Evidence...

that every "childless" hour counts:



In the week and a half that has given me {not quite} 6 hours of everyone-is-in-school time, which has been designated as my time to work {but really it feels like play} in the barn, I have finished several projects, including something my own father ordered a YEAR ago (Sorry, dad! And Happy Birthday!!!), a painting that I had started for #1’s Birthday {six months ago} (she has taken to leaving me notes, “Mommy, will you please paint a face on my faerie? Thanks, A.”), a cutie little bitty board book (Krista, don’t look yet:), and a teacher gift (the student had a lot of input, which just makes it more fun). I have filled orders and click-and-shipped. It's quite fullfilling to have some creative time.

*and just cause I was trying to use my flickr toys, I tried out a little slideshow of some of these projects. If you feel like checking it out, click the link below:

View slideshow

being happy on a friday for some of these reasons...

• Krista had her baby!!! I have a new nephew!!!! Congratulations, K & D*
• The weather has been so perfect
• I have been eating pumpkin chocolate chip bread
• I have been listening to music that makes me happy
• Wendy started a blog
• I made sure that I spent some time on my hammock reading
• I'm catching the spirit of autumn

It's About Time

Well, my littlest girl started school yesterday. She was very excited. After the other two got on the bus, we had a half hour to wait and it was a very looooong half hour.

I was so looking forward to my very first two hours of all-the-kids-are-in-school-and-I-have-two-hours-to-do-whatever-I-need-to-get-done-which-happens-to-be-finishing-a-project-for-CRD time, and I get a call from the school telling me that I forgot the kids' picture money. sigh. I take pictures of my children often. Do I really need to pay and insane ammount of money to have someone take a picture that may or may not turn out to be give-away-worthy? Am I really doomed to have folders every year of school pictures that just sit there? I don't scrapbook them like some mothers may. I intended to. But alas, I have 4 years worth of pictures of #1 just sitting there. I'm being realistic. Who has $60 to spend on school pictures??

Well, #1 felt left out and I felt like I was a bad person if I didn't get any school pictures, so I drove to the school and found #2 in line for pictures in the gym. He had drawn a red lightningbolt with pen over and under his left eye the night before that was still visible and I hadn't wet down his hair, so it was all fuzzy and sticking up in the back. At least the picture will capture a real part of being a little boy.

I found #1 in her classroom and she had parted her hair in a new and fancy way, obviously trying to make up for feeling underdressed and begged me to bring her a new shirt, "because I forgot about pictures and I only wore this grubby old T shirt...pleeeeease??" So I drove home and got the requested shirt and threw a brush in the bag for good measure.

At least I still had a little over an hour. Maybe I shouldn't expect 2 hours every Tuesday and Thursday. I have a feeling I might get disappointed.

{Congratualtions, Roger and Kyle}

Everything went well and they are an inspiration of love...



The tent is down, the family that came into town has all gone:( and the only traces of the festivities are the beautiful hydrangias that are sitting on my mantle.

overheard

my boy: Do you see the moon, mom? It’s awesome! No, actually, I would say it’s *freakin’* awesome!

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{Driving; 5 minutes away from the house}
littlest girlie: Mommy, where’s my blankie?
Me: It’s at home, waiting for you.
littlest girlie: No! It’s crying! We need to turn around.

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#1, #2 & #3: {having a conversation about poop and calling each other names with “poop” in them, etc}
Jake: okay, that’s enough, you guys.
#2: Yeah, it’s ina-POOP-riate!
#3: …okay, poopy-head.

• Brooke has an important post that brought tears to my eyes and is very close to my heart. Please read it here and consider making a difference however small it may be.
• There is a wedding here this weekend. Things are crazy around here, so I haven't and won't be around much. Jake's brother is marrying the love of his life, and if I were a boy, she might be the love of my life too. She is everything beautiful and feminine; strong and good; smart and competent

• Happy Birthday, Roger!

• We finished the tile in the mudroom. It was a lot of work! Our awesome friend Captain Rob helped us and now we're old pros. (translation: I watched him do all the hard work, then did a little bit myself. Jake got a little more practice than me, too) I love how it turned out!

