let them eat pie, too!

Grandma is visiting us from Oregon. Naturally, we took her to the blueberry farm to pick berries. We made out with 3 lbs in 20 minutes of picking! Plenty for a little pie...and then some! India made a friend, and fed him more blueberries than any one-year-old should eat, while Scarlett picked. Scarlett by far ate the most berries. Funny enough, she was stealing handfuls from my bucket while insisting that hers were "special pie berries, not for eating" ooookay. Pie today, scones tomorrow...grandma is going to gain 10 pounds this week, easy!

let them eat cake

Scarlett really wanted to bake a cake, and who can blame her? Doesn't everyone want to bake a cake...everyday? me too! So we have been driving around California, adventuring the roadmap fantastic, and have not baked cake. boo! But today after the farmers market we came home to bake cake. Simple yellow cake, with millet even, and fresh market berries. We call it confetti cake because there are tiny raspberry and blackberry polka dots all over. For a quick topping we combined creme fraiche and aunt Kathy's (who is actually my cousin, but we decided to call her auntie instead) ohmygosh fantastic (how much sugar??) delicious strawberry jam..garnished with berries. Watch out strawberry shortcake! Did you notice that the photo is blurry? That is because after snapping fifteen shots of Scarlett's hand grabbing the cake, i settled for this photo in which India is pulling on me making it impossible to focus. ha!

matilda

benbow

we rocked out at benbow. it was really fun...saturday we listened to music and enjoyed the sun...and DID NOT get anywhere near the kids zone...thank goodness me oh my...but Sunday Scarlett jumped in the bounce house, got her face painted, floated down a waterfall with clowns, hula hooped, became a real forrest fairy, and ran naked in the river....while I listened to great music, drank lots of water, ate yummy indian food, conversed with other mamas and danced with India. We camped and were spoiled with real bathrooms and a water spout.

humboldt hack

yes its back...been a full year since i had the cough that wouldnt stop...no its not whooping cough, thank you very much...but i have these lovely herbs helping me thru it...and its almost gone...lucky me

whats going on

today

i put my bed frame together, finally. Ive had it for months, but with India being so small, I didnt want her to fall out, so I rigged a small platform and put our bed on top. Now she is so great at getting off and on, I decided to take it higher...so much nicer for me. Scarlett likes it...India is going to have to learn to get up and down. Only the strong survive muahahaha!

yesterday

Our sweet baby friend had her first birthday (and India is right around the corner), we celebrated with friends, the babies had fun eating dinner together, that was super cute, and the older children ran around like banshees.

day before

I watched the pilot of "glee" its hilarious...cant wait to see an episode to see if it will be watch-worthy.

last week

had a great time visiting family and friends in the bay area, Sacramento and hangtown. it was hot, and i was loving it! Scarlett played so much with her friends that shes had since she was super wee, while i visited with old friends as well...that was the best! I got to meet my first cousin Mark, for the first time, that was amazing and very enjoyable...love connecting with family!

Cant wait till Jessie gets back, I want to make some mean mama lovin carnitas for everyone to celebrate the babies turning ONE and the arrival of more sunny days under the Humboldt fog.
looking for

an art cabinet...forget the baskets and bins...im going 8th grade art room! something that locks...something where all the paper, pencils, clay, pens, wax, fabric dye, silk screens, fabric, linoleum, thread, stamps, crayons, pipe cleaners, stencils, paints, brushes, wool, felt and everything else we craft with can go in and live....forever...waiting for its fame, when its gathered for our daily crafting sessions.

today, scarlet insisted (sweetly even) on getting into the Christmas bin. This should probably drive me nuts...(but I "om") because she want to check her stocking....to see if there might be a prize inside. She is 3 1/2 (almost!!) and so she asked me like a kazillion times, so sweetly and quietly "mama, can i please look into the christmas box, my stocking is in there, it has prizes in it" riiiiight...prizes....hm the bin is clear.(if it were opaque this wouldnt be happening) ..so she sees all the sparkle gold fluffy wonderment that is Christmas. same thing happens with the art supplies...opened, spilled, agh blue paint everywhere...really my job as a mom is fun and exciting and full of art and reading and singing dancing making food, etc...but do i really need to be cleaning up paint spills and glitter hurricanes because all the art supplies are within reach? in clean $#?!* bins!! ummm im thinking the locking art cabinet...like miss murry had in 8th grade art class is the best! There will still be playdoh, crayons, paper and pens available at the easel...chalk at the chalkboard, etc...but im thinking a little more structure, less free for all with the art supplies. EXHALE...okay that was about enough of that.

much love xoxoxo

road again

im on it.

little roadtrip to visit family...see a few friends...and "family"

be back soon...maybe i will bring the sun with me!

