Full Weekend

I can't believe what a full weekend that was! I'm exhausted, exhilirated and really sunburnt. In addition to LOTS of work, we had a LOAD of sun, beach, swimming, running in the sprinkler, making a "water slide" (which is our little tykes slide with a piece of plastic at the bottom and water sprayed down it). There was some excitement today about a snake, which we first feared to be a copperhead, then some sort of rattle snake, since it was shaking its' tail like a rattler but it didn't rattle. We thought maybe it was a juvenile rattler. So we called my good friends at the center for wildlife who assured us that there are no rattlers in Maine, and that the poor thing that Raph was in the process of trying to catch and relocate (crazy, I know) was actually an Eastern milk snake, and a great ally in the quest to downsize the rodent population. I actually can't relate all that went down this weekend, but I can say the gardens are MUCH closer to where they need to be, my children have way more vitamin D than they did this time last week, and we all need a good aloe rub down.

What Have I Done

Raph has been hinting that I need to cut Remick's hair. I cried the first time I cut Makili's hair, and I knew this was the last time I'd see one of my babies transformed into a little boy before my eyes. It was time though. Everyone, and I mean everyone, thought he was a girl, despite the most boy outfits you could imagine. His hair got stuck in the bib at every meal. Half of the time it was in a matted mess. Still, I did cry. And I'm still trying to believe this little boy is mine. If it weren't for all the silly faces he made in our little photo shoot I might not be sure.

Coming Out

Things are starting to come OUT of the greenhouse and into the garden which is such an exciting time. With no fan on the greenhouse, I have to be constantly aware of the weather (though admittedly during this rainy cold spring, I haven't had to worry as much), since one sunny day without open doors can result in trays of dead seedlings. So coming OUT is like liberation for me.

Makili has been a huge helper in greenhouse. One day I went in the house with Remick for something and when I came back he had prepared an entire tray of peat pots with potting soil, watered them and everything. He's pretty amazing. And really, quite good at the gardening thing. It's very cute.

Remick on the other hand is a complete and total menace. He loves to play in the potting soil and dump it all over the greenhouse. He'll dump the seeds all over the place too. But he likes to be out there with me too.

I'm a lucky gardening momma.

At the Table

Makili has made us laugh out loud several times in the last two days.

Yesterday when Ann was here we were telling her that she needs to just move in already. I pointed out that she has some strengths that I lack (patience, cleanliness to start). Makili chimed in, "I think you should move in. (he paused) But, Paka needs a Mama." Ann really laughed at that one and then added that she was looking for a wife.

Last night at bedtime we read about about astronauts. So this morning as we were cuddling in bed I we had a conversation.
mom: Do you want to be an astronaut?
Makili: no
Mom: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Makili: a daddy.
Mom: That's so nice, but you can be a daddy and have a job. Like Daddy is your daddy and a teacher.
Makili: (quiet, thinking)
Mom: You could be a doctor and help people? Or a farmer?
Makili: I want to be a farmer but still live in your house.

Is that prophetic? I went on to explain that he might want to live in his own house someday, but that I will still be his mommy and Raph would still be his Daddy, etc.

Then over breakfast today, he shared,

"I think when we get bigger, we should change Remick into a girl and I'll be the daddy and he'll be the mommy and we can live in our own house."

Oh Yeah

Raph got me a new battery and charger for mothers' day, so here I am again. Friday was a blissfully beautiful day. I decided that being a good mother and wife and cleaning the house and cooking yummy dinners wasn't getting me anywhere, so I fed the kids cookies for lunch, let them trash the house and then ignored them for my garden. It was great. Actually, everyone was happy.


