June Happenings

Oh, the excitement of the very first green shoots coming up in the garden!  It's always the radishes of course, but that's all I need to get motivated.  And it excites the kids and lets them know that they can garden too!

There's just something so beautiful about a garden...  The vibrant colors, the fact that you're growing your own food, even the dirt is gorgeous in a garden.  I love to see the kids playing in the garden and pulling out homegrown goodies with eyes wide in wonder.  It's a beautiful thing!  Until that beautiful garden dirt is all over the kitchen floor, of course.  And with a dog participating in all of our outdoor adventures we end up with quite a mess. 

These are the very first rows of our very early garden.  Putting in a first year garden is quite a challenge.  We decided to make small sections one at a time and add as we went.  If nothing else we have tons of rocks!  I supposed we could make 'rock' soup!

I felt very funny taking a photo of our sandwiches, but I had to.  Honestly, it was our first homegrown onion!  I was surprised at how mild and sweet it was.  Now I wish I knew what kind it was, but given the busy-ness of our spring some of my plans went by the wayside.  Now I'm not sure exactly what we planted.  Not that it really matters.  I just enjoy the fact the this little family managed to put in a little garden and we get to spend time working in it, playing with it and eating what we grow.  I am secretly hoping that the most important thing we are raising with our gardening efforts are Future Gardeners!  I think we are headed in that direction.  Yay!

So after traveling with hubby and then traveling to be with family during some illnesses it was good to come back home.  I generally can't stand things to be a mess, but I found so much comfort in just being back to our home and our things that even the clutter was welcomed.  It also helps that I'm getting used to living in this house that needs lots of TLC.  Since we have a good bit of work to do here we haven't actually spent a lot of time on decorating or beautifying yet.  

And kids need clutter. Their play is their business after all and very much how they learn.  It's been quite a journey for me to accept that I cannot keep things sparkling all the time.  That I always have laundry to do.  That my house does NOT look like a magazine cover.  Ha!  It never will and that's ok.  I've had to learn that the cleaning will wait for me, but my kids are going to grow minute by minute.  And that's more important.  So if you ever stop by the house please don't be surprised if the breakfast dishes are still in the sink or you find a dustbunny or two!   And if you're coming over for pizza night, we'll be having that at the bar in the kitchen.  Our dining room table is way too busy right now.  Very important Lego building is taking place alongside of my attempt at planning next years school year. 

I usually try to decorate this big bay window, but recently it's just where I stop to lay everything down as I walk through the house.  It's a great place for diaper bags, laundry baskets and books.  And the best thing is that I am so consistent that my family now knows where to look for things they have lost!

So June was busy.  It flew by.  We didn't do half of the relaxing, playful, adventurous things we had hoped, but we worked in fun where we could and all is well here.  Hey, it's still summer and there is lots of time to get outside and do the fun stuff.  Except for the fact that we are having a heat wave and we are still fighting this germy cold that made it's way into our house!  

 I hope you all are doing exactly what you had planned for your summer.  I hope you are all being careful in this heat and are keeping cool and safe.  And above all I hope you are happy from the inside out today!  xo

A little crochet

A lovely little-lady sun hat!  

Sweet P. really needed a sunhat going into summer.  I looked high and low, near and far.  I finally found a few, but not what I was looking for.  Oddly enough, most of the hats I found did not have straps!  Show me a little one who actually will leave their hat on their little head...  I also found some nice hats online, but have you noticed the cost of shipping lately?

Anyway,

I decided to go through the stash and find some cotton to make a little hat.   Add a little ruffle, and then a little something girly about it, and ta-da!  There it is.  Our new sunhat.   It was fun to play and put this together.  I didn't have a pattern and decided to wing-it.  Let the creative juices flow!  Now when it's 100 degrees out  this is a little much, but good for morning gardening, etc. 

You see that?  Trying to take it off already!  She actually likes hats, but there is much to be enjoyed about donning and doffing at this age.  

Well, I just wanted to say 'hi' and share this little bit of hooking with you.  I hope you have a lovely day.  Somehow a germ has made it's way into our home and we all have  a touch of a cold this week and aren't ourselves.  Young Man loves a good 'sick day'.  He says it's the only time we get to lay around and watch movies, lol.  I guess there is an upside to everything!

xo

May Catch-Up...

I mentioned some special birthdays took place during my blog-absence.  One of the special days was a First!  We also happened to be traveling at the time, so we had to find a store bought cake to fit the occasion. 

I thought this one did it for us perfectly.  Girly, flowery, chocolatey and sprinkly!  We gave Sweet P. the opportunity to dig in, but she was much too polite.  So we cut a piece and let her get her hands into it that way.  It was very fun for all of us to celebrate her first year.  I think it was very meaningful even for Young Man.  You wouldn't normally expect a big brother to take so much interest in a little sibling, but he truly does.  It was very special for us indeed.

A first birthday at the beach.  In truth, hubby had to attend a meeting and we tagged along to enjoy a change of scenery and change of pace.  It was another first for Sweet P.  Wide sandy beaches and crashing waves were very interesting to her. 

