Just a quick post today. I thought I’d show you the cute little bunny Brenna made for a friend’s birthday.
She made the pattern and did most of the work. I helped with sewing some of the tight curves and turning those skinny feet right side out.
And check out the cute little tail! News is that he is much loved in his new home.
In Ohio we belonged to a wonderful CSA and got boxes full of produce every week. We haven’t joined one here, but this year I’ve made a goal to find farms where we can pick our own produce and do as much of that picking as we can. I think its important for my kids to learn where real food comes from and that it takes hard work to get it. I’m hoping to find some orchards in the fall where we can pick fruit too.
A couple of weeks ago, after swimming lessons and lunch and a little rest, I took the kids out to Berry Patch Farms on the opening day of strawberry picking. They opened at 8 AM, but we had to go in the heat of the afternoon after people had been combing through the 7 acres of strawberries all day. I had a baby on my back whose left shoe must have fallen off in the garage as we were leaving our house, so he had to stay on my back. There was a big thunder storm the weekend before, so the tractor couldn’t give us a ride out to the field because of the mud. We had to hike, the organic fields were full of thistles, and the strawberries full of holes from hail damage. As you can imagine, that led to a lot of whining on the boys’ part. I don’t think Jonah picked a single strawberry because he was too hot and they were too hard to find. Brenna was a splendid picker, though. She combed through the plants and found the best berries there were. After her and I (with a baby on my back who wasn’t super excited about all the bending over) filled up 3 little containers full, we called it a day and good education on how expensive food really is and how hard it is to be a farmer.
I wasn’t satisfied with the amount of berries we had, and promptly gobbled up, after that outing. We needed more, so Brenna and I got up early Saturday morning to comb through the fields on their final day open.
We got there before the sun was high and hot, and the hail damaged berries were long gone.
In half the time we spent picking on our last trip we filled an entire flat.
Brenna had fun searching for the tiniest ripe berries she could find.
I needed the quiet time out there finding sweet treasures with my girl.
When we got home, Barry and I made homemade strawberry freezer jam– one of my very most favoritest foods ever.
Here are the kids at work at their new favorite pastime– making stop animation videos. Last Sunday Barry downloaded a trial version of boinx iStopMotion onto the old lap top, gave the kids a few instructions, and they’ve been at it all week. They started with paper cut outs, then moved on to animating their toys. I can’t even tell you how amazing it is to watch their creations. I am so surprised by how fun and creative their little movies are– all without any adult help or input. Today Barry sat down with them and used iMovie to add sound to one of Brenna’s favorites. Here it is, I hope it makes you think my kids are as cool as I think they are!
We had a hard time thinking of a good gift for Brenna’s birthday. She’s 10. My little baby is right between being a little kid that loves to play with toys and a big kid– you know, one that just wants clothes. I did really consider getting a Playmobil set, but I just hate having the big plastic things. I don’t mind all the little pieces– they are the things that get played with, but the the big hunks of plastic that are the buildings I could really do without.
Then I remembered the constant asking for a typewriter like Kit who, in the books, wrote a newspaper with her typewriter every day. The typewriter stars aligned for me and I found the perfect Smith-Corona Corsair Deluxe portable typewriter on eBay. The clicking and clacking from her room only stop for her to go to the bathroom and eat.
Seriously, my budding poet/novelist is in love. She is flying out to California today to meet her dad who has been out there judging the International Science and Engineering Fair. Her typewriter is in her suitcase.
I couldn’t think of a good reason to say no.