Worth A Thousand Words

Where we've been...

...for two straight weeks now.
We take swim lessons seriously around here. And while Sophia is a little fish (getting her out of the water is the challenge), Oliver feels about like this when it comes to swimming:
Oh well, maybe next year he'll grow gills like his sister.

A View I Always Love

I know, I know. You think these are the same pictures from the last beach post, but no. They're of the same place, true, but they're fresh. I just never seem to get tired of taking pictures of this magnificent place. What can I say?

Ready to Travel

Check out Pebble's traveling scarf, handmade by Sophia, of course.
Is she ready to go to Lopez Island or what?

The Truth About Blogging

The New York Times says that 95% of blogs are abandoned.

I sorta figured this was the case - especially for anyone who blogs for the general public. I mean, just imagine the likelihood of all those thousands (millions?) of blogs being read. And even though I blog (obviously), I'm pretty in touch with the size of my audience (Hi mom!), and it's somehow a relief. I like keeping this journal (of sorts) for friends and family (and to prove to my kids later how great their childhood was - very important), but does anyone really need to read about everyone else's life? Isn't that a little overwhelming? It just made me think that maybe the rest of the world is a little more like me than I sometimes think. A little curious about other people's lives, but more involved in (and maybe a bit overwhelmed by) their own.

Goodnight my Sweetheart

Tonight as I was leaving the room, I said to Oliver: "Goodnight my darling."
He answered: "Goodnight my sweetheart."

That boy is yummy.

Her Awesome Journal

Sophia keeps a journal and she lets me read what she writes in it.

I loved the entries for July 14 so much, I asked if I could share them here.
This one says: "I like the earth. Do you like it too?"

And this one: "I love mama even more than this."

Yep, that's the sound of my heart melting.

A Lovely Red Door

The girls had an exciting weekend.

I had promised to paint their coop way, way back when it was built, but never got further than washing the exterior. So Tim took over.
A lovely red door.
And a window to match.

I can tell they just love it.

A Surprise in the Mail

Sophia got a package from Arbor in the mail a couple days ago.

In it was three blank postcards, a letter, and a mouse.

Now known as Pebble. An awesome name, I think.

Well, we just had to make Pebble feel welcome, so we immediately got to crafting. First order of business: a handmade, decorated, felt pillow.

Which Sophia decorated and sewed herself.Oliver wanted to sew too. But I think he was making me another skirt. He's so sweet.

So, the letter said that Pebble is big on travel and wants to have a few adventures with Sophia this summer. You know, go with her to the pool, the grocery store, a friend's house, the playground...

The postcards are for Sophia to write about her adventures with Pebble and send to her teacher.

And the best part (in my humble opinion) is that since they will be studying journeys this year, Sophia is supposed to build Pebble a "water craft" (which doesn't necessarily have to float) out of found objects, to bring with her for the first day of school.

Was kindergarten this cool when I was a kid?

And While She's at Camp...

Oliver and I are having a little fun of our own.
Watercolor painting.
Trains.
Dress up (that's a baby sling on the front, with Sophia's baby doll inside, and a friend coming in the backdoor in the background).

Garden Camp

All this week Sophia is at Garden Camp at Arbor (the school she'll be starting at this fall).

Oliver and I are super, super jealous.
I mean, who wouldn't be? They have goats! And a rabbit!I wonder if they would let me go to Garden Camp...

Crafty labels

Summer camp jump started my clothing-label, lunch bag-label, backpack-label, hat-label odyssey. When you start kindergarten, apparently, everything must be labeled with the child's name. (I know, I know, it's a good policy.)

Ok, not so bad when you can iron these on to all the things a kindergartener will bring back and forth to school daily.

Cute, huh?

Maybe I should label all my clothes too.

A Lovely Reminder

Now is the time!

Download this lovely illustration for yourself over at 31experiment.

Hmmm, It's Too Quiet Around Here...

It used to be that when the kids were home and the house suddenly got quiet, I got suspicious.

Well, all that has changed apparently.

Now when things are strangely peaceful, this is what I find:
A sleeping game, of course.
Where holding hands is an important aspect.

How lucky am I?

Summer Cherries

Look at this cute skirt!
Sophia picked the fabric the last time we went to Fabric Depot.
Nice choice, don't you think?It's a perfect skirt for picking summer flowers. Not to mention eating summer cherries.

Tryon Creek

It was hot, hot, hot today. (I know, I'm from Arizona, so 92° really shouldn't ruffle my feathers, but what can I say? It does.)

So we sought cool shelter in the trees of Tryon Creek State Park.
I think I might move there for the month of July.

Strawberry Jam

A few days ago we got half a flat of strawberries from our very excellent CSA (Helsing Junction Farm), which of course needed to be made into jam. Last year I made that same amount into freezer jam but it only lasted a couple months. So this year I wanted to make more (potentially enough to get us through the year) and can it instead.

I needed more strawberries.

After going to four different stores I realized that strawberry season must be coming to a close in our neck of the woods.

The Farmer's Market was my last hope.
And luckily, I was just in time to pick up the last two flats from the Deep Roots Farm booth. Phew.
It took a significant portion of two afternoons, but we now have 30 pints of homemade strawberry jam (some of which may be more like syrup since I took the rather bad advice from one internet site and made the first batch without pectin).
Here's the recipe that seemed to work best (and took the least amount of time):

4 cups smashed strawberries
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp Pomona's pectin
2 tsp calcium water (comes with the pectin)

Sterilize the jars and lids in boiling water for awhile - 10 minutes or so.
Put the squashed berries, lemon juice, and calcium water in a pot and bring it to a boil.
Add the sugar and pectin.
Stir well for a couple minutes.
Return to a boil, then remove from the heat.
Fill your sterilized jars to about a half inch from the top.
Secure lids and return the jars to the boiling water for 15 minutes.
Remove from water and you're done (except for that mountain of dishes you just created).

Oliver-Speak

He's at that age when these beautiful little jewels come naturally:

Oliver: "What's your phone number Sophia?"
Sophia: "Four-two-nine-seven..."
Oliver: "Those are such lovely numbers!"
In the morning when I open the shades, Oliver looks out the window and says: "There's the world!"
Mama: "Oliver, you're such a big boy!"
Oliver: "I'm not a big boy. I'm a man!" Pause, "Who can knit with knitting needles!"

Keeping Chickens - Unexpected Lesson #2

Every night I close up the door between the run and the chicken yard (to keep predators out) and generally, just for fun, peek into the coop to see the girls on their roost.

This is what I saw the other night:
But, wait! Don't we have five chickens?

There's not really anywhere for a chicken to hide in the run or the yard - or the coop for that matter - but I checked anyway.

Nope, no chicken.

So then I figured that I just counted wrong, so back to the coop.

Nope, four chickens.

And then I saw it. A chicken toe right above my head.

Annie was perched above the door - about three feet above the other chickens.

Apparently, according to a very informative chicken site, the supreme, ruler-of-the-coop must show her dominance by roosting higher than the lowly, not-supreme chickens.

And Annie declared herself Supreme Ruler back when she was nothing more than a puffball.

Lesson learned: Supreme Ruler needs her own higher roost.