And I just wanted to throw them away...

H has become more and more creative. He sees the world differently than an adult. I see pieces of styrofoam that need to be cleaned up and a box that needs to be recycled. H sees a construction site and pieces of a house. So, as opposed to giving into my desire to keep the living room clean, I left it. I went to clean the dishes and H had a fabulous time building in his 'construction site'.

This is one of H's creations. H explained to me that this house included rooms for everyone to sleep. Beautiful, huh?

Glow

A few weeks ago H came downstairs and saw the sun rising behind some clouds and shouted with joy, "Glow!" Now each morning he likes to come downstairs and look for "the glow." For H, the glow occurs only when the sun rises behind clouds, creating a particularly stunning display. No matter what is going on, I can't help but smile at this little morning tradition. I am so thankful for these little bits of innocent enthusiasm.

Joining a CSA

Well, when we made our move we knew it was going to be a huge adjustment in terms of the produce available to us in our new home in PA. In order to help ease the transition, we tried to sign up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) but found out the CSA we wanted to join was already full in April. We asked to join the waitlist and much to my joy, we got an e-mail last week saying that we could start that Friday. I said yes and sent in our check and we received our very first box. Along with that box we got an e-mail saying there was a huge surplus of basil and peaches and so if we wanted additional half bushel boxes of those we could have them for almost nothing. So, being starved for fresh, organic produce I said yes to both. Our normal box was great. Full of lots of veggies and fruits to last us through the week and the other two boxes were huge. If you were ever wondering what a half bushel of basil looks like, here it is.

Days and many batches of pesto later I must say I am so happy to have our freezer full of such delicious goodness. We will be eating pesto and peaches all through the winter now! And the most exciting thing about the whole thing was how easy it was to have H participate. He made most of the pesto himself, with a little help from us. He was super focused on his work and so proud of all the pesto he made for our family.

H's recipe for pesto:

1. Two cloves of garlic, chopped in the food processor

2. Add:
A full food processor bowl full of basil leaves
One pinch of salt
Two hand fulls of pine nuts (keep in mind these are two year old size hands and the nuts can be any kind of nuts)
Somewhere around a half cup of olive oil

3. Process all of these ingredients to your hearts content.

At this point we froze our pesto in our old baby food trays, otherwise we would have added in Parmesan cheese and 1-2T of butter and hand mixed it before pouring it over whatever we were serving.






For any of you out there wondering what a CSA is, I highly recommend learning a little more about the ones available in your area. If you love produce and would like to support local farmers, it might be a really fun thing to try!

My firemen

This is H's self-proclaimed fireman outfit. And he really wanted Daddy to dress as a fireman with him. This is the result. So sweet.

Gardening with a 2 year old

One of the great things about our new home is the yard space. Ever since H was a baby he has loved the outdoors. Although it is wonderful to go out on walks, play soccer at the park, etc....it is really great to be able to occupy H with planting and weeding in the backyard. Two weekends ago we took advantage of the beautiful fallish weather to plant a few mums and bushes. (The fall is a great time to plant bushes and trees because they are are sale at nurseries and have the entire winter to take root before the spring again.)

We have come up with these steps for gardening with a young child to both get the work done and have fun doing it.

1. Loosen the soil. H loves this part. He gets a hand held rack and goes to town while we dig up the soil.

2. Dig a hole. (Who doesn't love doing something so concrete. )

4. Pour water at the bottom of the hole.
5. Loosen up plant and place it in the hole.

6. Fill in the dirt. 
7. Water to your heart's content.
8. Sweep away the excess dirt from rocks and surrounding walls. (H got a huge kick out of this step.) You can pick up a small dust pan and broom from almost any hardware store and it can serve as the outside brush. Provides hours of entertainment and beautifies your space. This is a win-win in my world.

The Biggest Weed Ever!

One of the exciting parts of having our first home is the yard work that comes with it. H is beside himself with happiness. Constantly, we hear requests to weed and mulch. And who are we to say no to such a request? So we get our shoes and our gardening gloves on and head out into the yard to do just that. Lucky for us there has been a fair amount of weeding and mulching necessary. (Note the slight hint of sarcasm.)

One day in particular produced a most exciting find...the biggest weed ever. J and H were out working in the yard while I was working inside and from outside I heard excited voices calling for me to come out and see "the biggest weed ever." So, I came out the front door, camera in tow, to document the moment. And now all of you have been witness to it as well.

Happy Saturday!

Starting over...

Well. I have been gone for a while. The past year was challenging. Lots of highs and lows...and changes. The biggest change was leaving California. So, here we are starting over. New jobs, new state, new house. New everything.

This summer we moved from our tiny apartment in California to a really sweet little house in Pennsylvania. J got a new job and I found a new job, and H now has a new school and we are all just trying to settle into new routines and better habits. Of all of the changes, the ones we are most excited about is our new house that both ours and a house, and the seasons. We both have roots in places where fall is cool and crisp and full of falling of leaves and winter is snowy and white. I cannot wait for seasons again.

It has taken an inordinate amount of time to unpack (which is still not done) and try to settle into a brand new city. Although we do not have friends or family in our new city, we are now in driving and easy flying distance from our family and many of our closest friends. It is a really lovely feeling. So, over the next few weeks I hope to give you a little house tour and show the different areas we are setting up for ourselves. Now that we have such a big and beautiful space to live in it is fun to take photos. Because now, not only do we not have a bedroom that doubles as a living room but we have THREE bedrooms! It is amazing! And a living room, and a dining room, and a garage, and a storage shed...you should here all of the new vocab that H has picked up with all the new rooms.

Here a few quick photos...more to come soon, I hope.

Our new living room...

Dining room...
 

Backyard...notice boys hard at work.