How Does Our Garden Grow?

With Silver Bells and something, something, something


With zucchini and tomatoes and peppers and squash and tomatoes and squash and corn and beans and squash and tomatoes and . . .


Cantaloupe!!!

Yes, the cantaloupe is finally starting to show some fruit. They aren't ready yet by any stretch. This one is as small as my fist and the largest are probably only half the size they will reach at maturity. But we cannot wait. This is a different variety than we had last year. Last year's variety was called something "Ambrosia" and it was truly heavenly--but we couldn't find it this year. So sad. (and sorry about the grass around the cantaloupe--this one is a rebel cantaloupe and is actually growing outside the garden boundaries. a bit risky, what with lawnmowers and such, but I think it might just have what it takes to make it.)

I have been cooking and freezing and baking and storing massive amounts of squash and zucchini and green beans. My freezer will soon be full--how great is that?? This weekend I will start with the tomatoes. I picked almost 40 tomatoes in the last two days. Anyone up for spaghetti? (And check out my Fried Green Tomato recipe in the side bar.)


Soon we will have corn. I am very excited about that.


The corn is getting big, but isn't ripe yet. And look at what we planted at the base.

Those are a type of pole bean. We got them in very late, as it was kind of a spur of the moment decision, but we are using a Native American technique of planting--where they planted the beans so they would use the corn stalks to grow up. (They also planted pumpkins around the base, which we did in a different patch--I just didn't walk out there this morning to take pictures. Because I am lazy like that. And the grass was wet with dew and I didn't want to get wet.)

Oh, the photo at the very top--those are squash flowers. I have always thought they were so beautiful, and it was fun watching the bees go in and out of them.

The bees are never there later in the day, it must be the first stop on their pollen collecting commute. (Man--look at the little thorns on the squash stems! They are very small in actuality, barely visible, but I always end up with lots of little scratches on that soft skin on the inside of my wrist. So, if you come to dinner and I serve squash, remember the pain I endured to bring you that meal. You can show your gratitude with lavish gifts or free babysitting.)


Tomorrow--trees. I am on a botanical kick.

Our Little Mozart

Our Sweet Adeline playing a concert.

Championships

"I'm a little scared, Mommy."
"That's ok, Angel Baby, everyone here is a little scared. But, I'll tell you a secret. The trick is to use that energy to make you go faster."

This coming from the mom that never participated in any team or organized sports. I really have no idea where this stuff comes from, but it was pretty good, don't ya think?

What it comes down to is, I know my child, and I know that she is nothing if not determined.
As it turns out, she needed that determination that day.

Since Chris and I were "team leaders" (meaning, we were in charge of the kids while they were on deck prior to and after their heats), we were both able to be with Morgan for quite a while. And wear these super awesome, highly trendy orange shirts.

Don't we look good?

Morgan always seems confident. You would never know she has butterflies in her tummy.

Soon after this, I turned her over to one of the Deck Marshalls to line up for her heat. (It was as we were walking over there that we had the "I'm scared" conversation.) She was grinning from ear to ear as she walked over to the starting blocks. And I was proud of her, it didn't matter how well she did, I was just amazed at how far she had come in her swimming abilities and the fact that she was not going to let her fears get the best of her.

Then, as they were preparing to dive in, one of the girls fell off the starting block. Morgan thought she had missed the start buzzer and dove in as well. And swam.
She didn't hear the false start warning, so she kept going. She swam the entire length. I was able to get to her as she came out of the pool. It was heartbreaking to watch her face go from pride at having finished to dismay and embarrassment at finding out she had been swimming alone. She cried and I held her, and then we walked back to go line up again. I gave her a kiss and a hug as I passed her off to a deck marshall again (I wasn't allowed past a certain point)--luckily this was another mom from our team and Morgan knew her. Morgan was still sobbing, but it never occurred to her to not do it again. I didn't have to push or even ask, she was upset but that wasn't going to stop her from swimming in her race.
The assistant coach was waiting near the starting blocks and picked Morgan up and held her for a moment before helping her get back onto the starting blocks. (We are so lucky to have such a close-knit, family oriented team!) Morgan prepared to dive in again, and dove off the block the instant the buzzer sounded again.

