Cuckoo Bananas...

Yup. I can feel it.
We're at that half-way summertime hump.
You know. That hump.
That --- "the hot humid days are really bad for hair," the control issues in me surface and I long for more a bit more routine, and my emotional ability to handle sandbox sand in the house grows increasingly slim --- hump.

It's actually an annual milestone for me, and I've come to expect it.
I am no longer surprised by my quick peek at the sweaters pile in the closet, my freakish tendencies to make lists about everything, or that hyperventilating feeling I get when trying to pack a somewhat creative (but usually pretty standard) picnic lunch.
I usually combat it by snuggling in for a nap.
Nothing like a little sleep to restore perspective :).

A quick snooze after a morning of all-out playing fun!!

It's right around this time that I gaze nostalgically at ripening wheat, canola and flax fields. Growing up on a farm, we knew that the long summer days were running out and we'd be back in the classroom (and surrounded by friends!) shortly. I am still invigorated by the sight of farm equipment clearing a field as I recall the Harvest Buzz around our childhood home. Picnics on the field. Visits to Grandma's while my mom worked alongside my dad. 

It's right about now that I start to look at fall, how responsibilities will fit in and around family life, learning what to say "yes" to (and what to say "no" to).

And it's right about now that I embrace the sun-soaked mayhem a little longer, take a deep breath and enjoy that last stretch of summer.

And, just maybe, sneak a little snack. :)

Caught in the act of sneaking a sugar snap pea fresh from the garden

I'm BA-ACK!

Well, that was an unofficial blogging hiatus.
In fact, I was tempted a few times to post this pic...

Except that we haven't really "gone fishing" ...

...We've survived furniture shopping with three girls 5 and under AND managed to decide on a lovely living room furniture set (since we've been married officially, as of yesterday, for twelve years now :P, we figured it was okay to replace our already-been-loved set with something new).

... We DID make it through the McDonald's drive-thru and headed to a park for a picnic. There was so much excitement in the air you'd have thought it was christmas!!! After finding a cool place to park, the kids jumped out of the van. Sweet K did her funky little dance, all the while exclaiming E-SITED E-SITED E-SITED (excited!! excited!! excited!!).

 

 

... Thanks to the generous use of Jon's parents motor home, we did survive a long weekend of camping in extreme heat and humidity. Usually we just take a gigantic tent, peg it down good and voila. Camping. However, this particular weekend was hot 'n steamy, MB style, and we were thankful for the reprieve. We had a great weekend of camping with my family. The kids loved playing with the cousins (6 kids, age 5 and younger!), splashing around in the lake, playing with Grandpa G's assortment of water pistols and so on.

In between the outings, we've eaten far too much ice cream :), kept cool with the water sprinkler, and enjoyed an unseasonably hot MB summer (which has been a welcome switch from the previous several rainy and wet and BUG-infested years!!). My flower beds are actually thriving; in fact some of my pots have suffered due to OVERWATERING. This is very unusual. They typically suffer from over-neglect!

We do some hanging out, some visiting with friends, and I'm trying to whittle down the stack of books that I optimistically signed out from the library but haven't had a chance to finish :).

These are sunny, funny lazy days.

And they are delightful :).

YUM MMMEEEE!

Ever since I was a kid, RASPBERRIES have been one of my ultimate, all-time, can't-beat-it summertime favorite treats. Better than ice cream, chocolate and maybe even peanut butter all rolled into one. (Ties with air-popped popcorn, though!! Let's not get carried away here :)! )

So, it was NO SURPRISE when J & I settled into our first home that I transplanted some of these lovely wonders to the west side of our home, where there was a stretch of turf just ready and waiting to be tilled up and used wisely :).

It's taken a few years, but they've really established well. This year we are enjoying an ABUNDANT HARVEST of these yummy-lish-ious treats :). The whole family gets into it too. After supper, we grab a plastic container, and we all truck out to the raspberry patch to see how many we can sneak off the bush before they actually make it to the container! Even the family pooch mooches the low ones off the bush for his own little snack.

