Our House in the Middle of Our Street

Source: crissyscrafts.blogspot.com via Maryann on Pinterest A couple of weeks ago I found a blog post on a Summer Fun List and decided that would be a great thing for our family make. I had it in mind for when days where we needed a bit of extra "oomph" to get around the town to explore, stop and smell the flowers (or, you know, have an ice cream cone), or invite friends over to play. I asked Lukka to add things to the list and we created a chart that has already worked for boredom busters. I'll give you an idea of a few of the things we've decided to put on there, exempting the ones that involve other kids that we know ;) Pick Strawberries. ( check .) Zoo day and share a snack. (check.) Go to a camp-- VBS Get an ice-cream at DQ. Go to Trago Spray Park. Children's Museum...when it's just too hot out. Camp in a tent over-night. Get peaches from Sunwest farm . Go to Runza and play in the new play place (check.) What are you doing with those restless days wher

This past weekend we were (finally! After 3 years!) able to participate in Prairieland Dairy's Dairy Day. We all had a blast and it was definitely worth the drive. The last couple of years it's been rainy and with very small children, it's just not worth it if someone is near-meltdown. Myself included. Ahem. Prairieland Dairy is a local diary farm that is owned/run by 9 families who have joined together to make a great local company flourish. Their dairy products are ones that I buy because it's local, there are no artificial hormones, and it's a competitive price. I love their cream for our home-made ice cream. While we were on the farm, we got to take a tour of the entire farm, see the cows and what they eat, ride a tractor (Lukka's favorite), pet the farm animals, eat a free lunch, and see how they are milked. The day events run from 10AM-4 but goodness GO EARLY. When we were on our bus shuttle back to our parking area at around 12, there were no less than

photocredit This year the One Book One Lincoln board had decided to have only three books as finalists instead of the usual five. I took that as a welcome sign that I might just be able to read all finalists before the chosen date and the events/book clubs start. I had been interested in the book Zeitoun (Zay-toon) by Dave Eggers before I noticed its city-wide status, but hadn't gotten around to making it a priority. The picture on the front was how my interest was piqued because it is such a strange picture, you have to take a double-look. I'm so glad I read this amazing true story. The tale is about a family, specifically a man named Abdulraham Zeitoun, who lives in New Orleans. The first 50 pages or so is background about him, his family, how he met his wife, and his childhood in Syria on the edge of the water. After that, the story follows Hurricane Katrina as it ripped wide open the populated city, and the fact that Zeitoun stayed, trying to help fellow neighbors, or anyo

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Source: flickr.com via SarahKeith on Pinterest This week I did not get a snap-shot of our CSA box before we dug in, though I can tell you (of what I remember) that we got. We've been keeping up really well with it, and other than the sugar snap peas not being as delicious as they were last year, the produce has been spectacular (and it's REAL...any Seinfeld fans out there? ;) In our box this week was: romaine lettuce, curly kale, sugar snap peas, carrots, beets, baby bok Choi, Napa cabbage, peppermint, hyssop, scallions, spinach, garlic scrapes...and probably other things :) We've already cooked up all our spinach & onions into little baby quiches (very similar looking), that make the perfect little warm breakfast. I usually can get about 16 in a batch done. Lettuce is chopped and we have been shelling those peas (and a store cuc.) for a daily side salad. Normally we would eat sugar snap, pod and all, but this year the pods have been a little on the weird side, so

Our horribly planned plot (totally my fault) is actually doing well. We've had to take out one section (above, far left) of lettuce because within 24 hours some very tiny bugs stripped it clean. Frankly, that plot was the one I cared least about since we get fabulous leafy greens every week in our CSA box. Our cilantro is tasting SO good and ready to harvest, and our carrots, dill, and cucumber plant are doing the best of all in this square foot plot. Stefan made a 5 minute fix for our climbing sugar snap peas, but they have yet to blossom. Anikka and I LOVE these peas. We got two bags at the Farmer's Market last Saturday and they were gone within 12 hours. We practically fight over them so I'm hoping they produce soon! Our sweet little raspberry corner has taken off and just a few have ripened in the past 2 or 3 days. We need some netting so the birds don't get to them, but we have so many little critters in our yard that I don't know if this particular berry is

Today is not only the first day of Summer, but it's also my son's birthday, and what a great day to celebrate! We can't believe we've already have four whole years of you to ourselves, and we love your tender-hearted personality, curious inquisitiveness, your quick and resourceful thinking, and of course, your humor and personality! You love to play with your little sister, your puppies & teddies are your favorite 'toys', you could read for hours, you have an above-average strength in math and figuring out how things work, and then creating your own replicas. I one time found your first creation of a pulley-mechanism that was 'a hot air balloon for puppy!' and it really worked. How creative you are! You're always trying to joke around from morning, noon, and night. Putting on funny productions, singing a song for your sister before her nap, jumping on and in the bed, finding hiding spots in the house and squirting your poor mum with a water gu

