Father's Day 2010

It was a lovely day, we took 'dad' out to a farm to pet some farm animals and spend some time in the country. We found a lovely little farm that also has an enchanted forest. The farm is called Clark's Elioak Farm and is less than an hour from the city, it has been around for generations and they continue to use the land to host people as well as raise animals and garden. Apparently, once upon a time, there was an amusement park near here that shut down and the people at the farm have restored a number of the nursery rhyme elements and 'enchanted' their forest with them. My favorite was the Shoe House, "There was an old woman...."(it is even a slide!).

Some parts where a little creepy (think amusement park gone bad), but for the most part it was really fun. Maybe next time we go it won't be so hot and we can make our way through the Enchanted Forest Maze, complete with gingerbread house!

made by me: burp cloths

These were made for a friend who appreciates hand made things, so for baby #2, I whipped these up for her. It was my first time 'dressing up' cloth diapers to make a nice looking burp cloth. The diapers I bought were too thin so I folded them and added a thin layer of quilt batting that I bought for some other project that hasn't happened yet.

This was a fun project for me because it was quick and I was able to do a few different things on my sewing machine, also, I happened to have everything on hand so I could sit down and create rather than spending time at the fabric store. I am feeling more comfortable with the sewing machine, so hopefully I will use it more.

tiny moments

Today as I was helping Phoebe get her shorts on; we were standing eye to eye, P on the bed, she was singing one of her 'daddy songs'. P loves to sing and will just sing about what she is thinking about, normally goes something like: momma, dadda, dadda, momma, phoebe, dadda, dadda, dadda. This one was all dadda. She had her tiny hands gripped onto my shoulders and in the midst of singing about daddy she said, "Love you, daddy, Love you.". We looked at each other and smiled. I just said, "I love him too."

These tiny little moments I don't ever want to forget.

have pool will travel

this piece of paradise coming to a yard near you

arugula

buttery. peppery. green-leafy. goodness. plucking off these leaves offered hope for the rest of the garden.

first fruits

Summer Reading

These days I have been loving reading. I don't remember reading much as a kid, but I have certainly discovered the joy of a good book in the last few year. Last summer I read all of Harry Potter and all of the Twilight books. If you have any suggestions for me this summer send them my way! Here are a few books I read this winter/spring that some of you might like.

Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor
This book I literally picked up off the shelf at the Library (with crazy toddler in tow) and checked it out. A solid case of 'You CAN judge a book by it's cover'. I loved it. Written by Sue Monk Kidd, of The Secret Life of Bees Fame, and her daughter. This isn't necessarily a 'light' summer read but it is a short book. The chapters go back and forth between mother and daughter detailing the same traveling experiences but with different insight. It is a history book, a mythology book, a book about traveling, a book about being 50 and a book about being 20, all narrated through the author's perspective.

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
I heard about this book from my mom's best friend's facebook page and she heard about it from her daughter. This is all funny to me because it is a book about girlfriends growing up together, daughters becoming mothers and the strength of women in the midst of all these changes. This is a long book...but the first chapter had me hooked, I just had to know where it all was going to go so I raced through it; laughing and then sobbing. I supposed part of what I loved about it is that it was so real and in someways put words to my life; growing up with friends who live different lives but who do everything they can to stay connected, leaving a profession to be an at-home-mom, raising a daughter and wondering how my mom did it, being a woman in the 21st century.

Lineage of Grace by Francine Rivers
I am reading this right now for a book club. It is really 5 books in one, you can get the books separately- they are fictional accounts of the 5 women mentioned in the lineage of Jesus: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. I have read them before and I thought it would be boring to read them again, but I can barely set the book down to go to bed even when my eyes are blinking closed. Something about the way Rivers writes totally sucks me in. If you haven't read anything by her start with these and then move on to her Mark of the Lion Series. Captivating!

This is a start for anyone looking for a good summer book. Happy Reading!

waga-WHAT?

Yesterday I drove a new route home and saw something that brought Spring Semester 2000 right to the forefront of my mind, as if I had just finished it. That was the semester I studied in London. That was the semester I explored the streets of a city with more history and architecture than I had ever been faced with. That was the semester I spent with 14 other people that I barely knew. And that was the semester that I ate at Wagamama's for the first (and last) time. None of us ate out much since we were students and the pound was stronger than the dollar. But the few times we did go out, Wagamamas was a favorite.

Now, there is a DC location...well SOON there will be one. As soon as I drove past the new location and saw the red star in the window I felt an urge to call all my friends from that semester. I didn't have a single one of their numbers in my phone.

Here's to many more memories made at Wagamamas!