Some of my favorite raspberry-enhanced memories - watching Little M take charge of the raspberry picking extravaganza; picking raspberries with Little M in the rain; sun-warmed berries; going back there ALL BY MYSELF and feeling like I'm indulging in some sneaky guilty pleasure - stealing both a quiet moment and some coveted berries for myself!!

However, be warned. Too much of a good thing is NOT a good thing!!! (Ohhhh the tummy aches :)!!!)

It's true! We did survive!!

Wow. One week ago I was packing to go on our first camping trip of the season.

Who knew that you needed that much stuff to survive two nights without the creature comforts of home :P?

And with the chorus of of Aretha Franklin's I Will Survive running through my head...

I will survive
Oh as long as I know how to love
I know I'll stay alive
I've got all my life to live
I've got all my love to give
And I will survive
I will survive
Hey Hey!

You gotta keep it simple when you're without a radio and all :).

All in all, things went well. I think :). Aside from the two stints in the van, at night, for over an hour each, with a crying baby who doesn't usually cry a lot but I could hear here wailing from the washroom!!, who had an itchy bite that just wouldn't quit!

Yes, it is [far] more tiring than staying at home. And a friend of mine commented that she's amazed we go at all, considering how Sweet K sleeps (or doesn't!!). But if we hadn't gone, think of all the fun we'd missed...

- Late night family reminiscing around the campfire AFTER the little ones have finally fallen asleep (my dad introduced us to the game "What really irks you" and apparently some of us had more to share than others!!!)

- Lots of yummy snacks (no smores, Michelle, sorry! - but my mom brought enough salty and sweet snacks to keep us going for quite a while!!)

- Bike rides, stints at the park, watching Sweet K fall in love with the slides and observing how Little M has taken to the water now that she wears a life jacket

- Working on my sun tan :)

- And lots and lots of laughing. As we were wading with the kids, I turned to J and said - see, this life with kids is a piece of cake - to which he quipped - yeah, it's the marriage that requires the work!!! He got a good splash for that one :P.

I think I'm finally unpacked now. Finished the loads of laundry. Sorted the dishes and dried the swim gear.

And maybe, just maybe, we'll do it again!!

The quest of the camper...

This weekend we will embark on yet another camping extravaganza. I'm still not sure why we do this to ourselves. Are we gluttons for punishment or just really really optimistic people :)...

... First there is the thrill of exhilaration when you finally get through on the Manitoba Parks website and secure JUST THE RIGHT camping locale. Oh yes, the one from last year. In the bush (ticks). With bugs (mosquitos). Little breeze. BUT the washrooms are close by, and that's a must!!

... Then there are all the nostalgic feelings of what kinds of camping memories will be made this year. Firesides. Time spent lounging at the beach. Great conversations. Enjoying the Great Outdoors. The thrill of cooking over an open fire (or coleman stove, which I happen to prefer!).

... However, as the weekend gets closer, reality sets in. Racing after running children. Trips to the washroom in the dead of night. Slogging through another teething issue in a campground surrounded by hundreds of witnesses.

... And gasp, we are still of the hardy few that use a t.e.n.t. Among families with children, we are a rare breed, I know. Before J and I had children, we would spend THREE AND A HALF WEEKS on the road, spending only one or two nights in a hotel. The rest - we lived out of our car and our cozy 4-man (read 2 people squished together) tent! But now, we prefer 2 nights at a time :). Sure there's the love of adventure and sleeping near the hard ground that makes it attractive, but really, we're saving the $10,000 you'd pay for a good used camper for our "rainy day" fund!!

... Yet, in this bug-eat-people world of ours, we do. it. every. year. Often several times. There's nothing like that cup of coffee outside (especially if mom has made it!), laughing around the fire side, escaping from the at-home-work (because folks, camping with kids IS WORK!!!), and giggling by another sand castle or splash in the lake.

Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to create some really great memories. And it is worth it.

Right :)?

Sweet humming birds!

I can still remember when I saw my first humming bird. My sisters, brother & I were hanging out with my Grandma G, whose gardens were spectacular. At least in my young eyes. Of course, those sweet flowers drew humming birds. She marveled at how fast their wings could move, how agile and unique they were. I was entranced.

