Rhubarb

Posted on by
2

rhubarb

I have a lot of rhubarb in my freezer. A lot! Through the CSA we’ve gotten it for two weeks in a row now and I need to figure out what to do with it. The first batch sat on my counter for far too long and I finally decided to throw it in the freezer for awhile. A quick google search sent me here (a great site I frequently end up on when I have questions about preserving fresh produce) and the freezing process went smoothly enough. Rhubarb is really annoying to peel! Did you know that? It’s all stringy and weird and smells like celery (not a veggie I like!) I persevered though and now have a ton in the freezer… What do you suggest? Strawberry rhubarb pie was my first thought and the obvious answer, but I just can’t motivate myself to make a pie. I found this site with 9 Perfectly Pink Rhubarb Recipes and I’m thinking about making the Rhubarb Buttermilk Mini Muffins but I’m afraid I will eat every last one of them. Not good! Hmmm… ideas?

Lex’s six year check up

Posted on by
1

We had an awesome visit to the doctor’s office today. Seriously. Lex had an appointment at 9:15 and he chose to go to school for an hour first instead of just going in late. The surprised me a bit, but it worked out well. He happily left with me when I came to pick him up. He did an awesome job at the appointment. He behaved well, he cooperated with the doctor and did everything she asked him to. It was just awesome. Then, to top it all off, he happily went back to school! He was chatting with everyone along the way, on the way out telling people where he was going and on the way back telling people that he was growing well and very healthy. It was adorable and by far the smoothest part of my day! How often can you say that about a doctor’s appointment.

checkup

His stats are all good: 50lbs (73rd percentile and up 8lbs from last year!) and 44 1/2″ (31st percentile). I, and the doctor, think there was a measurement error last year. His record said 44″ at his 5yr checkup, but we all agreed he’s grown more than 1/2″ this year. My oh-so-formal pencil on the wall measurement system had him at 42″ last year and 44 1/2″ this year. I think that’s more likely. She agreed.

Somewhat unrelated to the doctor visit, but very related to his turning six, Lex had a new milestone yesterday. He actually spoke on the phone!!! I had Alan on speaker phone and Eve was talking to him. Lex ran over to see what was going and then he started talking too! Right at the phone! :) I doubt Alan could understand what either of them were saying because they were both talking excitedly and over one another, but nonetheless Alan was excited to hear Lex’s voice over the phone! He is growing up.

I was just reading some posts from when he was three and four years old… I get lost in my own blog sometimes. I can spend hours, seriously, reading about what happened in my own life, in my own house, years ago. I mention this only to say that Lex really, truly, has come a long way. There are so many posts about struggles with him. Fighting. Yelling. Pure exhaustion. He is such a sweet, nice boy now. He was then too, but it’s different now. Minor issues still, but nothing, nothing!, like it was before. I feel like I’ve weathered (or conquered?) a storm and now have a beautiful, nearly calm sea to explore. I truly am fortunate.

Mr. Independent

Posted on by
Reply

lex

Lex has entered a new phase of independence the past few days.  Will it last?  We shall see.  He has been protesting bath a lot lately (gently, not forcefully, luckily for me) so a few days ago I told him he was dirty and needed to get clean and I gave him a few choices on how that could happen.  When I mentioned a shower he jumped at the idea.  Since then he has been taking showers on his own.  He can do the whole thing without help.  It’s pretty amazing.  I wondered when the time would come to switch from bath to showers and it seems, like many things child-related, you just know when it’s time.  Or they just tell you :)  Yesterday was a super busy and exhausting day and Lex started to meltdown around 5pm when we were cleaning up outside and heading in.  I gave him the option of helping us clean up, or heading in for a shower.  He ran right in.  By the time I got in (after more cleanup and chit-chatting with my friend who was visiting) he was done and stepping out of the shower.

He also has taken to making his own breakfast and dinner.  As long as dinner means sandwiches, bagels, oatmeal, and/or yogurt.  He still needs a bit of help in the kitchen and makes a bit of a mess, but he is motivated and learning!  As part of our summer activities I’m going to have cooking or “kitchen” sessions and I think (hope!) he’ll enjoy them.  I’m getting excited!

