Weekend

Sometimes you come to the end of a weekend and you wonder where it went and what you did with it.

We've had a lot of those lately.

Weekends have been more busy than usual with baseball games added in, and our birthday party circuit seems to grow by leaps and bounds in the spring.

Then we try to add in those other weekend necessities--a small project or 2, chores and errands, family time, maybe some friend time, and if we're lucky, a little down time too.

Weekends have been busy as of late.

This weekend was full too.

But just the right kind of full.

The kind where you look back on Sunday night and instead of saying, "what just happened?" you say, "that was a great weekend."

I've been missing these.

I'm grateful.

And I took lots of pictures.

On Saturday, Aaron, Davy and I headed to LA.

I know lots of people that hate LA, but the more often I visit, the more I like it.

Of course there are parts to be avoided at all costs, and if you don't time it right, the traffic is a joy killer, but planned right, there are a lot of great places to explore.

We went to LACMA for the California Design--Living in a Modern Way show.
We've been wanting to go for months, but between baseball games and arranging for childcare, it just wasn't happening.
But the impending closing of the exhibit lit a fire under our bums, and we managed to make a date of it before it was too late.
Davy loved the famous lampposts installation.
He's definitely one of my kids--he loves to explore.

It was a really great exhibit.

It was full of the mid-century things I love: clothing, furniture, textiles, pottery, an Airstream trailer, a car, the Eames' living room, and lots of colorful art.

They even had things like brochures for master-planned communities of the 50s in Southern California.
And look, here's Lakewood!

After the museum, we ate lunch at the Farmer's Market.
We tried a  new restaurant we read about in Sunset magazine.  (good food--bad coffee)
David discovered the thrills of dipping fries in ketchup for the first time.
He won't eat the fries (first picky baby I've ever had.  what kid doesn't like fries?) but he loved the act of dipping and then licking off the ketchup.

We made it home with enough time to start our weekend project.

It started with scraping paint.

Not fun, but necessary.

And on Sunday morning, I made waffles.

I found my years-missing waffle iron in our great garage clean up of 2012.
I've been longing to make waffles.
For years.
So I opened up the recipe I bookmarked years ago, measured and stirred, and made the best waffles I have ever had.

Every single person in the family loved them.

And that's saying something.

I'll share the recipe and my surprise secret ingredient over on Picnics.

Later on Sunday we were back at the project.

See this monstrosity of a back patio?
It is pretty gross.
The bricks were faded, stained and very tired looking.
The rest of it was peeling, chipped up mess.
We scraped off all that the mess and put on a couple coats of fresh paint over everything.
It took a while to decide on a color.
At one point Aaron complained all the color samples we laid down were boring, and he just wanted to paint it all pink.
That may have been the point where I mumbled something about how difficult it is being married to an artist.
But in the end, we're both very, very happy with this look being a thing of the past.
I'll post some after pictures soon.

And because the weather was so nice on Sunday afternoon, after we put the first coat of paint on the patio, we met the cousins at the beach.
Thus far on our beach trips, David hasn't left the blanket.
He loves being at the beach, but hates the sand.

But after a while of watching all his favorite big kids playing without him,

he couldn't stand it anymore.
He took off to join the fun.
He crawled so fast he was kicking up sand with his hands!

And he discovered that sand really isn't so bad after all.
It's kind of fun throwing it around.

That's something his sister and cousin could have told him long ago.
This duo of double trouble loves to roll in the sand, over and over again.
They're crazy.

And James started off the summer with his first swim to the buoy.
His cousin Cora joined him.
They made uncle Mark and a friendly kyaker nervous, but they made it there and back.
Easily.

We stayed until dinner and left dreaming of lots more summer evenings at the beach.

On Monday morning I sent the boys outside to pick blackberries for breakfast.

Starting the day off with fresh picked berries, friends over for brunch, a delicious coffee cake,and a long, slow morning around the picnic table is practically perfect.

Every weekend should have an extra day that you start like that, am I right?

Then we finished painting the patio.

The kids played in the sprinklers, made mud, and Davy got covered in mud for the first time.

It was a nice, slow day at home.

And when I kissed Aaron goodnight, I said, "it was a good weekend, wasn't it?"

It was.

I hope your weekend was full of lots of good things too.

God Bless all the service men and women who offer up their lives so we can have weekends like this in peace and safety.

