{this moment} - helping hands

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. See Soulemama to play along.

pumpkin week

We decided to make this week of homeschooling our pumpkin week. In addition to reading all about the life cycle of pumpkins, and plenty of fun pumpkin picture books too, we've examined a pumpkin patch, cooked a pumpkin, counted pumpkin seeds, and done plenty of pumpkin art.

We roasted most of the seeds from our little pie pumpkins, and saved a few for crafts.


We observed the difference in the pumpkin flesh after baking.


We stirred some spices, juice and sugar into our pumpkin mush.


And we watched our pumpkin mush turn into pumpkin butter. We decided to save one jar for our Thanksgiving dinner!

We practiced writing the word pumpkin.

And coloring pumpkins.


We told pumpkin rhymes (that I learned at the Steiner Institute).

In my garden grows a pumpkin

orangy and gold.

Along came a little mouse
so the story goes.

Nibble, nibble went the mouse;

'til the pumpkin was a house:

two small windows

and a door

and lots of feathers on the floor.

There the mouse slept well, I know,

even when the cold winds blow.

Finn needle felted his own pumpkin.


And even though I tried to convince him to put it on our nature table for everyone to enjoy,


he decided to string it and hang it in his bedroom window, "to glow in the sun" as he put it.


Finn also drew the rough outline of a pumpkin on watercolor paper and then painted his pumpkin and the background.


(I love how the pumpkin looks like it's glowing.) And we decided to add some seeds to the pumpkin's tummy.

celebrating Philip

We took some time to celebrate the shyest, most sensitive and sweet member of our clan this evening. Philip turns 9 tomorrow but will be celebrating with his mom so we took this evening as an opportunity to get a head start on the festivities. He's a true autumn boy with a warmth that radiates from his smile and his ever-present hugs.

Elizabeth decided to celebrate him by making a throne to seat him at dinner. I wasn't quite sure he'd be able to stay on the chair aloft those fluffy pillows, but he managed just fine.


Oh, and she dressed him in kingly robes. Doesn't he look celebrated?!


He must be getting old. That's quite a large fire. :)


He chose to have homemade macaroni and cheese and steamed broccoli for his birthday meal.


And following the birthday song, and blowing out the candles, we feasted on the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches that he requested as his birthday dessert.


He definitely enjoyed being the center of attention and love for the evening and he even had a bit of a surprise. Even though he knew it was his year to receive an ipod, he thought it would be for Christmas. A priceless reaction and he's already dreaming of new audiobooks he can't wait to listen to.

Happy birthday to our Philip Henry! We hope *9* is an amazing year for you!

autumn's golden light

Autumn's golden light is bathing every nook and cranny.

And we are soaking up the last of her warmth for as long as it lasts.

{this moment} - back porch cookin'

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. See Soulemama to play along.

{nut juice and nuts roasted on a "solar oven"}

an adventure

Finn and I embarked on an adventure yesterday afternoon which we only returned from a few hours ago. And what an adventure it was!

A good friend whom I have known since childhood had triplets this summer, and following NICU stays and the generally craziness of baby times 3, I had not gotten the chance to meet them yet. When my friend invited me to come stay with her for a night to help her while her husband and mother were unavailable, I was happy to head an hour down the road to help her with overnight feedings.

I learned that 3 babies can be very difficult to photograph with their eyes open and no one crying and that juggling 3 infants is indeed as difficult as it sounds. My friend does it with head-on determination and grace. What a champion of a mother!


On our return trip this morning, I decided to take advantage of geographic proximity and stop by (well, it was only 25 miles out of our way) a local organic mill.


Finn admired the tall grain silos and clutched my hand desperately, a little nervous about the noise.


But we left with 25 lbs of organic all purpose and 25 lbs of organic whole spelt.


All for a fraction of the cost of buying it in bulk at the grocery store.


We also passed our favorite farmer's market, and even though the rain began pouring, we decided to stop for more produce to put away for winter. Finn picked out 2 pumpkins to make pumpkin butter.


And I collected several 2nd quality peppers and 15 more lbs of tomatoes.

And now, once I've had a nap, I guess canning more tomatoes will be next on our adventure list!

Yarn Along and other crafting

Still plugging along on some of the same old projects over here. The reading is a little repetitive as well since the books I've posted today are the ones that we've been reading to Finn every day now that autumn is here. Pumpkin Moonshine is his favorite, but he'll take I Like Pumpkins (a cheap Scholastic book we bought when Elizabeth was 4 and still remains a favorite around here, go figure) and Woody, Hazel and Little Pip as often as we'll read those as well.

I'm still working on the socks, although I'm wading through the heel of the second sock so that's progress. I'm working on a scarf for a Christmas present as well. It's a pretty quick knit using this pattern, and I'm picking it up here and there when I have a few minutes.


The biggest amount of knitting lately has been on Finn's chain maille helmet. Remember the chain maille sweater I made him months ago? I'm just getting around to his helmet now that Halloween is bearing down. But it's finished, and he couldn't be cuter!


Wanting to do some seasonal crafting that did not involve knitting, I picked up this beeswax candle at the farmer's market the other day and decided to make an autumn tree candle using decorating wax.


Now the kids won't let me burn it! :)

last breath of summer

Not much blogging has been happening in the last several days because I've been busy spending time with these fellows. At $.40/lb for the dented and bruised tomatoes at one of my favorite farmer's market stand, I felt the need to put away the last bits of summer before they disappeared entirely. I hope to get another basketful or two before the end of the weekend. Aren't they pretty? (well, if you ignore their "dents and bruises")

10 lbs made into spaghetti sauce

14 lbs to can as chopped tomatoes


I know we'll be glad to have these once the cooler weather is here to stay!

a weekend hike and a random act of kindness

This weekend our friends, the Callahans, came to town for the weekend with their 3 little ones. Most of the weekend was spent in scenes like this with the kids eagerly entertaining baby Penelope or running around the backyard together.

And who wouldn't want to entertain this little cutie!


But on Saturday evening we decided to spring for a change of scenery and the park we opted to visit turned out to be a most providential choice.


Beginning with a picnic dinner, we enjoyed our veggies, hummus, fruit, crackers and cheese before heading over to a delightful vine for swinging.


The littles couldn't quite get the hang of vine swinging, so they elected to manically dance for a bit.


Except Penelope...isn't she just too sweet!


Shortly after the vine swinging, as we were packing to leave our picnicking area, Elizabeth spied this sweet little wind chime hanging in the tree. Upon further inspection, we realized this was a Ben's Bell, and Elizabeth happily untied the chime and read the card, which instructed her to take the bell home to her own yard and pass on the kindness. What a beautiful reminder to treasure the precious things in our lives and show kindness to those we meet!


We continued our walk through the park,


smelling the flowers,


swinging together,


and trying to keep up with the big kids.


(Isn't Paulie such a good big kid friend!)


Eventually we decided to cross the street to another park to wander through the trees looking for ducks and geese.


But the sun quickly began to drop behind the horizon and we decided to make our way back to the car. Imagine our surprise when, as we were leaving, we spotted another Ben's Bell! Now our friends had a bell to take home with them, made doubly special by the fact that they also lost a Ben. Talk about passing on kindness! Clearly these bells were meant for us and our friends, and I'm so glad in the falling darkness they made their presence known.


Now our Ben's Bell hangs in our backyard maple where Elizabeth chose to hang it. I hope Jenni will post a picture of where their Ben's Bell hangs. My heart is bursting from these random acts of kindness that made our evening, and weekend, so special. I can't wait to pass the kindness on.