Project One

Eva and I started to play with the new sewing machine today.  We wanted to adapt an adult tank top into a dress, but she didn't want to stand still while we figured out how to do the adaptations to fit her skinny body.  So, Plan B:  She found some blue flower fabric I had and we made a pillow!  I will need more time to get the feel of this machine, but so far so good.

She has been using the pillow while watching shows.  

Moist, Mossy, Mushrooms

It has been a wet month here on the northeast side of Tucson. We have all sorts of evidence of moisture that we usually associate with humid climates.

I thought I took more pictures of the mushrooms in the lawn, but these were the cute little ones in the drive.

Moss. On my trees. Where did this come from? Isn't this the Sonoran Desert?

All the mesquite pods we were supposed to rake up, every weekend for the last two months, have started sprouting. I don't think I need that many mesquites in my drive. We already have a ton of them.

EVA

Eva wrote her name for the first time the other day. With no help and no prompting. She just wrote it...

Bubble Trouble

Maeve took her first bubble bath this week.

She was thrilled, but unsure of what she should do with all that white stuff. Eat it? Splash it?

No worries! Big sister to the rescue. She knows exactly what to do with bubbles.

Upcycled Tutu

We are all happy to be home! Except Maeve, who is wishing for more people to smile at and dance with. She is quite the extrovert.

Eva made this skirt at the conference and was showing it off today. You can tell she is still a bit worn out from the trip.

Switched

Eva is my wave swimming, in the ocean, over her head, without a fear, girl. Since she could crawl she would just head right for the nearest body of water and go in. Waves, no problem. So I asked her if she would like to surf at the conference(showing her pictures of the last conference surf lesson). Surprise...the answer was a resounding "No." Okay, fine...and in pipes Elias, "I want to."

What? My son who spends all his time building and digging on the shore. Who rarely can be coaxed into the waves at all. Elias wants a surfing lesson. "You sure?" Yes, he was sure. We signed him and Craig up for the lesson. Up until a couple minutes into the lesson I was pretty sure he wouldn't do much with it. Maybe go out a few feet and sit on the board while the waves lapped at him. Stand on the sand.

Kids love twisting your world around. I love that they do!

Heading out.

Heading in. Upright and happy.

I asked how he liked his lesson. His response, "It is the most awesome thing ever!" His smile muscles were sore. Love this life!

Pelican Splash

Pelicans were out in numbers this trip to Del Mar. We watched them on several occasions diving for fish out in the waves. I love how quick they circle, dive, and come up with a fish. Eva said they look silly with their funny necks.

9/11 Tribute

This was a memorial of the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Powerhouse Park, Del Mar.

Time Out

Being at a conference with lots of other parents and kids for five days is amazing! It can also be a bit overwhelming. We decided we needed to take a break and spend a couple hours at the beach.

We think it was a good decision.

Hotel Surprises

This is part of our hotel room door banner. We took part in the Fairy Godparent (FGP) portion of the conference and needed to help our FGP's find us. Eva loved being a FGP and making, gathering and sneaking the little gifts to her, 5 year old, Fairy Godchild. Elias was happy with the the activities to, but in a distracted way. He loved receiving gifts and delivering them, but didn't look forward to it like Eva. It was a wonderful way to feel like a part of the conference. I do think we will all do it again next time!

Community and Ideas

Part of the reason we go to a conference is to meet up with others doing the same types of things we are doing. I think as the kids get older this view of other kids, in other places, with similar life leanings will give them a broader sense of community.

Another reason we go is to share and explore the ideas and inspiration that other people bring into their lives. This art room was full of that needed inspiration and my kids spent quite a bit of time in here painting, drawing, and exploring with friends and on their own. I really appreciated this room as it gave me ideas as well.

Ocean Observations

It is hard to pick just one picture of the beach. We take hundreds on every trip there and the kids have so much fun they are all great! This picture reminds me of some of the "moments" that happen. We just were able to stop and focus on what was going on around us. Love these moments.

Stack 'em Up

Sometimes things in life just balance themselves out and line up for your viewing pleasure. We took great photos of the kids at Birch Aquarium, sometimes they pose perfectly. Sometimes the fish do!

Bee-utiful and Tasty

I miss having a herb garden. Sights like this make me re-prioritize and move said garden higher on the list of to-do's. Our last house had rosemary out front and tons of herbs (parsley, cilantro, thyme, chive, oregano, mint and stevia) in a garden bed. I have several perfect spots for tons of herbs at this place, plus a full garden location and have yet to plant anything.

