Summertime

While not blogging, I have thoroughly been enjoying summer back in Wisconsin.  We swim everyday, sometimes in a river, sometimes a lake, but mostly in the pool across the street.  We eat ice cream (or at least the adults do).  We read.  We sweat.  We eat.  We paddle.  We visit with friends.  We travel.  We play in the rain when it drops.  It has been awesome, really hot, really dry, but pure fun.

Outside Playscape

For the boys birthday we made an addition to our outside playscape.  I have been trying to figure out a swing of sorts and the tire swing landed right in our laps.  Uncle Zak needed new tires, he was at our house, brought a tire home and voila, magically on Asher's birthday the tire was hanging from the tree.

 

Just one broken bolt and a minor drastic drop to the ground, some new hardware and we are off and swinging.  This was an easy addition to the yard and wasn't too hard to figure out.

 

 

 

 

 

Worker Man

 

We have new big project going on around here and our newest worker is ready to join in.  River is thrilled to have a tool belt and box and ability to wear my ear protection.

 

We are fully under construction, in six weeks I should be able to share the finished product!

 

 

 

Hope you have as much fun going to work this week as River is.

Growing

Asher has been in charge of seeds this year.  We planted some tomato, pepper, kale, broccoli and a few others 8 days ago.  He was so intentional with each of his seeds, giving a bit of his energy for the start of their lives.

And what good energy it was!  The seedlings are doing great.  We look and measure them daily and A is very proud of what he has started and is looking forward to our spring plant sale.

Onions have taken off as well.  We are very busy planning the garden this year.  We get to have a full sun plot, just outside our own home!!  Every night at dinner, someone steers the consversation to what they want to grow.  River and I really would like strawberries, Asher is dreaming of his next cucumber tunnel and Ben wants small fruit.  Oh, how happy we are to be back to the growing season, after the dreaming days of the past months.

Making

We have been making time to make lately.  Nothing huge in project land, but little project that I can complete on top of the washing machine in between building roads, putting together puzzles and reading books.  I have been loving needle felting little signs and made a simple love banner for color in February. 

 While I had always planned on making an appliqued sewn bunting for birthday celebrations, why all that work, when needle felting again can be done a letter or two with minimal supplies on hand between playing.  I was thrilled to have found a yellow sweater just in time for a good assortment of colored wool.

And the rug.  A full post on my notes on this to come, but I love the t-shirt yarn and crocheting with it.

 

and then he was FIVE!

 It happened.  We have a five year old!  And he is a pretty amazing one at that.  Full of more energy than we can handle at times, passionate and stubborn, incredibly loving and fun, creative, inquisitive and growing at just the right pace.

 I look at this child and feel so lucky to be his mama and so happy to have him as part of our family.  He is challenging, of course, but he really is just so loving.  He just radiates it from his being.  He wants to love everyone, be part of all things and would be content to spend an entire day cuddling and reading books.

I really am looking forward to this next year, adventuring and learning side by side with this boy of mine.  The years they do pass too quickly and while I miss the babe that he was, I am excited to see what will be.

Winter Adventuring

 This winter has made it easy to get outside every day.  Most of our time is spent in our own yard, hanging out with the chickens, digging in the sand, swinging and climbing trees.  We are excited for more adventuring out beyond our yard and had a great time visiting Ferry Bluff again with family in town.  Per the usual, the adults were focused on the hiking up part while the boys could have searched for acorns for a long time at the trail head.  Being mutually respectful of everyone, we spent plenty of time doing both.  Finding tracks, woodpecker holes, lots of acorns for floating in the river and then making it all the way up, to build sand castles and see eagles.  Then to see how ignorant we are on the way up to see the sign asking us not to ascend during this time of year... our next trip won't be until after March 15th.

 My pictures at the top are spotty, I am having some camera issues and need a clean.  But a beautiful day.

 Finished with a walk by the river, throwing in sticks and acorns and finding fish scales.

 My brother in law returned (sign ignorer :)) at the end of a morning snow a few days later and I am sorry that I wasn't there to see this beauty.  Such a dynamic place the river and it's surrounding habitats.

Running Into the Woods:: 2.10

 Last Friday we had the great pleasure of returning to our old woods.  The place we learned to explore in together.  We were also joined by almost all the kids we ever hiked with in the woods, or at least a representative of their family.  A big gaggle of kids, lots of adults, it may not have been our most observant day, but it was perfect.

There was a lot of teamwork to break the ice.  I loved watching them work together.  It seems like the next level of friendship... helping one another.

We have been spending a lot of time outside this weeks, so I will be back soon with another adventure.  We had temperatures in the upper 40's this week.

Celebration Kickoff

 February marks a month of birthdays for our boys and this weekend, River turned three!  I can't believe it has officially been three years since I birthed a child.  We headed back to Urbana to celebrate with friends and we couldn't have asked for a more merrier celebration.  A warm home that welcomed us in, friends from all our years of living there, and the ability to step back in time as if we had never left.

Total Happiness.