.

Father's day, Greg got up and cut the grass and planted my hydrangeas. Probably not the best day to put him to work, but I did. After he got showered and ready, we went to my parents house and my dad grilled out steaks and jalapeno poppers for lunch. After lunch, my dad and Greg put together some bookshelves for me that I'm putting the playroom. Haha, these poor guys, we worked them to death on Father's day. Oops.

The boys had a blast, like always. It was hot, but the boys didn't seem to mind.

The boys love getting a taste of anything Papaw is cooking.

I've been canning some stuff lately. I've been wanting to learn for awhile and my parents have a huge garden, so I decided last year when we moved here that I was going to learn to can and do it this year. Tuesday, I made dill pickles, we can't try them for 4-6 weeks, which I hate, I want to know how they turned out.

Wednesday, the boys and I had such a nice, lazy morning. We have things to be at most mornings, so it's nice when we don't have to be somewhere at a certain time. After we lounged around for a little while, we went to the library to get some books.

Then, I went grocery shopping and the boys were really good.

That afternoon, I made some refrigerator dill pickle spears. They were so easy to make and a great use of all the extra cucumbers from my parents garden. Plus, we don't have to wait 4-6 weeks to eat these, they just have to sit in the fridge overnight and they're ready to eat. I got my recipe from here

Here's a little peek of the shelves that I got from IKEA for the playroom. I wanted different baskets, but since I had to buy so many, I had to go with the less expensive option. It's not organized or anything yet, I'm still putting the playroom together.

Thursday, Greg hung up the shelves that my mom painted and him and my dad put together on Father's Day. We've decided to go with another shelf on top, but this is what it looks like right now. I love it!

It's been so hot, so we've spent a lot of time outside in the pools. I've also been having to water my vegetable garden and hydrangeas every day, so I do that while the boys are playing.

I'm growing a tomatillo plant for the first time ever. I don't know when to expect the tomatillos to be ready, but I think it'll be awhile. I'm excited to make some salsa verde with these.

Thursday, the boys had their summer program and I canned 3 bean salad, using green beans from my parents garden. (I found that recipe here) The boys are loving their summer program, they are always so excited when I drop them off and they bring home the cutest crafts.