Saturday Lunch

Our dear friends, Paul and Jenni, are visiting from DC this weekend. Jenni and I took a kid-break this morning and ventured to the farmer's market alone. Of course, we needed to immediately gobble up some of the fresh tomatoes, goat milk cheese, strawberries, and peanuts that we acquired while at the market.

We savored our fresh lunch out on the deck
in the perfect almost-summer day.

Finn thoroughly enjoyed his strawberries!

After lunch, Finn and Charlie headed out into the yard to play while we relaxed on the deck a bit longer.

It was delightful to watch them being so sweet together.

Piano Recital

Elizabeth had her first piano recital yesterday.  She started piano lessons in her music class at school back in January.  Since then, she's learned the difference between whole, half, and quarter notes; the notes middle C through G; and where those notes go on the treble clef.  She did a fantastic job, if I do say so myself, for only having lessons for 4 months in a group setting.  She's having such a great time in her group lessons that now she's asking for private lessons.  I guess we'll have to start working on finding a piano for home.

Evening Walk

Our sky has looked like this, off and on, for the last few days.  We've learned to just carry on...drizzle or not.

Tonight we went for a walk around the neighborhood, one of Finn's favorite pasttimes, in the drizzle.

Finn loves seeing all the little wildflowers, ie. weeds, along the way.

Mama enjoyed seeing the new little maple saplings.

Finn points to the flowers he likes best, and mama gathers them.

He ends up with quite the collection by the end of the walk.

WIP Wednesday

I've been following the WIP (work-in-progress) Wednesday on Frontier Dreams for a few weeks and decided to share mine this week.  I'm working on what will hopefully be a patchwork blanket for Finn.  Here is the first square:


I bought the book Natural Knits for Babies and Moms when Finn was a little less than a year old.  I had big hopes and dreams for all the cute little knitted baby items I was going to make for Finn.  I'm not sure if it was sleep deprivation or that I just needed an in-person lesson, but the learning to knit on my own just never happened.  Finally, back in February, I was able to get a knitting lesson with a local knit shop, and that 1 hour session gave me enough info to at least figure out the basics.  So far I've only made washclothes and scarves, but I decided this week that I wanted to try something a little bit more complicated so I'm trying to tackle the patchwork blanket from this book.  I'm using wool (from our local sheepy friends) instead of cotton on larger needles in the hope to make the blanket larger than it is in the book, and I'm planning to make a border between the squares instead of just around the edges.  I'll keep you posted as to how it's going.  One square down, eleven to go.  Woohoo!  :)

Family, The Final Day

While waiting for family to arrive on the final morning, the kids busied themselves making chalk people on the sidewalk.  This is Elizabeth's interpretation of Philip, checkered pants and everything.  :)

When the family did arrive, the big kids convinced them to take them on a spin around the block in the RV, then to let them eat lunch in there.  Serious excitement!

Elizabeth later found an empty nest lying on the ground in the backyard.


She asked mom to make a few felted eggs for the nest.  Mom obliged.

When family had to leave, we decided some newly transplanted garden plants could use a bit of water, which seemed like a good excuse to get wet.

We all had a great time with Paul's extended family.  We hope they come again soon!

Family, Day 2

The kids started out the day playing with the new gifts that the family brought.  Finn played with his new fire station from Plan City.

Elizabeth created bracelets with a glass bead set.

Philip built a Lego Star Wars ship.

Later, when the family arrived back at our house from their hotel.  The kids were thrilled to engage them in various activities.  Elizabeth explained the in-and-outs of the Ugly World to Dr. Joe (Paul's brother).

And David (Paul's brother-in-law) and Uncle Joe (Paul's uncle) helped Paulie build a bottle launcher.

They decided to send Moxy, Elizabeth's Ugly Doll, up for a ride.

Then Elizabeth decided to get in on the gravity-defying action
 by making a parachuting basket.

The evening saw Tara (Paul's sister) helping Finn with his wooden puzzles,

while the big kids learned to play Sequence with Aunt Karen (Paul's aunt).

Family, Day 1

I finally had a good reason to buy some of the cut flowers I often admire at the farmer's market.  Family came to town!

The kids were thrilled when the RV full of family pulled up in front of the house.  They had the most fun playing hide and seek in and around it.

Finn patiently waited for Blueberry Buttermilk Cake, a family favorite, this morning...or maybe not so patiently, but definitely cute!

What a wonderful treat to eat the Blueberry Buttermilk Cake outside in the beautiful spring morning.


Paul's brother, Joe, brought this experiment kit to do with the older kids.

They had the best time mixing the chemicals and watching the colors change.

Meanwhile, Finn received some assistance building a very tall tower with his tree blocks.

And Paul's Uncle Joe, our hero, solved our conundrum by whittling the very dull twig crayons into something usable once more.  Thanks, Uncle Joe!

getting ready...

Paul's entire family, some of whom we haven't seen in over 3 years, as in pre-Finn, arrive this afternoon for the long weekend.  The banner is set and the kids are excited...

We made a quick meal last night of smoothies with plain yogurt, blueberries, peaches, pineapple, carrots, Amazing Grass and apple juice, so we could continue making the place ready.

Elizabeth even got in on the action by gathering daisies from the horse pasture behind us.

I'm sure I'll be back over the course of the weekend with pictures and stories to share.  I hope everyone has a lovely Memorial Day weekend, unless you're international...then just have a great weekend!   : )