one month

that's exactly how long until our trip to seattle! can't wait!

we've run into loads of people, it seems, who have either been to or have lived in the seattle area, so we have been trying to rack their brains as far as where to go and what to see. if there are any more ideas out there, please let us know!

so far on the agenda: matt's aunt & uncle's house and a tour with them through the city, pike place market, mt. rainier, san juan islands, and possibly olympic national park or mt. st. helens... we will have 8 days and 0 kids... :)

i am in love

…with my new square foot garden! i have been itching to have a vegetable garden for the past few years, but always thought we had too much shade. and in fact, we do… in our back yard. that’s why this year we bit the bullet and plopped our veggie patch right in our tiny—but very sunny—front yard.

i think it was my friend joni who introduced me to the square foot gardening method last year, and i instantly knew i wanted to give it a try. it is perfect for small spaces, and its neat appearance was also a factor for us since it would be in our front yard for all to see. besides that, it is a cinch to water and weed!

it feels good to have finally plowed through my intimidations with the whole thing (my perfectionistic tendencies sometimes slow me down because i am so afraid it won’t turn out just right). it’s a big step forward from last year’s gardening attempts. now here’s hoping the bugs and bunnies don’t snag our harvest before we do! so far, things are looking pretty good, and we have already been enjoying the lettuce. i can’t wait to make it twice as big next year!

here are some photos to document our progress so far:

though i did remove the sod from underneath, we added our own (purchased) soil inside the frame so that we know it's good stuff. matt built the frame (8' x 2' --we are not starting out overly ambitious, people), and the kids and i have had a good time this spring visiting our local seed store and putting it all together.

started a few peas, lettuce, and spinach plants in egg cartons before transferring them to the garden...

and here they are in their new home... (viewing from the side)

and here's what they look like now. (viewing from the front)

what fun to watch the little seedlings pop up! these are the bean beginnings...

and here they are today, with a tomato in the background.

and here are the zucchini, then...

and now.

one other new thing i am trying this year is a potato pot that i found instructions on how to do here.

strawberry heaven

lovin' the lens

i have been spending the past month doing a lot of experimenting with my new camera and lens. i was really frustrated with it at first (had to force myself out of the comfort zone i was in with my other camera) but now i love it. the tiny depth of focus i can get with it is crazy. i still have a lot of learning to do, but thought i'd share a few favorites so far.

yellow jacket on my sea pink

lupine

this year's window boxes!

mr. blackbird was not fond of having his picture taken... either that, or i was too close to his nest, because he dive-bombed me a couple of times.

miriam's feet on our front steps

first beach day of the summer

the kids and i headed out to lake michigan today with our new friends. trekking to the beach with three kids is a bittersweet experience -- a lot of fun and a whole lot of work! especially when you factor in the 200 stairs we had to climb to get over the dune. (while carrying stocked beach bag, cooler, camera, oh, and 40 lb. toddler... i think i got my workout for the day!) the weather was hot but overcast with a light breeze -- perfect!

view from the top, and an empty beach! ahhh....

my little surfer dude

ezra, sawyer, jude, miriam, levi, & georgia

our beach site came equipped with a nice little wading pool that someone had left behind -- it was perfect for the littler two.

slippery slope

first i give myself permission to buy those frozen chicken tenders to have one or two easy meals on hand for the kids... then i come home with these. justification: because there were more of them in a bag for less money... and of course, because they are shaped like dinosaurs. makes perfect sense -- processed chicken molded and breaded into the shape of prehistoric creatures. oh Lord, help us.

(p.s.--this being the second time this month that i have returned home from the grocery store inspired to write about it, i was thinking maybe i will start documenting my food shopping experiences with a new blog series entitled "val's grocery store chronicles" or something like that. we'll see. i'm sure you are on the edge of your seats.)

what day is it?

this morning i was more motivated than usual and got up for a jog at 6:00 am. when i came home, matt was still in bed so i decided to take a quick trip to the store (2 minutes away) for a few desperately needed groceries. miriam and levi were awake when i returned, but sawyer--my late sleeper--was still asleep, so i let the kids put on some cartoons and went back upstairs to read until sawyer woke up. about 10 pages and 3 hours later... i woke up again to a quiet house and a rainstorm outside. miriam and levi were still quietly watching tv and sawyer, though awake, was still quietly hanging out upstairs. and even though it was pushing lunchtime by the time we had breakfast, it still felt like early morning because of the dark storm outside. i guess i should stop blogging about it now and go and get something done today.