(morgan is the second from the left)

Apparently the conversation we had earlier about using the energy from our fears to make you go faster had an impact. That little girl was swimming faster than she had ever had before.


She led almost the entire way, missing first place in her heat (not overall) by less than half a second, and improving her own best time by eleven seconds! This is after she already swam the race distance one time (and when you are five years old, that takes a lot out of you!).

But that isn't what we are most proud of. I am proud that my little girl, despite being upset, despite being embarrassed, made the decision to get back up there. I couldn't tell from where I was, but I wouldn't be surprised if she had still be crying as she was preparing to dive in a second time. And yet, she dove in and swam her little heart out. I have always known that the determination, the strong will, and the sometimes unwillingness to bend would serve her well when she was the master of those traits (rather than them mastering her). That day, I saw her master them in full and I had a glimpse of how strong and amazing a woman she is going to be. Is that a bit much to get out of her first swim championship? Maybe. But I don't think so.

Right now, though, she is still our little girl and we are enjoying every heartbreak and every joy. And especially the hugs that come along with both.



PS since my brother in law wouldn't have condoned us taking her to Dairy Queen, we took her to the gourmet frozen custard place instead. (click here if you don't know the Dairy Queen story)

I Think, Therefore I Can

This weekend we canned. We canned like we have never canned before.



Because, truly, we have never canned before.

And by "we" I mean Chris. Except, I helped actually put it into the jars and fix the lids. Chris spent the previous twenty-four hours soaking cucumbers, and rinsing cucumbers, and boiling cucumbers, and rinsing cucumbers, and boiling cucumbers in the pickling syrup. It is his grandmother's recipe, and it is fabulous. I don't even like sweet pickles, and these are great!

While Chris was busy with the cucumbers, I spent my time cutting squash and blanching squash and cooling squash and then freezing squash. and then "second verse same as first" only with green beans. and then zucchini.

I feel very accomplished and I know this winter I will really enjoy all the soups, breads, and fresh veggies we have prepared from our garden.


Tomorrow I will tell you all about Morgan's swim championships. Things went differently than we expected, but we are more proud of her than we ever thought we would be. (And that strong-willed determination that can drive me crazy sometimes? Well, it served her very well.)

When Good Pets Get Mohawks

Earlier this week, I posted this picture.

This is the story . . .
It all started when I noticed Morgan's pants were wet and asked her why.
"I don't know"
I asked again.
"I don't know, they just are."
So I just used the "mom look" and waited till she finally cracked. Morgan had apparently decided that her favorite stuffed animal, a Webkinz unicorn she named Katelynn, needed a bath. Pretty typical kid stuff, so I wasn't angry. We just talked about how that isn't really good for the toy (especially since she then zipped it up in a plastic container). Morgan cried, thinking she had ruined her unicorn. I assured her she probably hadn't and we put her in the washing machine (the poor unicorn was soaked with handsoap) while Morgan sat faithfully by and watched her tumble round and round. Then we put her in the sun to dry.

All was good.
Or, so I thought.

A little later I walk into the playroom and lo and behold, there are little white hairs on the floor.
And scissors next to them.
And a unicorn with a significantly shorter mane and tail. hmmm . . .

This is the conversation.
"Morgan, why is there white hair on the floor in here?"
"I don't know"
"Morgan, why is there white hair on the floor in here?"
"I don't know, maybe it is Lottie's."
(yes, I am sure that our sweet old white pekingese now has synthetic hair and has learned to give herself a haircut.)
I held up the scissors. "what are these doing here?"
"I don't know"
I held up the unicorn. "what happened to Katelynn?"
"I don't know"
I just look at her and wait. The mom look. It can crack even the most hardened criminals. Or, at least, a five year old caught in a lie

"I thought she would look prettier with short hair."