Makili went to a birthday party on Thursday (don't get me started on his social agenda is WAY more full than mine) and came home with a party bag that had some candy in it. He obsessed over this candy all night on Thurs and all day on Friday, carrying around his Dots, which he calls "Opa's favorite candy." I finally got so tired of telling him no, that I told him he could eat one. He tried a tootsie roll and promptly declared he didn't like it. He had a second tootsie roll in the bag in a sealed wrapper, which he then gave to Remick since he didn't like it. I had already fed Remick cookies for lunch (again SO tired of fighting that one) so I wouldn't open it for him. He walked around trying to bite it open for seriously an hour.Then he finally succeeded. What a look of triumph he had as he came over, chocolate running down his face and covering his sweatshirt. I might never open a wrapper for him again.

Progress Since Easter Day

Weekend Highlights

Compliments of the hipstamatic app on the i-phone (since I still didn't buy another camera battery yet) are these weekend moments. It was absolutely beautiful this weekend and my last weekend off before six months of farmers' markets. Indeed, summer starts on Thursday as far as I'm concerned. We were busy on the house and in the greenhouse and all around, but we still made it to the ocean this morning, and Raph used old chimney parts to rig up our little outdoor cook stop and fired up the veggie dogs last night. So fun.

Yesterday's Escapade

So on Monday night, Raph had a hockey game. Apparently he hasn't play hockey very recently because when we was packing up his gear he found a mouse nest with three itty bitty baby mice. Now let me be clear about how I feel about mice: I don't like em. I spend a lot of energy every summer trapping red squirrels, chipmunks, voles, and mice and relocating them across bodies of water so they don't come back. I am thrilled every year when I see the short-tailed weasel come back (cause they take care of the problem!) or a hawk circling above. Still, when these little babes became our problem, I wasn't prepared to be responsible for their demise. At first we put them in a basket back in the shed hoping the mom would come back to them (so that I could then trap them in a few months and relocate them.) This didn't seem to happen, however, and it was pretty chilly out there, so we brought them in. Raph tried to feed them out of the kids' medicine syringe, but they weren't really going for it. I spent a little time yesterday morning reading what needs to be done to keep baby mice alive. I was really unprepared to buy special formula, to massage their bellies so they could go to the bathroom, or to get up with them every hour. (Did I mention here how this would lead to me trapping them later this summer?) And yet, could I let the little things die right in front of the kids' eyes? No. I worried about it all morning, and then it occured to me to call the Center for Wildlife in York. So I did and amazingly, they took them! They were even excited about it! They had another mama mouse with babies about the same age. I couldn't believe it! And I don't even have to trap them later this summer!

Signs Easter Happened

progress on the housebed snuggles
new friends


Yummy tofu scramble
beautiful artwork
the grass we grew for the bunny going into our smoothies!
and a whole lot of fort-building.

Hudson Cash Beal

Before the trip to DC with the exchange students (where I lost my camera battery, card reader and a memory card full of pictures:() I got to see my brother and his family, including my new nephew, Hudson Cash Beal. What a little cutie. Luckily I still had the pictures on the memory card that was in the camera, so i didn't lose all of them, but I lost a lot.


Here I am making the whole family laugh with my behind the camera antics.And of course the boys were very interested in Hudson.

They spent a little time teaching Kaylee how to be a big sibling. You start by being nice.

Then you harass the crap out of a little sibling.
She'll learn fast, I'm sure.

Into Everything

This little guy had (in addition to the broken leg) a bloody lip and a bloody nose this week. Last week he climbed out of and fell out of his crib - with a broken leg. He is into EVERYTHING. But boy is he cute. His language is absolutely adorable. He says almost everything in a mono-syllabic overly emphasized way. "Ploy! COME. BACK. HERE. NOW!" "Water. Get it!" He slept especially poorly the night before last and yesterday I was trying to talk to him about it. I said, "Remick, you were screaming at me all night long and mommy didn't like it!" His response, with a smile, "Mommy! Out!" He totally understood what I was saying and totally knew he had been screaming unneccesarily that night. I said I didn't want him to do that again. He said, "awight, I won't." And amazingly, that worked. He gets the cast off this week and he is so excited to go swimming like big brother, who has been taking swimming lessons. He is so cute.