sa-tur-day!!

today ::
diapers drying in the sun, shopping the farmer's market for local goodies for our picnic dinner at the park tonight, knitting in the shade while the littles run in the sprinklers, and a bike ride to the library to pick up the book i placed on hold.

and speaking of pedal power, look what i stumbled upon this afternoon ::

a cargo bike giveaway!! i am feeling a wee bit lucky...

summer swap swag

to my seasonal celebrations swap partner i sent a felted wool vase, a patchwork potholder, 2 organic cotton produce bags, my favorite smoothie recipes, and a little note about how my family celebrates the season. i wish i could have sent her the pretty wildflower and herb bouquet that little esme' assembled for these photos, but that stayed home with us.
the swap packages are rolling in - we are only waiting for a couple more! check out the flickr group to see more summer celebration photos!

i dig onions

my kids however, not so much. i have tried to grow onions in the past with little or no success. we planted a few sets of red onions last year and got nothing. then, just as soon as the weather warmed and it was time to plant this year's garden the onions from last year started to grow. when big blooms formed at the top of their stalks and they were ready to bolt we harvested them. here is what we got - several red onions about the size of golf balls. by far, our best onion harvest to date!

yesterday tony pulled some organic, local ground beef from the freezer. we rarely eat ground beef, so i wasn't even sure what to do with it. after doing a quick inventory of our kitchen cupboards i found some rice and a couple cans of cream of mushroom soup. these ingredients plus some frozen peas from our garden last year, baby carrots, and our tiny red onions became dinner. we also had a delicious loaf of potato-rosemary bread from a local bakery.

it was a great one skillet meal and everyone happily gobbled it down. towards the end of the meal esme' discovered a chunk of onion in her nearly empty bowl. "is this a tooth?!" she exclaimed. "no, it is one of the onions from our garden" i said. she looked it over, she hesitated, but then quickly finished her dinner, onion teeth and all! 'cause everything tastes good when it is grown in your very own dirt!

visit my friend heather at living senses for more stories about eating and living locally!

make good :: crafts+ life

the day went a little like this ::

we left the house to run a quick errand and made an impromptu stop at the bookstore to take a peek. i lifted this book off of the shelf and couldn't put it down. once it was in my hands i knew i had to have it. from the bookstore we walked to the fabric store so i could buy insul bright and twill tape.

we then headed home (after a small detour for iced coffee) where i immediately dove into my bag of fabric scraps and carefully created the patchwork pot holder from the book. it will go into my seasonal celebrations swap package.

ah yes, monday was good!

lost and found

today i had a deep desire to access the small cupboard above my refrigerator, which required the top of said appliance to be cleared off and cleaned - this is a dirty, dirty vile job, folks! everything was covered with a thick layer of dust, sequins (?) and just plain ick!

when i finally opened the cupboard i discovered this little gem ::

how have we been living our lives without the use of this handy-dandy item? and where did we even get it? and why did we decide that the cupboard above the fridge was the best place to keep it? who knows, maybe it came with the house...

i did find some cool stuff too, including old photos of both me and the hubby, and two barnes and noble gifts cards with a combined balance of $28! over all, not too shabby!

squirrel-y

this little critter has been visiting our bird feeder every evening. we can watch him dine from our dinner table. esme' has named him "chunk", which i think is very fitting. i wonder though, would he prefer something other than wild bird seed? i am happy to oblige him, just as long as he leaves my garden alone!

itty, bitty graduate

we celebrated the first day of kindergarten in august ::

and today we celebrated the last day ::

we are proud beyond words, sad to say good bye to kindergarten, missing mrs. mortin, excited for summer, and looking forward to next year all at the same time.

we said our misty eyed farewells, came home, put play clothes on, passed out popscicles and went outside to play. it is officially summertime... bring it!

welcome in, june-bug!

so far this month i have ::

• bathed 2 kiddos, taking special care to scrub black ink off of the littlest one's legs, belly, and hands
• had my very own shower while the kids watched a video
  
• made oatmeal and smoothies for breakfast
• watered the garden and bounced a few unwelcome guests (weeds)
• wished my friends kyle and aubrey a happy 1st anniversary
  
• volunteered in esme's kindergarten class (for the very last time *sniff*)
• drank a vanilla iced coffee with milk
• heated leftover black beans and rice for lunch
• held the hand of a little boy after school while we waited for his mom to come. he was crying because he had a horrible headache.
• ate banana chocolate chip bread that we baked yesterday.
• drew sidewalk chalk stick figures and pushed harper in his swing.

now it is nearing dinner time. there is still so much to do today- meals to prepare, dishes to wash, laundry to fold. but it is june, it is warm, and we still have several hours of daylight ahead. welcome back june, i've missed you!