I had to resist the urge to teach my child to lie better, but what I was thinking was Angel Baby, if you're going to lie, at least hide the evidence!

Katelynn's mane and tail used to be nice and fluffy. Now they look like this. (Morgan thinks it looks cute, though.)




PS Morgan's swim championships are today--I will let you know how she did next week.

Bike Tag

One of the blogs that I read and really enjoy is The Fat Cyclist recently he posted a series of questions and answers relating to his love for riding. Fatty has a great sense of humor and one that he expertly demonstrates in his writing. Here are my answers to those same questions.

If you could have any one — and only one — bike in the world, what would it be?
Not sure, probably my Schwinn Homegrown. I would miss my road bike but I cannot give up my Mountain Bike (MTB), it is too versatile.

Do you already have that coveted dream bike? If so, is it everything you hoped it would be? If not, are you working toward getting it? If you’re not working toward getting it, why not?
Yes, in relation to my MTB. However, I would love to own a great Time Trial (TT) bike like the Trek Equinox TTX or ideally the Cervelo PC3.

If you had to choose one — and only one — bike route to do every day for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why?
I would choose York River State Park, mainly because it is a very fun, pretty mild trail and I would still be able to ride it when I was old and gray instead of having to give up riding because I could no longer handle that wonderful, awesome trail with the wicked uphill and harrowing downhill.

What kind of sick person would force another person to ride one and only one bike ride to do for the rest of her / his life?
Really! That is for us to do to ourselves!

Do you ride both road and mountain bikes? If both, which do you prefer and why? If only one or the other, why are you so narrow minded?
I ride both, but I prefer the MTB. I think this is because on a MTB you are riding through nature instead of on an asphalt roadway and I love being in the woods. You can also decide to stop and take a breather and you don’t feel like your skin is baking in the hot sun. Road riding is such a draw for me because of the aerobic benefits, it is pure pain (of course the good kind) and endurance, mountain biking requires endurance but also that you pay attention and think your way along the trail.

Have you ever ridden a recumbent? If so, why? If not, describe the circumstances under which you would ride a recumbent.
I have never ridden a recumbent. I might be tempted to try a recumbent; however it holds no real appeal for me (it is such a strange looking bike).

Have you ever raced a triathlon? If so, have you also ever tried strangling yourself with dental floss?
I have raced a triathlon. I recently have chosen one to race each year, this year I am not racing one and am greatly disappointed by that. I am not fast at all (I usually finish in the bottom third of my age group) but I really enjoy the challenge and look forward to racing again next year.

Suppose you were forced to either give up ice cream or bicycles for the rest of your life. Which would you give up, and why?
I completely agree with The Fat Cyclist’s answer to this question; “I would claim to give up ice cream, but would sneak it when nobody was around. Impossible to sneak bicycle riding. Too much physical evidence laying around.”

What is a question you think this questionnaire should have asked, but has not? Also, answer it.
“What is better, climbing or descending?” My answer is; both!

You’re riding your bike in the wilderness (if you’re a roadie, you’re on a road, but otherwise the surroundings are quite wilderness-like) and you see a bear. The bear sees you. What do you do?
What kind of bear? How big is the bear? Am I going downhill or uphill? Do I have a fish in my pocket? Do I have a riding partner? Can I outrun my riding partner? Can my riding partner outrun me?

When Good Pets Get Soapy

Disclaimer: no actual pets involved

(story to follow later this week)

Wordless Wednesday

Forgetting to Get Off the Bus, and Other Literary Tales

I have always been a reader. Some of my best memories from childhood are climbing up in the fig tree we had in our backyard and reading a book. Usually, if my mom couldn't find me, it was because I was lost in some tale about the Black Stallion, or the Baby Sitters Club, or Elizabeth Bennet. I am still harrassed about the day, back in elementary school, when I forgot to get off the bus because I was so engrossed in a book. My poor mom was panicking until the bus came around again. And then boy was I in trouble! (Mom--sorry about that--Really!)

