Farmer's markets EVERYWHERE!
Bings,
Rainers,
The perfect cupcake... mine, all mine,
Other people's cupcake joy, 
Red and Green, 
People spreading happy thoughts, 
Boys enjoying each other and the summer sun.
This is just picture of a funny thing (well, I think it is funny anyway, but I am kinda nerdy) it is a big sculpture of Pi in the lavender field. I say to my husband as we drive up..."Look Honey, it's Pi!". I thought that he might enjoy the nerdy humor of it, because...he is nerdy too. But, I didn't hear a peep. Well, 10-15 minutes later AFTER we left the car and were strolling around he goes "Look Jess, it is Pi!". How many times has this happened to all of you?? Typical...
We took a little trip to San Juan island yesterday. I like to call it the "Big Juan". It was the boys first ferry trip and they both enjoyed it immensely. Brownie liked sitting all cozy inside with Grandpa, playing cards. True to form little Blondie preferred running on the outside deck and checking out all of the "things" going on.
Friday Harbor was a zoo when we arrived and so we decided to try and eat something on the other side of the island in Roche Harbor.
It was nice, very resorty, because, well, I think it was a resort village... but it had a nice dock for the kids to look at sea life and a nice garden to walk through. As you can see, I liked the flowers and the brickwork.
Also, being a former Waste water worker myself, I really appreciated the fecal humor of this sign...
I enjoyed watching these people get prepped for their kayak excursion. Someday I would love to try this as well, but I didn't think that it would be the best "first-time" activity for a 7 month pregnant lady.
We did go to a lavender farm on the island. It was just beautiful. Sculptures and every type of lavender you could think of. I did make a new motto though.... Smells good, tastes BAD. I have tried eating several food items flavored with lavender, and each time I think "I shouldn't have done that" Really, you just can't top the smell... the taste is just not right, no.
The day came to an end with a view of Mt. Baker from the ferry ride back to Anacortes. The weather had been cloudy since we arrived so I hadn't realized that the mountain was so close. We can even see it from our house... Just lovely. I love vacation, why can't we have more?? Would it get too mundane? It is so nice to have the Dad and the kids and I all together and not doing chores. We still have a few more days of this bliss. (Although, I can't help but daydream about my trip to Bend, only about 10 more days!!!!)
walking,
Birds flying in...
Gathering for food...
Boys,
Sharing...
Seeking...
Carrying...
Aren't vacation mornings grand?
Ahhhh, Summertime, and the living in easy...
I have been working on some swaps and I cut up some of my favorite fabrics for them. I am still working on the hoarding monster that lives in my studio. I am so much happier when I am using what I like, but it is SO HARD to make that first cut, so hard.
Here are some blocks that I have received back from Another Quilting Bee 1 friends. I never thought that I would enjoy this project this much. I was hanging the blocks up today and really admired the effort these wonderful women put in to each block. Seeing them all together inspires me to get some motion going on this tree quilt. It has been a real creativity boost to work with people like this on one project. Being one piece of a whole.
I also felt the need to revamp my mini quilt wall. It is in my bedroom and I just love looking at them. I put up some of the ones with the more summery colors. Yes, I left up my orange and aqua disappearing 9-patch. I just love looking at it. It is so orderly compared to what I have been coming up with lately. I really love to get lost in the pattern. I think that I want to make one that is larger. (that is the nice thing about minis...they are like little testers for ideas.)
There is my hero. While I messed around in my craft room on some swaps, while I blogged, while I surfed the web...he diligently worked on "the once and future kitchen." I know that this project, even though we are having the professionals do most of it, still has been more work than either of us anticipated. I am so glad that I married a hard worker, sometimes it makes me batty, but I am so thankful that he is my partner in this crazy fun life.
Mmmmm, don't you just love a good smoothie? I do. I really have been craving fruits this pregnancy and smoothies always hit the spot. This one was especially good.
