What's the rush anyway?

Let's see if I'm coherent enough to share a few thoughts on recent days. I wish I could say that I was feeling rested. It is nice that a weekend long upgrade on two systems I use for my work may mean that Terah's afternoon nap time includes a short snooze for me too - so I'll type fast! I've been trying to do my office work in all her naps but have had to cut short my hours some days as I can't keep my eyes open and end up falling asleep while working on something (which has meant I jolt awake as my fingers get heavy and accidentally delete an email I still needed to do something with). So while I'm trying to slow down this "growing up too fast" thing happening around here, I will admit to being a tad impatient for the day (or night more like it) when I can sleep for 4 or 6 or, my I can't even imagine, 8 hours without disruption(s).  I think my whole family will like me a lot better when that is happening on a regular basis and I'll like me more then too!

We are often singing the song, "have patience, have patience, don't be in such a hurry..." to Terah. It actually works (usually) to stop her crankiness long enough for us to finish snapping her up. I would not say it has instilled in her more patience, but has provided the necessary entertainment at times to distract her from her impatience. This gal does not want to be kept from doing things she wants to do, going places she wants to go, eating things she wants to eat. She has some serious drive! Oh, and, she really really likes to drive!

Yesterday around 3:30 p.m. we finally got on our way to spend the afternoon (well it was almost evening by the time we arrived) and evening with friends we have gotten to know through our kids playing soccer together. We had never been to their home, which is right up against the National Forest and along the river. It was Kali's month to plan a family night and she wanted to go swimming. It didn't end up including a lot of swimming as a storm came in as we were headed their way and while it cleared off and was a lovely evening, the water was a tad chilly. After a stint playing in the water, we enjoyed eating around an outdoor fire and the kids warmed up with some soccer fun. But I'm ahead of myself. On the way there we stopped at Rocking R to get grass and clover seed to sow where we had some excavation done this week. We also wanted Kali to look at the wheelbarrows as we thought for her birthday it was about time she had her own wheelbarrow. She seemed to agree that that was a nice idea (she's so amazing - really not being able to come up with anything she needs or wants for her birthday).

By the time we got there Alida had sacked out so I hung out in the car with Terah while Kali and Jason went in. I was very entertained. Terah is thrilled if she can get in the driver's seat. So while Alida is obsessed with being 10 years old it seems that Terah would like to skip to 16. I'm not sure Alida should have been quite so relaxed with her chauffeur. Here's our fearless driver (in the other video I got she even played around with shifting gears a bit). Silly baby!



Today when I took Terah out to put our updated car registration in the glove compartment, I could barely get her little hands unwrapped from the steering wheel. She's got quite the grip.

So I mentioned the excavation above. This job has been a long time in coming and kind of expanded some in recent months as we waited to rise to the top of the excavator's priority list. In the end, he dug a trench for some plumbing we need to have done, worked on the access path around the house and behind the swing set, helped fix some grading issues along the back of the in-law quarters and created a flat spot where we had dreamed of putting a pavilion but might just put a volleyball net for now! Terah was interested in the project but a little scared of the big noisy machine being operated by a strange man.  It's rather pathetic but I've not even walked around to see the whole completed job. Tonight is the night! Jason and I have on the schedule to do a walk around once it cools off a bit. I will commit here to trying to celebrate all the successes around our place as we look things over, as much as I'll be adding to our project list!

The summer harvests are starting to ramp up. Most mornings now need to start with a walk around. This morning Alida and Terah joined me and we came in with a bowl of red raspberries, blackberries and a few cherry tomatoes, some more tea (as we are going through about 2 gallons daily right now), fresh oregano, and a handful of cucumbers. We looked at the sweet potatoes starting to create a carpet of vines in the garden, the flowers on the squashes, the green tomatoes, the corn rising above us, etc... We've been sharing leeks with anyone who wishes to take some home with them and we've also been dehydrating them and eating them. I made a cheesy leek casserole this week that we devoured - I'm sure our homemade butter and oregano mozzarella didn't harm it in the least!

Most of our midday meals right now are cold - it's just too warm for hot stuff. The girls and I have usually been in for a bit of the morning but Jason is often on his second shirt by lunch - the first being almost wring-out-able with sweat. I experimented again with using some of our fermented green tomatoes in hummus. The girls like it (including Terah), which is great. Jason and I aren't thrilled with it, as we both feel like green tomatoes are hard on our tummies it eaten in any significant quantity. I also experimented today with fresh, rather than dried, oregano in homemade mozzarella. Jason likes it a little less than dried. Kali likes it a little more. I like them both! Oh, and cucumbers! We had our first (of many) cucumber dill salads this week.

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We pulled our garlic this week so it is on the racks in the garage currently. We'll soon need to make room for the onions - which it appears will at least pull through and produce a crop after their very rough start. Also this week we enjoyed going wineberry picking with my parents (the evening before they headed back to their West Virginia home). It threatened to storm the whole time we were there, with thunder rumbling and Alida asking me constantly if we should head back to the car. We picked enough to get a few containers in the freezer and enjoy fresh with homemade vanilla pudding.  

 

I think that about covers it for now. I'm going to try to savor a lot of time with our older girls this week as a week from today they head to WV for a week with grandparents and cousins. They will be missed! I've enjoyed playing some Phase 10 with them today, but it usually ends with Terah being pretty mad that we won't share our cards with her. She doesn't seem to get that there is anything disturbing about her folding and munching on them. We've already relinquished two of the instruction cards, but those have long since been destroyed...She is likely to be just as smart as her sisters were if we tried to fashion some kind of card substitute. There is really nothing like the real thing!

I also hope to read some more of Alida's library books to her this week. In just the last month or so Alida has become passionate about learning to read. It was as if some switch was flipped and she determined that it was time! She is flipping through the encyclopedias one by one and comes to me excited whenever she has figured out a word. She talks about words and their spellings and is getting more interested in writing too. I often find most of my cookbooks off the shelf after I've been tucked away with Terah for a nap. She enjoys "reading" those too. This week she wanted to make grapenuts and she found it in the index and then found the page. I love it! I'm constantly amazed watching our children seek out learning because they want to so much they can't bear not to. I think Alida realizes how aspects of the world will open up to her when she learns to read and I'd say she's just on the cusp of it.

Now for that snooze I mentioned!