portland childrens museum.....aw yeah

the portland childrens is amazing. here are a few images. here is a list of what you will find there: a huge water play room, complete with smocks; a digger area with shovels, pulleys and dumptrucks; a treehouse with bird perches and log tunnels; quiet reading room; kindergarden activity room; clay pottery studio; co-op canvas painting studio; night walkway with colored lights, babies only room with tidepool touch pool; a big stage with soundboard, lightbox, instuments and bins of dress-up attire;cafe with good eats; a builers room treehouse with magnet room and hammer like crazy room; indoor playground run all over and swing from it thing; and some other stuff.

food blogs

i found the best food blog. This woman is a knitter and a major foodie and makes beautiful vegan food. There are great descriptions, easy recipes that sound soooo good. There are videos!!! That is the best part...I just watched half a dozen and its so inspirational...not to mention makes me feel like getting new cookware hahaha well check it out

veganyumyum.com

truckin part two

ohhh k. when we went up to Oregon...we stopped at IKEA. This is something i was looking forward to for a really long time...long story short...we needed some furniture. It was amazing...not only did we get 10% off our entire order due to some in-store special...but we scored in the "as-is" section of the store and took advantage of some store special deals. I guess if you use your debt card, you get huge coupons!! I have only been to IKEA once...mostly because i watched fight club a lot back then...oh by the way...i have a bar of fight club soap...it is sooo rad! okay anyway, yeah its huge and there aren't any sales people...and seriously you can get lost...there IS a supervised kids area, but S is too small...and really she wanted to "play" in the livingrooms and kitchens, etc...it was so much fun. Now that I consider myself an IKEA expert...I have some wisdom to share for those of you heading there anytime soon.

1. call ahead and make sure they have what you want!! This is huge as they had a ton of stuff in the store that wasn't in catalog or online...and vice-versa.

2. do a stock check...and ask them to "hold" it for you...yeah this really works...but only on weekdays.

3. go ahead and break the rules...carts in the elevator, food in the showroom, merch in the cafe, pulled item in the aisles (pull all your stuff, then swing by and get it on the flatbed) break the rules because there aren't very many people working, so no one will stop you.

4. ask for HELP...they try not to get involved, but really, ask and ye shall receive. They have it set up to be self serve...but there was no way I could push a furniture flatbed, a cart, carry the yellow bag, a baby and a 3 yr old all while trying to navigate the huge store. That would have been a sight!

thank you Becca for helping us that day...seriously couldn't have done it without you...but wouldn't have had nearly as much fun without you!

another candy festival

yippee...Easter! This year Scarlett really enjoyed hunting for eggs and finding little candy treasures...painting and dyeing eggs, and wearing bunny ears. We also had a nice dinner and felt very thankful for all the miracles! Oh the sweets. Well, luckily, it wasnt a repeat of Halloween...she is getting better at having a little piece and moving on till later...instead of trying to shove it all down her throat before it gets taken away, like some sort of rabid animal...holy moly! It was a mellow day...what with my broken toe and all, i didnt feel like doing a whole lot. haha broken toe...it sounds so silly, but it is such a bother! A complete inconvenience...simple things like carrying the baby, or sweeping a floor have become skilled acts of balance and i have a new fear of breaking a toe on my other foot. anyway...

truckin' (part 1)

In the beginning, the idea of a roadtrip up to Oregon to visit my mom for a few days seemed simple. That was in January. In February, I decided to add Portland Zoo and Children's Museum. In march I added Ikea and visit with good friends. At the last minute the Aquarium and so much more. To put it lightly, we had a GREAT time. Scarlett (a seasoned tripper) was well packed with snacks, books, toys, potty and the DVD player...so she was fine for the 8-10 hour long hauls. India was a greenhorn. Overall she did great...after the first 3-4 hours it became apparent to her that she was going to be strapped in for long periods of time...this always makes them cry a little. That little tired whimper kind of cry, awww so sad. Before we even left she had already started protesting her seat, even for a quick trip to the store...ya know the whole stiff like a board thing? So with that behavior on board, i was prepared for the worst...im glad i brought the harmonica. Between it and Scarlett saying "mama" every 2 minutes i was in tears...from laughter luckily. Just imagining anyone else sitting with me in the passenger seat dealing with the "mama's" and the "im hungry" (even though you just ate a whole sandwich) every couple of minutes seemed enough to drive any sane person completely mad...but me, i was just laughing and enjoying myself. Did i mention that i forgot music hahahahaha that was a real knee slapper! We stopped to picnic by the beach, in local parks and found great places to eat and use the bathroom...thanks mostly to my phone. Oh yes, verizon texted me a message saying that i could try out the GPS on my phone for a month...free...a few days before we left...it was awesome. I located all the drive thru Dutch Bros. so i could down mate whenever i liked...and looking for a great taco shop or natural foods grocery was a snap! So...for truckin part one we have pics from the oregon zoo!

It was super! we rode the train...saw the bats...licked the giraffe, waved at elephants, played with penguins, followed a leopard and stared at a crocodile. great zoo!