• Rachel and I went to Stephenie Meyere's Q/A and book signing out here. It's the second time I've met her and she's incredibly nice and very generous. And pretty, too! We met some very fun people in line (three hours!!) and learned some interesting information. From Stephenie's mouth: Edward and Bella have a very fun and interesting relationship, but there's not enough room to write about the details with all the story lines going on; it gets edited out. Also, She compares an upcoming book (I couldn't figure out if it is Breaking Dawn or Midnight Sun) to Midsummer night's Dream.
• While I was taking a picture of one of my address books, I got a little visitor. He got a scream of surprise from me, and then leaped into the garden.

• The weather is beautiful and the garden looks especially nice for the middle of September in New England. (Thanks to the upcoming wedding, I took special care to water more frequently.)

it's a little too sunny for a realy nice garden picture, but you get the idea...

the vegi garden

• I told Jake to comment about the hammock and let you know about his research, but he's in the throws of wedding prep as well, so I just went out and looked at the brand: pawley's island
• Here's the German Pancake recipe everyone has been asking about:

1 T butter or so

6 to 8 eggs

1 c. flour

1 c. milk

dash of salt

Preheat oven to 375, and put the butter into a 9x13 baking dish and put it into the oven to warm it up and melt the butter while you're preparing the batter. Beat the eggs, flour and milk very well, until a bit foamy. Pour into the pan with melted butter and bake for 20 minutes or so. It will fluff while it's cooking, and you should leave it in until it's brown around the edges. When you take it out, it slowly deflates, so if you're serving others, it is best to present it straight from the oven--it's more dramatic that way:) You can serve it in many ways, the most simple being what is pictured below--butter and syrup. You can go all out with fancy syrups or jellys or fresh fruit and powdered sugar...

ps--as a favor the happy couple have asked me to take thier wedding pictures. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'll wing it--I'm getting nervous! Please send a little prayer out for me that somehow the pictures will capture the beauty of a wedding day! Thanks:) Have a great weekend!

The Art of Life

Nothing beats a German Pancake on a Saturday morning. If I was willing to work any harder, we could have added fresh fruit or something, but instead, I just loaded up two plates and Jake and I had breakfast in the new hammock.



Speaking of art, Jake researched his hammocks pretty well, I’d say. He chose one that is not only bright and happy to look at, but comfortable to boot and as an added bonus can comfortably fit a family of five. {Well, the three smallest may add up to one of the biggest.} That is something I hope happens again—and often: Warm sunshine beaming over the trees, the breeze swinging through the yard and my whole family all cozy on a hammock together. Some days are hard to get through when you’re a mom. Sometimes I wonder why the joy isn’t more abundant when so much sacrifice is made. But you get yourself into that little situation with a hammock and the joy of it all comes together and makes a little moment of beauty. And will a belly full of a German pancake, well, I’d call it art.


I didn't want to get off the hammock to get my camera, so this picture will have to suffice--with my still-funky-ankle and all. Can you tell how nice and roomy and stripey it is?

Not This Kid

Some kids are a little nervous on the first day of school. Not this kid.



Some kids worry about getting on the bus for the first time. Not this kid.



Some kids want to watch TV and have a hard time getting ready for school. Not this kid.



Some kids come home from school and haven't made 19 new friends. Not this kid.



It was so cute--his big sister grabbed his hand and ran accross the street with him and when they got on the bus, she made some little kid scoot over so she could sit with him.

Look out world, my boy's in Kindergarten!

a little sidenote silliness

Which Twilight novel character are you?

You're" Edward Cullen - You have great taste for the finer things in life, a classic style, and you understand the way people work so you can manipulate easily. You have many talents and a bit of a temper, but you are mostly level-headed and rational.

Kara's blog sent me to take this quiz. Who knew I would be Edward? I thought Jake was the vampire, but maybe he's Bella? hmmm.

The Art of Life

As night fell, I heard the wind chimes softly playing outside the window. They were a gift from my love and they are the perfect notes singing a familiar song when the breeze picks up, letting me know a hug from nature is there in case I want to walk outside and let it wrap itself around me. I walked outside into the darkness and saw the full moon. I rarely forget when the moon is full, but this night it came as a surprise along with the joy that comes when I witness such beauty.



I had a mural that I loved, but I painted over it when I changed the color of my bedroom walls. When I repainted it the other day, I added a new color into it. A green that turned out brighter than I thought it would. Life popped into the branches and light reflected from the trees and brought beauty with it that I wasn’t expecting. I don’t know what other people feel when they look at stuff like paint on a wall, but I feel much more comfortable sleeping under my trees now that they supplied me with a little surprise.



Warm cookies and cold milk when one gets home from school is perfection. Don’t you think?