Cankles (for Austin)

Here is our new neighor/friend, Cankles. He likes the sod that we tore up to make the raised beds. He also likes the sun. I was all excited about Cankles, and took this picture to show Raph.
He started going on and on, "Garder snakes don't have teeth. They can't hurt you." he told me.
"I have no intention of touching it," I told him.
"They can bite you though, but they also poop on you."
"Raph, I'm not going to touch it."
"You know how usually you hold a snake by the head so it doesn't bite you? Well a garder snake will wrap it's body around your arm and rub stinky poop all over you."
"Raph, what part of I WILL NOT BE TOUCHING THE SNAKE do you not understand?"
"Just thought you should know."

So anyway this is our new friend Cankles. If my nephew Austin was here he would pick him up and Raph and he could talk about stinky poop.

Here is the miracle of the month. I kept my Valentine's gift from my dad, a gardenia (my favorite flower) alive long enough for it to bloom. We even brought it to Ann and Larry's house last weekend so I wouldn't miss any of the glorious fragrance.And can you tell Makili is SOAKING wet here? He sure doesn't seem to mind.

Sant Bani Hike / Baby Fest

As a part of Sant Bani's alumni weekend (the school the Raph attended through 9th grade), we went on a hike to the top of Piper Mountain. It was lovely - just the right short length. Good Times...

Another one finished!

Ny and Abram's very late wedding gift. As an indication of how late, check out pictures of their baby below!

Radishes, Fun with Dad, and New Diversion

Yup. We're harvesting radishes. They're SPICY! Who knew?

Makili loves being tickled!
We opened a birthday present from Grandma today because the box was so big we didn't have anywhere to keep it until Tuesday. Such a cute water/sand table. A toy for Makili, but not just that. It means I can hang laundry or work in the garden. It may mean the deer (who recently walked straight through the farthest bed (with only a small nibble of cauliflower) might stay away. Nadine says they haven't ever had trouble with deer and she thinks it is because they have so many kids' toys strewn across the yard that the deer are frightened to go near. Who knows, but until there is a fence, I'll go with it!

Fountain of Magic

When I was a kid, my dad was the epitome of magic. I thought he could fix anything. He would jump into any water, no matter how cold. He would wear shorts and socks EVERY DAY of the year, even though the winter. He would snow blow the whole block barefoot. He even slept in the snow once just to prove that he could. I remember running down stairs in the morning to see if he was indeed REALLY still out there. He knew magic tricks and would always pull money out of ears. He would greet everyone he knew in Spanish (which he didn't speak) by saying "Como esta to ombligo?" "How is your belly button?" He never lost at cards, chess, pig or any other game. He tied a rope swing in our front yard that barely missed the cars wizzing by, which we loved and cars hated. He loved pranks, like setting up a water-balloon launcher that was targeted to land on the front porch from the back porch and inviting our friends over just to soak them. Once he sprinkled change all over the front walkway to watch my brother and I scramble all over each other trying to get it. Another time he took us to Pharmor and gave us each $100 to spend (a fortune at the time). He gave us unusual gifts, like one year both my brother and I got new unicycles, though to this day neither of us really know how to ride one.

My Dad had a liver transplant when I was in 9th grade. I don't think that at that age I truly understood the significance of what he was up against, the enormous obstacle his body posed. I never truly understood that he was on the brink of death. I can't even imagine what the previous 15 years would have been like without him. I surely wouldn't be the same person I am today. My confidence most surely flows from the fountain of magic my dad provided. I can just see the look on his face when I had a new idea I wanted to go with. Like in 6th grade, for the robotics competition, I wanted to make a house-keeper robot that would sweep the floor. We tried all kinds of contraptions to get the robot to sweep on its own, and some of them worked, but MHR (which stood for Most Helpful Robot) seemed most effective when you stood behind her (plywood woman cutout with apron tied on) and pulled strings attached to her arms. I won the competition for the record, one of a gazillion times my dad's confidence in me spurred my own internal confidence. I am so glad my dad has been around and I am so glad that my dad is part of Makili's life and can share his magic with him.

I do love Cindy's portrait lens!

Some pictures of the new parents






First time eating asparagus."Auntie Cindy" (who is really a Grandma.)
Thai outfits.
Little Zoey, Makili's buddy.

Big Daddy

I'm so lucky to be sharing this life adventure with Raph, my perfect foil. So fortunate to share life and parenting with such a patient, generous, gentle, good person and dad. I am lucky and so is Makili.

As if that's not enough Cuteness

As if Kane wasn't enough
I've also been getting to play with Mila Virginia Prahl
(the second youngest in the extended MAtty clan)
3.5 months old and desperate to communicate.

Introducing

Kane Lucas Huber
(the newest in the extended Matty clan
born to Ny and Abram, Raph's cousin and our good friend.)
born on Wednesday June 11, 2008


There is nothing to rekindle wonder like a newborn.

First Things First

Before I get ahead of myself and start posting the gazillion BEAUTIFUL pictures of babies from this weekend, I've got to post a few pix from my book club which met on Thurs at the beach. How cool is that anyway? To meet with your book club on the beach! An amazing bunch of women who are so interesting and inspiring.

I just got my sewing machine fixed yesterday and was able to finish up a few projects. Many more to come including the prize for winning the comment contest two months ago. (Sorry Laurie and Ana. I'm working on it.) Anyway I never can just go partway with something. I started making bibs, so instead of making a few I made 40.
This is my attempt at machine quilting myself, since this quilt is much smaller than many that I make. It turned out okay, though I think doing this is how I broke my machine.
The real work this week was creating these two terraced beds for tomatoes and potatoes.

Here you see after the tractor came and we laid the corn bed down.
And here you see the two beds. The tomato plants have already been planted as you can see in the second bed. Look how much greener the tree is in just a little over a week's time.

So cute lately.

Makili has been big into games - like tag, and "I'm going to get you." He is also into tickling. If he touches my toe or belly button I laugh, and he loves it.

You may recognize the hula girl in the foreground of the picture.
Pensive about dirt
So Tired
Can't keep him tied down or his feet on the ground. Hard to keep up sometimes.

Bananas are OUT, Dancing is IN

Changing so fast I can't keep up. Makili no longer pines for bananas, but instead peaches, watermelon, blueberries, and pears. He rocks out to his little leap-frog toy Aunt Amanda and Uncle Blair bought him that plays "She'll be coming round the mountain." And right now he is rocking out to Paul Simon. Thattta boy! His little wiggling bottom is about the cutest goddamn thing I've ever seen!


In other news, swiss chard, squash are UP!