Hi From Yesterday Morning

We got a great start to our weekend today, spending the entire day outside working and playing.  Plus the magnolia tree is finally in bloom.  Now I know spring is here.

Our Week

I was without a computer all week as we were having it fixed.  I wrote a lot of posts in my head over the last few days but of course I've forgotten them all by now.  So I'll just do a short recap of the week. 

~The spring blooming that begins here with all of our flowering trees has begun.  Last weekend the magnolia trees begin to flower.  They are my favorite.

~Last weekend Grace and Jackson got to cash in on the awesome Christmas present Auntie Katie and "Kiss" gave them... a weekend at a hotel with an indoor water park.  So Saturday morning without waking Ryan or I, they both got up early, got dressed, brushed their teeth, and packed their bags.  I awoke around 7:30 to Grace standing by my bed saying "okay mom, we're all set to go!".  So with barely a kiss goodbye they left us to enjoy a weekend of watersliding, bunkbedding, and pizza partying among other things. 

~I fit some writing in last weekend while the two big kids were away.

~Little Nora has become a very happy, smiley little girl.  She even laughed at me today.

~There was a lot of painting that went on here this week.  Thank goodness too because our fridge needed some spring color.

~Nora is finally starting to take a liking to the sling.  This is big.  I have been trying and trying with my collection of slings to keep her happy in one but up until recently it has been pretty difficult.  Finally within the last week or so she has started to become more accepting of them.  Phew.

~We are starting to build our garden fence this weekend.  It's going to be a slow process that we will hopefully finish up by the end of the summer (see how I'm starting to lower my expectations of things to a more realistic time frame... giving myself a pat on the back for that one).

~I did some sewing this week, a pair of long shorts for Jackson and a skirt for Grace.  I can't believe how much I love to sew these days.

~I'm sure I'm forgetting some important details but that's all I can remember for now. Oh, except for Easter Egg dying... next post.

Today

Purple Bouquets

In every room.

Bloomin'

Still Winter

Yes, winter came back. I don't think it was ever really gone... but it had me fooled for a few days (though I'm not sure why since this happens every year). I don't mind though. I'm slowly growing to appreciate this time of year as a nice long pause. This spring is going to be a busy one... with a lot of first time adventures. So for now I am just enjoying this last month or so of forced calm.

But I did find today, when I was out trimming the lilac bushes, that the magnolia tree is already budding. So despite the forty feet of snow, spring really is just around the corner...

Yellow

Some pictures from the week. I love that golden light... the first sign that autumn has arrived.

Catching My Breath...

At this moment I am wondering how people do it. I'm only gone a little over 4 hours a day including drive time and yet it seems like all of my energy is being dedicated to my new job.



Last night I sat up late trying to figure out how to fit all of the things I'm use to doing- and love doing- into my new shorter day. I also wanted to try and figure out a way for all the things that are taking up so much time and energy right now (clothes for everyone, packing lunches, etc.) to not be so consuming.



I'm not sure if it's going to work but I created a weekly schedule for myself (which is very un-me-ish) and I made sure to block off a good amount of "nothing time" each day. I thought perhaps if I scheduled time for nothing in particular then maybe I would be able to do nothing in particular without feeling anxious that I should be doing something else. So this morning, I had the luxury of wondering outside (still in my pajamas) to cut fresh flowers.



We'll see. At the moment it seems to be working.

Mammoth

This year I thought it would be fun to grow Russian Mammoth sunflowers. They can grow up to 14 feet which at the time seemed impossible to me.



But let me just say... these sunflowers are mammoth. Huge. So big it seems as though you could climb them. A perfect image for the introduction of this book.

Tree Identification

I spent a good portion of my day today trying to identify these three trees. After many google serches and repeated tree staring and head scratching, I finally figured it out.

#1 Seviceberry, also know as the Juneberry

Delicious berries (I managed to find two that were still on the tree) that are ready in June. They kind of taste like a blueberry. This is my most exciting discovery of today- I can't wait to harvest them next year.


#2 Mountain Ash

Also growing berries that will be ready in a month or so. Although they are not so good raw, they make great jam and wine.


#3 Catalpa Tree

This tree has huge beautiful leaves that I never really noticed before. It also grows beans (not edible) and there is a worm that is attracted to these beans. It is know as the fisherman's tree because when the worms are in season fisherman have been known to shake the tree and gather the worms to fish with, apparently they love them.

Garden Festival

Making our centerpiece...



Singing our blessing...



Waving our blessing wands...




Blessing every garden...



Gathering herbs for dinner...




Lasagna and asparagus...



It was a beautiful little festival... hopefully an annual tradition.

Old Fashioned Lasagna

1 lb ground beef
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp. dried parsley
1 tbsp. basil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups of tomatoes
2 cans of tomato paste
lasagna noodles (I used whole wheat)

2 cartons of large curd cottage cheese
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 tbsp. dried parsley
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 lb mozzarella cheese

Brown meat slowly; add next six ingredients to meat. Simmer uncovered about 1/2 hour. Cook lasagna noodles according to cooking instructions. For lasagna- combine cottage cheese with next five ingredients. Place 1/2 noodles in 13x9x2 baking dish; spread 1/2 cheese mixture over noodles, add 1/2 mozzarella cheese and 1/2 meat mixture. Repeat layers. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

Fresh Flowers

I first became inspired to start collecting fresh flowers after beginning my Waldorf Early Childhood training two and a half years ago. Followers of Waldorf education believe that children are like sponges, taking in all that surrounds them. As a result of this, great emphasis is placed on creating a space of natural beauty. During our trainings we are always reminded how simple little gestures such as fresh flowers help create a nourishing environment for small children.

Over the past couple years I have come to see how true this really is. And not only for my children, but for myself as well. They are small fragrant reminders of the natural abundance of life.

Today I came down the stairs from putting Jackson to sleep for his nap and found Grace had gone outside. I wondered around the side of the house to find her cutting fresh flowers from the lilac bush. "Oh, hi mama," she smiled, "I was going to surprise you."

Little does she know what a great a surprise it was. The only thing better then discovering an unexpected bouquet of flowers on the table is stumbling upon your daughter creating one.

Finally...

After 89 days of rain the sun finally came back today. I did my best to ignore all housework in order to spend as much time as possible outside.



I'm kind of paying the price right now as I have quite the mess to clean up tonight. But it was well worth it for a day spent in the sun.