i think i'm ready

After a quick visit to her new classroom a mama's heart and mind was put to rest.  Yes she was a little anxious (so was i) but once she was in her room and checking out her space i could feel both our shoulders relax a bit and big smiles emerged.  In the past few weeks Isabelle has been really starting to come out and share herself with others.  I have had two parents come up to me beaming - "we just had a whole conversation!"...in the last month of school she talked to all three of her teachers (saving one for the very last day...).  And today...to top it all off with a cherry we sat and played with play dough and Isabelle's new teacher asked her what she was making and she said (drum roll)...."a flower...and now i'm squishing the flower".  I nearly wept.  Seriously.

After our visit we explored the outdoors.  She naturally wanted to play school - I was the student and she was the teacher.  She explained to me in so many words where the bathroom was, where to put my lunch, backpack and snack bag and to always walk in the halls - skipping and running is for outside play.  And as we sat in the bleachers of an empty baseball field i managed to sneakily pull my camera out to record some of our conversation....the best little clip was the end of our conversation....enjoy....

A little adventure

While visiting family we had the pleasure of meeting up with a dear old friend (one that goes way way back) and seeing what he has been pouring his energy into lately.  Luckily for us he is an oyster farmer....(you can read an article about him and his farm here)!  We were taken on our own little farm tour on his fancy work pontoon boat, where we collected crabs, watched the oysters tumble through the sorter, and caught up on all the latest home town buzz.  Yes, the oysters were a perk... but spending some time with a friend you share many memories with felt great....my where has the time gone?  Thanks friend...until next time.

Sick day...

... Means raiding sissy's drawer for purple leggigs and mama getting her way with that hair.  Oh how I love a good man pony tail!

shenanigans...

this past weekend was full of them....

a surprise birthday party for this goofy ginger

party favors...our new favorite toys

lots of sweet sweet watermelon

a visit from nana

buckets and boxes of vegetables to process
green beans to dilly beans (f/ canning for a new generation)

carrot grating

salting and pounding...
and a whole lot of fermenting
Nourishing Traditions - ginger carrots (sans whey and with added beets & green onion)
we also have jars of carrots and beets hanging in a 5% brine - lots of bubbly concoctions

north indian carrot pickle (f/ canning for a new generation)...also made a batch of spicy carrot pickles (also f/canning for a new generation)

a little room switcheroo - the kids have now merged!

and i even managed to pull out my dusty sewing machine
no room is complete with out your own banner, right?!

Monday morning I definitely felt like I needed an extra weekend day to make up for all those happenings...but knowing in a few short days we will be at my homeland (yes i am a full blooded flat lander...) I suppose I can crank through this week.  Big deep breaths and dreams of gluttonous shell fish feasting and sand in my toes!  

These two

Enjoying their favorite books... Audubon field guides of course!

I just love finding these two snuggled in a chair together pointing at insects, birds, trees and flowers.  Slowly but surely these two are becoming playmates and it is such a beautiful thing.

a summer walk

each stick was worth grabbing, banging and throwing

a sign that edible mushrooms may be close...
have no fear...we did not eat this one!

no hike is without a mid path dance party

a cool white admiral awaiting to be warmed by the sun

chanterelle!

So it seems that we don't often get off this property of "ours".  With a garden needing constant attention (and not getting it), vegetables piling up for processing, little feet begging to see the "pi - pi -pi" (pig) and "chi-chi-chi" (chickens), a little lady who just needs to be a mama hen and more animals than I can count on fingers and toes to tend....well it takes a lot for us to get up and get out on these summer weekends.  Knowing that our papa bear really needed to get out and into the woods (like woods away from our house) we piled into the car in the wee hours of the morning and headed a bit north for a nice walk in the woods.  There was quite a bit of whining happening (maybe a lot) and at first I thought our trip was destined for disaster...but alas...once we got into that cool forrest, felt those tree kisses (drops of dew that fall on our heads of course!) and started walking... things just fell into place.  We even unexpectedly found ourselves on our very first family mushroom adventure...and let me tell you this was fun.  Real fun....like a grown up easter egg hunt!

early morning post office rides

Nothing gets two kids dressed faster and into the car speedier than an early morning call from our local post office...

and yes...it is most certainly a zoo around here...