off to the beach

I've been looking forward to this vacation for months. A week at the beach - sand right up to the back door of a sweet little cottage. The last thing I'll see at night and the first thing in the morning will be the Pacific Ocean. Happy Day. Big stack of books, lots of wine, toys for the kidlets and sunscreen for all. Yeah beach!

emme's knitting project

I've been spending my craft time lately on sewing instead of knitting and I really missed having a project I was excited about. So I dug out some patterns and did a little yarn shopping. I've started the Emma Peel Dress from Mason-Dixon. And since Em is starting to imitate what she see'sus doing, she picks up the project and pretends to knit - so sweet! I have a secret dream that she'll end up both a knitter AND a librarian. A girl can dream.

Here are are some pictures of finished Emma Peel dressed. I went for a pink and brown combo . . .

flowers from my garden

Hydrangea, pea shoots, and dahlias from my garden Love it!

we are missing tall house, double cup already

THDC is on a boys' weekend with his brother and dad. They are going crazy in Boston and New York - hitting up a Red Socks game, the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Baseball Hall of Fame. Somewhere in the trip will be gambling and I estimate at least a dozen burgers will be consumed.
So here is a picture for Papa - your sweet babes miss you!

swimming summer

I am off in Chicago at the American Library Association annual conference so I made up a couple of blog entries ahead of time. I am missing these sweet faces every much!

feral child

Feral child found at edge of garden, clutching corn cob for dear life.

garden girl

Em loves to sit right in the middle of the garden, eating peapods and blueberries. Just wait for the cherry tomatoes to ripen up! I caught a couple of sweet pictures of her . . .

the outtakes . . .

layered jello loveliness

This has been my hit dish of the summer to share at parties. Everyone asks how it's done - and while I can't take credit for inventing it, I can point you to the blog that inspired me - complete with directions.

pea and parmesan ravioli

Our pea patch is in full glory right now. That, matched with a recipe from Gourmet, inspired me to try out making Pea and Parmesan Ravioli . I enlisted E, hoping to inspire him to try out peas - he normally passes on them.

We started with these humble ingredients. And please don't judge the won ton wrappers. You can't expect a mama of two young children to roll her own pasta dough, can you?








E checked out the recipe (reinforcing early literacy skills) while gearing up with a piece of lemon cake.
















We quick cooked the peas. E drained them. Then we added in parmesan, mint, and salt and pepper. E whirled them in the food processor. Then we started the fun assembly line of making the ravioli.

E dropped half a tablespoon on each ravioli, wet the edges and sealed them up. We gently slid them into boiling water. After they floated, we pulled them out, tossed in some brown butter and topped them off with more cheese.

Aren't they lovely? So pretty I will have to do these again for a dinner party. E did try the mixture and admitted the peas were "kind of good" but he passed on anything more than one bite of the final plate. sigh. But Tall House, Double Cup and I had no problem having his as well as our own.

more fourth of july

After the parade and a nice nap, we hosted a little neighborhood bbq and waterslide party.



Kevin and Isabelle brought the coolest little hamburger cookies - they looked exactly like the real thing but were made of all little cookies, icing and coconut. They are the world's coolest neighbors and a great model for raising a son and daughter.
We ate, drank and threw waterballons. The night ended with insane fireworks brought in from Wyoming - huge, loud, totally illegal in pdx, and enthralling to the teenagers on the street. My kids hid in the air conditioned bedroom with the fan on high to drown out the noise. We all slept like a dream after the busy day.

happy 4th of july

Snapshots from the parade - I love how Moo looks like a Kevin Henkes character - all decked out red, white and blue - and pink :) The party was fabu - another Auntie Brooke blowout. Nothing compares to the Eastmoreland 4th of July parade - it's just kicks off the day SO nicely!

Here is Tall House, Double Cup and our Em Em, three years running:

More from our evening party tomorrow . . .

tall house, double cup is home

Jeff had a great trip to Moscow, St. Petersburg and Helsinki. He was on the run the whole time, visiting with my aunt and uncle (who were SO kind and arranged for many, many meals, tours, train trips, etc) as well as our friend Mina who lives with her husband and children in Finland. Here are a couple of highlight pictures . . .

name that tune

Nana was here for about 15 minutes before I heard her explaining the Black Death to E. E and Nana are quite a pair. They spent today practicing their whistling repertoire. They invite you to guess that tune . . .

and try this one . . .

emme's new love

Em loves dogs - from afar. She'll follow them anywhere and can spot them from 50 yards. BUT, as soon as they turn around to face her within 5 feets and there are tears and running in the opposite direction.

Until Stella. She has fallen in love with Stella - our friends' ginger golden doodle. The sweetest, mellowest puppy you'll ever meet. I think I have a crush too.

bathing beauties

Emme had a playdate with her sweet cousin Addie a couple of weeks ago and I never shared the pictures of the two bathing beauties. Emme talks about Addie all the time and if we ever say her name, her little sister Bella's name comes right after. I know they are ready to get back to their life in Manila, but it's been So So So nice having them in the States.

are you ready for the summer party

The Are You Ready for the Summer party was a hit. Over 80 people came - E's kindergarten class, neighbors and friends. We successfully kept it outside and on the first floor of the house with the exception of one four-year-old who kept sneaking up into E's room to play Legos.


We had a keg of Widmer Brothers Broken Halo IPA, tons of juice boxes and bottled water - but look at the spread of yum-yums people brought to share. Note to self - the first thing to be eaten all up was the bucket of KFC! Never a bad party food!






Emme was in heaven with the cupcake ice cream cones and spent most of the party attached to her dad and taking in all the big kids.













The hammock survived but some of my plants did not. It was well worth it!

leftover dishes

Hey kindergarten family friends - any of these dishes look familiar? They are washed and ready to be picked up from our back deck.

end of t-ball

We had E's last t-ball game, awards ceremony and pizza party. I was sad to see the season end - it was so ideal, so cinematic - Tall House, Double Cup coaching his son's team, a really great group of boys, a cadre of little sisters on the sidelines, and mamas I really connected with. Here are some highlights. Don't miss the video at the end - it's like a preview of a future fraternity.

Emme helped hand out medals.

I loved this moment between E and his dad. They are just made for each other,

A big hug from E's grandma.

2008 and 2009 - I love to see how he's changed.