Fit for a king

Got this idea for decorating hiking sticks at the Crafty Crow. Of course now I can't find the exact page where the idea came from and I'm a little too lazy to peruse any further. But it is a great site just brimming with ideas from the simple to more elaborate. And the list of crafty things to do with kids (and grownups!) keeps growing. This hiking stick craft was from a while ago...maybe that's why I can't find it now.

Anyway, this particular craft calls for wrapping colorful tape around walking sticks. As you might know, we have an abundance of sticks around here since my dear Rowan can not go anywhere without discovering at least one amazing stick to bring home. However, our current tape selection is a little pitiful. Actually I feel lucky to find any kind of tape around the house. But, I do have a large selection of beautiful woolen yarns (most of them languishing in obscurity) . So instead of tape, Rowan and his friend Eliot wrapped their sticks in yarn. The yarn wrapping takes longer than the tape would and also required a bit of help from me. Ultimately, the boys were happy with their creations. So happy, in fact, that it required a royal costume change.

I miss them already

Actually, I missed them the second they started on their journey back home. Oh, we had a lovely week. The weather was full of sunshine and warmth and we spent lots of time outdoors... hiking, gardening, picnicking, and a bit of yard-sailing. And lots of time in the sanc' (sanctuary), as Ari so handily named the one baby-safe room in my house. The one room where a million and one tiny playmobil accessories, lego bits and errant beads are not scattered about. Usually.

And since Quintin and Lilla hardly napped all week, they had plenty of time to hang together:

I'm so grateful they made the long trip out here to spend their vacation week with us. Come back soon!

Happy trails

I love hiking! Sadly, my children do not always share this passion for walking about aimlessly. Not that I consider it aimless, but Ava and Rowan at times find the activity boring and too tiring. So I have to come up with diversions and just a bit of bribery (yes, I know this probably runs counter to the child rearing books). Sometimes the bribery takes the form of: "let's take a walk and then we can stop at the store for a treat on the way home" or "we can go swimming at the falls, after we take a hike." I always feel a little triumphant if I can go for a hike that is strenuous enough for my exercise starved legs but mild enough to keep my little companions smiling.

I feel especially happy about walks/hikes where my kids aren't looking for any exterior reward. The kind of walks where the journey is just the thing...like counting the 224 steps down and back up the gorge, spying the first woodland flowers carpeting the forest floor, listening for birdsong, finding animal tracks ( bear or coyote?), muddied fingers and breaks beside the creek. Trillium blossoms

Inch by inch

After taking a week off from the computer, I'm still not into the swing of being back. And with the weather being so perfect here, I hardly want to be indoors. After all, there are picnics to take, trails to explore and a garden to tend.

Yesterday was the first day of this year that I actually got my hands in the dirt. I've been on the fence as to whether I would even plant anything this year. Life is pretty full here already. And summertime is so tricky because I end up taking off on vacation just as the cucumbers need trellising, the squash needs de-bugging or tomatoes need picking.

With a garden, it seems that something always needs doing at any given moment. Also, I never cleaned up my garden last fall, so the beds all need attention before I can get to work planting. Yesterday while the babies napped, Ari and I spent part of the afternoon weeding and moving large rocks around. Hopefully I'll get some peas, lettuce and cilantro planted later today.

Pictures from the Plantations...an inspiring little paradise:

Vacation Week

Our week on Cape Cod flew by...somehow it always does. With sun-filled days and mild temps we got to experience a little summery Cape flavor, but in April! I took numerous strolls around the neighborhood all the while swooning over the charming cottages and beautiful old homes here and there.
I sneaked in a little church thrift shop browsing. I adore those little shops filled with second-hand beauties and the small talk of church ladies. Later in the week we dined on fried delights on the deck outside at the classic Baxter's restaurant(my brother was shocked to hear I'd never been there before), followed by soft serve cones at Steve and Sue's. And we ran around barefoot on the beach. A few brave ones even stuck their feet in the brisk surf.
Lest you think it was all fun and games...a few of us managed to get sick with one mean stomach bug. That was absolutely No Fun at All. But now we are well and back home again. And Ari and Quintin are here visiting and adventuring with us.

Weekend bits

The weekend started with a lovely walk under a dramatic sky with the kids, my sister Lea and her dog Stella. The delight the kids take in walking and playing with Stella reminded me why our family needs a dog. Watching Lea tote a plastic bag filled with dog poop was one reminder of why we haven't taken that leap yet.
On the walk, there were horses to visit:
Puddles to jump:And sticks to be had. This boy can never have too many sticks. During our walk, I convinced Lea to come back later to help me paint my bedroom walls. After a little red wine and a whole lot of painting, I now have a cheerful room. Thankfully Lea forced me to give up the paint brushes and upgrade to rollers, so we could finish painting in one night.