To celebrate (or try to, anyway) the fact that this week actually starts the beginning of Summer, I'm doing all pics that remind me of the good stuff that summers are made of. Enjoy! Source: flickr.com via Karen on Pinterest Source: matissecolor.blogspot.com via jessica on Pinterest Source: cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com via nichole_521 on Pinterest Source: beachbungalow8.blogspot.com via ja:na on Pinterest Source: etsy.com via Emily on Pinterest Source: prettystuff.tumblr.com via Kendall on Pinterest Source: maryruffle.tumblr.com via Erin Elizabeth on Pinterest Source: nationalgeographic.com via Kylea on Pinterest

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Source: jendotlu.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest I wish I knew the artist of this print because I love it. Link on! *** I know I link up to this all.the.time but I really don't want anyone to miss the thoughtful posts, the simple recipes, and the great ideas for play. Rhythm of the Home has it all, seasonally. Loved this bloomer-to-romper DIY. Looks easy and adorable. Do you need an invite to Pinterest? It's amazing, and...addictive. Maybe I shouldn't tell you it's like a visual inspiration board you can categorize? Let's just say following me will give you amazing inspiration that will melt.your.face. Hair wraps, craft ideas, and recipes included. reading this post about motherhood might have made me tear up. might. As a personal reward after doing a lot of work this summer for a ministry I volunteer for, I gave myself this , this , and this . Happy mail coming Friday! I am so excited for a couple movies this summer including The Help , HP #7 , Forks over

photocredit Our local libraries have done a really neat program the last ten years or so, called One Book One Lincoln . It's a program that out of 3-5 books, anyone can cast their vote to choose one book that 'everyone reads at the same time' in our city. There are literally hundreds of copies of the OBOL, study questions, and tons of events including lectures, movies, and book clubs around the city during the Fall. I have really enjoyed reading a large portion of them, and recently saw that the 3 chosen to be voted for were available last time I was at the library. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss, was the first I decided to read ( followed by Zeitoun by Dave Eggers ...coming soon ) and for a long time it was hard to formulate an opinion about it. The story reminded me of past OBOL winner "The Story of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, in the fact that the novel is actually about a book, and interweaves a number of different characters over different time periods t

photocredit Stefan and I recently watched the popular (uh, in 2010?) movie Avatar over a couple of days. The story is a science-fiction tale about a planet named Pandora, which holds a large reserve of a high priced and high-powered mineral called unobtanium. The story follows that humans from earth, both military and scientists, are out there on their base and trying to interact, study, and ultimately possess the planet for their own gain. The main character becomes an "avatar" when his physical body is encased in a module that connects his brain to a body of a native. He's able to communicate, run, do anything they can, even though in 'real life' it's just a shape-form of him. This movie is very long at just about 3 hours, and quite frankly an hour could have been chopped out of it. It was an important cultural movie because the moral of the story is 'going back to nature and the simple way'. This movie made so much money when it was in theaters, an

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I know, two sleep pictures in two weeks, but they're just so cute. Join the fun .

Source: progressiveearlychildhoodeducation.blogspot.com via Rosamond on Pinterest This upcoming Saturday, June 11, is National Get Outdoors Day . It's part of the First Lady's initiative to get kids off the couches and fit to fight child hood obesity, called Let's Move Outside . Of course I'm a supporter of kids playing outside daily, no matter the season. I also love to read about kids and nature, find new spots locally to play, and build our own fun environments for outside play, like our Sand/Water table that is still, 3 years later, being played. Richard Louv, who wrote Last Child in the Woods (I reviewed it here ), is one of my all-time favorite non-fiction books about how children are loosing touch with the outdoors, and it's taxing them in many ways: obesity and related childhood disease, an over-stimulated brain, not connecting with nature (as in, relaxing and no-stress environment), and less respect for the environment with regards to consumerism. A piec

It's been a few weeks since my last garden post, and so I thought I'd update where the boxes are at. Here's our first square foot box. The items in this box are growing...but slowly. Since the cold Spring had stunted our bud growth on our trees, we didn't realize this was not a great spot for our first box. We've trimmed a few down-ward limbs with perhaps two more, so our plants should be sprouting better in upcoming weeks once they get sun-soaked! This next box is our rabid grower, though we are really needing a trellis so the sugar-snap peas can climb. Right now after a few inches a week, they are taking over each other.... Here are a few of our cute, very unripe raspberries. The renters before us (or maybe 2 before us) started a little box with about three bushes, and this year, if the birds don't eat them and they do well, we'll have close to 50 berries to pick off! It won't be roughly until July or August, though. And what would be a garden post

photocredit A few of you may recognize this title, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels: A Love S tory , as one of the few The Pioneer Woman--Ree Drummond--has put out in recent years. Her famous blog is an all -encompassing website for the home-maker, foodie, home-schooler, photographer, and man, it's funny. She is a great writer and this book certainly is no different from her humor-laden blog posts. This story was started on her blog, where she would write a chapter a week for her readers on how her and her husband, "Marlboro Man", met, married, and their first year of living on a cattle ranch together. The book is a very quick read, and some of the praise on the back cover really does sum it up. Here's a few of em': *"One word: swoon." ~ Maggie *"That's it. I want a cowboy."~ Kathryn With her quick wit and clumsy personality, this book is charming and laugh-out-loud funny. Perfect for a beach read, an airplane flight, or just a rainy-day dis

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