more frogs

I've been meaning to share these little beanbag frogs with you. I made these for my friend Sylvia when she visited last week. She had mentioned a year ago that she liked the little frogs she saw on my blog and that she wouldn't mind having some--in multiples, for stacking. Finally I gave her some!
These are stuffed with brown rice, but we decided we like the feel of the old ones better, stuffed with lentils. Either way, there is just something so mellowing about sitting around, chatting with a good friend, and handling a bean bag frog! (And now I have my "task" to make a lentil stuffed item for Sylvia soon!)

By the way, when Sylvia visited, she told me about a blog that I think you might like too. It's called High Desert Home and there is so much good stuff on there: info about unschooling and raising kids (her kids are all grown now), nutrition and health, lots and lots of cooking and domestic stuff, and many interesting book suggestions. The only problem is that the blog's author, Susan, has ended the blog (a few months ago) and may delete it at any second now! That makes me very nervous because I'm not done perusing the archives. So rush on over there if you want and check it out. Oh, and Susan, if you are out there, please don't delete your blog quite yet!

off we go!

I completed this little bag yesterday just in time for my little Ikea trip with Faith, which is today. Hooray! Love this little bag--it was quick to sew and so satisfying to do. Found the free pattern here via Soulemama here.

I'm in love with this print fabric. Isn't it such a joy to work with great fabrics? This one came from Superbuzzy.
And now we are off, with GPS and backup maps at the ready. Will shop Ikea today, stay overnight in a hotel, and do more shopping tomorrow. It's our "girls" trip and we've so been looking forward to it for months now. I'll have a little post up tomorrow too, if you'd like to check in (pre-set--no I won't be blogging from the trip!).

getting organized

Actually, I am not getting organized, but I want to. There are just so many things I want to do in the summertime, but I'm highly aware every minute of how fast the summers always go, that it is almost paralyzing. I do have a realistic knowledge that I can't get everything done-- I'm just not sure how to prioritize at this point. I did this little "mind mapping" exercise, but am just not sure what to do with the list. By the way, see that cute mug? A birthday present from my brother--he rocks. You can get a little button to add to your browser so that you can add non-Amazon stuff to your Amazon wish list. So he saw this from my Amazon list then just clicked through to here.
I picked all this basil last night and made pesto again (using this recipe). It was great but the only problem was that it turned dark this time, not bright and green like before. Anyone have any thoughts on this? I've heard of pesto turning brown, but last time it stayed so green and nice--even as leftovers in the fridge. The only thing I did differently was use homegrown basil instead of grocery store basil.
Roses drying for a little project I have in mind. I just thought they looked pretty out on the picnic table.
Last night we started up our summertime tradition of "Monday Night Performance Theater." This year we're following an "open mike" format (or is that "mic"?). Rainer came out as a "little gnome" and did a little show. Dieter performed as a frog. And Ken did an interpretation of "The Little Red Hen" using the wooden animals. Ben played piano.
In other entertainment, Ken and I are watching "LOST" season 4--finally. Last year we watched seasons 1 through 3--it will be sad when we finish with this last season--I'm pretty sure there are no more on DVD. One thing that annoys me in LOST is that Claire is always trekking through the jungle without putting the baby in a sling--so unrealistic, I think--her arms would get so tired. And it would be such a good opportunity to promote babywearing!

lately

I took an impromptu blog break. We're feeling very summery around here and just trying to get into the rhythm. A little of what I've been doing:
:: eating leftover birthday cake--love that about a birthday.
::eating lots of this chicken salad. I love it and so does little Rainer--he eats it up, even with all that onion and garlic in there!
::trying to make an iced tea concentrate like Angry Chicken posted about the other day. It's hard to make it as strong as she seems to do . . . still trying.
::having little backyard "outings" with the boys.
::starting my nature journal a little bit.
::playing blocks with the boys.
::being inspired by my new Soulemama postcards.

Happy summering everyone!

