Post Category → just life

end of june

[I tried to insert pictures, but got frustrated with a flickr glitch. Click through if you want to see them!]

Last Monday was our 7th anniversary. Seven is closer to 10 than to 1. This year, our special day landed right in the middle of deadlines for Ryan, so celebration looked like a smile in the morning, roses ordered and delivered last minute, and saying at the end of the day, when Ryan looked up from his work, “So, seven years, huh? Wow.”

Just like most other special days, the best way to celebrate something is to just do it fully. (This makes me think of Psalm 116:12-13.)

I took a few pictures of the day, comparing it with a smile to our lives seven years ago. You know: special hairstyles and make up compared to finally getting a shower sometime that afternoon. And other comparisons that made me deeply thankful: two individuals who were “one” in word but still learning how in deed, compared to a family of five who lives life together in purpose and love every day.

*****

Our family of five will take a “real” vacation for the first time this year. A little house on a lake, shallow beach, boats and fire pit: these things have my little boys very, very excited. A whole week, rain or shine, to just take the moments as they come. Okay, that has me excited, too.

William has been practicing his summetime-and-the-livin’-is-easy.

*****

Another stage of our renovation is nearing completion. Do I sometimes just sit in the lamplight and soak in the loveliness? Yes, I do.

Also, on the increasingly rare afternoon that all three children are asleep, I sit in the sunshine and soak in its loveliness.

bits

Since the beginning of May, I have only eaten dessert, or sweets of any kind, a few times on a few special occasions. This is amazing for me. I feel like I’ve climbed Mt. Self Control for the first time ever.

…and then tonight I had to make dessert for our church picnic and caved. I ate a cookie.

Those cookies get me every time!

*****

One special occasion was last week when we went strawberry picking. All three kids, in the middle of the afternoon, trying to find a place I’d never heard of. Beatrice decided to try out a new facet of her personality and cried her head off, William cut his finger on a blade of grass and joined her, and Jameson sat happily in the middle of strawberry plants declaring how much fun he was having. That kid is a keeper.

We brought home 4 quarts — not much, but enough, given the howling that was our soundtrack.

And Jameson helped me make a strawberry cake to celebrate strawberry season. (Since they’ve been deprived of baked goods since my attempts at cutting out dessert, they were especially excited about this cake!)

*****

That night, I also made Ina Garten’s grilled chicken. It was, as all of her recipes are, fabulous. Full of flavor, and really easy. Mashed potatoes (with plenty of whole milk and butter, of course!), and salad from right outside our door finished off the meal. It really was a wonderful celebration of summer’s beginning.

*****

Another big hit? Jamie Oliver’s Chicken Tikka Masala — or at least a version of it. I used chicken thighs and cooked it in the oven at 250* for a couple of hours, but otherwise followed the recipe fairly closely. The cilantro lime rice is a must.

Did I mention that cilantro is taking over my little herb plot? It is. And we love it.

*****

I’m so proud of William. He’s not quite as adventurous as his brother, and that’s putting it mildly. Last year, he spent the entire summer watching people swim from the comfort of dry ground. This week, he went from barely being comfortable dipping his feet in, to being happy climbing in and out all by himself, and letting me help him “swim”. Most of all, it’s fun to see his eyes shine and realize how proud he feels to have accomplished so much.

*****

I pulled out a Copland piece today for the first time in…years. Jameson heard me, and quickly assembled an eclectic assortment of household items that he transformed into percussion. I couldn’t believe how quickly he understood the (modern, sounds-like-chaos to most people) music and figured out how to appropriately add strums and cymbals and such.

*****

Meanwhile, Beatrice is busy getting callouses on her feet — on the tops of her feet, that is. Crawling babies get so dirty, too! She has a self-appointed roll as household floor cleaner, and very seriously picks up every speck and fuzz and eats it. She’s also been introduced to some real food (so, really, shouldn’t she realize that dryer lint is just not worth eating anymore?) and has loved it all. Chicken, salmon, snap peas, lettuce from the garden that she picks when I’m not looking… She’s very eager to be included in our meals. And I just think, Really? Really, you weren’t just born?

*****

Long days of sunshine, long days of work for Ryan, long days of pools and walks and watering thirsty plants. Living the best we know how, loving that He upholds us.

He is good.

june days, quick trips, lunching local

Sometimes, June days greet with you with a wave of heat and stickiness that sends you running for water or AC. Sometimes, they greet you with breezes that raise goosebumps in seconds and sending you running for a favorite cardigan. This, I think, is because God loves us all. Can you guess which of those days is my favorite?

