this moment {brothers}

Joining Soulemama, and many others, in this moment. 

In Amanda's words: "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Please link to your moment too -- I love to see what you are enjoying this week!

Wishing you a weekend full of goodness!

outgrowing newborn

There are so many beautiful changes that slowly happen as a newborn becomes no longer a newborn, but an infant.

Eyes begin to track comsistently.

Smiles become more definite, especially at the antics of siblings and cousins.

Hands are discovered, and begin grabbing everything in reach, particularly sister's hair.

There is a flirting with rolling over.

Or your Mama, who is gathering books and blankets to go in the backyard to read to the littles, without really thinking simply scoops up squirmy you and stashes you under her arm alongside the blankets.*

Dear readers, Pal is officially an infant.

* Disclaimer:  when I realized what I had done, I first made sure he was in fact safe being carried that way, and then pulled my iPhone out of my pocket to get the picture.  Then said to myself, "I guess he is no longer a newborn."

Indeed.

a bit of sewing

I've wanted to sew something from this book for a long, long time.  I actually started an outfit for Lovey ages ago that, if finished now, would fit Pal. Ahem.

Luckily, I've become much better at fitting in bits of sewing.  I've let go of the ideal of stretches of uninterrupted time to sew to my heart's content.  Instead I've embraced some cutting here, some stitching there, and eventually a project gets finished just the same.

This weekend I grabbed onto those little bits of time and finished this dress for Lovey.  Luckily there is still plenty of summer left to wear it, and I made it a bit long so that it might fit her next summer too.

You may be wondering when exactly this weekend I found those little bits of time to finish up this dress.  When the Dinosaur and the Jedi were playing on iPads, of course.

this moment

Joining Soulemama, and many others, in this moment. 

In Amanda's words: "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Please link to your moment too -- I love to see what you are enjoying this week!

Wishing you a weekend full of goodness!

warm, with butter

For quite some time I've wanted to bake my own bread.  And not just any bread, but bread that could be baked often and eaten every day, with the hope that we would no longer need store-bought bread.

However, I never quite had the courage to try my hands at such a large-scale bread-baking enterprise.

That is until I had in those hands a no-knead recipe from a friend of mine, coupled with her encouragment and assurances that it was so very easy!

And wouldn't you know, I can bake my own bread.  To eat.  Everyday.  Plus lots of bread to share with others.

My friend was right, oh so easy, and oh so delicious. 

You mix a big batch of dough that is refrigerated and then bake as you need.  I've now made the bread so many times I don't even need the written recipe, and I double the batch.  I've even tweaked the amount of flour to include more whole wheat, and have made copies of the copy of the recipe to share with others.  Any good baker would.

Wait!  Did I just call myself a baker?  I guess so.  Hmm, what seemed impossible to me a few months ago, is now happening.  So deliciously happening.

bjorn

This photo was a recent "this moment" posting.

Since then, the baby bjorn has been getting lots of cousin use. 

Like here, while egg collecting.

And here, at the beach.

And here, amidst a busy kitchen.

Pal is simply soaking up all of that cousin love.  The smile is unmistakable.

And this cousin here, the oldest of the bunch, was carried in that very same baby bjorn oh so many years ago.

 Be still my cousin-loving heart!

dreaming of chickens

As if I wasn't already wanting backyard chickens enough, a Cousins Camp trip to a small family homestead has made me absolutely smitten.

Without hesitation the kids gathered the warm eggs from right under the birds.  They also chased the sheep and cajoled the goats, fed the pigs, petted the bunnies and peered at the bee hives.

Of course they also did all of the usual cousining of much laughter, much fun, much love.  The very best of summer is spend with cousins, I say.

this moment {handmade kite}

Joining Soulemama, and many others, in this moment. 

In Amanda's words: "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Please link to your moment too -- I love to see what you are enjoying this week!

Wishing you a weekend full of goodness!

summer daydreams

My summer daydreams. 

I've had this list in my head for weeks.  So long, that some of these daydreams have already been realized.  But not all of them and we have already reached the peak of summer, so it is important to write them down now.

:: knit a poncho

:: make grape jelly

:: catch fireflies

:: sew a fence tent

:: bake bread (check!)

:: read outside (check!)

:: take a family hike

:: go to a flea market

:: buy kitchen counter-top canisters (check!)

:: sew something with elastic thread

What are you dreaming about this summer?

old fashioned sweetness

The line was quite long.  And the wait even longer. 

We lucked on counter seats and a front row view of the soda jerks. 

They made everything the old fashioned way and served up the goodness in glass dishes with real spoons.

Munchkin wanted a root beer float.  His first ever.  He claimed he would eat is all.  And he did.