How Did We Go...

from this:

to this:

so. darn. fast?

Happy Birthday baby boy!

(I can call him baby boy on my blog, because he can't hear me, and tell me I'm not allowed to call him 'baby' because he is not a baby.....he is a big boy.) And he's right, and when the HECK did that happen? When did my pudgy baby with his 'gi-gi', turn into a 4 year old KID. Who is now sitting on my lap taking my breakfast order, and cooking it on the desk in front of me, while cautioning me that they're still hot and to be careful.

I swear every birthday hits me in the gut just a little bit harder. And not necessarily in a sad way (though yes, going through pictures and finding the bitty baby pictures about does me in) but the HOW? HOW are we here already? HOW is it possible that you're 4 years old. A boy, with favorites, and talents, and opinions of your own. (Like insisting on wearing shorts this morning, even though its 63 degrees and raining.)

Do you feel a photo heavy post coming? I sure do...

A Rather Disapointing Re-Cap

*ahem* Sooo....how's it goin'? What'cha been up to? How's the fam?

Me? Oh, I uh...was uhm....well I...

Nothin.

I wish I could say I went on sabbatical, traveled Europe for 6 weeks, loaded up an RV and criss-crossed North America, ....broke all of my fingers?

But no. No great stories, just...life keepin us busy. And then sitting down to 'catch up' and not being sure where to start. Like a weird writer's block, but opposite. There's so much to catch up on I'm not sure where to start. So this morning I decided to just go through my pictures for the last 6 weeks and do a random update to get us up and going again! Let's get to it!

So let's start with July....

Oh! I ordered some roving from hello yarn (Adrian is super great AND sent me a button! I LOVE buttons!)

Then I dyed it using kool aid and food coloring.

These are listed - with better pictures - in my etsy shop. I hope to add more soon.

And why food grade dyes? After some debate, I decided to stick with them for the time being. With a 3 year old and a dog whose sole purpose in life is to lick anything and everything, I didn't want to mess with the acid dyes. I've read they're safe unless you're huffing the dust for years and years, I've read you should practically don a biohazard suit before using them....I just decided to play it safe for now. Plus...they smell good :)

The boys went camping in the backyard. ...for an hour and a half. Long enough to watch The Grinch on the mini DVD player and realize it was too hot and muggy to camp that evening. (I was well aware of this, and was in the house. Where the air conditioning was.)

Zach got a strep rash. Upon further inspection, it was discovered he'd had strep throat, and we just never knew.

We watched RAGBRAI as this year's route went right in front of my aunt & uncle's property. (click that link for more ragbrai photos, including zach's attempts to join the race)

This is just the beginning, later on the stream of riders is constant. But by then, we were busy selling goodies (bike riders took a real liking to her cookies and nut rolls) and I never got the camera out.

I did manage to get a picture of Coley and Gum. (his name is not Gum, its really Andrew, its a long story, but Zach kind of re-named him.) Coley (aka Nicole) is my cousin, and the daughter of above referenced aunt & uncle. Gum is her rather neat-o boyfriend. (even though I hate calling him her 'boyfriend') And some RAGBRAI riders behind them. Zach spent the day working the crowd.

I made granola. (Ok I make granola a lot, but happened to take a picture of it because I'll be posting the recipe soon.)

My cousin Kelsey came up for a visit on her way North. This only confirms that my cousins are all drop dead gorgeous, and I hate them a little for it. In my defense, that's a bad picture.

And lastly, my dad and his wife went on an excursion to The White Great North (...canada...) and sent me a cozy fleece jacket. (and yes Papou, it fits! As does Zach's. And he loves his black dog tshirt)

swanky eh?

There has also been garden tending, garden neglecting, resulting garden weeding, knitting, sewing, walking, ice cream eating, farmer's market visiting, ...and minimal cleaning. on that note, I found this shirt the other day: must have ...it sounds about right. And in all that, I started a part time job. Because groceries and gas have about doubled, and yet...somehow, our income did not. Weird huh? Plus...it was starting to eat into my craft budget, and that can't happen...

So now I work in the bakery a few days/evenings a week frosting anything that steps in my path. ...including myself some days...

And now I'm in the process of washing a very dirty alpaca fleece. But more on that later...

