The Volcano Saved the Valley from the Sharp Teeth

L crawled into our bed one morning and said, "Daddy, today I want to do something exciting that we've never done before." And shouldn't we all?

John quickly came up with the idea to build a volcano. Ideas like this come quickly to daddies who don't mind messes.

We built our volcano around a glass with baking soda in it. I also put in food dye; and yes, my children were wearing Sunday dresses (although not for long); and no, I wouldn't do the food dye again, but thanks for asking. Also it made the lava pink.

Then we piled up big rocks, little rocks, dirt, beans, more beans, split peas, more dirt. until we finally made a mound that reached the top of the glass. It was a small glass, and I was genuinely surprised how much stuff it took to build this little volcano. Keep in mind the dirt is about to be mud, so don't use any beans you hope to eat later.



 


Then the girls arranged their dinosaurs and played for awhile. This was funny, and I made a darling video of them: arranging the dinosaurs; explaining how the sharp teeth were coming into the valley; then Mommy made it rain in the volcano (vinegar), and it erupted! and the sharp teeth ran away from the great valley; hooray! Do it again!

Only the video didn't take. Boo. So you'll just have to imagine little girls delighted by pink lava, and sharp teeth running for their lives.

I put quite a lot of baking soda in our glass, so each time it fizzled out I would just throw in a bit more vinegar and it would go again. I think it erupted about 7 times. Afterward, the girls played in the muddy pink mess for a long time before moving to the bath. It was really sort of awesome and dazzling in a-hey, let's build a volcano-kind of way.

Pesto, Pasta, and Kids

I've been making pesto with the fresh basil from our CSA this week. I used this recipe, which uses walnuts instead of pine nuts. I love pine nuts, but we're always out. I used sunflower seeds in pesto once, but the flavor was a little weird. The walnuts worked very well, and you get to feel good about all those Omega-3's.

But, also - have I mentioned my little 4-cup food processor? When John and I got married, he had a fancy food processor and I had a little blender. The blender had fewer parts, so it was fast and easy to use, but it only worked with a lot of liquid. A food processor is great of course - I grew up using my mom's - but it was so big and had so many parts, I found myself avoiding using it. Am I'm the only one who doesn't like appliances with too many parts?

Enter the 4-cup food processor. It works well for small portions, for blending soups, pureeing pesto (hummus, guacamole, baba ghanoush...). It does everything my blender did, and most things my big food processor did. It's small of course, but so far I haven't had a single recipe it was too small for. It only has four pieces, and the handy lid keeps the motor part from getting dirty. Plus you can just pull the blade out, put the lid on and put your pesto in the fridge. Anyway, this gadget has simplified my life and kitchen and I thought I'd pass it on. I found mine at my local Target.

What do you use?

Back to Pesto: It's oh so yummy. But my kids won't eat anything with specks and stuff. I don't want to make them their own separate meal, but I also get that they're picky and that's just normal at this age. 

Pasta is an easy compromise. After cooking the pasta, I put some in a separate pot for them. I add pesto and vegetables and nuts or whatever to ours. They get butter and parmesan. But, when I serve it they get nuts and raw veggies on their plate. Usually this means I don't have to do any extra prep work, and we're all eating mostly the same ingredients. 

Nature Table

I've been arranging furniture for our new house in my head. I've decided to use our old tv cabinet by the front door as a catch-all for bags and shoes that usually get left by the door. And the top will be a little nature table. In my excitement I told L about the nature table, and somehow in her excitement my side table turned in to a nature table right now.

baby pine trees, rocks with moss, honeysuckle, sticks, cork, dried worms, and oh so much more.

Half the fun was organizing everything into little pots and jars. We discussed how to group things together logically, but also which things were more valuable for keeping. L and I might disagree a bit on the curating.

organized

Cicada Shells

John and the girls pulled a bunch of cicada shells (skins?) off the trees last week and they've been shuffled around quite a bit before finding their home in our nature display. J calls them "monsters." I'm proud of them for not being squeamish of bugs, but that doesn't cure me of my squeamishness.

Our phone line was struck by lightning last week, and we've been picking up bits of the insulator for several days. L also found a spark plug, a moss covered rock, and some bumpy rocks that she's pretty sure are meteorites.

We also have a decent collection of sticks, bark, moth wings, and pine tree seedlings. We even have a dish just for toys found outside, and its interesting to see how being left outdoors has changed them. I haven't figured out what these burr like plants are yet, but I think they're my favorite.

Initially, I was afraid our nature table would be made of gravel from the driveway and smooshed pine cones. But now I see I underestimated my little archaeologists. We're still on the hunt for fossils. No telling what will turn up next!

And we haven't even set up our table yet!

Almost Moving

As our summer is coming to an end, I'm living among boxes and eagerly preparing to move. We're still a few weeks away, but my mind is already there, rearranging furniture and picking out paint colors. I've been wandering the aisles of antique shops and home stores for fixtures and antique furniture that will fit my budget and my space.

Mostly, I'm just ready to be in my own space. To walk on my own land, and to plant things in my own dirt. 

My studio is mostly packed up and overrun with tools and paints. I've been refinishing some furniture, and John is building a new chicken coop. All the sewing and drawing projects I was planning have sort of dissolved now. Although I'm expecting a frenzy of sewing after the move. Here are some plans:

from pinterest

• bed curtains for the girl's bunk bed (and curtains for the whole house)
• big flannel board and pieces for our school room
• a quilt for our bed  
• outdoor cushions for our porch furniture

I also have some building, painting, and decorating plans. Pinterest is making my head spin, so it seems like it may be time to retreat. Hang with me guys, there'll be plenty of fun, sewing, and learning this fall.