Prepared

My kids crack me up. She is ready for rain...Provided it isn't cold out, rough terrain, or public space.

A Taste of Color

I try not to post too many pictures of food on this blog. I certainly take a ton of them, but would like to mainly post them on my other blog where I put recipes and more in depth topics. This is supposed to be just a photo glimpse.

That being said, sometimes I just can't resist the look of color and texture you see while cooking. This pot became a berbere spiced Ethiopian dish.

Domino Tower

Elias has always liked to build. He built numerous domino trains with his grandma and after becoming frustrated that they kept falling over, before he was done, he switched to building towers. These were a bit more stable. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of some of the more elaborate ones.

I find that these moments are flashes of his personality and growth. In previous times the frustration would have led to a huge meltdown. He had several outbursts, but then figured out he could switch to something different that was less likely to cause frustration. I can't wait to see what eight looks like.

Round and Round

I picked up some dollar hula hoops to go along with my not dollar ones. :) Eva has been diving through them and playing with them in the pool. This is tons of fun and I have no worries about my good hoop becoming water logged.

We are off to GV conference this week and I am gathering items to take...I hope these fit into the van with all the rest of the hobby stuff.

Pot of Gold

The rain typically rolls in from the east...the direction all our fabulous windows face!  Today we had an even better storm than normal.  We watched it roll in, pour, and then roll out leaving us with golden light and a rainbow.  The rainbow ended in our yard.  Not kidding, it was a beautiful, breath taking view and I am happy with my mediocre attempt to capture it.

Magnetic Personality

Eva floating a paperclip!

We played with magnets today.  I had a bunch of paperclips, iron filings, numerous small magnets and one powerful neodymium magnet.  We moved the filings around, made different lines of force, chased them, and floated them with our hands.

Five Minutes, Tops

I always stack these cool blocks. Numerous times a day. Over and over and over. I just can't help it and all of my kids get such enjoyment out of knocking down the tower. You would think it would get old and the tower would just stay there for a while (even an hour or two), nope. It sits there for around 7 hours in the dark and is immediately toppled when Maeve enters the living room first thing in the morning.

I love the simple enjoyment of my kids!

My Ham

Credit for this photo goes to Kureen Schwarz.


Apparently Maeve clapped and raised her hands, just as they asked, at a birthday party this weekend. She was thrilled to be a part of the group. This is quite unsurprising. If I take her to the store she spends tons of time catering to the crowds of people who flock around her cute smile, blond hair and sunny disposition. It makes shopping difficult as I have to answer questions and allow her time to visit with almost every passerby. We joke she might be our politician!

Here Fishy, Fishy

We have the friendliest fish I have ever seen. They flock to your hand if you touch the tank, follow you as you walk by and unlike other fish we've had they don't tend to swim away at every movement. It is strange.

Maeve takes advantage of this and climbs up to watch them. They flock right up to that cute face. As a side note: Isn't she getting tall?!

Angry Bird

Okay, not the best picture I've taken. I find Elias with a different stuffy on different days. He isn't necessarily attached to any of them and sometimes they make an appearance for weeks at a time, sometimes for a day. Quite often there isn't one about at all.

This particular creature came from his Tatik. She brought each of the kids a bird from the Angry Birds iPod game that has been such a hit. He calls it his bomb birds and they have been role playing Angry Birds all week. Thanks for the fun, Cheryl!

Older by the Day

I've been really thinking about our dog lately. She is old, allergic to everything, scratching herself into a bloody mess and arthritic. I'm terrified she won't be around much longer and yet feeling guilty about how easy it will be without all her issues. She is a wonderful, sweet dog. She lets the kids climb on her, is always where we are and still lays with her paws out to the sides of her body. So here is to some pain free years of happiness left!

Hanging Out

Eva NEEDS to hang. She has since she was old enough to crawl. She does it everyday and when she has had a stressful time, needs to do it even more. When we are on a trip, one of the first things she does is find a spot that will work for hanging. We have found that couches tend to work the best.

I keep hoping I can get her to try a trapeze class. She used to hang off the car, in a full pike, through an entire TV show. She outgrew the car last year and it was with sadness she moved to the couch to hang. A bar doesn't work as she likes to brace herself, not just hang down. I love watching her face get calmer as she holds herself up!

Missing Post

Craig is in Cupertino this week getting some "face time" with the coworkers. It is part of working remote and only happens once every few months. The last time, we went out as a family since we were homeless and it broke up that two months. That means for Maeve it was over half her life ago that dad left for one of these trips.

