two

harper is busy digging clothes out of my dresser drawers. now esme' has joined the party. it is time to get out of bed whether i like it or not. i take breakfast orders- yogurt with granola for one, toast and banana for the other. easy enough. i beg the coffee pot to brew faster.

when breakfast is over it is time for bath. they needed one badly last night, but harper was ready for bed earlier than usual. once the grime is rinsed away we are ready to go outside and play before the afternoon heat sets in.

outside, harper immediately loses a shoe. i finish hanging the cloth diapers on the clothesline while esme' searches for it and harper follows close behind chanting "shoe! shoe!" when my laundry basket is empty i head over to water the garden where i find a little shoe tucked up under a pumpkin leaf. relief, it didn't go over the fence as i was beginning to suspect.

the garden was generous this morning. 6 cucumbers, 2 acorn squash, 3 zucchini, and a handful of cherry tomatoes. i ate every single ripe tomato right there in the yard. after watering i decided to clip the newly formed blooms off the tops of my neglected basil plants. the first couple handfuls went into the compost bin, but then i thought about my wilting herb bouquet on the mantle and saved the rest for a new arrangement. as i was clipping some lavender and wildflowers to accompany the basil blooms i heard wild laughter coming from the yard. i looked over my shoulder and saw a naked two year old streak by. whoops, i didn't sunscreen those areas. time to go inside, it was getting too hot anyway.

in the house now, eating popscicles, watching sesame street, thinking about lunch. and nap time. and more coffee. i am savoring the season, before it slips away. and savoring my babies even more...

photo by lucinda.

for the fairy that visits

guess who lost another tooth. and guess who didn't have a tooth pillow ready, again. in my defense she doesn't give me any warning or time to prepare for the event. she informs me of such things by emerging from her bedroom giggling like crazy and plops a tiny tooth into my hand.

within a half hour of the second tooth loss i was sitting in front of my sewing machine creating a proper tooth receptacle. i used some red hemp from a pair of pants i hemmed a few weeks ago, and wool felt for the pocket and heart. the whole thing came together in about 15 minutes. and my little creation, i am told, made the tooth fairy's job much easier than digging under the pillow of an excited, light sleeper... i'm happy to have helped!

silly ol' chicken bowl

while we were on vacation we spent a day in anaconda, montana. it is a tiny, little town very close to the resort we stayed at in fairmont. as we were driving the downtown streets my husband saw a small outdoor flea market and parked the car and let us out. then he complained and got grouchy while i browsed and thoughtfully looked at every item on and under each table. "i didn't think we would have to look at everything" he whined. my response was "ummm, helloooo, have you met me?!"

then this sweet little chicken crock caught my eye. i picked it up, looked it over and happily paid a couple dollars for it. tony rolled his eyes and told me i was silly as i carefully carried it to back the car for safe keeping while we finished our small town tour. he would have just left the chicken bowl there, all lonely on the table, and would have never thought about it again. now that is silly!

it's a big sock, folks!

the big sock is hanging out in my neighborhood for a few days and then it will be on it's way to the sock summit with my friend heidi. she has blogged about it here and again here, at the big sock blog.

three words come to mind... second sock syndrome!!

there is no place like right here

we are home, safe and sound. we had ourselves a whole bunch of much needed fun!
lessons we learned during our road trip ::

throwing rocks into the river is therapeutic.

but we don't throw the pretty rocks.

bare feet in a cold stream on a hot day is heavenly.

animals eating straight out of your palm is a good way to start the day.

goggles are silly.

sensible shoes are essential.

a small hike does a body good after riding in the car for 6 hours.

on the road adventures are wonderful, but it is good to be home.

inspired to roam

our bags are packed. the car is full of fuel and ready to go. we have all of our favorite traveling snacks on hand. so off we go for a fun filled family adventure. we will visit loved ones, find pretty rocks by the river, pick cherries, sing in the car, soak our bones at the hot springs and whatever else we fancy.

also, i have a guest post up at living senses today about local living. please check it out!

see you next week, friends!

july, so far

july has been keeping us busy! here is a brief run down on what we've been up to.

i received a wonderful seasonal celebrations swap package from my partner. poems, photos, recipes (ginger beer! YUM!) and sweet little books of blank writing and coloring paper which the kids happily collected right away.

she also sent this adorable fabric neck tie for harper and a wool felt crown for esme'.

and look, harper says, reversible!
(truth be told, this photo shoot required us to play a beloved kid songs video to keep 2 year old boy stationary for a few seconds. see the hypnotic look on his face? sigh, whatever works, i guess.)

we have been visiting the BUGS produce stand every wednesday, for both the fresh veggies and the ambiance. it has become a favorite outing, for sure!

and, big, huge news in our home - this little girl lost her very first tooth on the 4th of july! she told me it was loose at the picnic we attended that afternoon, and by dinner time she emerged from the bathroom with a teeny, tiny tooth in her palm. i had these grand ideas of sewing a little pillow with a tooth pocket a few weeks ago but never did make one. so her first tooth went into a small drawstring bag under her pillow and hopefully i will have a few weeks before the next loss to make a super-special pillow/pocket/pouch.

today i am washing fabric so i can sew tank tops for the kids. we are taking a little road trip next week to camp, swim, visit family and friends, and whatever else falls in our path. of course such a trip requires new mama made clothes for the littles, no?

yours on the run,
erika

season

currently loving ::

organically grown produce from the small farm stand ran by kids up the road from us. i got the last bunch of garlic scapes! hooray! and esme' got a new painted gourd for her backyard friends.

bundles of herbs and wildflowers in jars throughout the house. i do wish we had sunflowers or daisies though. and more lavender. next year...

fresh basil for our pasta

picnic lunches made especially lovely by our new, red picnic basket and our picnic place mats and cloth napkins.

my new hat

painted faces

free concerts and movies in the park
{if you look really close you can see inspired daddy kicking back on our blanket in the center of the photo. i think you can see our bright red picnic basket in action too!}

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!

re-fashion :: the striped sweaters

itty, bitty wool shorts made from thrifted and felted wool sweaters. i used the little comet tails crescent moon yoga pants pattern ~ it is wonderful! these came out a little bit bigger than i had hoped (this is the size small) but they will fit eventually, right? especially when worn over a cushy cloth diaper. i used the body of the sweaters for the main pieces and the bottom ribbing for the yoga waistband. there wasn't enough wool for the crescent bum panel so i cut that from another thrifted sweater. i still have the stripey sleeves from both sweaters and i am thinking they will make lovely little wool pants.

i am gifting these little knickers, but i will most defintely be sewing more!

do you have a fun and creative way to re-use felted wool sweaters? spill it!