Summer's Bounty

 We took a trip to the Virginia countryside on Saturday and picked a lot of blueberries. 

{And also ate a lot of them in the process.}

 The jam section in the {non-existent} pantry is growing. I'm very fond of Pomona's. I made a batch with honey yesterday and it just tastes divine. I did use low sugar for most of the jams, though.

Inspired by this NPR article that popped up on my Facebook feed the other day, I'm attempting to make some hand pies this morning while Nuriel was happy making two mini pies of her own.

Here's to summer! How are you preserving the taste of the summer months?

Dolls!

For Christmas my dear colleague, Cathryn, made a beautiful doll for Nuriel. Nuriel fell in love the moment she saw the doll. Cathryn has been making dolls for many years. She teaches doll-making workshops and she's currently making dolls with the 7th graders at school. {I can't wait to see Nathan's creation!} Isn't the doll sweet? You can like Cathryn's Creations on Facebook and see her current offerings in her Etsy shop. 

Happy Spring!

 An outing to see a sweet puppet play, "The Winning of Kwelanga."

 Nathan continues to amaze me with his artistic abilities. This is his pencil sketch of Leonardo da Vinci, which he drew for a 7th grade block.

 The amazing Mama who takes care of Nuriel while I work just had a baby, so there's been lots of babywearing-imitation happening at our house. 

 I had a fabulous 38th birthday. I've been dreaming about Venice, so Nathan drew this picture inside the birthday card he made for me. Noah got me banana pudding (yummy!) and Nuriel kept insisting that it was HER birthday. :-)

Nuriel planted some Easter grass on Palm Sunday morning...

 ... that evening we got some unexpected snow, which resulted in a fabulous snow day that Monday.

 By Wednesday the grass was already this tall!

 Using some pea shoot sprouts and coffee & vinegar, I dyed some of these eggs with my students.

 A visit to a local Alpaca fiber festival with these sweet little one, just a week old.

 A fabulous creation by my friend Mindi - in exchange for a set of rainbow bunnies for her daughter. I love this dress!

 No chocolate bunnies were devoured in our house this year, but the Easter bunny did bring a chocolate carrot with the bunnies I had sewn from felt for Nuriel. {She loves her chocolate.}

Sometimes...

... good things happen. And sometimes you are trying to find the right words and someone else finds better words for you! Check out Sometimes... over at P.S. I love you.

Happy Day!

We had some good news this week, so we went on a little lunch outing. {More on the good news later.} 

Brent and I used to go to this small local cafe. It closed a year or so ago, and a restaurant called the Burger Bach, a New Zealand inspired pub, opened in its place. They import lamb from New Zealand and we love to eat a lamb burger there. It seemed to be a good place to go to have a little celebration...

Rainbow Bunnies

Crafting these has truly been a delight. I can't stop. Even my students have been bit by the rainbow bunnies fever! --- Always so much to write about, so much happening... If only I could find the time!

Shopping Plus Toddler

Shopping used to be... Throw on some clothes, head out. Blast favorite music in car. Shop. Come back home. {When I say shopping, I mean the grocery run. I'm not a shopper!} Add toddler:  Throw on my clothes and wait for the toddler to "I do it." aka put on hers. Answer {multiple times} the question, "Is that the right way?" while trying to inspect if the tag is front or back. Take along three dolls, even if one is naked and merely wrapped in silk and wearing a pair of shoes. Strap in dolls and toddler. {Toddler insists that dolls must be buckled up, too!} Answer "Why?" questions and the "Why?" questions that arise out of the answers given. {"I wonder..." isn't working so much with this kid!} Hear a sneeze and wipe a nose while attempting to stay in one's lane and maintain a speed that won't lead to drivers honking. Arrive at store. Need to persuade toddler not to take all three dolls into the store and suffer through toddler grabbing the naked one wrapped in silk. Put shoes back on toddler as she removed them in the car. Search the grocery store parking lot cart drop-offs for the only cart that has a red car attached to the front of it. Let toddler "do it" when it comes to getting in. Pause for a moment to compare bulk prices vs. packaged for cashews and realize toddler has escaped the vehicle. Chase toddler down looking like some weirdo who shops with the cart that has the red car attached to it as if it's some strange fetish. Locate toddler with soy milk. Tell toddler we don't need soy milk. Toddler insists. As the words "This soy milk isn't organic and thus probably made from GMO soy that is yucky and soy prematurely hardens people's soul forces..." come out, the instant realization that this is not an appropriate response to a toddler. Fall short of bribing toddler with chocolate to persuade her to get back into the cart. Decide to just let the "That's yummy." comment she makes stand as is when you grab a box of tampons. Then the inevitable, "I have to pee and poop in the potty." Take toddler to bathroom and locate cleanest stall. Listen to toddler admire the pretty bathroom tiles and the huge roll of tissue. Realize as soon as you push the button to the hand-dryer that it was a mistake as toddler says, "I do it."  --- Upon returning to cart, realize that doll has lost shoe. Going back through 9-1/2 aisles looking for it and finding it in aisle one. Try to calm down toddler who is upset that she can't throw a carton of eggs into the cart. Let her throw in the cheese since it will just end up melted on a burrito anyhow. By the time you get to the alcohol section, it's clear that you need a bottle of beer {at least}. Toddler says, "My beer." Tell toddler we will get her beer aka sparkling water and have people look at you funny. Then comes 'hell lane' aka the checkout lane with too much chocolate and candy. Try to maneuver through with that big cart with the red car attached to it and your kid manages to snatch stuff left and right and people give you "the look" when a meltdown ensues because you're not letting your kid have a pound of chocolate at the checkout lane... --- Get home and realize you forgot to grab the thing you went to the store for to begin with... --- My girl is amazing! Never a dull moment!

Bunnies Will Hop...

to Carpe Dyem and Sea Star.

{I've solved the bunny problem for letterstoelias. Just thought I'd mention that in case someone wonders how I could ignore such a sad thing...}

Playgarden Toys

Over the past few weeks it's been a joy for me to connect with Cynthia. Our older children went to the local Waldorf school together and Cynthia has two little ones who are Nuriel's age. Early in December Cynthia organized an awesome local handmade toys exchange for the holidays. Later that month I shared on Facebook that Nathan was contemplating to pawn his cello so that he can buy me a Christmas gift. I had told him to play me some music instead. {Since I've paid off the cello, pawning the cello has jokingly become the answer to all our dreams, as in... Let's take a trip to Costa Rica. We'll just pawn the cello...} A friend suggested busking. This inspired Cynthia to invite some friends and organize a wonderful afternoon where Nathan performed some cello music and was truly overwhelmed with the generosity and support that came his way!

Cynthia is an amazing knitter, felter and baker! She says, "One of my New Year's goals is to maintain a little handwork shop on Etsy" What a determined woman! After all, today is only the first day of the year! For starters she's offering these sweet lil' knitted gnomes:

Cynthia's etsy shop is Playgarden Toys. Love it, buy something or leave her a comment of encouragement! Thank you for supporting a sweet Mama!

{And... Remember the Christmas Days Giveaway. It's not too late!}

Happy New Year! May your lives be filled with love, joy, health and prosperity!