August 29, 2013

The end of summer is coming- our three month drought has become constant rain (for now- we normally get some nice weather all the way into October.). It's time to get into the garden and pull out everything that can ripen inside before it starts to rot on the vine.  I want to experiment with my fuchsia pots this year: I have this idea that if I stick the plants in the ground now, I can let them develop a good root system and grow them as perennials.  Even if they die back in the winter, they should sprout again...could be fun!  I got the idea at our local botanical garden; They have 150 kind of fuchsias growing in a plot.

The kids have their last swim lesson today- we all look a little like poor Ariel!  (She's a much-loved diving toy/chew toy.)  It's been an amazing summer- E got baptized with lots of family visiting and we took trips to Moclips, Chelan, and Winthrop (all are tiny towns in Washington state.)  Bedtime  has moved from 8:00 to somewhere around 9:30.  We took the summer off school and piano lessons, and I got to see the kids blossom as they played outside.  Ernie learned to ride a bike AND to swim.  Mimi has graduated to a big bike with training wheels, and Cocoa has moved onto the little purple tricycle.  I really need to paint that and tighten some screws!

We have two more long weekends, with one more family trip in there, and then Wonder Daddy and I will both start work anew.  He's switching companies and job descriptions, and I'll be starting up the piano studio for the year, on the same day.  Feels like we should celebrate that night!  His job switch has been miraculous- after lots of discussions together about his needs, the family's needs, and his current company's needs, it was five weeks from starting his search to starting his job.  

I've been a dope and NOT following my doctor's orders (just a hint: when a qualified naturopath/western style doctor prescribes vitamins instead of antidepressants, do NOT stop taking the vitamins because you think you're all better or you think you can just substitute children's chewables.  That's how you find yourself unable to get out of bed, with no appetite, and crying in random corners of the house.  Since the vitamins were to counteract a hormonal imbalance, they really need to be the kinds of vitamins that build hormones!)  HOWEVER, I am back on my vitamins and feeling marvelous so that's a huge blessing right now.  I'm also really hungry :)

Today we'll do swim lessons and lunch, and then I teach school during Cocoa's nap.  I thought I had things to help Mimi with during E's school time but so far she's kind of bored.  I'm going to work on creating a Montessori-style shelf for her to pull work from.  I think she'll like that.  A friend I haven't seen in a while is coming over after dinner tonight: we both need some Girl Time!  We might just chat here, or might get crazy and go to fro-yo or Target--or both, if we're crazy!

Ta-

Myrnie

August 27,2013

-Cartoons and breakfast

-Grocery store for milk, because Cocoa lives on peanut butter and "loklit miwk". (Chocolate milk).  Also bought produce, eggs, and our school supplies for the year.  If I don't stock up on notebooks, glue pens, and kid scissors we all get very sad when we run out!

-  Fish hatchery while we waited for our library to open

-Library to get the kids' "finished my summer reading chart" prizes.  This year it was tote bags for each of them.  I have them three minutes to find books before we had to leave.  Cocoa and Mimi found two each, and Ernie cleared off the Magic Treehouse shelf.

- Swim lessons at the YMCA.  I still can't believe that before this summer Ernie was terrified of putting her head under water, and now she swims half the length of the pool before surfacing for air.  I guess swimming underwater is way easier than staying on the surface!

- Home for lunch.  While we're still pulling out of the Y parking lot, Cocoa started asking for peanut butter.  They all had two pieces of bread with jam, two glasses of milk, two pieces of cheese, and a spoonful of peanut butter.  Who needs veggies?

-Cocoa took his nap and Ernie and I worked through her school work for the day.  Mimi played with math rods, did an art project, worked on a letter game on my iPad, and played downstairs.  Busy two hours for her, even though she's rolling around right now saying how she didn't get to do anything today!

- Got both girls through their computer checkpoints that finish their lessons and record their attendance.

-Cut up a lot of stuff and threw it in the oven.  I'm going to say it's ratatouille, Mark Bittman's style.  Cherry tomatoes are mine, aren't they pretty?

Now all we need to do is have dinner and bedtime, and wait for Daddy to get home!

Happies This Week (and some of my Recordings)

Frozen yogurt with Ernie, after seeing my brother Bear in a production of Little Women.  (He was Professor Bhaer.  Is that not PERFECT?  He was perfect.  The show was incredible, and if you're not doing anything this weekend hit me up for info.  Ernie and I loved it!)

I think Red Mango is my new favorite "fro-yo" spot.  It's not as sweet, and the fruit is yummy!  On a side note, I have proved myself incabable of serving a decent amount of fro-yo on multiple occasions.  I should feel bad about that, but it's SO GOOD.  That's peach and coconut frozen yogurts, with popping boba, mochi, raspberries, and mangoes.  I went back last night and had....well, just about the same thing.  It's a problem.

That little speck on the other side of the street is Ernie, with a walkie-talkie and a sewing kit in her basket, on her way to a sewing class.  

I got tired of squabbles over seats at the table, so I wrote the girls' names in sparkly gold ink and tacked them to the wall.  A piece of double-sided tape and some glitter sealed the deal: They will sit by these tags until the end of time.


With no out-of-town guests, the gym is closed, and no piano or school to teach...I am slowly dismantling our home and re-assembling it.  I made a goal of getting rid of half our stuff by the end of summer.  I might not make it to half, but I DID empty out all our clothes and kitchen things and only keep what we use.  An organized pantry is a happy thing!  That curtain was from my Grandma- she found it at at thrift store and couldn't leave it behind.  All that blue is cross stitched by hand!  The pretty little table cloth doesn't fit any of our tables, and it has a small hole, but it makes a beautiful alternative to closet doors we had before.  Bonus, no pinched fingers!



Baked donuts.  My donut pans have redeemed themselves, these are KILLER.  Subbed sour milk and some coconut oil for the sour cream, and used orange extract instead of lemon in the glaze.



Mandala coloring pages.  My girls are wild about coloring, the more finicky the picture the better.


Cocoa's toes are an endless source of joy for me.  Plus, when he's happy, they twiddle together.  It's adorable.



I ordered myself a new music book last week- I can't think of a better way to spend $12 of "fun money"!


I messed around with a few of the songs last week-

All the Way Down


Leave


--Myrnie

Sleepy

When "OK, you can be in our bed while we read scriptures" became "slumber party."