Now, with my own kids, I find myself watching birds too :). Both our kids (and our pooch!) are avid fans of the feathered friend. We spot the colorful blue jay, friendly robin, vivid gold finch, among many others. Unfortunately, I am not educated in the way of bird names and habits, but it is slowly coming!

However, humming birds are not common on our little plot of earth. And I am tempted to put up a feeder just to attract these fascinating creatures.  hummingbird feeders has a ton of information, as well as feeders to choose from. 

Of course there is the traditional model,  however these are so cute too!! 

Our spring and summer months are so short, it seems. It would be delightful to share the warmth and sunshine with these beautiful birds!

A flash of harmless lightning, 

A mist of rainbow dyes,

 The burnished sunbeams brightening 

From flower to flower he flies. 

~ John Banister Tabb ~

Sponsored by http://www.birdfeeders.com

Cherry blossom

Why can't my ornamental cherry tree bloom all summer long? It looks absolutely gorgeous and smells divine!!!

O You, Mighty Little Earthworm!

With all the squeals of delight around here, you'd think it's Christmas ... or Birthday ... or someone bringing loads of candy. Or something.

Nope. Around here, all this excitement comes from the discovery of the ever-lovely EARTH WORM.

Ewww. Is all I can say.

I've been asked all sorts of questions about these squirmy little creations. Like...

Do earth worms have teeth?

What do earth worms eat?

Where do they live?

Why are they all brown and crunchy on our garage floor?

Uh. Biology and dissection seems like a reallllly long time ago (which is a good thing, I am thinking!) so here I am, online, seeking out real answers for my 3-year-old who not only asks good questions, but also has a fabulous memory (and I am motivated by the shudder of the thought of misinforming her, and then her sharing that misinformation with a classroom of kids 5-6 years down the line, and then all of them laughing hysterically over her less-than-educated mother!).

IN FACT, earth worms don't have teeth. Which is a GOOD THING TO KNOW if you are picking up an earth worm with your bare hands (which I d.o.  n.o.t.). It munches its food by sucking it in like a vacuum cleaner (great, so I may not get bit, but I might get a little hickey mark on my hand!).

What does it eat? Wellll, these are efficient little critters, eating - well, pretty much anything they can suck in! Not just dirt (which I told Little M), but garbage, poop and the like. Tasty. They eat pretty much non-stop too. Lovely.

Earth worms live in dirt (mostly!). They are found all over the world, and in a variety of habitats (soil, obviously, but also logs and bogs).

As for death and the cause of the dry crunchy worm, we've saved those conversations for another day, and I just say that the worm ran out of water so he's pretty dried up.

Also good to note (for when you realllly want to impress your youngsters!!) 

 - Earth worms have no lungs. They absorb oxygen through their system.

 - Earth worms produce their very own antifreeze. They curl up in a knot, produce their own antifreeze and voila! They sleep through winter!

 - They can make enough poop in one day to be the equivalent of their body weight!

 - Don't even get into the reproductive conversation. It's a little ... ewww. 

There you have it. Another example of  God's might fine creation at work. Fascinating, providing hours of endless entertainment, and something I don't dare touch without gloves. Or a lonnnnnng stick.

Thanks to Worm Watch for the abundant source of information!!

Why do you garden?

Why Do You Garden?

Really, why does one feel the need to dig in the dirt, spend endless hours weeding, watch things wither without a clue as to why...

Honestly, I garden from a bag of mixed motives! I'd like to say it's all about nurturing and appreciation for nature, but - alas - my intentions are not quite that simple!

1) I garden because it brings me back to my roots. My Grandma Katherine has been known to win awards for her yard. She had glorious tomatoes, apple trees and lovely flowers (pre-condo days ). My Grandma Katie (who died when I was in grade 5, and I still miss her!) grew flowers like you wouldn't believe (us kids used to pretend that her gardens were Buchart Gardens from Vancouver Island!) and canned like she was still feeding a family of five. My mother has diligently hauled gallons and gallons of water - by wagon - to the end of their acreage, just to make sure the blooms in their rock garden were getting what they needed. When J and I married, I received a family of gardeners as well. His parents both love the great outdoors, and spend endless hours shaping, tending and adding color to our world.

