Baking Pies- Instructor: Donna Young

mmmmmmmm pies! Why wouldn't I jump at the opportunity to learn the craft of the infamous pastry kneeding and rolling from Donna Young? Grandma and I were so excited to have this special time together. It's been so long since I've spent time with her, chatting, working in the kitchen and hearing stories about how things "used to be".

We made our list and went to the grocery store! Naturally, Publix didn't have Crisco, or was it TenderFlake? Either way, we bought PURE LARD, yum, yum, yum, and all of the other ingredients to make it "just so"!

The master began her lesson. Measuring, pouring, mixing, ever-so gently until a mass of white sticky artery clogging dough appeared! Voila, I had done it! You can see how gruesome the experience was by the mess that I made! (Grandma was dying laughing by the way)

It was really great having mom there (drinking wine) to do all of the cleaning up. She assisted in peeling the apples and creating the sweet concoction that filled the pastry. I mastered rolling and patting and marking it with an M...I was so proud of myself!

Here's the final product!

Atlanta Botanical Gardens

I made another trip to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens with Mom and Grandma. I love roaming around the grounds and seeing what's in season. It's an amazing place to visit since it's right in the middle of the city!

Loch was a very good boy! He loved walking the paths and didn't wander off too much!

There were few flowers in bloom at this time of the year. However, for March, the daffodils and lone tulips were worth the visit. There were a vast variety of daffodils in the gardens that I had never seen before!

Grandmas favorite and most unique find of the day was called a Chineese Redbud. It's a very interesting bush that looks as if the blossoms are coming out of the bark of the tree.


There is a permanent exhibit of glass at the gardens. It's so beautiful in the sun amongst the flowers. There was also an orchid display that was breathtaking! The orchids were located in a Jungle-type greenhouse with humidity, frogs, rain dripping, vines and the sounds of exotic creatures singing in the background. Come to find out, the "vines" that were hanging from the ceiling were actually the roots of upper canopy plants!









Out of all of the Atlanta attractions that I've visited, the botanical gardens is definitely one of my favourites! Each time I've been, there's something new to see with the changing of the seasons and life!

Loch and Ava have a Playdate

Loch and Ava have a play date. They love to cook in Ava's kitchen and run around and scream their little heads off. On this particular day, Ava was quite the little dominatrix...she managed to "make-out" with Loch, tackle him to the ground and proceed to hold him captive in her lair.

What? Me?
Check out the video below for the complete rendezvous between the two of them...Loch's in panic mode!

Spring Has Sprung!

It's hard to believe that last week at this time, Atlanta was covered in a blanket of snow and everyone was concerned whether or not they had enough bread and milk to get through the "storm of 2009"! Now, we're in our shorts and t-shirts, enjoying the beautiful weather.

This weekend we officially welcomed the warm weather in Atlanta with temperatures in the 70's! The clocks were set ahead for daylight savings and we enjoyed a long beautiful day at the park. People were out flying kites, walking dogs, biking, jogging, rollerblading, playing Frisbee and soccer. It was great to be around all of the outdoor activity today...especially since Jeff was able to get away from his studying and join us.

Our usual routine at the park involves chasing Loch around since he's on his own agenda. Lately, all photos that I take are from behind while I'm running after him or with his hands up to his face because he's mad that I've asked him to stop and say cheese.



Loch loves playing on the swings, sliding, climbing, running and basically wandering around on his own. They've just built a boardwalk that leads right to the edge of the river, and Loch has enjoyed watching the "quack-quacks" from the deck above.


I took a lot of video today showing Loch in action.

I'm Back...with Blogger!

So, it's been a while since my last post and I have no excuses except that I've been really busy. We've been getting through our days with work, daycare and grad school and little else that's very exciting to talk about.

Loch has been great and is talking up a storm. He recognizes objects and can say around 75 words...that I can make out! He's been very happy at school and enjoys going each day. It's never a struggle dropping him off which is really nice!

He's been teething (again) since January. He's getting his eye teeth and they're creating a lot of slobbery messes. He tries to walk up and down the stairs like a "big boy" now instead of climbing...which kinda scares me a little! Loch is fascinated with birds, airplanes, butterflies, clouds, the sun, basically anything in the sky that he can point to and say the word.

Snow came to Georgia last weekend and the entire state shut down for 2 days due to "Storm Watch 2009"! It was a beautiful snowfall and I was able to take pictures of it.

My spring break will be here next week and mom and grandma will be coming for a visit. I'm hoping that the weather will warm up and we can enjoy some time outdoors. I really want to take Grandma to the Botanical Gardens, it's so beautiful to roam around and look at all of the different plant species. I'm probably going to go to the Aquarium for the 100th time, but I enjoy it each time I go. It will be really nice to spend time with mom and Grandma for the week!

Brenda came last weekend to watch Loch while Jeff and I went to an event for work. The Gala was held at the GA Aquarium, catered by Wolfgang Puck. It was amazing! We ate our dinner while watching the beluga whales dip and dive and in the tank next to them were the whale sharks, as big as busses, floating by so gracefully. What a wonderful evening we had!

This is what Nah-Nah and Loch looked like when we walked in on Sunday morning!!!

Overall, we're all doing great and are looking forward to visits from family and taking a few trips in June and July. I'll keep everyone posted on Loch's miraculous milestones!