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.

Summer sabbatical...

As H was marching through the leaves at our front step and then picking them up and crunching them in his hands, I was lazily thinking of all the autumns before this one. And then I suddenly realized - it is AUTUMN! I am not sure quite how it happened but I managed to take a summer sabbatical from our little blog. We spent the summer celebrating and traveling, cooking and cleaning, and having many family adventures, big and small. I hope to post pictures and stories over the next few weeks so that I can remember all of the things that have transpired over the past few months and so that those of you who are reading can know what sort of sunny black hole we fell into.

Until then, enjoy the beginnings of fall. H, J, and I certainly are. We have spent a good amount of time this weekend at the park or at the window watching the wind blow through the leaves in the trees. As the craziness of a new school year swirls around us, we are doing our best to stop and appreciate the beauty of it all as opposed to being swept away, as so easily happens with time.

Orange you glad...

H and J celebrate our bounty.

One of the amazing things about our little home is the abundance of fruit in the backyard. We have an orange tree, lemon tree, fig tree, pear tree, apple tree, apricot tree, cherry tree, and a quince tree. I love the fact that H can go out in the backyard and pick an orange and eat it. I did not grow up in a climate where that was possible and so it seems completely magical to me. H really enjoyed the time he got to spend with J this August. Much time was spent enjoying the wonderful outdoors in our yard, neigborhood, and city.

Family Portrait

H needed a family portrait for his classroom and our wonderful and kind neighbor took a few photos for us. So, for those of you who haven't seen us in a little while, here are a few photos to keep you up-to-date.

To Come Home to Yourself

May all that is unforgiven in you
Be released.


May your fears yield
Their deepest tranquilities.


May all that is unlived in you
Blossom into a future
Graced with love.

~John O'Donohue

Tahoe!

My first experience with Tahoe happened many years ago now and it involved a long journey, a very tired pick-up truck and an unexpected pit stop in Truckee. I swore I would never return. But lo and behold, after J took a fishing trip this spring swearing it was a stunning place worth revisiting, we took our first family vacation. Armed with some great locations from a Tahoe veteran we spent our wedding anniversary enjoying beautiful lodgings and the amazing outdoors. Thank you to each of you who helped us have such a wonderful family adventure. We really needed one.

Daddy goes fishing

We picnic while daddy is fishing

Trying to keep ourselves interested as the fishing continues

Just loungin'

What a cool park on the edge of Lake Tahoe

An unexpected dip in the lake

H loves the water

And has no sense of self preservation when it comes to water

Geese!

Donner Lake in the morning - cold but fun

Exploring with Daddy

These pinecones are amazing. And there are so many of them!

So beautiful

Figuring out how to use a straw

Last bit of fun before we head home.

Blues Boy

Sunflowers

Badminton and weddings

A couple of our friends got married at a park recently and H, J, and I were excited and in attendance. The event was beautiful and casual and much fun.  Of course, these sorts of things are largely influenced by H. He was behaving like a little cherub which allows J and I to really be present and enjoy the festivities.

One of the activities at the wedding was badminton. J and a friend began a pick-up game and as soon as H saw what was going on he headed out onto the field. He marched right out there, grabbed a raquet (which he had never seen or held before) and went to join J. It is amazing to see a little person who has no knowledge of something go to join in without hesitation. It was as if H thought, "If daddy is out there, then it must be worthwile and I want to try."

Beautiful cake with white chocolate portrait of the handsome couple

The blushing bride

The game is in full swing

Nothing a little water can't fix

"You call this a racquet? It is very interesting."

Second Father's Day

It all started with a card. H was super excited to use a pen.

Then H gave Daddy the prized card and gift.

Then H helped Daddy with his workout.

In the afternoon, we took a trip the Marina.

It was SUPER windy. H decided to hang with Daddy...

kp

Until we found a less exposed area and a nice patch of dirt. Where we played for while until we decided to go home for dinner. Salmon cakes and corn and tomato salsa. Yum.

Water baby

The warm weather is here and H is in love with all the water time that comes with it. If you would please join me for a stroll into our backyard to see the water baby at work.

As we walk further into the back we can see...

H and J setting up H's water dispenser! We have been enjoying the hose recently but it involves a lot of adult involvement as well as a lot of water and so we went on the hunt for an alternative water set up. The hunt was not long or hard. Working in education has its perks from time to time and this is one of them. I feel like more often than not when I find myself needing help with H I can turn to teachers to give me tried and true solutions and sure enough we found it. This dispenser is cheap and just right for H. With a little work H can easily fill his buckets and watering can. He is in love with this dispenser and wakes up wanting to go outside to play.

I don't think we will have any trouble keeping the plants watered this summer. H is making sure everything is getting the water it needs.