I couldn't resist putting this picture in, mostly for myself, to remember this one's little personality quirks. At our end of the year celebration for Brownie, little Blondie just really felt like he owned the park. He asked me for help on one part of the play structure and after I suggested that he go up the twisty bar to figure out how to get on the main structure by himself, he just kept climbing across over and over again. Apparently he felt like I was hovering and (I was just there in case he lost his grip, I swear.) because he kept telling me to "Stand and watch me from over there Mom, I need my space." Then when we sat down for snack, he sat near me and laid down and ate on his back...(really funny). When he realized that his big brother was eating near some other friends, he picked up his plate and left me ALL ALONE, because he "wanted to be near Brother." So big, so fast, I guess it is a good thing I am having another baby, but I wonder if the 3rd will just come out ready to run off with her big brothers. (sniff, sniff, tear.)
Since my blog is the only journally type thing that I have been very faithful to over the past few years, some of my entries may be an "over-share" type thing to you all who read, but it has been nice to have some place to document what goes on in our lives from day to day. 
The best part (for me, I really haven't been doing much beyond making meals and keeping the husband supplied with Coke...the soda, not the drug...but it is a fine line.) is our Daddy has been doing such a fabulous job of employing the boys in the whole process. He has been having SO much patience with them, much more than I would in a project like this. The boys have been working hard unscrewing all of the screws and carrying drawers and things outside. It has been wonderful watching all three of them work together, in a way that I am removed from (I don't know how that sounds, but it is one thing to organize your kids yourself and another to watch them work together in a totally different way not organized by you??? Do you get it?)
I did make a trip to IKEA this week end for a crib and some clothing storage solutions. There was cardboard a-plenty, and while their dad tidied the garage an amazing thing was built...
A bizarre and funny little house. They were so pleased because they said, "Even you can come in this one Mom!" It was decorated with a rocking chair and some old kitchen drawers and the roof kept blowing in. They were disappointed when they found out they couldn't stay out there over night with their stuffed animals. Maybe we will have to get the cardboard out again later this week, ya think?
1) old photos of the family...one year ago...
The school year is winding down and I am slowly getting back in to the mindset of being with both of my boys each day. On Tuesday we stopped by our local Farmer's Market after school. I always love to see the buckets and buckets of flowers... my favorite is later in the summer when the dahlia are in full bloom.
Peonies are very nice right now. This bloom was almost a perfect globe with a 9 inch diameter...huge!
Have you ever smelled sweet peas? I wish that computers came with Smell-o-vision (only sometimes) because these smelled divine.
I couldn't keep my eyes off of these beets... this year might be the year of orange.
Our city has been planting some lovely perennials in some of the planters around the Market area and this daisy was so simple and pretty.
We brought some of the rainbow carrots back for a taste test at dinner. They all were so pretty and it is so fun to eat something that you know was in the ground that very morning. The taste... well, it was good... BUT, I am such a purist, I think that I like that plain orange best. Maybe if I did a blind taste test the results would be different, but the yellowish white ones made me think that I was eating a parsnip and the purple ones... they tasted just fine, but THEY WEREN'T ORANGE!
Yesterday we went to one of the farms that lies right outside our city limits. I guess I didn't think that strawberries were ready for U-pick...but they were and I had two willing pickers.
My dear Brownie doesn't like to eat berries, but he is a diligent picker. (I think that the lack of eating adds to his final yield.)
We were lucky to see any berries in this bucket, because Blondie's favorite thing to say is "Strawberries? I love strawberries!" I, myself, did as little of picking as possible. The height of strawberries is just not conducive to good pregnant lady picking and I am just at that point where the belly really offsets my balance when I crouch.
There they all are... if you look closely Brownie added an orange slip for himself. I explained to him that we could not rig the contest like that...he was displeased.
Here he is "subtly" picking his name 3 times in a row...
There was a brief prize committee power struggle, he told me that he didn't want me to give away the Olivia fabric, and I said that I wasn't.... Order was restored and he closed his eyes and picked a name...
Hooray for you Emily!! It is fitting that the lady that made me get on the blog train was my winner. What a day....this contest has just worn me right out!
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