However,today I had the silly idea to paint my dresser and nightstand...all the day before leaving for my trip to Cape Cod. It's April vacation- school's out for the week- and we are off tomorrow to visit family.

In between packing and painting furniture, I baked a lemon cake for my sweetie whose birthday is this week...I'm sorry we will miss the real day, but we'll just have to have two celebrations to make up for it. Before the kids and I leave in the morning, we'll dig into that cake for breakfast. And when we return next week, another celebration will be in order.

Today is an Absolutely Fabulous day.

Know why?
Why it's the beautiful Ariana's birthday! Hope you have a Happy Day, sister. And please come back to blog land, we miss you.

Shop girl

Ava is quite the entrepreneur these days. She and a friend are creating a summer camp for their younger brothers (only $20 a week!) and she's set up her very own store in the hallway. A frequent refrain I hear these days... "Mom, you want to buy this?" Apparently she's got big plans for all the money she's saving: a cruise or a trip to Hawaii. Hmm...not sure when she plans on taking these trips, but it's a good thing she has begun saving now. Might take a little while.

Directions to the store: Enter through the back porch door. Watch out for the growing pile of mud crusted boots in disarray near the doorway. After kicking off your own shoes, step your stockinged toes with caution through the kitchen as plops of banana or other gooey morsels are likely to be residing near that highchair. Now head directly through the dining room, again using care and with an eye out for small, rolling objects on the floor: light sabers (those are perfectly deadly under one's feet), match box cars and a well placed marble or two. Head on straight to the hallway and there you will find a delightful little shop run by my very own Ava.
Ringing up an order:
A sampling of her wares:I love the "Pocket String" pictured below. For 5 cents you get a neatly bound piece of string, as shes says "Have it in your pocket and you've always got it."

This was one of my purchases:

I love this

Found it here after following more links than I can remember. Makes me smile and then want to cry a bit. It's crazy how easy it is to get lost in the land of blog, but great when you stumble upon gems like this:

Lies I've told my 3 year old recently by Raul

Trees talk to each other at night.

All fish are named either Lorna or Jack.

Before your eyeballs fall out from watching too much TV, they get very loose.

Tiny bears live in drain pipes.

If you are very very quiet you can hear the clouds rub against the sky.

The moon and the sun had a fight a long time ago.

Everyone knows at least one secret language.

When nobody is looking, I can fly.

We are all held together by invisible threads.

Books get lonely too.

Sadness can be eaten.

I will always be there.

Yes, it's that last line that gets me: I really want to always be there for my children. And eating sadness wouldn't be such a bad trick either.

In the bag

I've been meaning to make myself some new cloth shopping bags for awhile. Back when I was in college, my brother and his wife- being good environmentally conscious role models- instilled in me the value of bringing my own bags to the grocery store. I soon amassed a pile of canvas bags...those ubiquitous natural colored totes with a random logo printed on the side.

Well ten years later, the poor old bags are showing their age and looking rather gray. Now when the grocery clerk asks if I want plastic or paper, I feel a bit sheepish handing over my own dirty looking bags. I must be grossing people out by these sad looking things (oh, I swear that I wash them!) And those re-usuable bags that all the stores seem to be peddling these days just don't interest me.

So from my stash fabric bin I unearthed a 25 cents a yard piece of printed canvas that I scored at a rummage sale last fall. I love this silly old print with the birds and the corn. Then I made myself a pair of these totes:
I didn't follow any particular pattern and it was quick and easy...though I realize now a little ironing would have made it look tidier for this photo op (credits to Ava and Rowan for humoring their mama and taking this picture.) But no time for ironing now, I'm off to the market to give these babies a test drive.

Nature beckons

And calls us to skip stones in the swirling creek and examine rocks with muddy fingers: To hang from tree limbs:
and collect hiking sticks:To jog down well trodden paths:
and explore new trails with old friends:
To revisit familiar places and picnic beneath a dusky sky:
We spent a lovely weekend outdoors- letting our cheeks grow rosy, our muscles weary and our spirits light.

Sweet pea in a pod

Sometimes a rest in the sling is just the thing for a grumpy babe. Lilla has been a sling baby since day one. When she was really small I'd just pop her in her Mama-made pouch and we'd cruise along through the day. Nowadays since she's so big, I usually just use a sling to prop her on my hip for a short while, or put her on my back for longer stretches. But when she's overtired, a little ill or both, she likes the soothing comfort of being in the sling- snugly swaddled near my heart. With her head cold the last few days, the sling has been a saving grace to get her down to sleep. No other carrying position seemed to work and the usual nursing to sleep was impossible. Now that I have the same cold she had, I know first hand what all the fuss was about. Today I am a stuffy nosed, head-achy, overtired Mama. Here's to hoping for some rest and recovery this weekend...hope you have a good one.