month..happy August.

I am learning new recipes..veggie burger with arugula, blue & Gruyere cheese, topped with carmelized onions. Yum!

Along with new drinks..tequila mixed with Squirt, lime, and orange.

Refreshing for summer.

Making home products…voila..deodorant.

And an ever new look at my little boy growing up and turning five in just three short months. 
Where has the time gone?? 

Olive loves the jumpy chair.

A new place to hang out while we cook food.

Paul made a waffle with his play dough for me to eat.

I really liked the game he made up where after making this button

he would ask me to push the button

and make all sorts of sound effects.

Henry is looking for new places to explore

and places to climb

with such focus and confidence.

is what happens when we spend the day in the sun

swimming

eating

jumping

until we pass out from

the best type of exhaustion

I can’t take credit for the idea

I stole it from talking to Janet at lunch today.

This is good practice though to see if we can all fit.

It was an instant hit

providing a confined and secret feeling place

to play games

or practice rolling

and this is them about an hour later…

crashed out.

This is seriously how much her eyes light up when she sees Joe.

She sometimes nurses his nose..it’s her way of kissing.

They crack eachother up.

They also make the same expressions without knowing it.

I love to watch this bond.

to pull out weeds and let my mind wander.

to feel dirt between my fingers.

to carefully move worms out of harms way.

to hold the harvest of a friend’s garden that overflows from my hands.

to know that we can help one another.

to trust that even though Sharon is sick right now and can’t enjoy the sweetness of this fruit, this season will pass.

to believe in something outside of myself.

to pray and to surrender.

to not question or over-analyze diseases like cancer.

to live in the present.

This is a long time friend visiting us from the Bay Area with her little boy.

We served in Americorps together where we discovered a lot about ourselves and eachother.

and we are both married to our best friends

with little boys all around the same age

and still in touch after all these years.

I love happy endings.

It will be exciting to watch our families grow.

in Orange County

is where we headed today

to be greeted by clowns

and visit the piglets

(I thought I had it rough- look at that mama!)

walk the gardens

ride rides

(which I never went on as a kid – too high!)

P.S. It was “We care Wednesdays” so we brought a dozen used children’s books for the book drive and then got in for free.

Sneakers with glitter for Olivine

Savory veggie burger from Tavern on 2

S‘mores

Served with a Selection of marshmallows:

caramel (favorite), cocunut, chocolate chip, & original.