I still love to read, usually have one or two books going at a time, but I don't read 300-400 pages a day anymore. The kids tend to interrupt that a bit. It takes me longer to finish any given tale, but I find a book store or library just as enchanting as I ever did. I could wander the shelves for hours, peeking into worlds I have not yet opened, deciding which one I am going to explore.
I go in cycles as to what I am going to read. I read quite a bit of historical fiction for about a year, starting with The Other Boleyn Girl and moving on to When Christ and His Saints Slept and Time and Chance (Sharon Kay Penman is my favorite author about that time period, tending toward more accuracy and less drama). I also forayed into some science fiction--not my usual taste, but I wanted to stretch myself--with the Hyperion Series. It is beautifully written, and definitely ponders what it truly means to be human through a tale of life, immortality, and social upheaval.

I think my favorite author is Dorothy Sayers. I love her Lord Peter Wimsey series. Incredibly written mysteries--intelligent and very funny (in that dry British way). They are the only books I have ever actually laughed out loud while reading. (Dorothy Sayers was good friends with C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien, also authors I love, and the quality of her writing is on par with theirs.)

Now I have joined (from afar), my friend Laura's book club. They read classic literature, and then watch the movie if there is one. I have just started participating and am excited to be reading The Count of Monte Cristo. Reading books like this not only expands my own mind, but I find that Morgan's vocabulary (and maybe Adeline's once she starts talking) increases as my own reflects what I am reading.

What are your favorite books or genres? What books did you love as a child, or love to share with children now?

Don't Expect Her to Share

With Morgan, I was incredibly picky about what foods she ate. All healthy foods, never any junk. Organic when possible. With the second child, some of that has changed. She still eats a lot of fruits and vegetables (especially from our garden) and would live off of bananas and cucumbers if I let her. I still get her organic milk and we use eggs from our guineas, so I know those are healthy. But, Adeline also gets junk food. I know, call the food police or child services or something. She has had french fries and chips and the occasional sip of pink lemonade. These aren't staples of her diet or anything, but if we are in the car, or at a picnic, it is just easier to let her have one or two of whatever we are having. And the kid knows--if you unwrap food, any food, she wants it, and don't even think of not sharing.

So, when we were visiting some friends a couple months ago and stopped for some ice cream, I knew that Adeline would want some. Because ALL the girls were getting some, and she just couldn't be left out, or she would stomp her feet and cry and the earth would go into meltdown at the cuteness of her temper tantrum. Seriously. (So, you understand, I had to let her have ice cream in order to save the world.)

The girls all thoroughly enjoyed their ice cream. As you can see, Morgan got blue-something-or-other. So you can imagine why I wouldn't want Addie to share.

Morgan doesn't look like she is enjoying that at all, does she?

Since I wanted something coffee flavored (and I think it had nuts in it), I got Addie her own little vanilla kiddie cone. It was about 2 inches tall and had probably a tablespoon of ice cream on it. But it was all hers. And she was in heaven. (And it wasn't blue, and it didn't have coffee in it.)

This kid takes her ice cream seriously. Look at that intensity!


For all her demanding that other people share their food, Adeline wasn't about to let anyone close to her ice cream cone. "Aunt" Diana knelt down at one point and asked if she could have a bite.
Adeline promptly tried to fit the entire cone into her mouth. That's my Sweet Adeline!

I Promise I'll Write . . .

I am terrible at correspondence, as my Daddy can testify (I swear, I DID write you while you were on deployment--the notes just never made it past my locker at school!) But these pretty notes might make actually tempt me to write AND mail letters . . .

click on the link for a chance to win . . .

Pink Potpourri

Have fun! Next week we will have posts ranging from guineas to ice cream. But not guinea ice cream.

PS--check out the recipe in the side bar, they really are the best hamburgers I have ever had!