Love from,

Greta

See Our Home Tour on Home Made Lovely!

Hi everyone!

I am so excited to be sharing our home today over on Heather's Home Made Lovely series.

Please visit Heather and take a peek at our home and all the other homes she's shared.

You can go here to see our home tour!

I'll be answering any questions you have about paint colors, our counter tops or any thing else house wise, in the next few days.  So if you have one, please go over to my other blog, Picnics in the Park to leave your question.  Thanks.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Love from,

Greta

Lilly's Toolbelt

I am deep in the throws of pregnancy.

I am nearing the end, actually.

I have never had a pregnancy feel quite so difficult at the end as this one does.

Aaron says I am always this tired.

I don't believe him.

Anyway, I have a mile long list that seems to be getting checked off very slowly.  

I don't have a lot of time.

Every afternoon I am absolutely devoid of energy and every evening I am so restless I can't relax.

At this point I am pretty certain we are calling this baby our last. 

(aaron would say VERY certain, but can you tell I can't go there yet?  it's all right, you can judge me.  but it is such a hard thing for me to imagine being truly done having babies.)

And so, I have a whole tangle of emotions flooding my already emotional state.

I feel like crying often.

Because as uncomfortable as I am right now, as much as I want this baby out NOW, for the acid reflux and breathlessness to be gone, and to be able to roll out of bed without groaning, I know I will miss being pregnant.

I haven't even let myself think about this being the "last time," because I wasn't ready to go there.

But now I am.  Not ready, but allowing myself because I am face to face with the end.

And I want to enjoy and remember this all.

But it's just not very enjoyable right now.

And so I just feel like a big, hormonal mess of tears and crankiness and sometimes a little bit of insanity.

My poor husband and kids.

What, you ask, does any of this have to do with Lilly's tool belt?

Nothing.

It is just further evidence of my chaotic state of mind.

There is a long list of things I want to write about, but I am just too tired to think.

These pictures are too cute to pass up, so I decided I'd post them.

Few words.  Little thinking.

There is a playhouse going up in our backyard.

Mostly it has been Aaron and James' project.

And I want to write about that because watching the 2 of them work together makes my heart melt.

But right now--I don't have the words.

Hence, Lilly's tool belt.

The other night, Lilly wanted in on the building action.

After bath time and wearing her favorite pink jammies, she headed outside and asked if she could be a builder too,

Daddy outfitted her with James' tool belt.

It was a little big, but she didn't care.
She also had her pink purse because a girl has to accessorize.

And, upon bending over with that tool belt on, the truth was out.
She is like the long line of tool belt wearing men before her.
She has the famous Eskridge crack.

See it?
Except it's cute on her.
(and no, she will never wear low cut jeans to show off that crack to the boys when she is a teenager.  please, just the thought is killing me)

Every time she bent over to do some work, her belt would fall and she'd hitch it back up.

But she still managed to pound a few nails in.

And, no surprise to me, she's pretty good at it.

Hoping for sleep.  

And a productive, or restful day tomorrow.

I'd settle for either at this point.

Here's to the last 3 weeks.  Let's just hope we all survive.

Love from,

Greta

Putting Down Roots

A few weeks ago we planted our first fruit trees.

A plum and a peach.

We're putting down roots and it feels good.

One of the things we loved about this house right away were the fruit trees already planted here.

A big, (gigantic) beautiful avocado tree to remind us of our hometown (Fallbrook-avocado capital of the world) and one of Aaron's musts on our house list.

Can you believe he actually found a house with one?  I can.

And orange trees.  Oh how we have loved those orange trees.

Also blackberry vines.  We're getting them back in shape this year and I have hopes for making jam.  

Or at least some pies.

The family that lived here before us were big into fruit trees too.  I love that about them.

Our yard is small, but we have plans to turn it into as much of an orchard and farm as we can. Do I dream of more room to plant lots and lots of trees?  To have a bee hive?  

To have a cutting garden and an herb garden and a vegetable garden?

Of course I do.

But I probably wouldn't have time for it all.

And besides, wanting more isn't going to stop me from loving what I have.

We're making the most of our suburban backyard.

I grew up walking out to the back yard and picking fruit off the tree.  Or fighting my brother for it, since ripe fruit seemed to be one of the few things that seemed to get him out of bed early.

There are few things I know of more enjoyable than picking a warm from the sun peach, plum or apricot.