44

I had a lovely birthday. Thanks to all of you for your sweet comments and birthday wishes. And thanks for your thoughts on "the key to everything." There's some good stuff in there! This is the birthday card Jacob made for me--I love it.
We took Rainer to Santa Barbara for his clinic appointment and chemo and we tried to get the CT scan as well but it didn't happen--after a few trips back and forth from hospital to clinic we figured out we need to reschedule for next month, which is fine. Afterwards I couldn't resist going back to Crushcakes for my birthday lunch. See how pretty it is with its tile steps? The whole place is adorable, with hardwood floors and little rooms and such. My panini sandwich was delicious and it came with avocado soup--yum! Here's Rainer working on his pb&j with incredibly hard and dense whole wheat bread. He did a good job though--ate almost the whole thing. That little stainless steel bowl had cut up fruit in it--so cute.
Toys at lunch. They gave him those little trucks at the clinic.
Yes, and we skipped McConnell's because I couldn't resist staying put at darling Crushcakes and having a cupcake for dessert. Will do McConnell's next time.
In the evening we had a nice dinner in the back yard. Whenever I wear my maxi dress with these shoes out in the garden I feel like Alice in Wonderland.


Ken made this delicious salad. That bread was really good too--a grainy loaf from La Brea. Ken searched all over to find a local bread bakery but apparently there is none to be found! I think that's weird. This turned out so nicely, though. The best part of the salad was it had tomatoes and cucumbers from our garden--the first of the season.
Trying to get a shot of me with these boys is impossible!!

Thanks again for all your nice birthday wishes. I'm expecting a visit from my good friend Sylvia today--she'll be driving in from out of town and spending the night--so the summer fun continues!

the key to everything

So, for awhile now I've been telling Ken, "the key to everything is keeping the dishwasher empty and unloaded." By which I mean, as soon as the cycle is done, empty that baby so that it can be receiving the next waves of dishes as they happen. Because really, doesn't not having dishes pile up on the counter or in the sink make everything go so much better?

More keys to everything I've been thinking about (health related this time):
:: the key to everything is portion control
:: the key to everything is to eat way more produce

And over the weekend I was wondering, what is the general key to everything? About how to live your life? Here's what occurred to me pretty quickly:
:: the key to everything is to be more loving.

Do you have a key to everything? Household, diet, or life related or otherwise??

Today is my birthday. I'm 44 today. That sounds so old to me, but inside my head I'm still very young. Apparently that is how we always feel--even as wrinkled old ladies we still feel like young girls on the inside. Interesting. Whenever I think about aging, I think about good health and how I can keep it.

So, guess what we get to do today on my birthday? Take Rainer to the hospital. Woo hoo! He gets to have a chest CT to see if his pnemonia is cleared up yet (which he has had since October) and also he goes in for his monthly chemo. But no worries. Afterwards there will be lunch and maybe even a trip to McConnell's.

a happy father's day

We had a fun and relaxing father's day. We went for a little nature hike,
and played on the rocks.


Sailing bark boats was a highlight.
Followed by a delightful cheese a cracker hour in the yard, followed by a barbeque dinner (with meat! at Ken's request).
Followed by lots of fun playtime . . .

And presents and leftover cookies from yesterday. It was really mellow and fun. Happy Father's Day Ken!

images from our solstice

Summer solstice was cool and rainy this year. That is pretty unusual and we enjoyed it so much. The rain was over by the time we had the tea--it was just pleasantly cloudy so we could sit outside and enjoy. There will be plenty of sun soon so we are not worried about that at all.



The chicken salad from Bluebirdbaby was excellent. I'll be making it many times in the future, I'm sure. Those little crumb cakes were delicious as well--not sure why they sink in the middle--they always do--but they are so yummy I'm not too concerned. (The crumb cakes are from this sweet book.)
Jacob is home from college. Isn't he awesome?
Faith with her cousin Katherine, visiting from Colorado.
Gam and Papa!
And this from earlier in the day: Dieter and Rainer went on a walk in the rain with their daddy while I cooked the food. On the solstice, Ken measures the children. Both of the little boys had grown a lot! So happy about that.