Young Man knows exactly what to do in the waves.  He just now is beginning to enjoy the ocean.  I grew up in the ocean and bays and have always tried to share the love of the shore with him.  It's been a process.  We lived far from the ocean for the first part of his life, so he only got to visit the Eastern Shore waterways occasionally.  He did not at all enjoy the feeling the salt leaves on your skin after swimming and always wanted to swim in a pool.  Ugh.  I truly wanted him to love and appreciate the beauty of the water.  So without pressure, but lots of visits and participating in Coast Kids  programs, he has grown to truly love it now.  And it helps too that he's now big enough to stand those waves knocking him around. 

These little stickly gooey letters have been such a big hit around our house.  Since we had such a run on birthdays we've left it up for quite some time.  It's definitely time to come down now, but kids enjoy playing with these squishy letters so much.  I must make it disappear and let it resurface in the fall when we have another Big Day.

Oh the pleasure of solitude.  It's such a rare thing here, but so much enjoyed.  It's the kind of thing that cannot be anticipated at this station in my life, so when it happens it's a scrumptious, lovely, much welcomed thing!  I do love the hustle and bustle of noisy, busy-goings-on each day, but hey, give me a few minutes of alone time and I know just what to do.  This day in particular I just had a cup of tea and caught up on a pile of magazines that had been accumulating.

It just struck me how beautiful the colors are when so many little-people toys are lying about.  I'm usually quick to get everything in it's place, but this day it was comforting to look at all the colors and enjoy them where they were.

It's all those fun, bright colors that keep little hands so busy!

Yes, we also had Mother's Day in May.  My family gave me a coconut cream pie.  It's sort of a long running joke between Young Man and myself.  He always tries to find a way to tease me, so I let him in on how much I wanted a yummy coconut cream pie one day.  Ever since then, he brings that up to try to get to me.  So I told him he better learn to make one for me someday.  It's all in good fun.  I love joking with him.  Anywho, on Mother's Day he had his daddy buy a pie.  I was thrilled with the idea and enjoyed some coffee and crochet pattern browsing time.   Ahhhh.

Also, this summer I have given up the dining room table to the very important building of Legos.  I do love Legos.  This was a gift a very fortunate Young Man received and he studied and built for many hours, (with a little help), to build this robotic guy.  It was quite complex and actually walks around. 

 

This was Young Man's cake.  He really wanted a Roller Skating bday party this year.  Unfortunately, after breaking his arm roller skating was not an option.  So we celebrated quietly at home.  I don't believe kids need big parties each and every year.  I believe it's more important to celebrate with one's family.  We've had a few big kid-parties, but those memories stand out in a huge way when they're only once in a while.

And then there is rock hounding...  I must take this one on a rock hounding trip.  This was a kit he received as a gift and it was very much fun for him, but I know he would enjoy a real rock hounding experience at this age.  And I definitely believe in providing all the experiences one can for children growing-up.  You never know what gifts or talents or passions you might uncover.  Robotics?  Geology?  Cooking?  (You know, coconut pie)!  I would be happy with a chef in the family, lol...

So this is a long and rambling post, but it's my first attempt at catching up a bit and getting my thoughts in order.  Summer break has been moving way too fast.  It's good to look back and enjoy again.

See you soon with a very little crochet post!

Where does the time go?

I have completely lost a month.  At least a month...  Seems like more now.  We were so excited that the school year was ending and we were looking forward to some fun and down time to relax and just play. 

My poor little new blog has been soooo neglected.  Well, I knew that would happen, just not this bad.  So it's been a busy time, like for many of you.  Seems like everything happens at once, doesn't it?

One of my dearest, most favoritest ever people has had some health issues and has been hospitalized of late.  I try very  hard to be a good advocate for my loved ones when they need help, especially of the medical persuasion.  I do believe we are on the road to recovery now, but so much worry and time spent traveling to doctors and hospitals and looking after family affairs leaves one a bit depleted.   Note I am NOT complaining an ounce, just saying, "Whew, I'm tired."  But more importantly, "I'm Thankful!" for sooo much. 

So in my absence here we have had numerous birthdays, (some VERY special ones at that)!  I will have to share more later about that. 

One birthday resulted in my hubby baking a homemade cake ALL BY HIMSELF!  Yay! 

And chocolate, of course.

And then we managed to work in a little something fun for a swim team bake sale.  My poor Young Man barely even got to compete since we were out of town so much, but it's a wonderful team and a great opportunity for the kids.  These yummy little cupcakes were 'beach' cupcakes:  Graham cracker crumbs for sand and blue sugar for water.  Tiny umbrellas and a gummy fish in the middle, Yum!

I love my crochet.  The tiniest bit of time available to do it is soooo very precious to me.  I love to feel the yarn in my hands and love to walk past the colorful baskets of yarn in my house!  Ooooh, but that does put me ina rather bad mood to keep walking past and not be able to grab it up and hook a while....  So I finally finished this cute little bit of colorful crochet goodness.  I do have some loose strings to fix, and I certainly rushed the finishing process, not my best work.  But hey, I'm just so glad I finished something!

Oh and that reminds me of something else I happened to work in and forgot to get a picture of.  I'll add that later.  It's too cute and very little - girly....

So when there is yarn there is always a cat.  This is Young Man's cat, Axle.  He is very handsome and always full of himself. 

I hope you've enjoyed your months since my last post.  I hope all is well with you and look forward to settling in and being able to share more with you more often! 

xo