Our Future Olympian

I am really tired today, so this will be a short post. Just wanted to say that Morgan has been asked to compete in the league championships! She will be doing 25 meter freestyle. At her last meet she cut six seconds off her time. I don't have any delusions that she will defeat all the kids she competes against, in fact, she might come in dead last. And that won't matter a bit! I am just proud that they feel she is confident enough to handle the stress and chaos, and not be intimidated by the massive pool and all the other swimmers.

Next week, I promise I will post about horses or dogs or guineas or something.

Swim Meet: The Last

Well, our evening didn't get off to a very auspicious start. As I am loading everyone into the truck, I realize that Morgan's swimming goggles are not in her swim bag with the rest of the gear. This is a bad sign. Sure enough, a call to her team's home pool (the opposite direction of the pool where the meet is to be held) revealed that she had left them there. I know, I know, she is only five, but at the time I was highly frustrated as the only thing that Morgan has to remember to bring home each day is her goggles. Well, we get to the pool, I pick up her goggles and another kid's (whose mom was probably equally as pleased, but I imagine had told her she could find another pair or swim without them). We then take another route into the city that is a straighter shot, but involves a beautiful, scenic, very curvy road.

And Adeline gets carsick. Great.
Morgan starts sobbing because Addie got sick. Even better.

I wipe Addieoff as best as we can on the side of the road, put a towel over her to protect her from more incidents, comfort Morgan, and continue on. With the windows down. I had just reorganized the car that afternoon, and had taken out the bag of extra clothes to wash and change out. Dangit!! That'll teach me to clean, won't it?

I dropped my mom, who was visiting, and Morgan off at the pool. We were unable to park at the pool because we were not even close to as early as I had hoped to be. (Although, thanks to my fabulous organization skills--hahahaha--we were still more than on time for her to get set up and do all her warmups. Really, we were!) Then I parked at another area of the park with Addie, cleaned up the carseat, stripped her down and redressed her in her bathing suit that I keep in Morgan's swim bag (pink plaid with all-important ruffles), put the carseat, dress, and towel all in the bed of the truck so that we wouldn't be killed by the noxious fumes after the meet, and hiked up the massive hill to the pool.

After that, it was pretty much smooth sailing. Morgan was very excited to be competing in a larger pool (the length is the same--25 meters, but this one had twice as many lanes as the others she has competed in). Addie seemed to be feeling fine, which gave me comfort that it truly was just a little carsickness (but please let this not be a regular thing!). Soon it was time for Morgan's event.

She dove in, rather than slithering in, and swam beautifully. For the first half of the pool, she was actually keeping up with the biggest kids, but then she got a little winded and slowed down as she needed more breaths. Still, she beat a couple kids to the wall (a first!) and I am quite sure she improved her time by quite a bit. (Have I mentioned that she is competing against six and seven year olds? And she turned five not even two months ago!) We were all so proud of her and her coach came over and gave her a lot of compliments and encouragement as well. He talked to me briefly about putting her in the regional championships. He wants to see what her time actually was and see how she does at practice the next couple of weeks. Really, at her age, it is just incredible that she could participate and I am all for it! (Don't worry, I am not so delusional that I think my kid is going to all of a sudden morph into super-swimmer and beat every other kid in the league.)

Not a bad ending to an adventure that started out so poorly, I would say!

I Told You I Was Ready to Swim!

Swim Meet II

Morgan had her second swim meet last week. Her final one for the season is this week. Morgan loves to compete and even got team spirit stuff written on her back, just like the older kids.


She improved her time by quite a bit, despite the most, um, unusual entrance into the pool. The meet organizer assumed Morgan would be more comfortable diving off the edge of the pool rather than the diving block. However, this caused confusion, since the pool Morgan practices in has gutters and you can't dive in off the edge. So, when the buzzer sounded to enter the pool, Morgan, not wanting to risk breaking rules or being unsafe, calmly knelt down and slithered like a salamander into the pool. All the timers and lane judges were cracking up with me. Oh to have a photo of that! But, alas, I do not.
I do have a cute one of Adeline wearing a team cap, though.


Think she wants to be like her big sister?

