Rhubarb Sky

What Abby said in Seattle:

I have 3 kinds of favorite weather.
Number one: Sunny days.
Number two: Snowy days.
Number three:  Rainy days. But, I don’t really like the rain because it makes my hair all wet. I just like rainy days because they make flowers and grass and trees and everything grow, and I like flowers.

Note: Tom and I both snickered when she said, “Number Two” and teared up when she said the bit about liking rain because it waters plants.

Norm is my friend, Becca’s husband. . . and when Becca brought these to a gathering recently, I couldn’t stop eating them.
You’re welcome. . . or, I’m sorry, whatever works best for you. ;)

Ginger/Molasses Cookies by Norm’s friend Dave

1 c sugar
1/2 c oil (not motor oil) I use organic canola
1 egg (naturally laid)
1/4 c molasses
2 c flour (I use all whole wheat)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp soda

Mix all together. Form into balls (he scribbled something out here).
Cook on un-greased cookie sheet for 10-12 min at 350 degrees.

What we ate for dinner earlier this week.

Crash Hot Potatoes
Lime, Coconut Cilantro Chicken
Organic Greens
and a jam jar of vino!

“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want –
oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want,
but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”

~Mark Twain  via Simple Mom

We got a teaser taste of spring over the weekend. It’s gray and rainy and cloudy again, but we did get a vitamin D boost last week. I’ll tell you what, though. . . I’ve got Spring Fever and I totally know what I want: MORE SUN!

Some highlights:

Red Flowering Currant doing it’s thang!

Playing catch in the backyard. She’s got an arm on her!

Best spot in the whole yard. It was only 50* out, but it felt like 70*.
I actually got a little sunburn!

Crocus doing it’s spring thing.

Even when we were inside, we were still in the sun.

I took this show on the road and sat at a favorite cafe with a gorgeous water view and devoured my Taproot magazine along with the world’s cheesiest grilled cheese sandwich and some rooibos tea!

I’m ready for the real deal. It has felt like SUCH a long winter this year. This is the first year in the last 4 that we haven’t had some sort of sunshine vacation during January or February. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be this year. I’ll just have to fool myself by looking at these photos again and again and again.

I’ve actually been doing some things that I pin. . . 

Having so much fun with these turban ties!

Source: foothillhomecompanion.blogspot.com via Carrie on Pinterest

Made a few of these bracelets for friends.

Source: etsy.com via Carrie on Pinterest

Did Abby’s Hair like this for Crazy Hair Day

Source: myimaginaryblog.wordpress.com via Carrie on Pinterest

The child has been bugging me to buy a box of cheez its.  . . but there’s something off about the color of those things and I keep refusing.

Today, we made “cheez its” from scratch. Abby said, “It would take my ENTIRE Spring Break to make a box of these things.”

Recipe here. (I substituted extra butter for the shortening).

It snowed here today. . . a tiny bit. And, for folks up further north or further east of here, this may not seem like a big deal. But for folks who live at sea level in Washington State, well, yeah, this is a big deal. It’s the first day of spring and our snow should be long gone. Rain? Now you’re talking like a true northwesterner, but snow on the equinox?! Phsaw.

Screw it, I say. I’m throwing my hair in a turban and pouring over my new best thing:

This may be my new favorite way to wear my hair. I almost always wear it up anyway, but to add a little flair with a scarf? How VERY Spring-like of me!
 And, the Taproot? Whoo, baby, I’ve been jumping all over the mailman every day in anticipation of getting my copy. I *may* have sent an annoying email to Jason, the publisher just to make sure my copy hadn’t been lost. . . and he *may* have sent me the nicest email back assuring me that it had, indeed, been mailed. Hooray! I cannot wait to dig into it.
Happy Spring, y’all. I hope you brought an oar.

Dear Abby,

A little over a month ago, you turned seven. And do you know what that means? That means that in a few short months, I’ll be turning THIRTY-seven.  And, though I’m usually okay with this marching toward death thing, 37 seems like a REALLY big deal. And 7 seems WAY too close to double-digits for my liking.

You make the worlds best guacamole. Really. . . BEST.

We gave you a house key for your birthday. Some friends did this when their kiddo turned 7 and it seems like the right age. Not so much that we plan on ever having you arrive home without us here, but more that you are old enough and responsible enough to be in charge of something important, like the key to your home. To take some ownership of it. You ate that responsibility RIGHT up and I can tell that you are hungry for more. You are craving more and more independence while at the same time wanting to be cuddled and  held. I’m doing my best to meet these seemingly conflicting needs. I’ll be honest. It’s really hard.

There are times that you are still such a little girl, playing dress-up and make-believe. But I catch glimpses of who you are becoming sometimes. You are stunning and it takes my breath away.

