Finding Rainbows....

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Enjoying the colors of our backyard.  The broccoli has been pulled and the first strawberries have been tasted.  Its a time of transition here.

A time of peaceful reflection.

(Also a time with a lot of weeds.)

Gratitude Mondays...

What I love today.....

~28 weeks, 12 ish to go...

~Third trimester!  There is so many wonderful feelings that come with entering the third and final stage.  That helps to balance out the not so pleasant ones....

~Fresh from the garden carrots....

~Delphiniums, geranium, mysterious pink flowers, tarragon, white and yellow corn, watermelon, cantaloupe, more carrots and dill all were added to the gardens this weekend....

~Blessingway for a friend who will go into labor any day now....

~Finding out I have great credit, even though I haven't worked since 2004....

~Fruit Pizza!

~A partner who takes the babies on day long adventures (train park, ice cream, pizza, mall for a wedding gift, and grocery shopping!)  while I have some time spent just with women...

~A girl who made an announcement  "I think that every morning we should all have jobs that we need to do.  Mine will be; exercising with daddy, drinking smoothies, and maybe I should watch some tv.  What should yours be?"

~A little boy who is now making requests... One four hundred dollar crane, a space shuttle ride, and a hot air balloon ride so he can go up up up, and get hot.


The weather is heating up here in Phoenix.  That equals more effort on part to remember all the things that I love, and am grateful for....  Here's to remembering!

Nature Table...

 Going out for lunch....

The other day we went out for lunch.  Out to our backyard.  It was a challenge.  It was fun.  It was delicious.  I love having the opportunity to show my babies the life cycle of our food.  They loved the flavor of the carrots (our appetizer)  right out of the ground.  "Best carrots in the whole wide world!"

We took some purple potatoes from Trader Joe's, baked them, and sauteed up our toppings....

~Beet Greens....

~Spinach...

~Garlic Greens...

~Green Onions...

~Parsley...

~Purple Sage...

~Thyme...

~Chives...

and topped it with 

~Broccoli Flowers!

I added some store bought tomatoes, and avocados, and our meal was complete!  Sure the whole thing took close to two hours, and sure I lost my patience a few times.. (pregnancy ya know?)  In the end it was so much fun!  Ava said she wanted to have this for lunch every other day!  Success!

Thank you to The Magic Onions for bringing us together for Friday's Nature Table!

Easter Morning...

My last post about eggs...

We woke up early to find our baskets of treasures.  This years baskets were actual baskets. (I tend to rebel against Easter baskets, choosing instead to use dump trucks, camping chairs, whatever)  Wicker bike baskets filled with new (used) spring books, bike bells, paint, chalk, fabric and sewing supplies for her, a real soccer ball for him.  We watched Molly and her owlets while I picked up and Matt napped, then they worked out with Matt while I napped.  Good stuff!  We had a lovely breakfast with big fluffy waffles, fresh whipped cream, red ripe strawberries, and warm maple syrup.  Mmmmmm.

This years traditional egg hunt was in our back yard for the very first time.  Every year previously we've used our front yard for lack of hiding places, not this year!    

(Love the tongue sticking out)

This was just the first of many egg hunts, and many variations on the theme.  The last photo is actually of Cyrus looking for the hidden 'spools of ribbon'...  We will probably play this game out through the rest of spring, and why not?  I say why not dye eggs all year, hide them too if you feel like it.  Easter is still special.  The traditions are still made on that day.  

Here's to all of us enjoying our holidays, and making them last through the seasons!

Wooden Eggs...

Before Easter we made eggs that would last.  I am too pregnant to stomach 'egg blowing', so wooden eggs fit the bill perfectly.  (and they are much less fragile)  We sat outside in the early evening with our bowl of eggs.  I lightly sanded them, thanks to tips from Mama Roots.   After we painted them with water colors we lightly polished them with beeswax.  The warm sun and the smell of beeswax.  mmmmm.

I know I say this about almost every season... But I love spring!

Easter Eggs from the kitchen....

We love to dye eggs.  I don't wait for a certain time of year, I don't wait for much.  If I am going to boil eggs, I dye 'em.  Usually I just reach for the food coloring that I inherited from my mother in law when she retired.  (apparently she used it in her class rooms)  This year, for the first time, we made our own dyes!  So fun.  Why haven't I done this?  Maybe because the process took up a better part of the day?  Ya, that's probably it.

We made three dye baths.  One from beets for pink, one from turmeric for golden yellow, and one from London Rocket (weeds) for yellow green!

I started first with the weeds...  I should have boiled the dye for much longer than I did, but it turns out I couldn't stand the smell.  With all the windows open, the vents on, it was still over powering.  I was just much to pregnant for the odor.  I should have just used spinach, but I thought I was being resourceful (possibly just selfish).

The beets made a lovely aroma.  I love beets!  I used too much water for the amount of beets that I was willing to part with.  Next year I'll keep in mind that I want something more concentrated.  Either way, it was very pretty to work with.

Our third dye bath was turmeric.  Yummy to both my nose, and my eyes!  Its pretty much the rock star of natural dyes, or so I'm lead to believe after some quick googling.

I tried to keep us occupied today so we could keep the eggs in the dye for as long as possible.  Some lasted longer than others.

The end result of our home made dyes left us with subtle, pretty shades.  Next year I'll change a few things, maybe even follow some directions... maybe.

Or maybe I'll just keep doing things my own way... 

Here's to all of us finding the line between 'their' way, and our own!

Gratitude Monday

What I love today....

~27 weeks, 13ish to go!!!

~Second trimester coming to a close...

~Artichoke plant surprises!  We thought we had another year before this beast would bear fruit, now we have Five!

~Spring and Easter crafting with children... more on that later... (maybe a whole week of Easter posts?  Maybe...)

~Strawberries and Fresh Whipped Cream...

~Fruit Salad...

~The Fabric Remnants Bin

~My boy who doesn't want me to "take the black hair away" when he gets out of the shower.  (translation: dry his brown hair)

~My girl who leaves very thoughtful gifts and cards for an Easter Bunny with out being prompted...
Who was also very surprised by her Easter basket and proclaimed that next year she needs to make the Bunny a much better gift.

~A partner who is patiently waiting before we "turn on the air conditioner" so I can have just one more night with the windows open...

~Holidays.  I love them.  All of them!

Friday's Nature Table....

This week my babies and I had the pleasure of discovering another one of Arizona's treasures.  We went with my mother to Sabino Canyon.  Just outside of Tucson lies a hidden treasure that is so worth the trip in spring.  Childhood Magic mentioned earlier the rewards of discovering nature around you.  That is one of my favorite things to do, and its one of the reasons I can stand living in the desert.  Finding little oases.

Finding that places like these exist so close to home, or more accurately to my mother's home, is truly like finding magic. 

A beautiful day, and a beautiful place for a picnic.  And afternoon spent riding trams, watching birds, counting different colors of butterflies, picking wildflowers, and if you are one of my babies playing naked (and nearly naked) in a secluded section of river.

Thank you to the Magic Onions for bringing us together every Friday for Friday's Nature Table...