Auntie Molly was able to come down for this swim meet, which was great motivation for Morgan to do well. All week she was saying how she was going to swim better than ever so Auntie Molly could see.


Here is a video of the last part of her swim. (You can hear Molly and other people cheering for her.)

Perspectives

Many years ago, whenever I would visit my grandparents house I would sip coffee from my favorite coffee mug. On the mug was simply written “Perspectives”. I do not know exactly why I liked this mug so much except that I identified with the word written on the mug. It was like it opened a window into my soul.

Perspective as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary:
noun
1.
a. A view or vista
b. A mental view or outlook: "It is useful occasionally to look at the past to gain a perspective on the present" (Fabian Linden).
c. The relationship of aspects of a subject to each other and to a whole: a perspective of history; a need to view the problem in the proper perspective.
d. Subjective evaluation of relative significance; a point of view: the perspective of the displaced homemaker.
e. The ability to perceive things in their actual interrelations or comparative importance: tried to keep my perspective throughout the crisis.
2. The appearance of objects in depth as perceived by normal binocular vision.
3. The technique of representing three-dimensional objects and depth relationships on a
two-dimensional surface.
adj. Of, relating to, seen, or represented in perspective.

Being an optimist the definitions really resonate with my conscience and speak to my sensibilities; I can wrap my head around the meanings.

My Grandmother gave me the mug shortly before she passed away from cancer, I used the mug so often that I wore most of the writing off of the mug. As a gift this year for Father’s Day I received this mug from Meghann, Morgan, and Addie.

I love it! It refreshed my appreciation for the mug and the memories of my Grandmother, what a wonderful gift.

Give Away!

I found this blog today and she is giving away this very pretty painting.
It would go very nicely with the large painting of the inside of a greenhouse I have in the upstairs hallway. So, don't actually enter, it will ruin my chances.
In all seriousness, go ahead and enter--let me know if you win! That way I can stalk out your house and steal it when you are gone.

Here is the link: Pink Potpourri

Tact and Empathy

Morgan has a very empathetic personality. When someone is sick or grieving, it brings out the nurturer in her. She truly feels your pain and is compelled to help--refusing her aid will crush her tender heart.
This week, my mom lost one of her dogs. Bailey was one of the sweetest dogs I have known, but he was ill and it was time to let him go. Anyone who has had a pet knows how truly difficult this decision can be.


Morgan cried when she found out that she was losing her puppy playmate, and then comforted herself by thinking of how happy Bailey would be in heaven where he was no longer sick.
When she called mey mom, her first question was, "Has Bailey gone to heaven yet?" The conversation continued with Morgan telling "Moppy" about toy balls that keep bouncing and are made of special dog treats, playing fetch with Jesus, and romping with the other dogs. It was a very sweet conversation, full of love.

I was touched and so was my mom. Then, as she passed the phone back to me, she told me of Bailey's passing with all the tact she could muster . . .

"Bailey's dead"

Luckily, my mom has a good sense of humor and we both laughed for a couple minutes over the sudden transition.

Mind Your Beeswax!

Who knew this was more than a elementary school comeback?

My sister, Molly, and I took the girls to a nearby former President's home. It was actually a lot of fun and we all learned quite a bit. One of the things that cracked me up is that "mind your beeswax" is actually a historical saying. Back in the days of smallpox, people would usually have a lot of scarring on their faces. Those who could afford it would use a cosmetic foundation--made of beeswax--to smooth out their complexion. Of course, sitting close to the fire could cause this to melt off and a friend might remind you to "mind your beeswax."
This is also where the expression "losing face" comes from.

While we were there, we had the great opportunity to watch a peacock showing off for the peahen. It was an incredible display. Here is a photo of it (sorry for the quality--I only had the camera that is on my phone).