Graduation day…

Posted on by
Reply

Eve had a little “graduation” yesterday and today, her final day, was spent having a “field day” at the playground. They played games, ran races, went on a nature hunt, etc. Parents were invited to come. I had errands to run, but I made it for the second half of the morning. It was cute. At the end all the teachers were saying goodbye and the kids were running around hugging everyone, but Eve found me and snuggled in to my neck and refused to hug, or even acknowledge, anyone. I think she was very sad that it was all ending. She cried a bit. It was sweet. The class and teachers took a school bus to the playground and when the bus came to pick them up again I asked Eve if she wanted to get in the car with me or ride back to school on the bus. She picked the bus and cuddled into one of her teacher’s arms. A few other kids followed her to the bus. I followed the bus to school and picked her up there. :) She was happier there and said her goodbyes nicely. It’s always sad to see the year come to an end. She will be in Pre-K next year with one of the girls, but the rest of the class will be doing other things.

When I picked her up at school yesterday we (the parents) walked in to find all the kids wearing construction paper mortar boards and garbage bag gowns. It was ADORABLE! and we were all bummed that we didn’t bring cameras. I didn’t even have my cell phone with me! Eve was nice enough to put it back on when we got home. She wanted to show Alan and I wanted to snap a few pictures. Win-win for everyone :)

cap and gown

The graduate. She also got a little certificate.

close up

Always silly

After several days of 90° temps it was a chilly one today. I started off in shorts, but zipped home to change into pants and a sweatshirt before the playground. I think the kids stayed warm enough with all their running around though. :)

ducklings in a row

Little ducklings in a row (and the parent paparazzi standing by)

take down

Between activites the kids decided to chase and subsequently take-down one of the teachers. I don't think she minded. :)

eve

Eve pretending to be shy.

Each kid also got a “yearbook” to take home. It’s a bound book of pages of photos of themselves, their classmates, and their teachers. Each teacher wrote up a favorite memory, and each kids was voted for something. Eve got “Best Dancer.” I’ll agree with that!

Beachin’ it!

Posted on by
8

We took our first trip to the beach today! Well, the lake anyway. Welcome summer! I have lots to say and lots of photos, but it’s late (again) and I’m tired (always) so this will be brief.

Eve and I picked Lex up after school and we went straight to the beach. First things first, snack!

snack

Happy children!
lex digging

lake

Eve named this the "Laka pino Johnson"

smiling boy

happy swimmers

splashing

Tired children, heading home for dinner and baths.
tired

I was playing with camera settings and “continuous” photo shoots. I have lots to say about that. Also I’ve been thinking a lot about the seasons of parenting. Thoughts on that. Right now I’m tired though. I can’t wait for summer vacation. I’m really, truly excited for it. Possibly more so than the kids :)

 

I just linked this post to a blog hop (my first!) from another local blogger, Rub Some Dirt On It. I don’t know her, but I know lots of the local areas she talks about. She’s super crafty and into photography… I’d love to take some of the e-courses she has taken.

Photobucket

New bike

Posted on by
1

I’m so excited! I found Lex a new bike at a yard sale this weekend. I’ve been thinking about it for awhile, but not taking much action (that’s how I roll!). Friday night I got an email saying there would be a multi-family yard sale one street over from me! The kids and I walked over at 8am on Saturday morning and found not one, but two bikes just his size! What luck! He chose a blue one with a bell and we brought it home. Someday my kids may have shiny new bikes, but for now I pride myself for never having spent more than $5 on a bike for them :) Lucky for me they both love their bikes! Lex has been practicing without the training wheels, but he tires quickly and reverts to his old bike. I reassure him that it takes lots of practice! Today he went out to practice with Alan.

new bike

Lex practicing on his new bike, without training wheels!

alan on bike

Wait, who got a new bike?!

This is just a picture I took at snack time today. I was bored and trying not to eat their snack, so I started snapping pictures :)

feet

Ahh... summer!

Happy Memorial Day

Posted on by
Reply

image

Here’s how we are spending our day. Maybe some ice cream if the temps hit 90°!

PM PS – I posted this from my phone, on the swing set, obviously, but in hindsight I’m not sure that “happy” was quite the right word to use. Perhaps something more appropriate would be “Thoughtful Memorial Day.”  We remembered and thanked our armed forces for protecting us and allowing us to spend a beautiful sunny day doing absolutely nothing. I was thinking of soldiers at dinner tonight, and my children, and found myself filled with a mixed emotion, half hoping they will serve our country one day and half hoping they never leave the protection of my strong arms. Ah, a parent’s dilemma. Anyway, to those of you who have served and those of us who love you – Thanks!

