photos + journal

When I saw this on Momfilter I loved the idea and could not get it out of my head.

I'm terrible at keeping any sort of photo album or baby book, but for some reason the idea of simply printing out a daily photo--on regular printer paper--taping it into a Molskine, and writing a few lines about your day--seemed doable and strangely wonderful. What I love is being freed from the rules--the photos are not high quality, nothing is "archival," it's extremely informal, and yet . . . already my boys are loving seeing what photo I select for the day, and they love for me to read my text to them. The author of the Momfilter piece (who has been doing this for a number of years) said that taking these off the shelf and seeing what they were up to in the past, be it two years ago or two weeks ago--continues to be a fascination for them.

Can I stick with it? I love this and am compelled by it, and I adore handwritten notebooks and have kept numerous journals over the years, so I hope so. But no way do I see myself doing a daily update once school starts. I'd be thrilled to update it once a week. We'll see what actually happens, but so far I'm enjoying this little journal.

children's produce stand

Scenes from their Thursday night produce stand (with a friend). Fun and summery.

i made a skirt!

This was very easy to cut and sew up (it's Simplicity 7655). What attracted me to this pattern is that it is cut on the bias (so if done in stripes or plaid, it would come together in a chevron down the front seam. I'd love to do one like that). I cut this last week and sewed it up on Saturday. I know I always say this, but I love a quick project. This fabric is very thin, so I have to wear a slip with it. Also, I'd cut a size larger next time. Basically, though, I think this is successful, and very close to the summery look I was going for. (Because the home sewn clothes never turn out exactly as we had hoped, do they??)

rock tumbling

Ken and the boys have gotten into rock tumbling these last few months. They love going out into the desert to hunt for rocks, and lately they've started tumbling their finds rather than just collecting them. It's interesting to see how different the rocks appear once polished.

In looking through these photos, all this stuff seems very male to me. No pretty wood or ceramic bowls here. Rather, all their gear is either found, thrifted, or at one time destined for the trash. Looking at these photos reminds me to be grateful for their male world and makes me see all this in a new way--seeing the beauty of it, not just the clutter.

Rock tumbling is really their thing, not mine, but I'll tell you what I do know. The rock tumbler stays in motion for a period of weeks, and during that time they have to periodically change the "grit" and scrub the rocks. They start with a rougher level of grit then change to finer sizes. The milk carton is used to dispose of the leftover detritus. The toothbrushes are used to clean the rocks of any stuck-on grit. They have fun trying to identify the rocks and gemstones they find. In the end, the polished rocks can be used for display, for gifts, or for selling at the boys' little Thursday night produce stands.

And for those of you asking about the tumbler itself, ours is a Lortone. They bought it from a local friend who had an extra, but I'm sure they can be found online as well.

green juice

We've been making a lot of green juice lately. I finally got a juicer! My mom bought me this one on sale at the Williams Sonoma outlet for only $80, which is a great price. I very much wanted a Breville, but didn't want to spend a whole lot in case I didn't end up liking juicing. I wanted a Breville because I thought it would be capable of making green juice, whereas other centrifugal juicers might not do as well. I was very happy to find out firsthand that you can definitely make green juice using this juicer.

Through my research I found out that centrifugal juicers have their disadvantages (because the super fast spinning action causes the vitamins to oxidize quicker and also because they are not as well suited to extracting juice from green leaves as are masticating or twin gear juicers), but on the other hand centrifugal juicers are affordable, easy to use, and quick to clean. Those are really good advantages for as far as I'm concerned. I also rented Crazy, Sexy, Cancer again, mostly so I could watch the special features and see Kris Carr making her green juice (she uses a Breville in the video).

The reason I wanted to try green juice in the first place, rather than just sticking to green smoothies all the time, goes back to my vegan experience. I was drinking a lot of green smoothies, which I love, but green smoothies have a lot of fruit in them (thus a lot of sugar) and are heavy and full of fiber. I was craving the ability to mix things up a bit with a clear, clean, green juice that has more veggies and less fruit. Sometimes I just don't want to deal with a thick, fibrous smoothie. I like that with the juicer I can use vegetables that wouldn't work so well with in smoothie (like broccoli stems or carrots).

Faith and I have been loving the green juice. We base our recipe on the green lemonade that Susan of High Desert Home used to blog about all the time. We throw in other vegetables sometimes too. Yesterday I made one with romaine, kale, a cucumber from the garden, leftover broccoli stems, a few celery pieces, 3 apples, and a peeled lemon. It was very yummy, not too sweet, and I enjoyed the grassy flavor from the celery (or maybe from the broccoli stems, I'm not sure which). We've also made carrot-apple juice for the boys (who are not as into green lemonade).

Do you juice? What's your favorite combination?

a friday photo

{Dieter and Rainer playing on our outdoor downtown stage}

Today we went to the park and the library in the morning and made a zucchini cake in the afternoon. Dieter chose "The Parent Trap" for his Friday movie. What did you do today?

morning, noon, and afternoon

This is how the morning started. They were so peaceful and playing side by side. Usually they have trouble getting along for very long, so this was sweet and most welcome. I'm hoping we're going to go into a new phase of them enjoying each other and not fighting.


It was Rainer's clinic day (labs only, this time, no chemo because that is done for good!) and they had a little party for him with cake and pizza. A local hotel donates these cakes to the clinic when the kids are done with chemo.


