Intro to Summer

I'm ridiculously behind in my blogging, so just bear with me here. I thought this little Children's Fair, held two weeks ago down at the Ventura Harbor, was worth posting about. It was fun and we kept it simple and the babies had a good time. The vintage looking merry-go-round horses, and "flying" elephants here caught my eye, but I doubted seriously
that Dieter would ride them without one of us (and we were too big of course). So we contented ourselves with watching the rides, which was pretty fun (we're low-key people).
We bought Dieter one of the Skitter cars like he's riding here. He instantly was able to ride this one, the sample model, and it was cool and fun and we got excited and decided to buy him one. Then we he got his he couldn't make it go and immediately fell over on the concrete. Oh my. I thought we might have gotten a lemon, but it actually seems to work pretty well. He's starting to get the hang of it again.
He did work up the courage to go into this jolly jump--he wouldn't at first but Ken took him back later and he jumped and jumped. So cute.

Eighth Grade Promotion

Last week (okay, actually two weeks ago now) Faith and Ben "promoted" from eighth grade. It's amazing to me how fast these last five years have gone. When Ken and I first got married Ben and Faith were fourth-graders in different elementary schools across town from each other. At that point it seemed like a fairly long wait until they'd be in junior high together and finally attending the same school. Now not only are they attending the same school next year but they'll be going with Ken every day--ultra convenient.
I'm really impressed with how these young teens weathered their junior high years. For me it was a miserable experience, but they seemed much more at ease with the whole thing. I've been particularly happy and proud to see that Faith has not been overly caught up in the teen girl dramas that play out. She seems happy with herself and rolls with the punches when she needs to.
Faith and Ben, I am proud of you. Congratulations and good luck in high school. Remember to take joy in every day and life's simple pleasures, learn a lot, and be good.

Summer Sewing

Ken and I have worked out a schedule so that each of us has some time kid-free this summer. I am taking both babies in the mornings, til about 1:00, and he has them in the afternoons until dinnertime. I am thrilled with this arrangement because it means that I have some time to sew and craft.
Here is the bag I've been promising to Faith since before I went back to work. We bought the fabric while I was still on maternity leave. I was originally planning on making up the same bag I always make (here), only with stiff interfacing, so it wouldn't be so loose and floppy. So much time passed, though, that I decided to do something from this book, and she agreed.

This is the first project I've made from the "Simple Sewing" book, and I made some changes. The bag in the book is completely unlined. I'm not interested in any more floppy bags, so I lined this one, added stiff interfacing, and also a cute cell phone pocket. For fun, we did the bird appliques and the handles in polar fleece. I love the way it turned out and Faith carried it to school yesterday. No one teased her and one girl commented that she liked it. So I guess it's a success!! I'm truly delighted to be sewing again.

Eight Months

Rainer had a big month. He is really wanting to be on the go. He's still not crawling, though, surprisingly. For weeks now we've been saying "any day now" but he seems to do fine just scooting along on his tummy--he can basically go anywhere he wants with that method. He still gets up onto his hands and feet, but then drops down again to his tummy and scoots along. He's very into pulling up now though. He has a tendency to choose things to pull up on that are not very stable, though, which results in falls and tears, but he's a pretty tough guy and the tears are soon forgotten. I think he'll be a lot happier when he becomes truly mobile, though. He sees Dieter running around, and he wants to go to.

In other Rainer news, he's eating finger foods now. Mostly Cheerios. He likes them very much and equally enjoys the fun challenge of trying to get them into his mouth, and the rioutous good time of just sweeping them from the table to the floor (where they also make a tasty and spontaneous snack later in the day). He's also getting to be an even better eater with his jar foods. He's not fighting me for the spoon anymore and just lets me spoon the food into his willing baby mouth. I've never had a baby who just sits down and eats an entire jar of food before--let me tell you, it is very gratifying.
Rainer, Mommy and Daddy love you and we can't wait to see what you do next.

Avila Beach Trip

Faith, Rainer, and I went on a "girls trip" (sorry Rainer, but I know you didn't mind) to Avila Beach earlier this week. We had to go immediately at the beginning of our summer break because Faith started summer school yesterday (Thursday) and is going to be tied up with that for the next 8 weeks, believe it or not.
We really had a nice time and it was especially fun getting to kick back and relax and just do what we like: shopping, walking around, eating junky things, and watching TV and movies (since TV is not an option at home--we checked out the morning shows a little bit, the Style channel, that sort of thing).

The centerpiece of the trip was visiting Steve & Barry's in Santa Maria to shop Sarah Jessica's "Bitten" line. We felt that the inventory was really picked over when we got there, but still had a GREAT time making our selections--mostly jeans and cute fitted graphic tees. I also got a summery white skirt. All in all, despite a few little problems (like an oven that didn't work, bathtub that didn't hold water, and not being able to find San Luis Obispo as easily as we had hoped) it was a wonderful mother-daughter bonding time and I'd love to do it again.

Father's Day

We had a little Father's Day barbeque Sunday night, and my parents came up (and brought Jacob too, who started summer school the next day).
We had a nice little barbeque which inexplicably took me all day to prepare (and I didn't even have to make the salad, because my mother brought one up). Here's what we had--steak with California Marinade (from the Chinaberry Cookbook), squash and rice casserole (from Cooking Light, and it was very good--first time I made it), cut up watermelon and pineapple, chocolate zucchini sheet cake with chocolate frosting, salad . . . hmm, I guess that's all. Seems like there was more, because literally, with shopping and caring for two babies, and managing breakfast and lunch it took me literally all day to prepare.
It was fun to get outdoors and the little kids were really enjoying the big kids. Dieter got this new Skitter Car the day before and Faith drove him around in it.

And here's the obligatory Rainer looking cute photo. Finally we're on summer break and there will be more posting forthcoming.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

I don't read (or finish) too many books these days (because I'm just so darn busy and overwhelmed with everything), but I do usually have some time on my lunch hour to read. I picked this book up at Bargain Box when Carrie and I were thrifting on her visit. I didn't know what to expect, but I figured, hey, it's 50cents. Well, I loved it. Not just because it takes you to a different time and place, which I tend to very much enjoy (even though I usually don't expect to) but also because the story is pretty darn compelling. Apparently this real artwork by this Dutch painter Vermeer is considered pretty mysterious--who is the girl, why are her lips parted, who is she looking at, and most of all, what is that thing on her head (which was nothing that the Dutch were wearing at the time). The author, Tracy Chevalier, said she was looking at the poster one day and the book just basically came to her all at once. She built a story about what might have happened, who the girl in the painting might have been. I loved it. Lately I've taken to lazily reading my magazines with lunch, but this held my attention and I enjoyed it thoroughly.