wherein the little one chooses her own bed

Nina didn't sleep well last night, which of course meant that we didn't either. And she has been going to school until 3 on her two days a week there. Apparently the combo makes a little girl tired.

After I picked her up I decided to do some gardening, which she opted out of to play in a box I left in the kitchen. I have to admit I was skeptical when she asked if she could get some blankets and pillows from her room to take a nap in the box. When I came in a half an hour later, though, there she was still and silent in the box. Even then I was still suspicious, being familiar as I have become to her possum-like ways when it comes to sleep. Then I saw the drool and realized that possum sleep had turned into real sleep.

So,what did I do? Grabbed the camera, of course! I absolutely had to preserve for posterity and share these adorable pics of her stuffed into a little box asleep.

Larry came home eventually and we decided to let her sleep and delay dinner.

Then half an hour before bedtime I decided to try to move her to bed.

That was an hour and a half ago, she seems to be out. She smiled when I kissed her goodnight and told her that I love her, but we haven't heard from her yet.

what have I gotten myself into?

Nina has been wanting a dollhouse for a while--my mom got her a nice one but it wasn't realistic enough for her--it was a lot like this, really nice. So we gave it to a friend and I recently bought a kit for a real victorian dollhouse on Craig's List. And now I have to figure out how to make this:

look like this:

Only I'll make some more interesting choices with the colors (this is one someone is selling online for 400$).

The one problem (besides the fact that I'm pretty scared to screw it up or that I won't get it done in time for her 5th birthday in November) is that I don't really have a place to work on it where she won't see it. Oh, and I'll be asking for advice on colors to paint the trim soon.

the second, longer leg

Here's a map so far, which I will keep updating as internet connection allows.

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the first leg of our trip...

Here's a complete accounting of the northeastern portion of our trip:

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I have many pictures to post and stories to tell, but haven't had enough time with a good internet connection--maybe this evening.

Father's Day Hike

I took a guided hike this morning at the Sycamore Canyon County Open Space Preserve. Somehow, when I offer Nina a hike as the thing we'll do for the morning, she doesn't pick that option, so it was nice to go. A photographer for the local paper was there at the beginning of the hike; it's actually the second time in a week I had my picture taken to possibly be in a newspaper. On Wednesday, I went to the Princeton contra dance and there was a photographer there too. I don't think it was because a handful of graduating high school seniors are regular dancers, but that's what I would write about.

Here's hoping the budget problems don't cause all of the state and county parks to be closed!

mommy in training

I made a strawberry pie last night--super simple, I took some organic smoothie mix I had bought a long time ago (strawberry, kiwi, and banana), heated and pureed it, then added a little cornstarch. Then I sliced a bunch of strawberries into a cooked pie crust and covered them with the puree. Super simple, no sugar added. I then whipped some cream and added vanilla and granulated maple syrup, and ate a slice of pie with whipped cream. It was heavenly. So much so that I had some for breakfast and put the remaining whipped cream into my coffee.

When I packed lunch for Nina today for school, I decided that a slice of pie would be fine since it had no added sugar. When I picked her up I asked her if she had liked the pie. Imagine my surprise when she told me she hadn't eaten it. And when I asked her why, she told me that they had ice cream at school and if she had eaten the pie it would have been too much sugar.

Can someone explain this to me?

organization...oh the joy

Though my home is not always well organized and tidy, I am happiest when it is. I really love when everything has a place and is in it. Really good organizational tools are invaluable, so when I saw this at a local discount store I ogled and lingered over it but didn't buy it. Then I found myself obsessing about it and made a special trip to get it, hoping all the time it was still there.

It was...

It's a charging station for our phones, mp3 player, bluetooth, and camera. And a cork board. And slot for incoming mail. And finally, something I had been looking for--a whiteboard for keeping track of food in the fridge. I made three columns, one for produce, one for leftovers, and one for a grocery list. When anything is put in the fridge, it's written on the board, when it's used, it's erased. And when I've entered the grocery list into my Palm, it gets erased as well.

It's the little things, truly.

how to take a rest

When your mom works at the farmer's market--carefully remove your shoes, find a blanket and a makeshift pillow, and curl up in the car.

Unfortunately, a fewminutes after I took this picture, Theo arrived to play with her and she didn't actually nap, but the scene was just so sweet.

pomegranate

The first year after I planted our pomegranate it made amazing flowers but no fruit. Last year lots of flowers again and just two fruit. This year lots of flowers and already at least 4 fruit coming. But inevitably there will still be some flowers that just fall off; I decided to cut one open to see what they look like on the inside. You can see the seeds forming on the inside.

Of course, right after I bought it, I discovered that eating pomegranate hurts my mouth. But last year our first two fruit were ripening I waited impatiently and mailed them off to some friends who were having trouble conceiving. And recently they welcomed a fantastically cute set of twins. Pomegranates are amazing.