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?

Dining Room update

i took these pictures FOREVER ago and totally forgot about them! this is how our new dining room is set up currently, though it usually has toys and food on the floor :)

my neighbor totally gave me the old ironing board! i'm very excited about it. i have a friend who used hers as a sofa table, super fun.

did you spot the truck?

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

thankful tuesdays

today i am thankful for effianna fay, or miss effie as we call her.

she is:

crawling
standing
playing
waving
babbling
making messes
eating things off the floor

this little girl has our hearts. she is so sweet and cuddly, leans in for hugs and is curious. she's been exploring the house, emptying bookshelves and doing her very very best to get into the bathroom. it is really fun to see her and z interact. they already are playing together (zula likes to crawl around the house with her) and getting into fights (effi will cry and look at me when z does something she doesn't like). i am really enjoying this stage.

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 :)

pops of yellow

aren't camera phones awesome? they are so convenient and its amazing how good of a picture you really can get with your phone. i have realized, though, that ever since i got a smart phone my poor nikon has been sitting on the shelf gathering dust. literally. poor guy. and my poor photography. i have become lazy with my pictures. yes it takes like 3 seconds to walk across the room and pick up my nikon. yes it is big and bulky (compared to my phone). and yes i really do take better pictures with it.

i have decided to not let my camera gather dust any longer!

here are some pictures i took with my nikon recently, just yellow things in my house. i love yellow. dont you?

ps i use gimp to edit my pictures. over at a beautiful mess they are doing a new series of posts about how to use Adobe Photoshop Elements. it is not exactly the same as gimp but similar. i have been enjoying them, and used their latest tip in my photos above. they also have tons and tons of photography tips that are really helpful, also their blog is just lovely. you should check it out.

more green in my life

at the beginning of the year i decided i needed more plants in my house. i dont do very well with plants. so i've mostly stuck to succulents. they are so fun and weird looking and...... you can forget to water them and they dont really mind. here are some pictures from around my house of plants i am doing my best to take good care of.

i really really want some air plants. have you seen these before? they are so cool. their roots dont need soil so you can set them on tables or hang them upside down in cool planters. and they barely need any water. you stick them in a bowl of water for ten minutes once a week.

aren't they cool? you can find them here

and here