solstice preparations

Happy Summer Solstice! We are getting ready for our solstice tea this afternoon. Faith's dance recital is also today. We'll have the tea right after we get back from the recital and also celebrate father's day for my father--so it is a solstice/dance/father's day tea. Whew!
I made all these baked goods yesterday afternoon and stored them away in tins, ready to whip out for the tea today. This morning I'm up early to make the savory foods. I'm usually a nervous hostess, but I'm trying not to be this time . . . I'm making everything that can be prepared ahead and just set out after we get home from the dance concert. Here we have raspberry bars, crumb cakes, and chocolate chip cookies. This morning I'll make spinach quiche, little meat pies, little tea sandwiches, and this chicken salad. I'm going to set up tables and picnic quilts in the back yard, and a little tea station where people can prepare their tea and hopefully we can mingle with our cups of tea and a little plate of something. Doesn't that sound nice? My aim in hostessing is always to emphasize the heartfelt over the picture-perfect (because picture perfect is never going to happen here anyway). Heartfelt is so much nicer anyway, isn't it? I just need to relax and let my true intentions come through.
Have a happy solstice everyone!

our little vacation

We had a fabulous little Santa Barbara getaway, just Ken, Rainer, and me. It felt fantastic to "recreate" after such an intense year (2 years, I guess--last summer Rainer was too immunosuppressed to go on a vacation). This was just my speed: not very far away, all fun. These top photos are from our lunch Tuesday on the way there, at Padaro Beach Grill. They have a huge sandbox filled with toys and Rainer had it all to himself.


Rainer was such a good little eater the whole trip. It was fun to see. Both nights he ordered macaroni and cheese at restaurants and just scooped bite after bite into his eager little mouth. I love to see him with a hearty appetite.
Here he is at the botanic gardens. He needs to mama-made pants--he has grown, I'm glad to say.

You can see along the edges here that the gardens were burnt in the recent wildfires. A lot of the paths were closed--seeing the destruction really brought the reality of the fires home.

Lunch at Tuttini's.
Rainer's favorite new game: "1-2-3 whee!" in which he holds mommy and daddy's hands as we walk along and every now and again gets pulled up in the air. Also known as the "swing" game. Good stuff.
Climbing at a new playground.
A new discovery: Crushcakes.
Look how yummy. It's a very good thing we didn't get 3--they're so rich.
I would say that this was Rainer's dream vacation--having mommy and daddy all to himself, with lots of playing, staying up late, dips in the hot tub at the hotel--lots of fun. Dieter had a fantastic time at his grandparents too, so all was well. And now we are getting into our busy part of the early summer: Faith's dance recital, summer solstice, Father's day, Ken's and my anniversary, and my birthday, all within the next 5 days. Whew! Have a great weekend, everyone.

homemade rain

It was beautiful in the yard yesterday morning. A perfect start to our first "official" day of the summer vacation (because it was a weekday with no school, you see). I asked Ken to drill some holes in the bottom of a coffee can so the boys can make "rain." It was a big hit--so he ended up making two of these. (Later in the day it really did rain--a rarity for us at this time of year--so special).

And today we are off to Santa Barbara for a little trip--and not the "all expenses paid" kind, we reassured Rainer (e.g. a stay at the hospital, ha ha). We much prefer the recreational kind.

lull week

I anticipate my blogging is going to be pretty sparse this week, as we adjust to being on vacation (!) and just generally shift gears. We had a very lovely weekend but I was camera-free for most of it. Yesterday Rainer and I ended up sleeping through our first scheduled beach trip of the summer (boo! I felt really dumb about that, but on the other hand, a mother-son nursing nap is pretty darn sweet). I did manage to take a picture of these natural crisp rice bars. They are yummy--made with brown rice crisp cereal and brown rice syrup plus natural peanut butter. We pressed in a few dark chocolate chips for good measure (that is the only part Rainer wants to eat). I had never used brown rice syrup before--here's what it contains: organic brown rice, pure filtered water. Who knew rice could be made into a syrup? For some reason I really like that idea. It's pleasantly sweet and mild and no weird zing like agave syrup has. This is the one I used.

That's all I have today--hopefully I'll check in later this week, if not, then next week. Happy summer to all!