This Weekend

It was hot. I mean HOT!!! I felt like I was melting and chose to stay close to the air conditioning. Someone else however was completely inspired by the heat. 100 degrees outside does mean that mud pies will actually bake. So even though I continually tried to convince her to come inside, she wouldn't even think of it. She was a very busy baker. Making mud pies for all.

After the pies were set out to bake, it was soup time. So she built a fireplace.....

and hung her kettle.....

and got right down to business. She was in her bakery for hours and hours turning this.....

into this......

It's vegetable-fruit soup.

A Handmade Father's Day

For Father's Day I wanted to make Dave something really special to show my appreciation for him. He truly is an amazing father and the sweetest, most loving and supportive husband. He loves vests so I thought he might appreciate a custom vest sewn just for him. I made it out of old jeans, pieced together.

I'm thrilled with the way it turned out. He looks very dashing in it.

Then Scarlett asked me to make her a wedding veil for her date with papa. So I dove right into my doily stash and came up with this.....

She loves it and it makes her feel very beautiful. I swelled with pride as I kissed them both goodbye. Off on their date (they went to the movie UP) in their mama made goods.

Different Strokes

One child wants to climb the highest mountain.

(So what if it's a huge pile of composted turkey droppings?! No harm, no fowl.)

The other child prefers to take this opportunity to do some organizing.

There's a few kids out in the yard keeping an eye on things, making sure nobody gets out of line.
But for the oldest child, there's nothing more fun than spending time with his oldest friend.

And a good weekend to you and all your children.

And their Fathers.

guess what?

...chicken butt! Make that NINE chicken butts, now happily pecking and scratching and laying eggs in my backyard. They've been with us for almost 24 hours now, and we're all having a hard time leaving them alone.

Some of us like to get real close, and others must enjoy our new friends from a safe distance.

I can already see how they'll enrich our lives with valuable lessons in respect, responsibility and hand washing. They'll certainly enrich our soil, and we mustn't forget the real reason we got them in the first place:

I may the only one in the house who's excited about eating these super fresh (like, still warm fresh) eggs, but hey, more for me!

Creek Adventures

We found the greatest little creek. It is perfect for exploring because of the shallow water. The kids have so much fun catching minnows, building dams, seeing who can make the biggest splash and of course throwing rocks. They never tire of throwing rocks in the water.

Something magical happens when you plop a kid in nature. They are so at ease. They get so absorbed it in what they are doing whether it's searching for shells or even just sitting with their feet in the water. They are so in the moment.

Oh, if only every day could be spent this way. (the world would surely be a better place)

Shoot the Moon!

Amy and I were talking the other day -- you know, business meeting -- about how the last Space mission was barely mentioned on the news. It's so blasé, Space. So there's some guys out there cruising around fixing stuff, big deal. No one pays much attention unless something goes wrong or something explodes.

So, you want explosions? Check this out!

QUEST on KQED Public Media.

I turned up the radio this morning after Mazzy said, "Mom! They said Centaur!" and heard this story.

At the NASA Ames Research Center (NorCal baby!) they're building this SUV-sized bullet (nicknamed Centaur) that they're going to shoot at the moon. They hope to find water under the surface, and they're hoping for the resulting huge plume of moondust to be visible from Earth. If you're as dorkily interested as I am, you can visit the official website, where among other things there's a song written about the mission available for download (seriously!).

Now that's what I call newsworthy.