And after clinic we took the kids to the zoo. Here is Rainer on the ant hill, sliding down on a piece of cardboard. This is maybe my boys' favorite part of the zoo. I couldn't help think, watching him play and slide, about how amazing and wonderful it is to have him here, healthy and intact, playing like any other kid, and done with meds and procedures. I'm so happy and grateful for that.

romantic getaway

Ken and I just returned from a little trip to Avila Beach--just the two of us! It was fantastic to have a "real" vacation--without kids. We really needed it too--it's been a year and a half since our last--very brief--little trip. It's a wonderful thing to reconnect with each other, and the boys had a blast staying with my parents (and with Faith and Jacob) and getting to do all sorts of forbidden things like watch TV and eat more desserts than usual. I think it's so important for couples to make time to connect--whatever strengthens the marriage is good for the whole family. So hooray!

At dinner Ken surprised me with a sweet Lisa Leonard necklace. It's the "rain or shine" necklace--so appropriate and meaningful--with our names on the back. I love that he picked this out himself, planned the surprise, and that it has our names. I was truly surprised and pleased.

Now we are back to reality and tomorrow is our Santa Barbara day--labwork for Rainer (but no chemo!) and the doctor's office staff is throwing him a little "no more chemo party" and then we'll go to the zoo.

whilst folding laundry . . .

Lately, I've been having huge Sunday laundry folding sessions while watching old episodes of Nigella Bites. I haven't had any broadcast TV for over a decade now, but a long time ago (1999 or 2000, amazingly), my mom recorded a bunch of Nigella episodes for me on VHS tapes, and I still have them! I find Nigella so incredibly comforting, uplifting, and heartening. I adore her casual, down to earth, and unfussy style and all the scenes of domestic life and mothering that are sprinkled throughout the episodes. My favorite Nigella cookbooks are How to Eat and Feast. How about you?

welcome to the giraffe show

Dieter and Rainer were inspired the other night to put on a spontaneous "giraffe show" for us in the back yard. I love it when they're creative like this. They made tickets and arranged the seating, then did a little "show". Pine branches were their costumes. We saw Lion King in Las Vegas overt the fourth of July weekend, and I think they were influenced by the costuming and style of handheld puppets in that. So so cute!

super natural every day

{orzo salad}

{super natural every day}

I have a bad habit of spending any birthday or holiday gift cards immediately upon receipt. My brother kindly gave me a gift card from Amazon for my birthday (a great gift, as far as I'm concerned), and this is one of the books I bought -- Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson. I actually don't have her other cookbook because I consider it too "high end" for me, but this one is ideal--very down to earth with lots of possible substitutions if you don't have or can't find exactly what's called for.

I'm the first to admit that I often buy cookbooks more for beauty and inspiration that to actually cook out of, and I'm fine with that, but on the other hand I like them even more if I find myself using the recipes. To that end, I jumped in and made something from this book right away--the orzo salad.

Do you you have the book? Make this! It's delicious! And so easy! Basically you make a broccoli pesto and toss it with cooked orzo, additional broccoli, lemon zest, and avocado. So, so yum. I used almonds instead of pine nuts and greek yogurt in place of creme fraiche, but still, so yum!

The book is full of veggie heavy, healthy looking dishes and lots of gorgeous photography. Am enjoying it so much!

faith turns 18!

{faith at 18}

{the birthday table}

{dinner of her choice}

{cutting the cake}

{yellow with raspberry frosting birthday cake}

{after}

Faith turned 18! We had a truly fun day. Shopping at Anthropoligie, going to the art museum, lunch at Crushcafe, and dinner and a family party at home. For the meal she chose vegetarian chili, corn pudding, and chips on the side. My mom made the cake again: yellow box mix cake with her homemade raspberry frosting--Faith's request. I think of this as "birthday cake" flavor now.

What can I say about this girl? It is a truly amazing thing to have a daughter that has blossomed into such a beautiful young woman. I am very proud of her. She is so SO much more self confident than I was at that age, and for that I am truly happy. I'm excited for her to start college (I loved college and suspect she will too), but will miss her.

Some things about Faith:

• she adores her little brothers and is wonderful with them
  
• dresses cute and loves thrifting
• is a huge Harry Potter fan
  
• is a lot like me in many many ways which we often comment on and talk about amongst ourselves
• is comfortable with her nerd/geekness
• has a sunny disposition and is mostly happy
• will be going to UC Santa Cruz in the fall
• likes woodland creatures and gnomes and such
  

and just like that, chemo is done!

{last dose of 6MP}

This afternoon, Rainer took his very last dose of 6MP--his last dose of chemo ever, after nearly three and a half years of treatment! This little boy has been brave and strong through leukemia. We are very proud of him, and so happy that at last he can be chemo-free. We celebrated with a little party.

{hand made cards for Rainer}

{water balloons}

{flowers}

{"cancer the crab" pinata}

{at the table}

{"kicking cancer's bottom"}

{homemade ice cream sandwiches}

{scooping up dessert}

{opening his present}

He still has to take an antibiotic for a month or two and will be going to the clinic once a month for check-ups, but no more nasty chemo drugs for our sweet Rainer. Hooray! Hooray! We are so proud of you Rainer! Happy day!

welcome zucchini season

The zucchini season is well underway here, and I am loving it! (We are still waiting patiently for our tomatoes, though). The zucchini circles pictured here are from the book Honest Pretzels. They are yummy. (The children wouldn't eat them).

Also made so far: zucchini soup (x2), zucchini bread, zucchini chocolate chip cookies. I'm waiting on those tomatoes to make my favorite zucchini pasta. How about you? What can you not wait to make with your zucchini harvest?