leaf royalty

Presenting King & Princess Leaf...(i tried queen but Isabelle insisted on her being the princess and owen being the king...).  Owen was clearly just excited something green was close to his face and Isabelle was only worried that he might think hers looked good too.  They managed to sit next to each other for possibly 5 seconds....

yes we love eating leaves...

just can't get enough of them...

Leaf crowns assembled by breaking off stems of large leaves and weaving between the leaves...perfect quick summer craft!

Clover necklace complimentary of a drop in visit from sarah & kris!  obviously kris did not make the necklace...:)

summer!

Well, summer is most certainly here.  The lack of posts is here to prove it.  We are spending most our time out doors and completely preoccupied with the sun (or I guess the rain over the last few days...).  A garden needing weeding, a chicken coop needing some rat proofing (gross), a mouse/bird grave yard on the back porch (thanks kitties...), kids with as little clothes on as possible (and sometimes no clothes at all), and lots of sprinkler time.  Here are a few pictures from last weeks heat wave (don't worry...no pictures of the rats or dead mice...).

taking his morning nap in the shade

music, ribbon wands & bells strapped to their legs

celebrating summer solstice festival in Norwich

sitting up & loving anything green

the face that makes not sleeping at night okay...

a little drink from the sprinkler...why not?

pre-crawl moves...

two monster ham bones...

t

oh boy...

 He is on the move (on wood surfaces anyways)...first it was just pushing back and now pulling forward.  He is, every once in a while, pushing up on his knees and even staying still for a few moments to sit unsupported...only for a few moments though...not long enough for a picture yet.  And well, as you can see, I have a lot of work to do with Miss Isabelle and driving the point of "family/house toys are everyones toys" home.  Yikes...this could will be tricky.  

28 times around the sun....

All I can say is I awoke on my 28th birthday very early, 3:00 in the morning to be exact, and was immediately filled with gratitude.  I am so thankful for the life I am leading.  Aaron always says I am 20-something going on 40...and it is true.  I don't know if I have an old soul or not, but I do know I feel very comfortable where I am right now.  28 feels right...if that makes sense.

We celebrated the best way we know how - with cake!  Aaron built me a desk for my birthday, a desk that I am so excited to put to use.  It is sort of funny...of course I am looking at this from the anthroposophical point of view...from what I am reading this is the time period where the creative process of the mind is really awakened.  What better gift than a desk made by my partners hands for me to get creative with....none.

Thank you for all the birthday love

1/2 a year?!

Wow, that last month flew by...I feel like I just wrote a 5 month post on Owen.  And here we are at month 6!  Owen is now at the point where he is grabbing everything within arms reach...so watch out bowl of cereal...hair...toy...you name it...if it is in front of him...he wants it.  He is still not sitting up completely unsupported...and I don't think this is lack of strength...instead his will to move.  This baby is in constant motion and can't really be bothered with sitting.  He spends most of his time (when not attached to my hip) on his belly twirling himself around in circles to try and keep up with sis, pushing himself backwards, and rolling too and fro.  He can push up all the way onto his hands and has even started to push up his knees...only to quickly flop back down on his belly.

 

this picture reminds me of a macglaflin baby...not sure if it is the goofy ears or the smirk

Owen loves his rattle, playing peek-a-boo with silks, playing in the grass, and even getting himself some big mouthfuls of dirt.  In the last month we have also said good bye to the weepy eye that he had since he was born.  One day it just worked itself out...which is a good thing because it was super goopy gross.  He also hasn't been spitting up as much or as frequently which is awesome.  Sleep on the other hand is still 2-3 hours at best which is making for one mama who is becoming quite jealous of all those mamas out there and their sleeping babies.

After his first few feedings of dry cereal Owen decided it was gross and wanted nothing to do with it - it looked like we had stuck a prickly bug in his mouth.  However these past few days...he has started to eat some cereal again (likely because the flow is low due to the P word again...)....so anyways we shall see.  It is nice to not be rushed into giving him solids and to really follow his lead.  He will eat when he is ready!

