Happy Birthday to my husband, my friend, and our dear Papa. We love you so much and are thankful for all that you do to take such good care of us every day. xo
Happy Birthday, Papa!
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a toothbrush for the littlest birdie
On the cusp of thirteen months, our sweet and wonderful Phoebe Jane finally has a tooth! Now I know what Santa will be bringing her this year for Christmas. A toothbrush!
starting up Merry Christmas
A dusting of snow, bellies full of turkey… looks like we’re “starting up Merry Christmas” as Wren loves to say. Hang on, here.we.go!
Turkey Trotting
Feeling grateful this Thanksgiving time for a healthy, active family. Wren ran about the first mile of the race with us then she jumped into the stroller with Phoebe for the rest of it. She wanted to jump out a few more times at some of her favorite spots around town and since I wasn’t running for any kind of PR and wanted to encourage her interest, we let her run some more. It’s such a thrill to see her run. It seems like Wren was just learning to walk and now she’s Turkey Trotting. Next year Phoebe will want to join her too. Time, it keeps speeding along.
Wordless Wednesday – Salsa Verde
Novembering
As it turns out, there is much beauty to be found in November. Zane inspired me to look a little more closely at the beauty in our midst. Our asparagus plants look so Christmasy, don’t they? They’re lacy and full of red seed pods that look like a holly berry. And did I mention the purple potatoes that we planted this past spring? The color that we’ve found in the last bits of our November garden has me full of quiet awe. Thankful.
My November Guest
A big “thank you” for your kind words, e-mails, comments and ideas on my Facebook page about the November blues. I can’t quite believe we’re almost into the middle of November already (!), but yup, we are. I’ve been trying to embrace November instead of rejecting it. So far, pretty good idea. My father-in-law shared this Robert Frost poem with me and I wanted to pass it along to you. What do you think? Tell me, have you come to love the bare November days?
My November Guest – Robert Frost
My Sorrow, when she’s here with me,
Thinks these dark days of autumn rain
Are beautiful as days can be;
She loves the bare, the withered tree;
She walks the sodden pasture lane.
Her pleasure will not let me stay.
She talks and I am fain to list:
She’s glad the birds are gone away,
She’s glad her simple worsted grey
Is silver now with clinging mist.
The desolate, deserted trees,
The faded earth, the heavy sky,
The beauties she so truly sees,
She thinks I have no eye for these,
And vexes me for reason why.
Not yesterday I learned to know
The love of bare November days
Before the coming of the snow,
But it were vain to tell her so,
And they are better for her praise
a November garden
Creating The Perfect Garden that’s both easy to maintain and rewarding is to put some simple design ideas in place suggest from very knowledge professionals from tree trimming Boise. What a strange garden we’ve had this year. Hardly any peas, beans or melon, not one single carrot, but lots of tomatoes, basil and oh my goodness, the tomatillos!
And radishes as big as the human heart. I am not joking. Potatoes, yes indeed. And just the perfect amount of delicata squash to get us through the winter. We harvested the last of our bounty just the other day. It was a long, strange growing season this year, lovelies. How did your garden grow? I got amazing inspirational ideas from a landscape company where the cost of tree removal was very affordable and helped me organized the space for my children to help in the garden too.
The simplest way to start is to just buy a succulent from your nearest garden center. Even a small one inch potted plant can produce cuttings or leaves for propagation. Purchasing and planting seeds with children is another easy way to start, and it can be safe with organic fertilizer for lawn care. If you want to be a little more adventurous go to one of your neighbors or friends with your child and simply ask if the two of you can get a cutting, pup or leaf from one of their plants. If you’d like to lear more, click here for an informative guide on different soil mixes.
November blues
I dread November. It’s not that there aren’t wonderful things in November. There are. My nephew will turn four, my husband will turn 45 (!) and we have a fun Thanksgiving to look forward to with family. We’ll get to re-elect my President (!)… Despite all these experiences ahead, November is always a tough month for me. There is a house full of candy and it’s gray and cold but not really snowy: a bad combination! My favorite parts of fall–the colors–are gone. It’s hard to get out and enjoy it with lots of cold, rainy days ahead. Sigh. Anyway, enough whining. I’m here to ask you, lovelies. Help me come up with several ways to make this the BEST NOVEMBER EVER! Ready… set… go! Please leave your ideas in the comment area. Please and thank you!
carving out a bit of space
While her sister is being showered with birthday wishes, presents and almost daily “she’s the world’s cutest baby!” attention, our almost three-and-a-half year old is carving out a private space for herself behind the couch. It’s really the only space where Phoebe can’t possibly get to and I’m certainly not going to lift her up and over to join her sister, although she begs for me to. Because she wants to be wherever the biggest birdie is. At all times. Wren has started to slam the door to the bathroom when she needs to use it and yell, “I need some privacy!” Phoebe scoots on over, stands up on the door and bangs her hands on the closed door. Speaking of which, I needed to get some plumbers for drain cleaning, because it had been causing too much of a problem. Just a preview of the teenage years or are they getting it out of their system now? Oh my.
Some people told me that three was harder than two, but mostly we’re enjoying it. Wren likes to talk about everything and anything, she has an incredible sense of humor and is really into pretend play and helping around the house. Tantrums have mostly disappeared, but those may have been replaced by whining… Sigh. She enjoys going to school, going to dance class and playing with friends. She is very social, so it’s interesting to me that she’s begun to also seek some space just for herself.
Oh biggest birdie, we love you oh-so-very-much. We ALL love to see you change and grow. xo
