Birthday Boy

On the actual birthday we had peach-raspberry pie with crispy topping, sweetened with honey and sucanat.

The cake at the party was Maple-Vanilla with raspberries and vanilla frosting. For a less-sweet option we had the same cake with cashew cream and stewed berries. Sounds healthy, but both options were really delicious.

This is how the Birthday Mama looked:

Lots of water play on a hot day...And even a special guest appearance by one of our favorite tiny girls, in her birthday suit with blue Crocs on her feet! Below, taking a break from the whiffle ball game:

It's nice to have a teacher for a husband so that on birthdays, I do the catering and he does the games and fun. Summer birthdays are so easy...and the thunder storm held off until after the party!

Summer Time

We are deep into it now. Eating delicious salad from our garden, with bright nasturtiums and baby arugala that will make you jump right out of your socks.

So much eating and partying, with friends from near and far.

Swimming.

Little floaty airplanes.

Painting with new birthday paints.

Getting rid of a nasty old couch at long last (Jake had to take a hack saw to it to be able to get it out of the house. We have no idea how it originally got in, as it conveyed with our dwelling when we bought it!)

Celebration

Gosh, I just love looking at that guy!

Sylvan
It is the week of Sylvan's 6th birthday! Yes, my water-birthed pentuple-Cancerian boy is turning 6, with a wiggly tooth and new bike. This is the boy who loves trucks and tractors, ballgames and boy-games and who is also completely charmed by sweet little people (much swooning if those little ones happen to be nursing). We have a collection of our favorite tiny girls: Alice, Leah, Tula, and Zola. So this truly is a man of the future: manly and nurturing at the same time! There are lots of plans right now, lots of list-making, food-planning, and delegation for a low-key (?!) celebration with a few friends.

More Reasons to Celebrate:

My new camera, which I am happily exploring and liking very much so far. Sometimes it's hard for a mom to indulge herself and feel OK about a big expenditure.


Still learning how to be the parent I want to be, while making mistakes along the way. Still learning how not to keep holding onto my disappointment in myself when I mess up (hmmm, there are others in this household who are still learning this one too). Still thankful that I have someone(s) to test me...just when I think I have things worked out, there are new challenges presented about twenty million times a day. Still grateful to have a patient and loving husband who can love me even when I can't love myself.
(and in case you didn't catch that caption...)

The evening sky, tonight.
Getting into my bed at night is one of my most favorite parts of the day. Even better tonight because I will go to bed having joyfully and completely exercised with Kimberly and the ladies this morning.

Inspired: Nikki McClure

I just received this gorgeous gift from my mom: Nikki McClure's book Collect Raindrops. It's my new favorite bedtime book; I love to peruse it just before sleep. Each family member has a favorite page, or two or three. You can read all about this talented artist from Olympia (Washington) in the bio on her website, but suffice it to say that although these lovelies look like woodblock prints they are paper cuts. Yes, that's right, I mean she takes a piece of black paper and uses her X-Acto knife to create amazing and sensitive portraits of life, families (and not just Mamas), and community. The color is added afterwards, and often the lettering is hand-carved.

Nikki generously gave her permission for me to reproduce the cover and an interior image. Let me tell you, it was tough to pick just one (I was really tempted by "Respond" which features a woman hanging the laundry, with crows. You probably already know my obsession with laundry lines.) But I adore these robins because I know them so well from my front yard when it is waking up:

Nikki has so many amazing products to check out, but high on my wish list are:

• The Things to Make and Do journal, featuring these sections: Plans, Wishes, Dreams, Build, Explore, Learn, Make, Grow, Give and Find. I mean, perfect for the "J" type who likes to be organized and somewhat sanguine about her creations and visions. Love it.
  
• Twine, the tee-shirt made from bamboo. Picture a ball of twine with a little bit unraveled.
• All of the notecards, but especially Surrender because I love how you can tell that the little foot belonging to the nursing baby is a newborn foot.

And you can bet I'll be buying a 2009 wall calendar for myself and friends. Thanks, Nikki, for the gift that your work is for our world.

Windows and Doors on Your ATCs!

"Home Body." That's me! (The amazing green background on this card is by the paper-cut artist Nikki McClure...you'll be reading more about her here soon.)

This Saturday the 12th, I will be at the Rockport Public Library facilitating the ATC group at 2:30. We will be making little doors and windows on our cards...Get thinking about how you could use doors or windows on your own cards! What do you want to surprise your viewer with? What is hidden behind Door #1? It requires a bit of forethought but is worth it.
"Kindness: Show It," above.

Here is what we have done today:

• Taken Sylvan out to use his NEW bike, an early birthday present for this six year-old.
• Eaten ice cream.
• Swam in a lovely clear pond and the water temperature was just perfect.
• Sat in the chairs in the breezy shade of our two big maple trees, watching 3 children draw pictures on the picnic table.

I'm a little bit pink from the sun. Such a nice tired type of feeling.

"I'm Having the Creeps Because We Found That Bat Nest."

...about so many things, but definitely about taking off your shoes before going into someone's house.
The paper at left was from this fabulous notecard set, and somehow one ended up in my laundry, got washed and wrinkled and soft. No good for notes anymore, but in a new incarnation in this card. A new favorite and a little bit like a self-portrait.

Below, two new stamps! I just love carving my own, it takes me back to my art school days...
This chicken clucky has been in my head for awhile now, but I made it for Sylvan because I made Jonas his own ATC name stamps for the back of his cards:Old stamp, but I still like playing with it and coloring in all those little spots with my PrismaColors:
Independence Day Festivities...
Parade of Boats and Little Sailors; Jonas is at the end of the line, above. Below, picturesque Maine harbor, with parade coming by!
That's our nautical boy at the tiller, our not-a-team-sport kind of guy, but finding his own ways to be sporty:And of course, we ate too. Below, Garlic Scape Pesto smeared on bread by Jake. It's powerful stuff, amazing in its greenness, and so delicious. Jonas prefers it to regular pesto now. We later added grape tomatoes and mozzarella to what's below:
Chilled lemon cream pie with festive decoration and ginger snap crust:
Yum.

PS The title of the post was from Sylvan at bedtime. He and Jonas found a family of bats living above our woodshed today.

Season of Parties

Forced hugging, brother-style. Note Jonas's first "real" tie, worn by my brother at MY wedding!

We were in the land of armpit weather (hot, humid, disgusting), down in Massachusetts last week, for Jake's brother's wedding. It was truly a time to be out of all of our normal routines...staying up too late, running around to different stores with various family members in search of belts, shoes, a tie, etc. But it was great fun to see family and friends, eat lots of food, dance, and cut loose a bit. And boy was it nice to drive over the bridge back into Maine and feel the temperature drop 20 degrees!
You know how sometimes you get a picture of your child that somehow captures a look from their future? This picture helps me glimpse my Jonas in his 20s. What a stunner.
The groomsman and his wife!

Triplet flower girls stole the show. Their mom and dad are amazing with these girls, especially keeping them entertained for all those pictures of the wedding party that take forever.

"Leon a l'accordeon," above, part of our gnome-ware set, offering fresh strawberries and yogurt. The link will take you to P.O.S.H. Chicago, a wonderful place to browse for interesting china, hotel silver, and all manner of interesting finds. And did you know that Carrie of Pink Crow Studios takes the beautiful photos for their website?

Now back home, back at my studio table, I am carving some new rubber stamps and waiting for the arrival of my new camera...Stay tuned.