Just Call Me Hayden

One of my friends, Roccy (see "I Am Joe Pesci" in our sidebar--she is a hoot) introduced me to this fun thing. I tried it with several different pictures just for fun. Oddly enough, this picture looks the least like me of all the pictures I tried, but I think it got the most accurate result. This was confirmed when Morgan walked in, saw the picture of Hayden and said, "I like your hair in that picture, mommy!" (yeah, if I had a team of stylists I bet my hair could look that good! not that it looks terrible on its own--I like my hair, but it does have a slight tendency for unruliness.) Other celebrity twins included Jessica Biel (flattered, but I don't see it), Jessica Simpson (again, flattered, but don't see it), and Bing Crosby (huh??). My sexy husband apparently looks like Colin Farrell. I actually thing he is a dead-ringer for Paul Walker, but I am not opposed to Colin by any stretch. Anyway, enjoy and let me know who you look like!

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Family name history - Geneology software

I Must Live Near a Nuclear Power Plant

Wordless Wednesday Starring: Squash from My Garden.

Addie=Addict

(and a side note about Morgan's swimming progress at the end)

We have a garden. Have I mentioned our Garden? The one with the 27--now 28 because Chris planted one of the branches we broke off and it is now a plant--tomato plants? Well, this garden also has massive cucumber and squash plants, that are producing at an amazing rate. So, we have grocery bags FULL sitting in our kitchen. I promise, I am not exaggerating.

Well, Adeline's favorite food, besides bananas (don't even mention that word around her unless you actually have one--I learned that the hard way) is cucumbers. I peel and slice them and give them to both girls and they devour them. Well, Sunday night I guess Adeline needed to feed this addiction, and didn't want to wait for those additional steps. So, she pulled a cucumber out of the bag and just started eating it, peel and all. Aftera couple giggles, I asked her if she wanted me to peel and cut it. She handed it to me with a "yah!" and grins and a wrinkly-nose giggle (a true Addie expression).

Oh, she also made the sign for "please" this weekend, accompanied by saying "peas". Outside of the incident at the grocery store and "nanana" which she sometimes uses for banana, Adeline really doesn't have words. Probably can't get one in edgewise with Morgan around. Addie understands a lot, even follows some directions (when it suits her), and makes lots of different consonate-vowel combinations. But "peas" and "nanana" are really her only words. We will see if she continues to use them or if they are rare occurances.

Last night at Morgan's swimming practice, her coach told me that Morgan had the most lung capacity that he had ever seen in someone her age. Apparently her stunt of swimming down to the bottom of the deep end and touching it with her hand, and THEN coming up and swimming to the other end of the pool (the cost of being allowed to jump in the water one more time even though her time was up) amazed the coach and several parents. As I make it a point to not hover while she is being coached, I actually missed this--but it was recounted to me by several individuals.

Keets on the Keyboard!

No, not the poet--that is Keats--keets as in baby guineas. I currently have one sitting in my lap, and she or he occasionally wanders onto my laptop's keypad.

Keets in a box.

Our guinea eggs hatched July 2. Out of twelve eggs we put in the incubator, eleven hatched. Not a bad ratio, considering how hard guinea egg shells are. (I actually dropped a guinea egg off the counter the other day onto the wood floor in the kitchen. It didn't even have a hairline crack. That is one strong shell!) We took home seven total guineas, leaving four of ours for the gentleman who let us keep the eggs in his incubator. Our adult guineas included one Pearl color, one Lavender color, and four Royal Purple colors (to see what these look like as adults and keets, click here.) The keets include two Pearl, one that might be a Pearl (but seems lighter, so might end up being a Brown or a Buff Dundotte--this is the one currently sitting in my lap), one Lavender, two that look like they might end up being Sky Blues, and one Royal Purple. At least, that is my best guess at the moment.

I will let our reporter in the field in the family room give you a more professional cuter description. It is about a minute long. (Disclaimer: no keets were injured in the making of this report.)




This shot was taken of that keet post-video. She (or he) is doing just fine today, I promise.

I Got Next!

alternate title, "They Got Nothin' on Me!"

"Really, Daddy, I can swim, too. Just give me the chance! No? Well, fine then. But in 4 years I will blow them all out of the water!"