Wow, hard to believe we have ourselves a 6 month old...?!

so many things to do

 

contemplating her morning moves

...and then there are just those things like "getting dressed" that a mama can only say and encourage so many times before a vein in her forehead begins to throb.  Morning and evening routines can be hard for us.  I lack patience and Isabelle usually has her own idea of what she would like to be doing.  Getting dressed, brushing her teeth, etc are not in her "morning vision".  So...gathering a little inspiration from another waldorf inspired mama blog, I made this morning & chore chart for Isabelle...an evening chart is on the way too...just only so many hours in the day ya know?

clothes pins were an afterthought... in retrospect the phrases on her chart would have been differently if they had been in the original plan...but she really enjoys flipping the clothes pins over after she has completed something...

the clothespins have our names on them...Isabelle love to delegate...

So far they have been working nicely...We do not use them everyday - only when we need some extra organization and motivation in our day.  Mama nonchalantly walks over to the chart and exclaims in her most silly exasperated voice..."Oh my....she has not brushed her teeth yet....see here...lets take a look at this chart"...and from there our morning begins with giggles instead of throbbing forehead veins....and usually ends with Isabelle making sure I have completed everything on the chart as well.  Which is a good thing...mama doesn't always remember her teeth...and that is just gross.

final days of spring

Spring moments are fading fast.  Our days, measured by sunlight, become longer...  that cool crisp morning air is just a tad warmer and heavier, spring flowers are on their last legs, chicks are becoming chickens, and the robin's nest Isabelle and I have been enjoying is now empty.  Summer is most certainly coming soon.

it was a tight squeeze a few days ago...now the nest is empty

(hoping my cats don't eat them...)

the two replacement "chicks" we were so graciously given after losing isabelle's favorite chicken to the neighbors dog (fingers crossed at least one is a hen...)

yes...we are enjoying the last few days of spring

fermentables

A lot has been going on lately... a beautiful wedding (congrats L & J!)...June birthday parties...and fermentation parties!  Yup, you read right...fermentation parties!  This past weekend we attended our first fermentation club meeting down in RI - our rhody friends started this club just recently and we happily joined as the "vermont branch".  Needless to say I am pretty excited about our club membership...gives me the excuse I have been looking for to make a gallon of kimchee, fermented sodas, sour kraut, and all other sorts of fermented goodies.  The gist is that at the meeting someone demonstrates some sort of fermentation technique and then all those that attend go and try it out at home...then bring their fermentables to the next meeting.  At this club meeting Aaron briefed the entendees on the art of sour dough bread...which is a probably a bit hard to cover in an hour but he gave it a shot...and I shared some of my fermented rhubarb soda.  We snacked on fried fish, fermented carrots, lemons & snap peas, cheeses, fresh greens and more....and as always it was delicious.

fermented lemons...yum

baby in constant motion

bubble wand

newest member of the pack - barley

chasing bubbles

serious discussions

aaron and his starter

Here is the recipe for the fermented rhubarb soda - it is so easy a mama with 2 kids can do it!  And it is so good and good for you...hardly any sugar (most is eaten by all the yeast) and full of probiotics!  Oh and Isabelle loves it....WIN.

***

sorry about all these blurry images...I either need to use a flash, get some expensive lens...or maybe re learn how to use an SLR...

all on my list of things to do.

baby boys

 

In the midst of birthday flurry we had a very special visitor - Conner (along with his mama of course), who spent the weekend with us and well I couldn't help but snap a few pictures of the baby boys together.  Conner looks just slightly smaller than Owen in most of the pictures but in life it seemed they were just about the same size.  Cousin is just about 3 weeks younger than Owen...and I can already tell the two of them are going to be mischievous!  It was so nice to have the three kiddos under one roof!

owen & conner

conner's half smile half i want to eat your face look

almost had a smile there...

owen showing off his moves

conner thinking that doesn't look too hard...

owen showing conner what the deal with all the scarves is...

you eat them!

4

Wow!  This weekend was full of love and birthday magic!  Isabelle turning four...or any other year for that matter is always bittersweet.  For months I have been saying (when asked how old she is)..."almost 4"...when in fact I should have been  clinging onto those last few months of being able to say 3 (so much for staying present...).  Alas, here we are...4 years old...and every bit of perfect as she was the day she was born.  Here are a few moments from our birthday celebration.

Isabelle got a chicken for her birthday ring

(it is hidden behind the 4)

2 sweet yellow chicks (see a theme here?)

toadstool cupcakes with almost everything she asked for on top!

(the raspberries got moldy)

trying out her new balance bike

blowing out the birthday candles

a good day!