So soft you eat them right there on the grass, letting the juice drip down your chin and hands, and going back for another as soon toss the pit over your shoulder.

Home grown fruit is one of life's greatest pleasures.

I am happy to share it with my kids.

James worked alongside Aaron pulling weeds out of the planted and prepping the soil for our bare root trees.  I love to see these pictures of the 2 of them working together.  James loved every minute of it.
It is a good thing for a boy to work with his Daddy.

While this narrow planter bed isn't ideal, it is the best place we had for the trees at the time.  Due to my complete lameness, our original spot for them did not work out.  Next to our house and alongside our neighbor's driveway seemed the perfect spot so I gave my parents the go-ahead to pick up the 2 bare root trees for us.

What I failed to take note of was the placement of the sewer lines and gas lines in my "perfect spot."

If it weren't for Aaron, we might have had some problems on our hands.

Live and learn.

We had to get the trees into the ground--bare root trees won't last long out of it--so we chose this spot. James noted that our neighbors will get all the fruit on their side of the fence.  I noted that too, but I kept this childish thought to myself.  Him saying it aloud proves how childish I really am.

I guess it is time I finally learn to share.

While James and Aaron worked away, William scoured the freshly turned earth for worms.  He found lots, which made his little bug loving heart happy.
He also found this guy.  He placed him in a jar with dirt, sticks and plenty of leaves.  He named him Rocket Launcher and in a couple of weeks we watched RL build a little cocoon.
Just this week we watched him fly away.

Lilly did her own sort of flying while the boys worked.

When it came time to dig holes, William wanted in on the action.  
But mostly so he could look for more worms.

And finally, it was time to plant our trees.
James got to hold them straight while Aaron back filled the holes and watered them.
After all his work with those trees, James feels a strong connection to them.
He and I check them often for signs of growth.

And in just 2 years, we should have our first crop of fruit.
A lesson in patience, yes.
And a lesson in delayed gratification.
Growing things teaches us so much.


It's only February, but I can't help thinking about spring.  For more dirt, plants and growing things, check out Picnics in the Park.
Love from,
Greta

Remembering This Moment: Housework

Remembering This Moment -- a weekly series.

To learn more, go here or here. 

To see more in the series, look under Memory Keeping.

............................................

We bought this house a little over a year ago.

It isn't a lot of house.  It is in need of a lot of repair.

But it is our house.

It is our home.

We, and most especially Aaron, have worked so hard to get us here.  We are a single income family,  and we live in Southern California.  This house represents sacrifice.

I want to remember that.

I want our children to know that it isn't how big your house is, or how perfect it looks, but how much love you put into it and how much love there is inside of it.

I want them to remember this.

Aaron prepping the house for the last coat of stucco before it gets painted.

James and William peer out their bedroom window to watch Daddy at work.

I want to remember the ugly paint color.  The shutter "shadows".  The cracks.

The boys standing in the windows that have no screens.

I want to remember how it was when we were a young family, starting out and doing it ourselves.

I want to remember where we've been.  And who we are.  I want to laugh at how bad it all looked and how we let our kids hang out the windows in their underwear.

I want to remember my Dad coming up to help Aaron.  It was his idea in the first place, this restuccoing it all instead of patching.  He assured us we'd be happier.

I want to remember how he taught Aaron how to mix the stucco and how they came up with a system for putting on and smoothing the stucco that made them both happy.  I want to remember them, 2 of the best men I know, taking care of me in this way.

I want to remember my dear, sweet man taking a day off work so he could do more work.

Housework.

There is still so much left to do.

But we're getting it done.  One wall at a time.

What will you remember this week?

Love from,

Greta

A Weekend in Pictures

It was a full weekend. 3 days is so much nicer than 2. Why don't we do this more often?

So here is some of it in pictures and a few words.

1. Blog Sugar (read here)

2. A graduation (read here)

3. The girl across the street. Her first accident, but not the first for Aaron's truck.

4. Hello summer! The Peninsula

5. Boys and berries at breakfast

6. Aaron turning the back wall from this:

to this:

7. Raising our flag.

8. Nature hike

9. From scratch

10. And in between all that,

a little bit of this:

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. And that your Tuesday is shaping up nicely.

I'm looking forward to blackberry picking tomorrow and lot more sunshine.

Here's to a short week!

See you tomorrow.

Love from,

Greta