Likeness in Nature

Why, yes I did compare my sweet baby girl to a sea turtle, but you know what?

Sea turtles are pretty darn cute, too...

Hot!

By the end of the day it is oh so very hot in our house, and we're sick of staying in the basement...

By about 7:30, it is cooling down outside, so the kiddies and I have been taking a blanket and sitting under the tree in the front yard.

Iris runs her toesies thru the grass...

Eli Batman somersaults

Rosie joins the fun

Iris wiggles to the edge of her blanket and tastes the grass...

Pumpkin Blossoms

If I only get half as many pumpkins as I have blossoms

I will be pumpkin rich!

Introducing.... Real Food!

Iris turned 5 months old on Sunday... 

and even though she's not quite old enough...

She has been nursing like a MANIAC! 

Bring on the rice cereal!

Not so shockingly, she hearts big girl food. 

(This morning she was eying big brother's pancakes...)

p.s. the only thing I don't like about this process is the REAL POOP that it creates. Eeeuuw.

A Big, Long Change

Before

(Fourth of July)

After!

(Today!)

5 great things about having short hair (after having such loooong hair)

1) I didn't even realize I was getting headaches from carrying all that extra weight on my head! (NOw I feel so freeee!)

2) My hair doesn't get caught in ANYTHING! Not the strap of my purse, the car door, zippers, nothing!

3) I can shower in 4 minutes instead of twenty!

4) I can wear hats! No more trying to cram all that hair under my sun hat!

5) The shower drain and the vacuum cleaner are both so relieved... :o)

That is fourteen inches donated to Locks of Love. (Brings my grand total up to 32 inches. That is almost 3 feet of hair!) 

Storytime

Eli Tells Iris a (slightly disturbing) Story

Once upon a time, there was a Little Riding Hood. She made some cookies for her grandma. But her grandma wasn't sick, she just didn't know how to cook. So Little Riding Hood went to her grandma's house, and she saw a wolf in the forest, and he said "Hey Little Riding Hood, what's in the basket?", and Little Riding Hood said, "Cupcakes, and bananas, and a book that will tell you how to feel better if you are sick". The wolf said "You should give those goodies to me!" and Little Riding Hood said "No-they are for my grandma". So the wolf went to grandma's house, and scared her out. Then the Little Riding Hood got to grandma's house, and saw the wolf, and she hit the wolf with her hand. Then she ran away, and saw a man with an ax. He was a nice man. She said "Oh no! There is a wolf behind me!" Then the man with the ax killed the wolf with the ax, and he was dead! (The wolf, not the man with the ax.) Then Little Riding Hood and her grandma ate all the goodies all gone, and grandma felt all better. 

The End

A Blanket for Anna (And some other stuff...)

I have been making baby blanket left, right and center lately... so many babies!

This one is for my niece, Anna, who Iris loves very much (hence the super happy expression)

Her Momma really likes green, and I had a hard time finding green material that wasn't for boys or really stoopid looking.

I had some leftover material, and I really like the way these two co-ordinated... 

I made a Anna a little bib

(Iris models)

I really dug the bib, and I had some material left over from Iris' blanket, soooo 

I made one for Iris, too! 

I'm going to have to dig around in my scraps and see if there is enough of Mason's owl material to make him one!

Batman Rocks!

Picture the ultimate Jazz Quartet: Can you dig it with Superman on bass, Wonder Woman on the trumpet and Green Lantern percussion? 

Yeah baby!

Sleepy...

Doesn't Iris have the craziest bed-head you've ever seen?! :o)

Iris and Lily

Lovely lilies from my garden

Trying to put it in her hair, just like Mama!

"I Love You, Mom"

Does anyone else get a little nervous when your kid cuddles up to your leg and tells you he loves you in a super syrupy voice? 

Me too...

What did you do?

Feet

Have you ever met one of those odd people who think that feet are just the yuckiest things around?

That's crazy talk.

Summer Greens Stir-Fried

I love summer greens, but they are so expensive in the store, and I often question their fresh-ness, so I'm growing a bed of kale and swiss chard, and it is big enough that I'd better start using it, before it totally gets out of control!

So I ventured out into my flooded garden (love that flood irrigation!)

and picked some kale 

and some chard

Made up my stir-fry, and added these greens last, so they just barely got steamed... 

(yes, Mom I washed them first!)

Sooooo yummy!

Did you know that kale is basically just cabbage that doesn't form a head? It grows quickly, is easy to grow, and is so very good!

Guess which component of this stir-fry Eli was willing to eat? If you guessed anything other than chicken, you were totally wrong. 

Joy

"We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy."

 -Joseph Campbell


Funny how happiness is a choice... :)

Things that brought me joy this week:

Eli jumping off the diving board at his swimming lessons

My corn getting a little taller

The four, (count 'em - four times) I had to change my clothes because Iris looked up while nursing, and smiled at me with a mouthful of milk


My weekly baking of bread turning out perfectly

Crafting for my kiddies


My friend Julie sharing some hens and chicks from her garden

Sharing a room with my best friend... and no baby!
(Not pictured)


Sleeping on stiff, sweet smelling sheets from my clothesline


My lilies blooming

Being a SAHM for another week. 


Every single day with my sweet babies is a blessing 

Lucky for me...

You cannot overdose on little boy hugs. 

Cabin-ing

We went to Grandpa's cabin last weekend. Eli spent some quality time with my camera...

Eli's Shadow (Just like Peter Pan's!)

Self Portrait

The trees and Eli's "friend", the sun

Daddy

The lawnmower (or Mom nursing the baby)

Mom and Iris

Thrifting

I hit a few thrift stores yesterday

Spent $12 and found at least three more projects for myself.

Don't you LOVE the baskets? They nest!

Off to pick some paint colors...

Hooray!

What Bird is This?

No, that is not a tiny ostrich...

It's a tiny turkey!

We have 6 turkeys out back

In a pen with knee-high weeds 

Or as I call it, turkey-flage

And yes, they will not like Thanksgiving.