(A lot of) Scenes from Our Fourth

We had a GREAT Fourth of July party. The weather was blissful and we were so lucky to see so many friends and family. Thank you so much for coming and spending a splendid day with us.

In no particular order are some of my favorite pictures, and sadly, I've already pared this down. There are just so many. So many cute babies.

Gabrielle.
Zoia.
What do three and four-year-olds talk about?
Gardiner doing some shucking.


Kids making felt balls.
Remick giving Rudy a REALLY BIG LONG hug. (we had to pry him loose)
Happy Birthday Makili (thanks Ann-ma for the Lightning McQueen cake)

Happy Matty with Rhiannon
Clyde (coolest name ever.)
Stephane.
Costa and Edie.
Will.
Watching the baby birds (who might have gone hungry that day as they were right above our heads.)


Grandma Gina
Jack using wool to insulate his ears and to embellish his chest hair.
Lucy.
The Swann family.
Remick tasting the icing on the lighthouse cake.
Rachel.
Gabrielle.
Beal Representation!
Oliviann
Matty and Tim and Rudy.
McCall clan.

My big 1-year-old.
Fullerton Fam.
Remick and his Opa.
So cute.
Laura and Oliviann.
Nicole looking much more serious than she is.
Oliviann...
Painting themselves.

Self-painted boys.
Caroline and Suzanne.
Tim and Rudy.

The RV has landed!

Summer Hours

So I was in charge of planning the play date the second time around. Unfortunately, I didn't take "summer hours" into account when planning, so we ended up at Renee's house AGAIN, which I can't complain about. Makili and Remick both loved the pool and because my new friend, Beth, came along with her kids, who are the exact ages of Makili and Remick. Their names are Noah and Asa, and Asa was at the TOP of my list of names for both kids, so I sort of think that means we are automatically qualified to be friends...

Anyway, here is little Rigs again.Makili biting into a pear with gusto.
Auntie.
Noah
Asa.

Might Just Seize Up

I am so busy at the moment (when things are supposed to be slower and more lazy!) that I might just seize up and stop functioning altogether. We had a little escape last night (pics to come) which was nice, but also learned en route to the escape that my parents are coming two days earlier than I thought. And while my parents will insist that there is no need to clean for them, who are they kidding? And two days after that Raph's brother and his family arrive, then we have the party with Lots of friends and family to prepare for the next day. I'm opening the clay studio for the next three days for my friend who is in Greece (I trying to feel really badly for her, I am), and I have to sell flowers at market tomorrow, work on Thurs and Fri. Makili is sick, Remick's getting teeth (or at least that is the excuse I am giving to the fact that he has started putting everything into his mouth again - pine cones, acorns, etc.) BUT enough of my ranting about how crazy this moment in time is. I wanted to post a few picture from our first market last week! It was so exciting. We made about $150 in our first week! We don't have huge goals for making money, but it definitely is nice to see a return on your investment of time and energy...

Here is Coralie in front of our first week's bounty! This week I'm going to take some more close-ups because they are so beautiful...
My friend Steve, our first customer, bought a "Jar of Joy" for $3.00!

Sorry Makili

The power went out on Makili's birthday so I never got to blog about his birthday. My little one is THREE! That's big! He'd be the first to tell you so. This kid NEVER stops talking. On his birthday, he got to come to the clay studio with his mama and made some beautious things. We went for a bike ride. He wore his birthday crown with delight. We watched a pretty spectacular storm arrive while we were at Fort Foster. Some random thoughts in no particular order...

1. very independent: wants to get his clothes on, socks on, shoes on, etc. by himself. This can take a LONG time. If he wants to see what's happening up high, he runs and gets the stool so he can see.

2. converses with everyone, including himself. He has a lot to say and when no one is around to listen, he talks to himself and pretends to reprimand somebody, etc.

3. loves stories and is constantly asking us to tell him a story. His favorite stories are the ones in which he comes to the rescue when his naughty friend Raven does something wrong. He really likes books too and has been especially into Dr. Seuss lately.

4. Will eat ANYTHING. This kid is seriously going to drive me back to work with his eating habits. How the hell will I afford him as a teenageR?

5. Loves building with blocks more than anything but is also totally into trains (Thomas), cars (Lightning in particular). (You'd think we spent all our days watching TV and movies!)

6. Is VERY excited about riding his new bike (as pictured above) and does very well at it. Only one major spill so far and he rides long distances and up hills.

7. Loves to help me in the garden, particularly planting new plants and picking red flowers.

8. Plays often with Remick in an awesome way. The other half of the time he is pulling toys out of Remick's hand while saying something like, "It's okay - we have other toys." or "He wants all MY toys!"

9. Sleeps like a log. You seriously can't wake this kid if you try in the middle of the night. Uses the potty all the time now (except nap and night).

10. Still has funny speech patterns, which I won't even try to spell out here, but they crack us up!

And now that he is three, he is excited about his super-hero cape, which he wore berry picking yesterday. He was really a GREAT picker! He actually ate more than he picked! Definite improvement over last year!