Waste of time?

Posted on by
Reply

We had a busy afternoon today. Alan and Lex worked together to put in the air conditioners while Eve and I did some gardening. I read in a magazine that cats don’t like the smell of lavender, so I thought I’d plant some lavender around the yard and see if that reduced the amount of cat poop we are always cleaning up. I got two packs of seeds awhile ago but failed to read the directions or do anything with them. Then I thought it would be easier and more immediately effective to just buy lavender plants instead of starting from seed. I haven’t made it to a plant store though, so today we decided to just throw the seeds in the ground and see what happens. You are supposed to plant them indoors, wrap them in a plastic bag for awhile (humidity, I presume) and then slowly acclimate them to the outdoors. Or put down some dirt, drop in a few seeds, watch what happens. A total waste of time? We’ll see!

lavender around the tree stumps

Fresh dirt, seeds...

watering - p1

Water, water, everywhere...

watering - p2

This was her favorite part of the process.

After that I prepped the old iris garden in the back yard, right next to our raised bed garden, and we planted some pumpkin seeds. Also potentially a waste of time. I’ve tried them in the past but we’ve never actually gotten pumpkins. This year they are in their own bed, with more space, and were more properly planted. Once again, we’ll see :) That seems to be my philosophy on gardening. Toss in some seeds and see what happens!

planting pumpkins

happy girl

Something that is not a waste of time is our CSA this year. Look at what we had for dinner! Sesame tofu on a bed of romaine, spinach, and tatsoi. Soooo yummy!

dinner

One healthy photo per dozen cakes/cookies photos. That's a good balance, right?

The kids are in bed so I’m going to bake some Alaskan Sourdough bread (KAF mix from their overstock sale today!), try hard to stop eating animal crackers (though I’ll probably sample some fresh bread tonight!), and crash. I’m tired! Hoping my voice comes back tomorrow. Eve insists their is a frog stuck in my throat and my voice can’t get out. I love how kids hear expressions and run with them. At some point in time I’m sure she heard someone say “there’s a frog in my throat” and now she thinks the one in my throat is so big the voice can’t get past. Sweet silly girl.

Party at the bowling alley!

Posted on by
Reply

We culminated a week-long birthday celebration with a “class party” at the bowling alley. Fortunately (for me and my wallet!) Lex was happy with just four classmates and not the whole class. Even still, four classmates, plus Lex and Eve made for a hectic party! To make it even more fun I lost my voice on the way in to the bowling alley (seriously!) and then, halfway through the party, a huge crowd of high schoolers came in and they turned on cosmic bowling, which means lights out, disco ball and music on. It was fun, but chaotic! Thankfully we were wrangling just six kids! I think Lex had a great time, but I’m ready to be done with birthday parties for awhile.

snacks first

The bowling alley provides pizza and I brought some snacks. The kids were all hungry and polished off the snacks pretty quickly!

tokens

Alan doling out tokens for the arcade. All the kids say they love bowling, but I think they really mean they love the arcade. I'm pretty sure it's the only arcade in our area.

bowling

Lex and his master technique. It payed off for him though because he ended up with the highest score! His friend is trying to explain a better bowling technique.

boys

Boys! Sometimes it hard to tell fighting from fun. I broke this up but they both insisted they were having fun.

eve

Eve got a lot of help :)

shirt

The bowling alley also provides a t-shirt the kids can color and the birthday boy gets to keep. I don't expect to see Lex wearing it anytime soon.

laughing

They were laughing hysterically at a birthday card. His friend said, "It's a monkey with a cake wearing a hat!" and they both cracked up. Silly kids.

cake time -p1

Cake time!

cake time -p2

I think they liked it :)

girls

Eve made fast friends with the one other girl there.

lex

This isn't a great photo but I love it because lately Lex has switched from duck-and-hide when he sees the camera's orange glow, to smiling automatically. Here he was drinking and watching people bowl, but when the orange glow hit his face he smiled. I LOVE IT!

I had something else to say here, but I forgot! I’m hoping my voice returns quickly. The boy is throughly six now and has had enough partying and cake to last him through the year!