Garden Progress

A brief (haha...not really brief, you'll see.) update on the garden happenings around this place.

garden

left side of garden, where my prized weed collection is growing with a fury. (no kidding, see all that green? there are only a handful of ACTUAL plants in there, the rest is grass/weeds)

eh....herb. what kind you ask? quit pokin' your nose in other people's business! ....ok I'm not sure. Its either oregano, or basil, or....

potato! I didn't even know we'd PLANTED potatoes! (no really, Eddie went out one evening and threw them out there, I actually tore them up thinking they were weeds because *I* was not looking for potato plants. I tried to put them back and begged them to forgive me and grow anyway. So far so good)

Sunflowers. I'm 99% sure anyway. Or weeds I'm just ignoring, hoping they grow into big yellow flowers. Time will tell.

Green onions. I don't even like green onions. But they're easy to grow, and I knew going into this, I'd need a morale booster. APPARENTLY Zach likes green onions. Weird kid.

Carrots!

Water...melon? Again, didn't mark these things, and was really good at remembering what was where for about - oh - 4 days. I think its watermelon though.

no idea. Couldn't even fathom a guess. Wanna take bets? Odds are in your favor! (I've got my money on "vegetable")

Tomato plant

Tomato flowering

Pepper flowering

Well hello firefly! or lightning bug. Whichever you so wish.

I was taking pictures of the pepper flowers and then Oh! Oh Wait! Call the press! Hot dang its a PEPPER! Its about a half an inch, but it still counts as a pepper! So after all my hours of weeding, I know all my hard work will be rewarded with at least one measly green pepper. ...and a ton of green onions. still...

Peas! Well...pea PLANTS. no 'peas' as of yet.

mystery plant #27. I'm fairly sure its acorn squash? Uhm...all of you garden pros, ya better start talkin' if you've got answers. Help a girl out here.

zuchinni. actually I don't know. But I bet I could TELL YOU its zuchinni and most of you would believe me, no? Why didn't I think of that earlier in the post. Just fake your way through Sarah, maybe no one will notice!

Green beans! Of that, I'm sure!

Spinach! I actually grew spinach! ...I also tore out spinach. Because I'd long since given up on the spinach coming up. ...and thought it was weeds. Until I noticed...it looked strikingly similar to a leafy green I eat quite often. Dangit. ...and then there were 3. plants.

ever the helper, Zachman digging while I was picture-ing.

Painting Pots

This is what we did last week. Its actually been ...I almost don't want to say it too loudly.... WARM. So we took a trip to True Value to buy terra cotta pots. (on a side note: either terra cotta pots have gone up in cost, or the name "true value" is a joke. cuz these suckers weren't cheap. Ok, not insanely expensive, but more than I remember clay pots being. rant over)

So we picked out his 4 pots, came home, and gave him a few good globs of acrylic paint.

And let him go nuts.

...and go nuts he did!

He'll have his own gallery next summer, I'm sure of it.

Dude, that's A LOT of green paint.

And a lot of orange....going for texture eh?

He was very into this.

Concentrating

But there was no convincing him that he could, ya know, paint the WHOLE pot. Pretty much just into painting the upper right 1/4 of the pot. Its cool. Artistic process and all.

Ok, Ok, I may have painted the purple one. ...and another one. I had to. Don't judge me.

Hum. This would be where my demonstration of "look, you can use your fingers to make fingerprints on the pot to look like circles" kind of backfires. A little.

Oh. Oh Boy.

Ohhhh lordy. This is the point where I put down the camera and start doing statistical analysis on the probability of getting the child TO the sink WITHOUT leaving a trail of paint on the walls. Or myself for that matter.

I'll have you know we did it. There was a good deal of kicking and crying. (no not me, I said we DIDN'T get paint all over the walls) But the promise of planting seeds calmed the chaos.

And now the pots are proudly displayed on our front steps, and even sprouting some marigolds. (I gotta say I'm shocked, I thought for sure we'd have to sneak to the garden center in about a week and plant some full grown marigolds at nap time. Who knew I can actually grow something?)

It might be genetic...

Zach spilled some oatmeal, and insisted on cleaning it up himself. He's been on a big vacuum kick lately, if anything needs vacuumed, he'll jump at the chance!

His Grandma Leslie would be very proud...

and yes, that REALLY is my kitchen carpet. So awful that the camera can't even pick it up well. and ignore the pile o' stuff in the background, I'm 90% through purging the basement/attic and some stuff is waiting in limbo in the kitchen.

My Specialty - Oatmeal avec Sprinkles

Why you ask?

Well, why not?

He thinks its the greatest, and if saves me from one battle with a 3 year old, then so be it!

Bring on the sprinkles!