Rock Village

We took the kids camping the other week, out to our usual campground.  It's a beautiful place to camp, with tent sites all lined up along the waters edge.  As an adult, it's nice to just sit there, breathe in the fresh air, enjoy the view, and relax.  For the kids, swimming is the main attraction and after that activity has been exhausted, boredom suddenly strikes, for (as they sullenly point out) there is nothing but rocks to play with.

"But," I pointed out "One of your favorite books involves nothing but kids and rocks."  The girls mulled this over for a bit and then realized I was talking about Roxaboxen.

And just like that, the rocks became the best thing ever.  We spent a long time building stone walls for little houses.   The Little Miss built a bank and collected seashells for money, Pookie built a shop, where she sold various pretty objects, and Fig built a museum wherein was displayed a few bird feathers and the jaw bone of a catfish.

Due to the arrival of bad weather, we had to pack up and leave early.  The girls sobbed over having to leave their houses, but were mildly comforted by the idea that maybe other kids would come and maybe they would build more homes and maybe next year, when we return, there will be a whole village.  That would be awesome.

On a side note, I had no idea that there is a Roxaboxen Park.  How neat is that?!  If we're ever out that way, we'll be sure to stop there!

Seven

Pookie turned seven.  Yes, seven!  Where does the time go?
She has become quite the little food critic lately and so I wasn't surprised at all when her birthday cake request went far beyond the normal flavor and color preference.

Yellow cake, with chocolate morsels mixed in, chocolate buttercream frosting, raspberries spaced evenly around the edge, one raspberry in the middle, and a mint leaf for every raspberry.  She planned it out, helped bake it, and decorated it.  It was beautiful and delicious!
I can't wait to see what plans she has for eight!

Quilts and Crawling

After many months, I finally managed to pick out fabrics for the girls' quilts.

After several weeks staring at said fabrics, I finally settled on a patchwork pattern.

After only a few days, I managed to finish almost one whole quilt top.

And then it happened.

The Little Guy started crawling!

Gone were the days of leaving him to play happily on a mat with toys, while I sewed away.  Now, if I put him down, he was gone!  And sewing during nap times was not an option as the sound of the sewing machine would immediately send him into screaming fits.

After a few weeks of hoping he would decide that sitting was preferable to crawling, or maybe learn to like the sound of a sewing machine, I finally gave up and figured out a system that works for the both of us--cutting, pinning, and ironing during naps and very, very, rapid sewing during the few brief moments when he is awake and happy and contained in his crib.  Phew!

I won't have these quilts done in time for birthday's like I had hoped (the last girl birthday is almost upon us), but they should be done before Christmas.  I've almost finished up two quilt tops,which means there is just one left to do.  And then, of course, there's all the backing and binding and hand sewing to do...  But I think I can get it all done, just as long as the little guy doesn't decide to do anything crazy.

...like learn how to walk or something.

Muffin Morning

Phew! May was a crazy month full of ups and downs and June has been just as crazy, although with fewer ups and more downs.  It's been an incredibly fast paced, stressful, chaotic month so far, which has been making me irritable and worn out.  *sigh*
The other day, despite everything going on, I managed to whip up some rhubarb muffins and pop them in the oven just before Baby Boy awoke from his nap.  I thought about those muffins all night and...

...the next morning I poured myself a cup of coffee, helped myself to a muffin, and forced myself to do nothing but enjoy that moment.  A nice quiet half hour, no distractions, no rush, no hurry, just eating, drinking and  pondering over just exactly how one would describe the flavor of rhubarb.
The rest of the day was crazy as usual, but that morning, it was a good morning.
Sometimes we just have to create our own calm amidst all the chaos...

Intruder

We had a mild winter and an early start to spring and so the garden, normally just showing green this time of year, is already awash with color.  The coreopsis, crazy daisy, and blue flax are all blooming, the delphinium, nicotiana, and coneflower are all budding, and the hydrangea is cascading over the sidewalk in all different shades of pink, purple, and blue.

I've been walking along the flower beds daily, enjoying the flowers already in bloom and keeping an eye out for the seed leaves of perennials that have not yet made their appearance.  A few weeks ago, amongst the alyssum, I spotted the seed leaves of a plant that I had not planted, but that was obviously not a weed.  Curious I allowed it to grow and grow into...

what I believe is a pumpkin plant.  I suppose, when we carved pumpkins last fall, some seed slipped into the flower bed and...well...there we are.  It most certainly does not belong in the flower bed, but I haven't the heart to pull it out and so it stays.  And should this plant actually produce some pumpkins, it will be a very welcome intruder indeed!

Butterflies

Paper butterflies are decorating our schoolroom wall.

The butterflies are from a kids craft magazine that Pookie bought awhile back, but the instructions can still be found online here.

Real butterflies are also in the schoolroom--a part of our ongoing bug collection and nature studies.

Sketches by Pookie, Fig and self.

And butterflies returning to the garden outside.

Always a welcome sight!

New

There was a reason for not being in this space.  A very exciting little reason, that quickly grew and grew, but that unfortunately came with all kinds of exhaustion, nausea, and discomfort.

But since his arrival (just over three months ago now!), all those things have been forgotten and our life is now overflowing with smiles, giggles, and coos.  We're settling into a new kind of routine, one that revolves around feedings, nap times, and play time with the sisters.
We are all so overjoyed to have this new little one in our lives!