how we wednesday: the fruits of our labor

we did a little picking the other day. it is so fun and exciting to eat things out of the garden! our first year we had a vegetable garden i remember thinking, "man! i totally planted that and it grew." as if i did anything special other than dropping a seed and watering it, as if this hasn't been happening for years and years, as if all my food isn't planted and watered by someone. it is a joy and i think a great learning experience to have a vegetable garden. this is our third year having a garden and we have definitely learned alot.

i have learned:
not to trust the roommate to water when we are away (this was our first year and sadly not very many plants made it through our vacation)
carrots are my favorite thing to pick
to weed and weed and weed
that even though i really really don't wanna water, that's the easiest part and my plants won't live through my laziness
to start early, really early
starting from seeds is hard
my house is too cold to for seedlings
two-year-olds like to pick anything, especially if its not ripe
zula knows how to enjoy a carrot

this is how we garden:

are the love-carrots so cute?

how we wednesday camping edition

we just got back from our annual family camping trip. the husby has been going to the same place for the past 22 years. crazy huh?

let me just say, camping with two little ones was actually not that crazy. we all slept in a tent, the same tent that aaron has camped in since he was in highschool. it was a squeeze but was actually pretty great. effi got up at 5:30 every morning and we went to bed super late every night. but it was relaxing and fun and zula had a couple really exciting adventures. when we arrived at 10 pm the first thing she said was, "i wanna get dirty" haha and dirty she was from that point on until we got home.

this is how we camp:

how we sleep on the beach

how we get rid of some energy

how we stand on a log

how we get dirty

how she falls asleep 2 minutes into the car ride home

chicken update

the chicken coop. oh it took forever to finally build but here it is! solid, roomy and perfect for our five hens. well...... four hens and..... a rooster. yep that's right poor cinderella (the crested special) is not a girl but a boy. "she" started crowing a couple weeks ago. we are a little bummed, because she he is so cool looking. but our yard is no place for a rooster, so says the city of yakima. we found him a good home with wide open spaces and plenty of other chicken friends. our hens it seems, dont really know what to do with themselves now that he is gone. zula keeps asking, "where's chickalina."

having chickens has been lots of fun. still no eggs but we are counting down the weeks and dreaming of fresh eggs. zula loves them and spends lots of time feeding and talking to them.

the husby found the chicken coop design online and we spent a grand total of $60 on supplies! thank you restore. everything we read about chickens said to anticipate spending at least a couple hundred on your coop. ha! take that internet.
she still needs a coat of paint.... but i'm kinda indecisive about the color.

inside drinking water. they look so funny when they drink :)

treat trip

we decided to get our vacation started off right by going out to ice cream the night before.

no really, honest. that was our reason for going.

we walked to diary queen. i love love love that so much is within walking distance from our house. this is one of the many reason why i love our neighborhood.

i got a cherry dipped cone, aaron got a blizzard

z got a cone.

and poor little effi got a styrofoam cup

she was pretty excited about it though:)



 here is the sugar kicking in:

how we wednesday

it's been hot! we are avoiding using an air conditioner (we'll see how that goes) cuz you know old houses=big electric bills. we got the pool set up and we've been outside a lot. i don't really mind the heat, i do mind cranky kids (and husbands) because of the heat. it's nice to go sit in the shade and watch zula swim and not feel like i should be doing something else cuz its "too hot to do anything."
here's how we've been doing things lately:

how we spread cream cheese on a bagel:

how we enjoy chocolate covered strawberries (thanks grandpa terry!):

how we wish to swim:

how we cut a bagel:

how we torture play with the cat:

how we eat yogurt, everyday, all day:

how we wednesday

sometimes you get run down with everyday life, ya know. boring same old stuff. but then your two year old will do something really silly and brighten your day.  i have been trying to catch her in the act during the last week. some things are silly, some are normal, some are just cute. this is how we do it:

how we wear a top knot:

how we help dad build a chicken coop (by licking sawdust it seems):

how we play with effi:

how we walk to church (without dad):

how we help mom carry stuff into the house (that's a ladle she's using as an umbrella):

how we eat toast: