little mermaid

we are seeing the light at the end of the swimming lesson tunnel. henny is still enjoying snacking on sand, but the real highlight is that bee can really swim now! 
her teachers have been so amazing. they are very kind and patient and have wonderful ways of explaining all the techniques in really fun ways (chicken-airplane-soldier, scoop and throw!). they use those pool noodles to float in all different ways and practice their kicks or strokes.

the great news is that after today's lesson bee put on her little arm swimmies and just swam. she was just kicking and doing some kind of doggie paddle type stroke and she was swimming. i guess it's kind of ordinary but when it's your kid it's like watching the space shuttle launch. you just can't believe it. it's like magic. i mean, her legs are kicking, her arms a moving and she is just floating along, going somewhere. swimming.

bee certainly has a long way to go but the groundwork has been laid. she can swim for short periods of time. really swim. and she is brave. too brave. but it is great. she dove right into swimming and has blown my mind every day for the past week and a half.

girly goodness

these girls were created by bee today. the one on the right is very special because she has "cinderella shoes" and she is handing out lollipops. that is bee's kind of girl. her ideal self, i think. 

i helped a bit with the cutting and of course made the shapes of the girls. but the design and the artistic direction, that's all bee.

lost week, in pictures

this week has sure been a doozy. i don't think i had a single 15 minute chunk of spare time for the whole week. we had the drama of a dead furnace and hot water heater, which resulted in no hot water and a very busy handy husband hard at work on the situation. we also started swimming lessons for bee. i feel like a real whiner complaining about them, but they are every damn day. yes, it's only for 2 weeks, but still. between hen's naps and eating meals the only other thing we did last week was go to swimming. and did i mention that hen's favorite activity at swimming is eating sand? we have also started planning hen's birthday party (!!!) where we have perhaps insanely managed to invite 118 people (!!!!). so there's that.

there has been a lot going on, outside of the usual. throughout the week i did try to take a few pictures, with the intention of putting them up here. so here they are, with little commentary, because i'm tired.

one shinning light this week was the great abundance of cucumbers, both from our farm and garden. i have been enjoying mine the very best way a person can eat a cucumber, sliced with avocado and salt on top. bee decided she likes hers with salt and sprinkles. very fairy like.

we have been eating well, i took pictures of a couple of meals.

pasta with garlic scape pesto, on salad green and topped with cucumbers:

and bbq seitan burrito with zucchini ribbon salad with mint. i made my own bbq sauce: tomato sauce, garlic, balsamic vinegar, worcestershire sauce, maple syrup and salt. it was awesome.

oh, and did i mention that we are also painting our house right now? check out that painting skirt. made by D, of course.

finally today i got down to business on some of the things i have been dying to do throughout this crazy week. if you are a strange person, you would love to make your own seitan. it is way fun and looks like a pot of brains.
finally today i put the finishing touches on henny's birthday crown. it is fit for a king! i still can't believe he is almost one! bee also made henny something felted. it's a secret for now.

harvest update

first squash! how did it get that big?

it's our first of the real summer veggies. we've had tons of spinach and peas but zucchini is a sure sign of summer. bring it on!

jammin'!

i took the kids strawberry picking yesterday. it's been a rough year for strawberries here. the season has been cut short by daily pounding storms. i'm glad we finally made it because it doesn't seem like there will be many more days of our already short season.

we picked a huge mixing bowl full. not sure how many pounds because my cousin was working at the patch and we got them for free (score!). i am pretty sure though that my two little helpers brought their own fair share home in their bellies. 

henny was covered with strawberry juice. he was just pickin' and eatin'. and of course bee helped with her special blend of fantasy fun/complaining/eating/real live helping. 

when we got home we whipped up some jam, to really round out the experience. gold star for me! we followed the directions found inside this pectin box. it was super simple and not too sugary. they even had some no-sugar options but i didn't have any juice concentrate, so next time. it was my first experience with canning of any sort so i was excited to see the jam actually turn into jam and the jars seal. 

and the jam actually tastes pretty good. the kids love it of course, but i think if i try to make more (maybe raspberry season?), i might follow a more interesting recipe. but for now i guess we have some jam to get eating!

back from vacationland

we are just getting settled in back at home after our extra long weekend in maine. it was one of those family vacations where the parents do a lot of talking through gritted teeth, under their breath. and meanwhile, somehow, everyone comes away with great memories and new experiences. 

my memories of family vacations from when i was a kid are mixed with the good and the bad. there were always great times, true fun and excitement. but there were also threats of "turning the car around" and reminders to "not ruin the vacation". i know that vacation is stressful for everyone, especially the parents. i know that, now that i am one, so very clearly. i just hope that we can try to at least fake it or ignore the less than desirable behavior and focus on the fun. i tried to put that in practice on this vacation and we did pretty well despite some less than ideal circumstances. on the bright side, bee probably won't remember much from this year and henny is a blank slate!

and now a photographic journey through some of the highlights....

of course we visited the beach. it wasn't the best beach weather but bee didn't mind......
we spent some time at york beach which not only has the greatest throw back of a taffy factory and restaurant,but also dazzled us with it's little kid-friendly amusement park! bee went on her first real ride. alone! as in with no adult and actually alone because there were no other kids on this rainy night!

my favorite part of the trip (other than the 20 minutes of alone time in a clothing store where i actually got to try things on! bonus: they fit!) was our trip to mackworth island. i found this little gem online months ago and it was worth the hype. it's a tiny island near portland. they have a walking trail all around the perimeter of the island and a patch of woods that has become a fairy village. people visiting the island just add their own house to the many, many others. it is an amazing sight to walk around and see all these creations. some log cabins, some made of rocks. some up high, some so tiny you almost step on them. it was enchanting for us so i can only imagine what bee thought.

here is bee walking on the trail.
and us working on our fairy house. it was perched on some old broken branches.
and finally, the house from the outside and the inside. bee made sure to have the house plus two porches. it was well decorated with birch bark, buttercups, shells, pine branches and some soft crumbly wood that we found. i'm sure some sweet fairy is kicking up her feet right now!

feeder happenings

our bird feeders are an everyday, all day, part of our lives. they hang outside of our living room and we are witness to all of the seasonal happenings. we have lived through the snow birds and the occasional visit from the cardinals and now we are on to my favorite time. the babies.

we have a large number of woodpeckers at our feeders. D loves the woodpeckers and has a few feeders that are special for them. D loves the red bellied woodpeckers the best. in fact, we all call them "daddy's buddy", no matter if they are female or male. we also have downy and hairy woodpeckers. they are nice too but not nearly as great as the big, red-mohawked red bellies.

so now the babies are growing and they are big enough to be learning to feed on the feeders.

the red bellied guys have a cute bald looking head when they're babies. this year we have 2. i haven't been able to get a picture of both on the feeder at once, mostly because they try to scare each other away. i think a big part of their curriculum is learning how to scare other birds off, because that is what their mom teaches them every day on the feeder. soon they are brave enough to try out their skills.
it is so sweet to watch. just as sweet is to watch them grow and try to determine if they are male of female. in a few weeks time we won't be able to tell who the babies are. it is a very brief time, much like our babies.

we also have another new visitor at the feeder. i'm still not sure if i welcome this guy.....