A Cozy Hangout In The Backyard....

lucky for him, Fieldin didn't find him :)

There's No Biz, Like Show Biz....

Miss Greta just finished up a short few days of drama day camp. She attended the same camp last year and loved it and asked to do it again this year... and already asked to go next year too.

There were seven kiddos in her camp. They wrote their own play and acted it out on their

last day. She did great. Last year she was the "mean ol' queen" and this year she was a firefighter.

learning about stage make-up and being a cat for the day.
Greta the firefighter and her dalmation "smokey" In this scene she is aiming her hose yelling"where's the fire?"

Giving gumbo to the gorilla to take to the starving queen... this play had quite the storyline, let me tell you..

Bowing after their play was complete. The policewoman next to Greta had donuts to give to the starving queen so right after this, the kids noshed on some donuts and juice.

Great job my girl. You remembered your lines and most importantly had an awesome time.

Can't wait for next year. :)

When We Were Away

When we were away..They proved once again that they are city kids..Fieldy hauled his backpack around EVERYWHERE.
When we were away, they got reeeeaaally tired of the camera.

When we were away..they crashed after long days.

When we were away...bathing suits got used.

When we were away.. the kids ate lots of goodies.

When we were away, I showed them a troll...

When we were away, a lot of watermelon was eaten.

When We were away, this little girl was "queen of the world!"

When we were away, he wanted to be carried "so I can see high daddy"

When we were away, he didn't want to leave this window..too much to see.

When we were away.. we had a wonderful time visiting friends and my dad. They had a great time "ploring"(exploring) with Grandpa as Fieldin would say.

A Pantry In Transition

The pantry is starting to resemble the co-op bulk bin area. Each week I am filling more and more mason jars full of nummy grains and seeds...

Bad Computer

I know it has been quiet on the blog front... we just returned from visiting family and friends for the last week and returned home to a computer that is on the fritz.. It was nothing that a whole lot of sighing, glaring and cussing couldn't fix...

Think we will be up and running tomorrow.. unless the 'puter turns on us again.

Bad computer.

Summer

snacks and rainbows
flowers on front porch

going to the grocery store

A rose planted for mom, in our garden

no pants... and no he's not potty trained. Operation toilet train will begin in a few weeks!

Farewell All, I Am A First Grader Now..

Last Tuesday was Miss Greta's last day of Kindergarten and she is very excited to be a 1st grader next year. She has changed soo much this year. She started the year with all her teeth, she couldn't read or do math equations, and was just starting to write sentences.. now she has a toothless grin, reads small chapter books, loves math and writes us stories. Good Job Greta! We are so proud.
Her thank you card to the bus driver.

Fieldin watching Gret and her class sing. He LOVED this! It was the coolest thing for him. He danced, clapped, squealed, tapped his feet and sang along. The kids enjoyed watching him watch them. It was very cute.

Glad to have you back for summer, Greta!

Better Late Than Never...An Anniversary Poem

Happy 11th Anniversary Jeff.

You gave me flowers and wrote me a poem.

You left them as a surprise when I wasn't home.

I didn't do anything for you but remembered our date,

Lucky you drove, or I probably would have been late.

I said I would buy dinner, but then I forgot...

Thank you for making our anniversary a special day..

and I promise at dinner next year, I will pay. :)

Vegan Update: Day 12

I barely was able to keep going yesterday. I had to call in a lifeline to talk me of the cheese wedge...I mean talk me off the ledge..

I've been non-dairy for months and doing great but a meatless day of detox snuck up on me and it was a bit scary.. have you guys seen Twilight? I had crazy eyes like Edward Cullen when he needs to feed... I think I scared my poor family. I took a nap, made lentil sloppy joes and roasted potatoes then treated myself to some strawberry coconut milk imitation ice cream. All is back to being right with the world and today I am feeling good.. physically, emotionally and happy that I didn't fall off the vegan wagon..

Would any of you be interested in me posting vegan recipes? My kids will eat most of it.. I did promise not to make them eat "winner winner meat crumble dinner" again. I am trying out new recipes all the time these days. If any of you have a recipe to share please do!

They Were Late This Year....

...but strawberries have finally arrived!

fresh picked strawberries= jam

one equation I can always remember.

yay to berry season!!!

Around Here - Saturday

enjoying the cool sprinkler while mommy and daddy planted in the yard.
These two played in the water for sooo long this after noon. Felt like a late July day.

Our little mechanic. He loves to hang out in the garage and get a few wrenches and screw drivers from dady's tool box and tune up his motercycle and our bikes. I think it is great. He can sit for the longest time engrossed in what he is doing...

After tuning his motorcycle and tightening the tires he took his motorcycle for a spin and stopped to tell a neighbor that he took a good look at his tires and they are o.k.. He had fun speeding around the play structure trying to show off to the other kids... oh my.

poppies in the garden..everything in bloom.. so nice..

Trial Vegan: Day Two

It's going well..way less hungry today. Jeff is eating the meals I make and is having to admit they are good. I am 3 for 3 people! yesterday I made meals taken from the peta.org trial meal plans.

lunch: avocado and saurkraut reubens...very good!
Dinner: stroganoff... I was worried about this one. I had heads bobbing around behind me as I tried to secretly add in the "meat crumbles" to the pan. You know what? it wasn't bad. Jeff had two helpings and even fieldy ate it. Ding Ding Ding... winner winner, meat crumble dinner...

It is saturday morning as I type and market day. Normal routine is to get a coffee of "foffee" as Fieldy calls it.. I am jonesing for a latte a little today. I am thinking it is more out of habit than need. I actually feel pretty awake this morning. Heading to the the kitchen for some tea...in the words of Fieldin" I can do this thing!"

Trial Vegan: Day One

I am already half way there. I have conquered the no dairy diet, so I thought....why not go all the way. A quick google search took me to the PETA website where I printed out a two week sample vegan menu. Sounds easy, right?? kind of. Jeff told me he will eat vegies etc but NO FAKE MEAT. " I will not eat that stuff" he says.. What he doesn't know is I have a couple packages of "meat crumbles" sitting in the fridge with his name on them. Mushroom gravy can disguise anything I say :) So here is a journaling of day one.

10 a.m. feeling hungry.Body needs to adjust to new diet. I have been off coffee for three days but feel like I have more energy than usual. Will see how day goes..

lunch: eat bean hummus wrap and asparagus/strawberry salad. stomach is feeling much better than it has in months.

2:00 still hungry.. eat some blue tortilla chips and salsa and a handful of nuts. Energy is still good. Mental clarity still good minus usual morning java fix. Was able to build a shelf with helper Fieldy without any mishaps or lost digits..

Dinner: Italian eggplant with marinara sauce

Jeff likes it! woot woot! kids ask to eat it...they like it! Home Run!!! They say they would like to eat it again.. things going good but of course "fake ground meat" has not been brought into picture yet.

Letters To A Tooth Fairy

Miss Greta lost her second front tooth last night. There was sooo much excitement. She sat right down to write her tooth fairy a couple notes. I will decipher:

"Who is your name?" (what is your name?")

"I am saree to distract, interat you bat mi tooth was bleeting bad" (I am sorry to distract, interrupt you but my tooth was bleeding bad)

I am sorry but this is too cute. Who apologizes to a tooth fairy for taking up her time.. Miss Greta does. She also lit her little candle light as usual and put out her Tinkerbelle doll so both fairies could "talk".

The letter she wrote when she lost her first front tooth said "my tooth is not grouchy"

Her daddy joked that tooth fairies only take happy teeth... she wanted to make sure the tooth fairy knew none of hers are grouchy.

I love you Greta and your most gorgeous smile:)