Swim Meet

Lil Bit swam in her first competitive meet this week. Considering she woke up the day before the meet giggling over swimming the next night, I think I can safely assume she was excited. When we got there she was grinning from ear to ear, but never seemed remotely nervous. Morgan demonstrated perfect poise the entire time.

Here she is, just chatting with the girls.

it is always important to discover whether you or your friend is taller before you swim.

Walking over to what I refer to as the "holding pen" (the place where all the swimmers who have events coming up line up). Morgan is the short one in the middle--she only made the age cutoff for the league by two weeks, so she is barely five and swimming in an eight and under group.

In this photo, she is just handing her card off (they use this to keep track of her times and points and such. I think, at least, I am kind of new at this), but there is something about the confidence and calmness that I just love. You would think she had done this 10 times already.

She chose to dive off the block, rather than diving off the side of the pool or starting in the water (options that are given to kids her age). Look at that perfectly poised, completely incorrect form. This was followed by a perfect belly flop!

After a moment of initial confusion when she popped back up out of the water, Morgan swam without pause until she got to the end of the lane (a total of 25 yards).
I couldn't even get to her right away because every single one of her teammates was at the end of the pool cheering for her. I think that is my favorite part about swimming: how much the kids really root for each other.

She was a little shaky when she was first pulled out of the pool by her (very excited and supportive) teammates, but she recovered quickly, especially after a big hug from Daddy and Adeline. The photo I got didn't capture the clapping and hugs from Addie--she adores her big sister and could tell that she had done something important. (It did, however, capture how big that swimsuit is on her--and it is the smallest size the competitive suits come in.) The coach came over and congratulated her on a great swim, and many of her teammates came over to give her more hugs.

Happy 4th of July!!

Enjoy your celebrations!
I am so thankful that we live in a country worth celebrating. I believe it was Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who said that a good measure of a country is how many people are trying to leave and how many people are trying to enter. (not a direct quote, obviously--but you get the idea.) Even with our country's imperfections, I love where I live and where I am raising my family--there is no where else in the world I would rather be.

So, eat hot dogs and hamburgers and apple pie and watermelon, give the kids sparklers, set off fireworks, and remember the freedoms we enjoy!


(and I know I promised swim meet photos--they are coming, but with all the preparations we are doing today, I just ran out of time. also, we have guinea keets that have just hatched, so photos will be coming soon of them as well!)

Nine Years!

This picture was taken about 2 years ago around the time of our 7th anniversary in Alaska, nine years is not enough time and I eagerly look forward to the rest of our lives together!

Once Upon a Time . . .

A Fairy Tale in (mostly) pictures.

Once upon a time, there was a (rather goofy) knight in shining armor who swept a (rather silly and slightly clumsy) ordinary girl off her feet.

This is how we started--oh how we have changed. Ok, so I have looked the same since I was about 13, but Chris has changed a lot (and gotten more handsome every year). We have had a lot of fun over the past 11 1/2 years since that first meeting . . .

Fishing--don't we look HOT!

Camping during our college years (with two of our best friends, Matt and Diana) and now.

Then there was that fateful trip to this lighthouse.

And this amazing, wonderful day exactly nine years ago. It was a blur, the videographer forgot a cord and the ceremony had to start late, the icing started to melt off the cake from the July heat, and it was perfect. And over before we knew it. (just an aside for those who don't know--we had changed into these clothes for the departure, I did actually have a wedding dress and Chris wore a tux.)

Then, a few years later . . .

. . . this cute little imp showed up.
And our family changed. Dramatically. We had a lot less sleep--and even more love, something I wouldn't have thought was possible.

We have had many adventures, both everyday and unique. And last year we started a whole other adventure with a move to a new state and . . .

. . . the addition of a second little imp.

I love you more today than ever. And I am so glad we took a chance on that first date. And that you kissed me on that second date.
You are still my knight in shining armor.

the one on the left. the one of the right is kristin's knight in shining armor.
(sorry, guys, I just couldn't resist)


(tomorrow--swim meet!)