In January, you lost your first tooth. It had been hanging on by almost nothing for at least a week and loose for *months*. You were complaining that it wouldn’t go back into it’s socket and that the tooth was pinching your gums. It was about 5 minutes before bedtime and I knew that if I didn’t get that thing out of your mouth, you’d be up for hours. So, I did what a mama does in desperate times: I distracted you and yanked it right on out. You.were.pissed. Oh wow, Babe, the look of complete and utter betrayal you were feeling shined through in a way that kicked me in the gut. It was only one glare, but it was a doozy and I’m not looking forward to the next time you feel like I’ve let you down. This time, though, you stopped crying fairly quickly, started laughing and let me take your picture.
The tooth fairy arrived in the night, left you a note and a golden coin and also left your tooth (per your request) in the altered altoid tin you made for her. I love that you took your impatience at NOT losing your tooth as soon or as fast as your friends and turned it into creating art.

The other night at dinner, the topic of war came up. Your daddy and I try to give you the space to believe what you want, but we’re really biased of course and we want you to be a big fat pacifist like we are. You just can’t wrap your mind around the concept of war. . . WHY would grown-ups, who are supposed to be better at stuff than kids, choose to fight instead of using their words?! Your brow crinkled all up while you thought about this and then you said, “Well, if there was ever war *here*, I’d ask everyone to put up signs that say, ‘We believe in Peace!’ That’s what I’d do.”  And you totally would. I love that you are a solution driven person. That you love with your whole heart. That you genuinely care about the people around you. That you still laugh at my jokes. . . sometimes.

You got an actual loom for Christmas to do actual weaving.  But, it’s clear that you are working with so much more than yarn right now. I’m watching as you become more and more the weaver of your own tale and less and less an object in *my* story. It is terrifying and beautiful and heartbreaking and so many kinds of awesome all at the same time. Seeing what you choose to be part of your story is a joy. . . the friends you surround yourself with, the things you choose to do with your time, the way you wear your hair, what you eat, how you treat other people in this world. It’s amazing to watch you take the reins and start directing the world around you. I feel like I’m un-clenching my grasp on you a little at a time and my hands don’t quite know what to do now. So, I do my very best to just set them in my lap, open my heart to you and accept the story strands that you choose to spin through me.

Love, Mama

Love Letter 6
Love Letter 5.5
Love Letter 5
Love Letter 4.5
Love Letter 4
Love Letter 3.5
Love Letter 3
I didn’t start writing these until Abby’s 3rd birthday, so that’s it.

2BN2932Q8HWR

It’s been more than a month, but the kid turned 7. SEVEN! The day happened to be the same day our state’s governor signed into law the Marriage Equality Bill. . . and I just happened to be throwing a giant rainbow party.  It took me a while to figure out why the old man walking down the street was giving me the stink-eye while I was hanging up rainbow streamers while wearing a rainbow skirt. It.was.awesome.
I went nuts decorating.

Abby made the construction paper rainbows. I did the clouds with a paperclip, a hunk of batting and fishing line. Easy Peasy.

We had a rainbow of snacks.

We did a rainbow scavenger hunt in the back yard. I took the photos earlier in the day and printed up these sheets for the girls.
We made really easy/fast rainbow friendship bracelets. Tutorial here.

We played pin the cloud on the rainbow. Abby took a lot of time making this game herself. She was so excited to make stuff for and plan her own party.
Abby and her buddy had rainbow hair-dos. The girls spent a good chunk of time decorating the sidewalks with chalk. (I did too!).
You can’t have a rainbow party without a rainbow cake. I couldn’t stomach the amount of dye in the “ultimate rainbow cake“, so this sufficed.
 At the last minute, the sun came out and I decided to get OUTSIDE with the girls. I threw together a relay race for them to do. Hilarious for me to watch and good fun for the kids too. Here’s Abby trying to get all of the gear on. (Red glasses. Orange scarf. Yellow ear muffs. Green Sweater. Blue knee pads. Purple mittens. Rainbow belt.)
And me, looking ridiculous, explaining the rules.

As each girl left, a mere 2 hours after they arrived, they each took home a jar of rainbow playdough with a rainbow on top. Abby helped make these too.
We had a blast. I don’t think I’ve laughed as hard in a really long time.
Now. . . for the 8th birthday theme. . . .

Carrying on from yesterday’s catch up post.

Here. I made some stuff this year!
I went a little nuts with the freezer paper stenciling.
Here’s a tiny bird onsie. (that’s actually purple paint, but the color is hard to tell from this picture).
Here are 2 more age t-shirts.

And then I made some brooches.
And then some bookmarks for my dear friend, Debbie‘s birthday.

Oh, I picked up the knitting needles too. For another panta. Like this, but with a looser gauge.
Finally got the hula hoop canopy hung above Abby’s bed.
And, hung the house numbers I painted at our local “paint your own pottery” shop. (looks great with the door Tom painted last summer, huh?)

There were some bracelets made like these and some button rings and a few other sorts of felt brooches. And, I think I may have resigned myself to a massive ripping out or potentially full frogging of my sweater. 2.5 years is long enough. :(

Coming up: Bulky knits.