I brought my laptop outside with Sadie and Niva so I could get some real estate work done while they played in the yard and I had to laugh when I saw:
- Sadie sitting in our fire pit (again!) with our grill brush and a bucket of sidewalk chalk
- Niva chewing apart Sadie’s baby doll
Sometimes it takes a dirty toddler and chewed up baby doll to get some work done. Just another day at the Zottola Zoo!
We’ve been making progress on a few things around the house! Our little back porch renovation is coming along nicely thanks to Jimmy’s welding and design skills. Here’s what it looked like in May…
Here’s what it looks like now…

That back storm door is on its last leg! Jimmy accidentally broke one pane of glass because of Lola’s antics and Niva cracked the top one by jumping on it.
The garden is also growing well. I feel like every time I look at it, something has changed and grown. One of my favorite parts of each day is walking out to the garden to see what’s new.
Yesterday I noticed we have a few strawberries coming in!
Jimmy also made some mesh panels for our tomato plants.
I had to laugh when I thanked him for making the panels and he was like “Oh, those were no big deal! I just whipped those up in a few minutes after work.” I told him I was pretty sure I wouldn’t even know where to start with making those.
He claimed I was the real mastermind because I baked cowboy cookies. I pretty much said the same thing he did about the mesh panels… they were no big deal to whip up.
Our conversation got me thinking about how God makes each human being so unique. He blessed Jimmy with the ability to work with steel with ease and enjoyment and He wired me with a need to test cookie dough 😉
Loved this blog post! You’ve gotta give me that recipe for the cowboy cookies… and some fresh strawberries 😍
Absolutely!! I will do both! ❤
Always interesting at the Zottola household!
Love 💕 you !
Dad
🙂
Haha, yup! ALWAYS! Never a dull moment. Love you! ❤
I don’t think I have any interests or talents different from our family’s – I’m just a plain ol mom/grandma.
We have made no progress whatsoever on a 1/2 bathroom remodel – but I’m hoping by the end of summer it will be done!
Those cookies looks AMAZING~ and the pic of Sadie and Niva-girl is priceless. Those 2 are always together!
You aren’t just a plain ol mom/grandma! No way. I hope you and dad get a chance to work on your half bathroom!! I’ll have to bring you some cookies on Friday 🙂
Sadie and Niva’s relationship makes me so happy!
Love you!
I’m impressed with the panels. I remember Nathan, the metal fabricator I met in my ill-fated stint as a signbuilder. Watching him work with metal was just poetry in motion: he really had a gift for making things.
Oh 100%! I will be amazed at things Christopher does all the time and it’s just so simple for him. And vice versa. God did really equip us all so differently!
Jimmy is doing such great work on that porch!