Come Along With Me....

We wake every morning, happily, to look at this sweet little face.

The Princess is One Month Old today!

She is just as sweet, huggable and snugglable and kissable as ever.

Oh, we love her so...what did we ever do without her?


I've been a bit under the weather, but with some antibiotics from the doctor and some extra rest on the weekend (thanks to Daddy who proficiently kept the house running while I recuperated, and who did such tedious chores as dishes and vacuuming, and homeschooling, and feeding little ones....) I am feeling a little better today. I thought it might be a good day to bring you along, to chitchat a little...since there is nothing exciting happening around here...just the same, good-but-usual tasks.Lots of laundry from the weekend. I don't mind laundry. The washer does all the work for you -- you give it nasty smelly dampy bits of fabric, and it returns lovely-smelling clean clothes to you, with no effort from you at all.

What is there not to love?

I like to iron too, at least, when it's pretty linen bits and pieces.

What's not to like?

The children did most of their schooling on their own today. I didn't intend it that way, but I was a bit foggy on what all needed to be done, and quite a bit out of sorts and out of routine. In the end, they did well, and Miss Rose helped Jr Spragus do his work as well.


I do believe Jr's favorite subject so far is math, which probably has to do with the fact that we use jelly beans as manipulatives. He counts, adds, subtracts, and makes patterns with his daily ration of jelly beans, before he gobbles them up.

Again, what's not to like?

Our schoolroom is already collecting an assortment of interesting projects and discoveries.
I was very grateful to see a neighbor had thrown out an entertainment unit to be picked up for recycling. We recycled it right into our schoolroom, and it went straight to work as a holder-of-books and displayer-of-treasures.

Mamma had bought some lovely local broccoli, for a broccoli waldorf salad. While preparing the broccoli, Mamma found a bright green caterpillar, which naturally became the next science experiment -- the children looked it up in the field guide, to find that it was a cabbage white butterfly caterpillar -- and put it in a jar with some of its own tasty broccoli to munch on.

Two days later, someone found the little caterpillar hidden under the rim of the lid, having already made its chrysalis.

Now, the anticipation of watching the little green beastie become a pretty white butterfly.

After school, and after chores and tidying, the children are free to play outside on the swing set Daddy and Grandpa and Grandma put together in the back yard.

Usually, there are several other children besides ours out there too, and the swingset gets quite crowded and busy.





I decided to take a walk around the yard today, to show you what is out there, and to enjoy the last remnants of summer. The plants are looking a bit overblown and frowsy...coming to the end of their flowering and fruiting season.






The square-foot garden overgrew its confines, so we plan to use the raised beds perhaps just for strawberries next year, and grow an in-ground garden for the rest of the fruit and vegetables. Daddy made a good job of repairing and rehabbing this picnic table. There were two identical tables in this spot, alongside the house, but their supports had rusted and rotted, and the benches fell off. The paint on the table surface had pitted and peeled. Daddy found that one support from each table was salvagable, so he dissassembled the tables, refinished the metal supports, stripped and restained the wood, and put it all back together again.


I haven't gotten as much use out of this hammock as I would have liked to this summer. I was rather afraid, being so far pregnant, that if I got in , I wouldn't be able to get out again -- and now I'm too busy with life to get in it. If I got in now, I wouldn't WANT to get out again. :-)

The children really enjoy it though, and make use of it regularly with all their friends. It is the spectator seating for games of badminton and baseball.

One thing that is certain around here. The bugs will never die out.

I picked some lovely tomatoes and peppers from the garden earlier in the day, and had a fresh, warm tomato cut up with some cucumber and onion, and a drizzle of olive oil and vinegar, for lunch today.

I have to tell you a little story about that.

Miss Rose had been commissioned to make lunch for herself and the boys while I was tending to the Princess, and she made hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, and opened a can of pineapple rings. This is a favorite lunch of all the children, so there were no complaints.

I put some brown rice on to cook for myself, since I was trying to avoid the calories that come with mac n cheese and hot dogs ;-) , and added some seasonings and spices while it cooked. I served up the rice with the tomato salad on the side, and scrambled an egg to go with it. Pretty soon I had eight eyes jealously looking at my plain, low-fat meal.

I was bewildered...what kind of children would rather have brown rice and salad than a big plate of canned fruit, processed meat and boxed pasta?

I am not sure who they belong to, but I will know better next time....

This pretty present is from Mammam to the children, and especially the Princess. Jr Spragus and Woby have gotten the most enjoyment out of it so far -- it is a truly lovely gift! Thank you Mammam!


Here, I placed an unwilling Woby for scale.

A very, VERY unwilling Woby.

Who was stinky not only in attitude, but in actuality.

Fortunately, there is a surefire way to fix a Woby's stinky selves, and so we popped him in....

...and Jr, too, who had just come in from playing outside. We try to take precautions because there is a lot of poison ivy outside.

I will leave you with a look at dinner...the garden produce, which went into a very tasty made-from-scratch pasta sauce, and was served up with some homemade garlic toast and vegetables -- followed by a fresh apple crisp with ice cream. And a cup of tea. And then a mug of milo (thanks Hannah!!! We found the same kind at Jungle Jims and are well stocked now, thanks to you!) and a few graham crackers. :-)

Good night!!