Frecklewonder

stuck inside

lots of time playing indoors this week due to some seriously wet weather. i mean it is just yucky out there, i have really barely been outside. here's hoping the weekend shapes up.

dotty is really into drawing (shawww? shawwww? which is how she says that she wants to draw), magna doodles, puzzles and MUSIC. music, music, music (meeeeh? meeeeh?). and henry has been spending a lot of time doing origami, dot-to-dot puzzles and of course, legos. 

and me? i've been baking and doing my best to keep things tidy. because lots of time in the play room means lots of toys spread out across the house. picking up after an 18 month old is a job in itself!

so much beauty

right in my own back yard.

i wish this part lasted longer. the fall foliage peek week is winding down and the winds are rushing it just a bit for me. i want these colors (and these warm temps!) to hang around and i just know that by this time next week, we'll be in full raking mode.

i think a drive along the parkway is in order. and maybe even a picnic in the woods too.

the best one yet

we jumped in the leaves, baked cookies and danced in the kitchen until it was time to get dressed for the main event. the weather was unseasonably warm (mid 70s) and the rain held off. there is so much candy in the house, my teeth hurt just thinking about it.

oh, and it's worth mentioning, take five bars are rivaling my love for reeces peanut butter cups.

hope ya'll had a great weekend, and a super fun halloween!

the ghost of halloween past

 

wishing you all a safe + happy halloween tomorrow! true to form, i am running around putting together some very last minute costumes- certainly not getting the creative mother award this year. 

i managed to scare up (no pun intended, heh heh ) some photos from past halloweens. i am missing one from henry's first halloween where he was a cowboy. yes, he's been a cowboy twice. i tried to convince him for a 3rd go round (i mean, how easy- little straw hats are everywhere and ya toss on a plaid shirt + jeans, draw on a mustache, add a bandana, bam) but he wants no part of it. no siree. he is all about the scary. he is 8, after all. so, i think we have a dracula boy in the making. we *do* have a cape, so we are off to a fine start. as for dotty, you'll have to wait and see what i come up with. 

i was wondering- what's your favorite halloween candy? i happen to be a reeces peanut butter cup girl, all the way.

happy friday!

a few good old songs that never get old. enjoy!

wrapping it up

 

 

 

 

 

summer, that is. it's been a really great one for us. the perfect mix of full + busy and nice + slow- with visits from out of town family and tons of day trips, sleeping in, campfires, amazing food from the garden, bbqs, fireworks, sunburns, lightening bugs, hikes, afternoons floating in the pool, and so much more. it's been everything i had hoped it would be.

tomorrow, henry starts the 3rd grade. i thought i would be dragging my heels and really kicking and screaming on the eve of such a big day. on the one hand, i cannot believe my little baby is going to be in the third grade. i've found myself folding laundry lately and for just a second, i can't tell the difference between one of his tshirts and his daddy's. but last night, as we stood in his new classroom meeting his new teacher, i just looked at him, all proud and beaming, with his brand new backpack as he shared a story or two from his summer. he wasn't shy or nervous. he was really happy and full of excitement for a new school year.

so i will follow his lead, and look forward to this change. and really, there is something about the change of season- like there's this built-in sense of inspiration and excitement. like anything is possible. and i like that.

around the house

 

it's been a busy week here! lots of running around getting stuff done, knocking things off the list. you know the one- meetings, appointments, etc, that somehow get pushed back and ignored for far too long. definitely feels good to take care of some of those things, and i always wonder why it took so long when it really ends up not being all that bad after all.  i wish i could say that things will be quiet for the weekend, but i know that i'm going to be working like a madwoman to wrap up the summer shop. which, btw, is coming along rather nicely. i have been knocking out computer work every night after the kids go to bed. all product images were uploaded to the site last night, and today i am working on typing up descriptions. so they're in there, folks! it's happening! tonight though, it's harry potter. oh, i have been waiting.

other than that, i have been spending much of my time just following dotty around the house, in and out of rooms, in circles around the kitchen and living room. she's so fast- and wants to be everywhere, seeing everything, picking up anything along the way. and once she's lost interest in one thing, she just drops it where she's standing at that very moment and moves along. so i am constantly picking up this and that and kind of fighting a losing battle of keeping things in their place. she's full of questions right now too. it's just about the cutest thing, i will try to get a little recording. almost everything she says ends in a high pitched question mark kind of way. "day, yaaaa? doooy yaaaa? naaaaa? aaaaahhh? ayeee yaaaa?" and so on.

once again, henry has been bitten by the lego bug. he has these phases, where he is just absolutely sumberged in lego land for weeks on end. building things all day long. and then, out of no where, he'll just pack 'em up and lose interest for a while. he's been spending some pretty quiet mornings back in his room, just humming and building. lost in his own little world. that must be pretty nice- to not really have any care or concern about anything else but that thing that is right in front of you- and to be so in the moment. just peaced out. oh to be a kid.