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Hand-to-the-plow is how Sinclair girls tend to turn out. “Resting” means 20 minutes of reading before we finally stop trying, hop up and start pulling a weed, fluffing a pillow, and generally finding things to do. Sometimes, though (and I’m getting better at this), it’s a day for putting kids in the car and leaving house and chores far behind. It’s a day for visiting a sister two hours away just because I love her. So we both slow down for one whole day, busying ourselves with just being sisters. Driving home at dusk through rolling farmland is, by the way, the best early summer activity.

*****

Meals have been heavy on asparagus for the last couple of weeks. Get while the getting is good, right? Here in the North Country, the getting is at its best. This is when I start thinking about food almost all day long: where are the strawberries, when to order sour cherries from the Amish farmer, CSA pick ups beginning, how many eggs can we eat in a day because they’re so good, buy more beef because it’s hamburger season. For these few short months of summertime heaven, you can eat almost completely local.

If you’re local, may I recommend this for lunch?

Asparagus and Goat Cheese Omelet

2 eggs from Maddie, with a splash of milk, s+p

5 asparagus from the Kingston’s, trimmed and sauteed in olive oil and s+p until bright green

Garlic and Onion goat cheese from Jesse Barton

Put it all together —

Serve with bread from the co-op.

Absolutely scrumptious.

busy? oh yes. we are.

June’s calendar is so much emptier than May’s. Somehow, though, the days just fill up. Maybe not quite so much scrambling. Maybe a bit more of the sprinkler-running, bike-riding, kid-training, home-being variety. Not to mention the all-consuming growing-up busyness. These kids grow like weeds, hit new strides, try new words, learn new tricks EVERY DAY. I love ’em bunches.

Breakfast with my boys while Daddy was busy working.

A few minutes here and there playing my favorite hymns.

Keeping Daddy company in Ottawa.

Dinner and books with my William.

Gardening, with a sweet baby for company. She loves the dirt, just like her Mama.

Playing catch with Papa, a summertime highlight.

Doing errands with Daddy, and getting a special lunch.

Sitting in the sunshine with my cool kid.

He finished Kindergarten, I got my homeschooling-Mama feet wet.

Sunny days and sprinklers: match made in heaven.

Standing, every chance she gets.

She melts our hearts and makes us laugh. Peek a boo!

bike riding

On Sunday morning, before we left for church, we packed pb&j, water bottles, crocs, play shorts, and bikes in the van. When the service was done, we headed to the public school parking lot for the long awaited Bike Riding Event.

It was perfect. The joy and elation as the boys took off on their bikes into the vast parking lot was priceless. Not even a playground with every bell and whistle could distract them from their mission. They rode and rode and rode. And smiled the whole time. (So did Ryan and I.)

Little summertime treasures.

blessings.

This was a fun week.

It was a week of sunshine. Lots and lots and lots of sunshine. Sunburns, freckles, sweaty heads. Scraped knees, black-bottomed feet, green-stained clothes. And just enough rain to sit and rest for a wonderful afternoon.

It was a week of gardening. Several up-with-the-sun mornings for me. Throw on work clothes, take my coffee outside, listen to birds while I turn sod: this is as summery as it gets to me. I love it. And now, five new rose bushes, a hydrangea, 1 lilac bush moved, 20 day lilies moved, ranunculus bulbs planted, lettuce thinned, yarrow and speedwell bought and planted, six hollyhocks of a new variety, and a smattering of hopeful seeds. Wow. That was a lot of work!

It was a week of learning. A friend and I put together a “discussion on natural childbirth.” Every time I dive into that topic, I’m freshly awed by the miracle of life. The whole thing is just amazing design — and a humbling privilege.

It was a week of play. Some weeks, the boys regularly wake on the wrong side of the bed. Other weeks, they wake up ready to pretend and laugh and play and share and just be the best kids ever. They came up with so many new games and activities this week, and it was refreshing for my soul to just watch and enjoy.

It was a week of growing. Beatrice has unwittingly discovered real, bonafide crawling. She still prefers a military crawl, but it won’t be long. She pulls herself almost to standing with the help of our ottoman, and happily navigates her way through the entire house. It’s so very much fun, but all so very much too soon.

Yes, exhaustion, frustration, uncertainty, overwhelmed moments. But really? Really?

I just am feeling very blessed.