Visiting the lake those last few precious times of the season,
Apples that are growing on our little tree this year,
This wonderful article "Parenting: A Radical Political Act" by Tabitha Tucker via Annie's blog,
The amazing patterns at hedgehog lane. These are the stacking blocks waiting to be felted- a gift for Dorian's upcoming first birthday (gasp!) Check out the nesting dolls she is working on- I think this might be one of the coolest toy patterns I've seen.
Lots and lots of sandbox play,
A new dress up corner,
And the costume fun it has inspired (yes, I know. a disposable. Just for nights, okay?)
The amazing cookies I just made that take about 2.5 minutes to whip up, use just one bowl, are amazingly healthy, and are loved by all members of the family.
Flax Maple Cookies from "Get it Ripe" (I took it out of the library and it is great)
2 cups flour ( I used fresh ground whole wheat from our new grinder, but the recipe calls for spelt
1/3 cup flax seeds
1 - 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup oil
Combine flour, flax seeds, cinnamon and salt in a bigish bowl. Pour in syrup and oil and mix. Form into balls and then press with two fingers laid flat to make a sort of rippled shape. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes. That's it. Yum. Okay, the first bite says "health-nut-vegan-crunchy-granola." But after that first bite it is just plain deliciousness.
And this is me, trying to focus on the positive as I face the start of the school year and being home on my own again. Positive. Think positive.
A busy weekend. I finally remembered to bring my camera to the farmers market, though I seem to have forgotten to photograph the most important parts- friends and produce. But the flowers are nice too.
Ari ate his weight in nettle spanikopita. Dori wanted to get down and eat gravel. We loaded up on veggies and local lentils and wheat(!) and were given several zucchini just because they had more than they knew what to do with. Ari picked out these flowers to bring home.
We love the farmers market.
Things that are making me happy: my boys cooking supper together, Ari up on a kitchen chair chatting away to his Papa.
The little greenhouse Perry built this spring. The tomatoes are thriving in there despite the chilly summer. I also have to admit that I've actually been loving the weather too- the rain and cool days are just right for cozying in and doing all the projects I want to putter on inside. When it is sunny I feel guilty sitting at my sewing machine.
Ari's room. Finally putting up curtains and art and making it look like a kid's room. The bird cards make me smile. Our little bird lover loves them too- pointing out goldfinches and chickadees and robins.
This lovely little wooden figure that came in the mail from 
A package recently arrived from Ari's aunt and uncle filled with wonderful treasures. Ari was seriously excited by the kid sized real tools that were inside, and each item now has the prefix "Lala" which is what he calls my sister. So this is his "Lala cup."
It is so wonderfully teensy and sturdy. All liquids must now be consumed from this mug. The fact that we have two adult sized blue mugs that match is a coincidence that is not lost on the wee lad.
There was also a sweet kid sized broom in the package that is getting a good deal of use. Not particularly helpful use I might add, but I am told the day will come. He likes to use all available tools at the same time. Next he'll have the feather duster between his toes. There were several other treasures in the box, which I'm sure will turn up on these pages over time. There is a baby sized sifter that is about as cute as it gets. And the gardening tools are waiting for the snow to melt to show themselves (the new wooden floors can't stand up to that solid metal rake!) So thank you so much Lala and Doreen:) We love your treats over here.
The dolly body is made from an old wool sweater and she is wearing a little smock with a happy cloud print because little C has a thing for happy faces. She seemed pretty pleased with her new friend and it was really fun to make. I made something for the new baby too, but I haven't photographed that either. More to come, now I have to scurry off home to bed. Goodnight. 
One of my favorite parts of being a mom-at-home is spending time outside with my little guy. Ari loves to wander around the farm, and our walks are a big part of the rhythm of the days. With the season change we were having a hard time staying with this ritual, as the mud and slush and general yuckiness was making it hard for Ari to walk, and for me to be inspired about being out and about with him. But now that the snow is here to stay, we are back in the groove and loving our outside time. Once the dreaded bundling is complete, we head out the door singing our going-for-a-walk-song. Our rhythms are greatly inspired by the Enki idea of singing through transitions- and it works so well!
And I love this part. I pull him down the driveway and into the forest and we watch the birds ("deedeedee" he calls out to the chickadees,) and listen to the creak running under the ice and test out all the echos by calling out our names. I see things differently with him, the beauty seems clearer and deeper when he is the one pointing it out, and he keeps me out of my head and right there with him. Today he kept pointing at the trees saying "moonstar!" and he was right, the ice crystals on the branches looked just like the sparkling night sky.
Once we are both tired out we head inside for lunch (after kissing those sweet red cheeks- no photoshop there, that rosy cuteness is all his own,) and then I take the dozy boy to bed. Because all that fresh air makes a baby tired. That's the idea anyway.
Nothing means warmth and sun and the end of winter to me more than picking nettles. My mom would always make her nettle soup as soon as the leaves were up, and it was manditory eating as it was known as a "spring tonic" that would clean the blood and just generally perk a person up. We never minded though, we always loved the green stuff as far as I can remember.
There are a few good patches around the property and it has been a joy these past few years to pick from them every spring. I did discover that collecting nettles with a toddler in tow is a little more challenging, what with the stinging bits and all, so I didn't get as many picked as I wanted. Just enough to toss in with some spinach to make a yummy spanikopita,
These birds make me a little giddy. I can't get the picture to capture their sweetness, but they are sweet as can be. Now I just have to learn how to sew something.