2) I garden because I love to plan. Plain and simple. I love to order seeds. Get everything organized, lined up, plans drawn (and folks, my vegetable garden is only 8'x16'!!), books read, and so on. I love to bring out my little garden map (of course I NEVER measure anything out, though, so details are not a strong point!) and plant everything in its proper place. Not necessarily properly spaced, by somehow, we get by .

3) I garden because I enjoy saying "this year, in my garden...".  

4) I garden because I enjoy looking out my bedroom window and seeing my leafy green vegetable garden. I find it inspiring.

5) I garden because I feel proud when I get to scrape dirt from under my nails, my tan-lines are a little more earned, I get down on my hands and knees and dig dig dig. There is a huge sense of satisfaction in well-tilled soil.

5) I garden because it reminds me that growth is a process, that it is affected by seasons, that God is a Master Creator, and thateven the smallest efforts can come alive.

I am not a great designer, so flower beds are constantly under renovation! I am not a diligent waterer or weeder (though I start off well and J has kindly installed soaker hoses in the majority of our beds, so I am getting better!). I get overwhelmed and neglectful, but somehow, it's still worth it. Every year I wade through the same process. And every year I wonder why on earth I do this. And every fall, as I pile things into the compost bins or burn the dry stuff, or carry in the last load of treats, I am grateful for the opportunity.

Cabin Fever!

Wow. I'd give just about anything to sit in the sunshine and play in the sandbox right about now! This prolonged -40 bit is gettin' old FAST!

This summer marks a bit of a milestone too. Sweet K will turn 2, and there will be so much more freedom in the great outdoors! For the past 3 summers, we've had babes to tend to - which doesn't much lend itself to getting outside quickly or easily.

It often required far more motivation and planning than I had energy for .

But THIS SUMMER, I keep saying, THIS SUMMER WILL BE DIFFERENT!
I guess it's also right about now that we make all those nasty new years resolutions - we'll see how it goes, say, come July!
But for now, it's summer time dreamin' ....

ode to summer time

these days, with the wind chill clockin' in at balmy -30-something (hey, and that's warm compared to the -48!!! they are forecasting tomorrow!!), it is imperative that we remember - summer is a'comin'!! i feel funny writing about this, considering i just posted about how much i love snow and winter and sparkles and yada yada. but every gal has their limits. when words freeze before they leave your mouth - you know it's just too plain cold out there! 

so. today at lunchtime, little M & I had a conversation that revolved around all the dreams we have cooked up for those warm summer days. sweet K finds herself along for the ride!! here are a few mirages on the horizon that keep us going....

 - the beach. nothing like cleaning warm, gritty sand out of a diaper.  but there's nothing like that sun-kissed feeling either. vitamin a (or c or d or whatever it is that we're supposed to absorb from the sun!) therapy. slathered in coconut-smelling sunscreen. 
 - going for walks. right now, our little pooch is outside for a grand sum of 5 min. every day. he's very efficient when it comes to having to get out and go to the washroom when it's so cold that snot freezes. he even walks on two legs!! (the front ones!) i am soooo looking forward to wagon rides and stroller walks, but even MORE SO, strappin' on the ipod and taking Diggy for a walk!
 - camping. last year we invested in a mondo-tent. it's huge. thank you canadian tire! our girls love it! and, sweet K will be walking by that time (hopefully!!) and it will be fun to be outside (and easier to set her down on her feet instead of her bum!). 
 - heading to the park. okay. i'm not sure WHERE they get it from, but it's a well-known fact that KIDS have ENERGY! nothing like an hour on the jungle jim to make the bedtimes a little easier. and hey, where other moms gather, and snacks and juices flow aplenty, there is ADULT CONVERSATION! 
 - gardening. veggies - i can't wait to plant a little container garden for each of the girls. cherry tomatoes (of course), peas and maybe some carrots, just for fun . we'll have plenty of garden produce, and i want to plant some of these mini pumpkins for the girls and i to craft with in the fall. AND raspberries and strawberries, and FLOWERS OF COURSE!
 
there is so much to look forward to, and the dreaming also sweetens this day. a cozy home day, with hot tea, quiet time and a great novel. who could ask for anything more!?