Just Checking In . . .

The weather outside is . . .
mild. Very mild. I took the kids to the lake to play in the sand this morning. Brr. I talked to a farmer at the market on Saturday. Not such a good year for them; growing is tough. The tomatoes are slow coming. Opposite of last  year.

I'm listening to . . .
Silence. About two minutes ago it was the very noisy din of children. Wow, what a contrast. I hope something mischievous isn't going on.




Part of our happy harvest several weeks back.

In the kitchen . . .I'm relishing the fresh summer produce from the farmer's market and our garden. Oh, how I love cooking with fresh local ingredients. Nothing more local than snipping a handful of herbs at the foot of the deck steps. Last night we had a wonderful family over and we ate chicken gyros with tzatziki sauce, tzatziki potato salad, and a cucumber/tomato salad. The other mamma brought apple pie. Yum!









In the garden . . .
Oh, the garden. Let's just say I'm looking forward to next year. We will have our work cut out for us though. It's going to be a bear to get rid of the weed jungle from this year. Basil and Nutmeg and I a ball digging up potatoes for dinner yesterday. We expected the least out of the potatoes and really, it was a huge success. I think we will plant twice as many next year.

It looks cheesy and old but it is quite good!

On my nightstand . . .
"A Garland for Girls" by Louisa May Alcott. "Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Year" by Elizabeth Noble. I do have to give a rave review for that one. I've read about a dozen books on childbirth, pregnancy, etc and this one, in my experience, tops them all. I mean, I just started reading it this morning but I'm already impressed.  It does a great job of demonstrating the big picture of a women's body, especially during this year. She talks about a women's specific body structure and the particular needs during this year. I was struck by how she explains exactly how strengthening the body for extra demands of pregnancy is important but she stresses how even more important are the days and weeks are the restructuring after birth. Not many of us put careful thought into that.

This baby growing business . . .
Pretty good. I do notice that I am certainly slowing down. Life is much better for me at this point when I take it at a nice, slow pace. I get worn out pretty quickly. I get freaked out if my belly feels hard or heavy but I notice if I rest and drink lots of water, I'm fine. So I think I've hosted my last dinner. Ashamedly, I'll say that we are using a whole lot of paper plates around here. So for the next few weeks, I think the kids and I will be spending a lot of time at the beach. Them playing in the sand and me reading in my chair.

The kids and I are reading . . .
Umm, right now . . . lots of picture books. I've kinda dropped the ball on our read-alouds but we'll be back at it by September.

Learning, learning all the time . . .
Reading. Wow. I haven't sat down much to listen to the boys read but I've been pleasantly surprised the few times I have done so. Throughout the summer both of the boys will sit down with a book. I'll ask them if they are just looking at pictures or if they are reading the words. They say something like "Duh mom, I'm reading the words." Goodness, they don't need me. They are just sponging it all up on their own. Sage still has this thing for spelling. Everywhere we go it seems he is memorizing how to spell words and noticing patterns. He'll ask what a word says and I'll tell him. Then he'll say, "Oh, that's just like this other word. It does that too." I love it. People always are amazed that I can do this homeschool thing. I always think "I'm not amazing at all. In fact, I'm pretty ordinary. The thing is with children, all you have to do is spread the feast out before them and they'll eat it right up."

The rest of the week . . .
Dental cleanings for the boys today. THE big ultrasound tomorrow and Costco afterwards. Oh and I'm absolutely giddy about that! We worked a new camera into our budget. Wahoo! I am stoked!! After that, not much. Relax, the beach, polish off plans for this year's education.

Lots of love from the 6 of us!!

One of our beautiful harvests.