wishing you a happy friday! i hope to be back at least once more today, if all goes well.

xo!

a summer garden

because i will want to look back on this in the dead of winter:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

our gardens have exploded. after such a great spring season of rain, rain, rain that really lasted through early summer, it's basically a jungle out there. and it hasn't been too insanely hot, which is just strange for this area- but do you think i am complaining? um, no.

we have several vegetable gardens in different spots in the yard this year- at the front door we have tomatoes, peppers, basil and herbs, all of which are so happy as it gets every bit of the sun that the day has to offer. the tomato plants out there are almost seven feet tall. insane! i've been loving to just step out the front door when i'm busy in the kitchen cooking something and grab a handful of fresh basil, or a little pinch'a fresh oregano. (remind me to share with you some of the delish and EASY pasta salads i've been whipping up)

there's another veggie patch on the side of the house with yes, more tomatoes (because really, that's what it's all about for me), several varieties of peppers, fennel, beans, and potatoes (which we already harvested). and as a funny little bonus, there are several plants growing in our compost- a couple butternut squash plants, more tomatoes and some corn as far as we can tell.

also, we are doing the upside down tomatoes again this year. over the weekend, i plucked my first handful of red cherry tomatoes from that group.

i'm just so ready for those first heirloom tomatoes to ripen. and the big boys and the early girls and the beefsteaks. oh, gosh.

what about you? you growing anything this summer?

weekend recap (a day late)

 

 

 

it was a pretty mellow weekend around the house for us, with poor matty recovering from oral surgery, a mild fever for dotty, and a scary tumble down the basement stairs for mister henry. suffice it to say, i put on my nurse hat a lot over the weekend.

i had good intentions of getting back here yesterday, but then i ended up with a massive headache that just wouldn't go away.

at any rate, it's a busy day today, with lots of to-do on the list- but i have a few more posts in the works and will get them wrapped up as soon as i can. i hope you guys had a great weekend doing the things you love most!

xo

darn squirrels are ruining all my fun.

alright, alright. if you've been around here for like, a half a second, you've probably picked up on my love of birds and all things birdy. we live right next to the blue ridge mountains, and while we are in a residential neighborhood, and not necessarily in the sticks, we have a surprising amount of wildlife. we've got a giant yard, filled with mature trees which is home to all sorts of birds + squirrels. and we've seen all sorts of critters in our yard from bunnies, to (shudder) skunks. but the big treat for me is the variety of birds that visit each day.

i've been steadily feeding these guys for 3 years now, from feeders right outside my kitchen and bedroom windows. and each spring, i've noticed new birds, different chirps, and more traffic in general. this spring, i was so happy to finally see two birds that i've been waiting on: the american goldfinch and the indigo bunting. if you've not seen these birds before, let me tell you what a treat it is. i really did a triple-take when i saw the first indigo bunting- the shade of blue is like nothing else- they are really gorgeous. and the little goldfinches, they are so tiny, and have the sweetest little chirp. it's so neat to look out onto the tube feeder of thistle and see them stacked 5 tiers high.

here are a handful of the birds that i see in my yard, some of them much more regular than others (the cardinals, robins, finches, chickadees and goldfinches flock to the feeders all day long, while the falcon only comes along every so often- which is fine by me, i don't need him hanging out in my little sanctuary eating up all my feathered friends)

 

1. the american goldfinch

2. the northern cardinal (male)

3. the cedar waxwing

4. the gray catbird

5. the blue jay (not a favorite, what an annoying, bossy bird)

6. the purple finch

7. the chickadee

8. the falcon

9. the robin

10. the northern cardinal (female)

11. the indigo bunting

12. the ruby throated hummingbird

13. another hummer, not sure if this one is different/has a different name?

14. the crow (another not-so-welcome one in my yard, they are so huge and slightly fascinating, but so darn loud!!)

15. the tufted titmouse

16. the sparrow

17. the carolina wren

18. the woodpecker

for mother's day this year, the boys gave my backyard birdland a boost. the put up more houses, made a bird bath, added more feeders and planted two more flower gardens to attract butterflies, hummingbirds and such. it was so perfect.

but now i've really got my panties all in a twist. seems that those pesky squirrels (which, at one time, i actually found to be cute)  think that this stuff is actually for them. they absolutely RAID my feeders, and i've gone from peacefully watching birds from my kitchen window, to shooing away squirrels with a big loud SHHHHHH! like, every hour on the hour and running them off with a broom. i mean, i look like a crazy person. it has gotten so bad that sometimes i actually pull the feeders inside when i leave the house for the day, because if i don't, they will all be empty upon my return. now seriously, this can get expensive! squirrels will absolutely gorge themselves until they can take no more, their round little bellies practically touching the ground.

so what to do?! i've come across this funny little product, and i'm more than halfway considering it. wouldn't it just be so entertaining to sit back and watch those little rats i mean, squirrels just twirl off totally confused?! surely that in intself is worth the crazy price!