She spent the first day he was gone roaming from his office, to the bathroom, to the kitchen and to the swimming pool window. She signed dad and wandered a bit aimlessly. By evening she was truly confused, but let me put her to sleep. Today was a bit more distracted, but she definitely showed moments of "looking" for dad. So, I figured I would post a picture of her and that wonderful father she is missing. Just a few more days...

Oh, Brother...

I ordered a sewing machine last week. I had an old one that was a difficult to use. If there was a project I wanted to sew, the excuse that it was a pain would put the idea on the back burner and it would fail to get done.

Eva and I have numerous projects planned (tank top dresses, blanket pillows, wings). Elias was talking about making costumes and bags for some of his "gear". I also have ideas floating around in my head. Now I just need to find the time to acquaint myself with this machine so I can then teach the kids. This hasn't happened in the last, busy week and might not happen this week either. I'm hoping!

Unexpected Audience

Eva felt the kitty would want to watch her swim, but wouldn't be comfortable near the water. Craig's reaction, "Why is there a kitten staring at me through the window?" I think he thought I put it there.

Oasis

This is a little bit of our paradise. We have clocked numerous hours in this pool during the few months of living here. The sunlight streams through the windows at 6 am, making mornings golden. We have yet to water that green lawn. The kids will spend lots of time on the play set during the winter months and with the addition of a zip line and trampoline in the future, I can't think of why you wouldn't want to hang out here.

Oh, and let's not forget the great people watching!

Glow Memo

Eva discovered the glow-in-the-dark letters yesterday and after we found a black light she spent part of today closed in the laundry room. We figured out we could open the closet door over the kitchen opening and make it dark. It also has what a closet doesn't, a metal washer and dryer to stick magnets to. I left some messages when she left the room and she would go "glow" them. I love the learning fun!

Monkey Platters x Three

I create a platter for my kids to munch on many afternoons. In this instance I had to create two platters and a table full for my La Leche League meeting. During this one meeting a month I try to give them something to do that is out of the way. They love playing with the babies, but neither one has much volume control and Elias, in particular, can not stop talking and talking during the meeting.

If I create them each their own special platter, give them a new movie, book on tape or have them play a game, I can usually keep them occupied for an hour or so of the meeting.

Atom Bits

Our molecular kit came in and Elias was all over it. We started with a water molecule and discussed a bit more, deciding we want to find a good book of molecules and how we use those molecules. Water is obvious! So now I'm on the search for a kid friendly (with adult help) organic chem book.

He quickly shifted from chemistry to Minecraft and began to create molecular structures with all sorts of bonds...he made up new molecule names and figured out exactly what they would do and how he would use them in his world. Always going, this kid!

Dinner Smoothie

Smoothies are a treat. We all love them and I try to make them often. A smoothie helps me add in extra nutrition in a fun way. We add in greens, omega oil, flax/protein powder. They also give me a chance to use up fruits and veggies that might not be perfect; wrinkled blueberries and less than crisp spinach. They taste fantastic since they are half fruit. They are cold, refreshing and filling!

Pond Pursuits

My koi pond is looking better and better. We still need a pump to send the water through a filter, but the plants have been helping with the algae problem and you can see the koi a bit more clearly. They love the new plants and are becoming a bit less skittish since they have places to hide.
The water hyacinths were pretty, but it is hard to beat that perfectly formed lily pad flower!

You Have to Crawl

Elias pulled out the tunnel today and had it immediately usurped by his baby sister. I don't think she had seen it since learning to crawl/walk. She was thrilled by the rolling structure and kept picking up an end and looking down it. She didn't want to go in it because that involved crawling! After several demonstrations by Eva and some encouragement from the camera, she decide to give it a go. She made sure to stop and give me a good picture. She then came over to the camera to take a look at herself. What a ham!

Random Structures

We have an extensive assortment of building material at our house. Legos, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Magnaforms, blocks, marble runs and these colorful disks that Eva quite enjoys. I try to pull them out and strew different boxes of builders around the house. My kids often strew the results.

They seem to make great pathways for Mouse Trap mice too.

Country Club Living

We live right near the 8th tee of a golf course. Being so near the tee means we only see a few golf balls in our yard. However, they do happen. The kids love finding them, I hate wondering if we will ever have a broken window or knotted head. According to a friend, the only golf balls we should get are from left handed, bad golfers... Here's hoping there aren't many of them!