This Summer is Different

Last Summer we were so busy going and doing and playing, I didn't have time to blog. Last Summer, we could barely catch our breath! This Summer is different, we are all about routines, taking care of family and home, searching for new things to see and do. We're taking things pretty slow in comparison. It's an adjustment for super go all of the time Edward and me, but we are adjusting.

Father's Day!

So this was Father's Day morning at our place. Hope you all had a chance to celebrate the fathers in your life. I'm certainly grateful to have this guy as my babies daddy!

The Graduate (of preschool)

That's right, he graduated. Final progress report stated that "Edward has great verbal skills." and "He likes to run and climb." It said some other good stuff, too... but those made me laugh. I'm super proud of him, and stunned that Kindergarten is right around the corner.

And here's a little peek at our backyard garden. I'm trying Square Foot Gardening. So far, I've skipped a few important steps (soil composition), so I'm not sure how it's going to go. I am, however, incredibly blessed to have a husband so patient with our weekly trips to the garden center to just pick "just a few things" (read- pounds of manure, compost, potting soil, potted plants and piles of seed packets). I know that it would be a lot more economical to just frequent the Farmers' Markets, but it's just so fun to watch things grow.  Little boys and fledgling gardens!

Seriously, Just Look at the Pictures. Or, Why Happy Blogs Depress Me

we eat a lot of yogurt and dream of home grown tomatoes

I've been having a weird 21st century struggle... depressed by the internet. I used to think I had some pretty brilliant ideas, I used to think I was a decent writer and had potential as an art-making-person (still can't handle the A word, though). Used to.

i love my clothesline and watching the magpies fall off of the bird feeder

I mostly quit blog reading for about a year, and it felt really good. But I was superbusy, totally occupied. Then we moved to Colorado and I felt so isolated and friendless. So I turned to my imaginary friends in the blog world... who don't even know they're my friends because I almost never comment (another itchy thing). But then I noticed a white noise frequency of sadness, disappointment with myself, deepened loneliness.

Natty, vacuum, junk on the floor.

It was how perfect everyone else's life appears to be. I know that there are struggles and disappointments and bad days... but that is not what blogs are for, right? They're for being positive, lovely and inspiring. I often wonder about the motives for blogging... for many, self promotion, or a place to make a small bit of (hard earned!) income by attracting sponsors and advertisers. I do it to keep a record of my life without having to make a big scrapbooking mess in my house, I do it in case my Grandma gets her computer fixed and she can check in on her great grand-boy. I used to do it for accountability.  I guess I do it for the same reason we like to look in the mirror- to make sure I'm really here.  I do it for reflection.

dreams in peat pots

I wanted to do it to share, I wanted people to see how creative I was, and what a great sense of style I have. Well... it turns out- I'm not. And I don't. Whew! Saying that really does take a load off.
I am a people pleaser, an achiever, a perfectionist. So naturally, I struggle big time with expectations, and my own are the absolute worst. I try to compete with people who don't even know that I exist. How weird is that?I wonder if I am alone in this strange habit, or if this is an actual phenomena.

stacks of things, furniture dreaming of reupholstering

Anyway, I am excited about this series thing in the blog world- Things I'm Afraid to Tell You because it's kind of where all these happy, focused, beautiful-lifed bloggers confess that they are not perfect and their life is messy sometimes. That I can compete with.

fruit, the letter T made of grill utensils

Maybe it's a little like the tabloids that show celebrities without make-up or at the beach with fat rolls and cellulite and no Photoshop. But it's just so, so very nice to hear that one is not alone in her fears, her inadequacies and odd quirks.

kitchen

In light of my self awarded metal of messy-lifeness, I've given you an Edward guided tour of our Colorado home life, right now. I have for years dreamed of the day I could get our home just-so, I could pull all of my vintage treasures together and make them look clean, curated, classic and not like some Grandma's attic had a baby with a preschool and dressed it with flimsy Target furniture. But alas... I'm just way too cheap and distracted.
I'm not quitting the internets or my quest for a cute home- no way. I totally love it here. I am just thankful for the dose of perspective.

Soccer People (for now)

 

Soccer has taken over our life! But I'm grateful. I really, literally had no idea what we had signed up for with this soccer business. And I still mostly think I should have thought better of it. But 3 nights/ days a week + special clinics, we are at the fields, yelling at Edward to pay attention to his coach and be nice to his teammates.
I'm not sure how much he would like the game if not for the mad post practice feast of Doritos, Go Gurt and Capri Suns. But, he has shown significant progress... most of the kids have figured out which direction to kick the ball- and they even won their first game on Saturday (without the other team scoring for them!). It keeps us busy, it keeps us in the sun, and it's a surprisingly fun family thing to do.
For a couple more weeks at least, I am a soccer mom (eeek!).

Dragon Boy

E completed his first karate class. Despite my reservations (and 80s hang-ups... it was such a thing back then), it is such a good fit for him.
Parents were admitted to the classroom on the final day to observe the progress of the students. It was so fun to see him enthusiastically following directions and pouring his whole self into the exercises. The boys were not just allowed but encouraged to yell their loudest as they recited the poses. Making a LOT noise while following directions- what a concept!
I am of course, super proud of him for learning so quickly... but it's his sustained excitement, focus and total cooperation that totally amazed me.

GF-ing a Pokey Sunshine Pie

Or, a Gluten Free Lemon Meringue Pie.
I don't know if it's an actual thing that people do, but Easter means lemon meringue pie in my world. I've only attempted it one other time- with my mom close at hand. But in an effort to create more holiday traditions, I set to the task.
And if I was going to work that hard, I was definitely going to be able to eat it, too.
So- I used this recipe from Epicurious- where I go for almost all of my recipes that I didn't get from my mom... and she didn't answer her phone so I couldn't use hers.
But I used her handy push crust recipe-

1+1/2 cup flour- I substituted Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour
1/2 cup oil- I used grapeseed, it was handiest
2 Tablespoons milk
1/4 cup sugar
dash of salt

Mix together and press into pie pan (9" or 10")
*I am told that you should not use this recipe for quiche.

For this recipe I blind baked with wax paper and rice for 10 minutes, then without the paper and rice for 10 more minutes. The assembled pie bakes for only 15 minutes, so the crust needs to be pretty much fully baked.

Sorry I didn't take the toothpicks out for the photo... I liked them at the time, but now I'm regretting my laziness. They're there because this pie needs to stay covered and refrigerated or it will get soupy and not pretty. And while the pie tastes great- it's the prettiness that makes it worth the effort.