Swinging and Sliding

It has been a week of firsts for Isaac. He has mastered the "reach and grab," so I got out Noah's baby toys. It is a little strange to see them being used again. Deja vu, if you will. What is it about Sophie the Giraffe that babies love so much? Her soft squishiness? Her little squeak?

I love the way his pudgy little fist strangles her little neck so innocently as he attempts to shove her entire head into his mouth.

Isaac also had his first solo swing ride, which he loved of course.

And on the Noah front...he is equally as amused by the re-emergence of his baby toys. He offers them one after another to Isaac, demonstrating the proper way to jingle and shake each one.

At the park, Noah is also becoming more daring on the jungle gym, climbing to the top and sliding down all by himself.

And I think they both just woke up from their naps. So that's all for today!

~Jen

Butterfly Summer...and Catching Up

"Awake to a woodpecker drummer--it's a butterfly summer!"

(from Caterpillar Spring, Butterfly Summer by Susan Hood)

One week after turning into chrysalises, our Painted Lady butterflies emerged. They were sneaky about it though and I never actually saw any of them as they came out of the chrysalis. We watched them for a few days and tried to feed them sugar water and orange slices. They did not seem too interested in eating, so we decided to release them into our garden. Most of them flew away quickly. This one stuck around for a few minutes before fluttering away. "Where flowers go?" Noah kept asking.
Now for the catching up...
This is supposed to be Work in Progress Wednesday, but lately, I feel as if the days are flying by quickly, and I don't have anything to show for it. Nothing except for a chunky baby who seems to be either nursing or sleeping or chewing on those fists. I know that that in itself should be enough of an accomplishment at the end of the day, but sometimes it just doesn't feel that way no matter how many times I tell myself that it is. He is going through a change in his sleeping patterns these past few weeks and it has been wreaking havoc on my daily rhythm, which is why I am probably feeling a bit out of sorts.
Isaac has also discovered that he has feet, though he is only able grasp them when he is naked or wearing a disposable diaper. The cloth diaper bulk interferes with his flexibility apparently. And whew! does this boy ever have stinky feet! Seriously! But I kiss them anyway because they are just so cute and soft!
We have been having lots of thunderstorms and rain. One evening last week, the sky to the west was a brilliant golden orange color while in the east, purple sky and... This HUGE rainbow formed an arc across the entire sky. It was too big to fit the entire thing in the viewfinder. I was so tempted to jump in the car and find a better vantage point, but alas it was bedtime for the boys and probably not the best idea during a thunderstorm warning. It was truly incredible though. I think every person in Madison has some version of this photo.

On Father's Day we headed to a local GoKart track for Curtis and Noah to take a ride in a "big car." Noah loves cars, especially the ones attached to the shopping carts at the grocery store that he can ride in (but that I can't steer and invariably knock into some display with), so we thought this would be a good father/son activity. They took one 5 minute ride. Noah is so quiet in new situations, it was hard to tell if he liked it or not. I love this picture because it looks like they are winning the race. Really, they are getting lapped :)
In between all those things were trips to the stable to reacquaint myself with my girl, Sable, and a leisurely ride through the fields and forest on Winston. So while I don't have anything concrete to show today as my 'work in progress', it seems I do have lots of memories and life. There you go...my life is my 'work in progress'!

~Jen

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Caterpillar Sleep

"It's a caterpillar sleep. It's long and cozy and deep."

(from Caterpillar Spring, Butterfly Summer by Susan Hood)

Friday night when I got home from work, I noticed that our Painted Lady caterpillars were crawling to the top of their cup (which was lined with a thin piece of paper) and starting to hang upside down in a "J" formation. On Saturday evening, all but one began its transformation, shedding its final layer of skin, and revealing the chrysalis underneath. I found this so fascinating! Curtis had to make dinner because I just had to sit and watch them. It was truly amazing! Within an hour, they wiggled their way out of their skins. All but one, who was about a day behind the others. He (or she) turned into a chrysalises Sunday evening. You can see him hanging in the "J" shape in the picture on the left, taken Sunday morning. On Monday morning, I opened the cup and pinned the paper liner that they had attached themselves to onto the side of their mesh house. Now we will wait about week as they complete their transformation into butterflies!

~Jen

June Garden

The garden is finally all planted and everything is growing quickly thanks to warm days and a bit of rain. If you were to take a stroll through our garden you would see...

Lots of greens, including...European Mesclun Mix

Swiss Chard

Arugula and Paris Island Cos

Many varieties of herbs...Munstead Lavender

Genovese and Dark Purple Opal Basil

German Chamomile

A few fruits...Striata d'Italia Summer Squash

Alpine Strawberries (Noah's favorite)

Finally, some vegetables, of course...Little Finger, Amarillo Yellow, Cosmic Purple carrots in the front. Red, yellow, and white onions in the back. Contender bush beans on the far right.

Not pictured (unless you look really closely at the first picture): Big Boston lettuce, cilantro, dill, borage, spinach, French and Lemon thyme, bee balm, lemon verbena, Greek, Golden and Mexican oregano, purple sage, Curly Leaf and Italian parsley, mint, chives, cosmos, Scarlet runner beans, Mammoth sunflowers, Early Russian cucumbers, Thai White Ribbed eggplant, Brandywine, Yellow Pear, and Red Robin cherry tomatoes. Whew! I think that's it.

I love to watch everything grow and fill in. I even like pulling weeds! Now we look forward to the fun part; harvesting and eating!

~Jen

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

"Burgers in his nose."

Caterpillar Spring

"It's a caterpillar spring--a fiesta, a field day, a fling!

A fine time for stepping out, a fine time to wiggle about!"

(from Caterpillar Spring, Butterfly Summer by Susan Hood)

Thanks to Aunt Trisha, we are in the first days of a butterfly project at our house. Our Painted Lady caterpillars arrived a couple days ago. We will watch them over the next few weeks as they eat and grow, then wrap themselves up in chrysalises before emerging as butterflies. We will be sure to post updates as the weeks go on. If you are interested in having your own butterfly (or ant, or ladybug, or worm) project check out Insect Lore.

Another summery treat? Breakfast smoothies! I have finally reached the perfect combination of fruity thickness. The secret? Frozen fruit! It is much better than adding ice cubes, which really waters it down and ruins the nice smooth texture. For one adult size and one child size smoothie, I use about 1 1/2 cups of homemade kefir (though you could substitute any kind of milk or yogurt), a banana, and about a cup of frozen fruit. Put it all in the blender until it is nice and smooth. Today I also threw in some fresh strawberries. Yum! You don't even have to add a sweetener because it is naturally sweet and refreshing.

Finally, one cute baby picture.

Sweet baby Isaac is having a bit of a rough week. He does not want to be put down at all! I don't know if he is teething (those fists are constantly in his mouth) or is just in one of those in between stages where he wants to do something but can't quite do it so he needs to tell us all about it. He wants to be able to sit up really, really badly. "Enough of this lying on my back!" he says. Oh, and he is really good at telling Grandma all about it over the phone. He is going to give Noah some serious competition in the phone conversation department!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I will be at work...

~Jen