Sunday Morning Quality Time

We are not a religious family. Jay and I both have a sense of wonder and awe when it comes to the world around us, but we have what seem to be similar skeptical views toward Religion and Church. We live in a county with LOTS of churches - especially the non-denominational Christian type that seem to be very into kids and reaching out to people in the community - even in the schools. I want my kids to be able to articulate their own philosophies regarding faith or whatever you want to call it, because I know that if we don't intentionally dig and then attempt to fill that hole in each girl, we will be leaving it up to the first friend they encounter at school who asks them to come along to church with them. We respect everyone's beliefs, but don't want to leave our kids' faith journeys in the hands of others - or leave those journeys up to chance.





So, this year, it is a goal of mine to figure out how we want to awaken their appreciation for the world around them, foster their sense of goodness, and define our Sunday mornings as time to spend happily and peacefully as a family. Maybe these mornings will someday involve some sort of something a little more structured, but for now, I like the idea of a walk in the woods, a spin on the merry-go-round and a stop to throw rocks into the Lewis River together.

The Outbuilding at Dawn

My views to the right and left from bed at dawn in the outbuilding. Makes me want to stay out here indefinitely.

Flora and Fauna

Early September is really pretty awesome at our house. The other day, the sunflowers called me out of the house, and then I realized that there was a crowd out in the garden - bees:




and a tiny little frog on a gigantic pumpkin leaf:



...and I think nasturtiums are one of the best flowers around (love those leaves).

Noggin, the Walla Walla Sweet

We're growing Walla Wallas this year in the garden. They are a yummy onion, and can get rather large. This particular specimen showed unusual promise - so much that we were tempted to enter it in the Clark County Fair. They have a category for "largest onion," but what with school and kids and kitchens, we just couldn't find a way to get over to the fairgrounds to enter it at the scheduled time. So, we left it in the garden. When we went to the fair, we made sure to see what the largest onion (not counting ours) looked like. I'm not lying - it looked like someone had gone to Freddie's, trolled the produce section, and grabbed any old onion. Sure, it was big like a sweet onion compared to say, a shallot. But, it was just an onion. Our onion was as big as a human head.

So, the other day, I left the children playing for five minutes and the next thing I knew, they had gone in the garden and yanked out at least half of our onions, including the Pride of Brush Prairie that you see above. So, when life gives you onions, what's a girl to do? The options are limited, so we named it Noggin and took some pictures. We haven't figured how we want to use it - I'm voting for cooking it up in some sauce and enjoying little Noggin bits every time we eat spaghetti for the next year.

Fun Days

The end of May is here, and with that comes Hockinson Fun Days! I had to miss the parade this year because of my Saturday morning biology lab, but we hit the pancake breakfast at the firehouse by 7:30 AM and then rounded out the day with some fun over at Oscars. I love when that time of year comes when we grab a cold bottle of wine, load the kids onto the lawn tractor and go a-visiting up and down the street. (In the one photo, there's a good view of Oscar and Deborah's McDonald's Playland. No wonder Oscar is now Maggie's favorite neighbor.) They also have some baby robins that are conveniently hanging out in a tree adjacent to the playground, only about 5 feet off the ground for easy viewing.

The Apple of Her Eye

The temperature on Monday was 80 degrees, and it was as if the heavens were smiling down upon us. We had a little scavenger hunt, a picnic and some really enjoyable girl time! Farley had a good time, too. The old guy likes the sunshine.

Okay, today I really mean it.

It is FAB-U-LOUS outside today. The princesses are wandering about singing songs and picking flowers. Time for a picnic lunch!

What a Freakin' Gorgeous Day!!

Look at my children, frolicking among the spring growth at Yard-n-Garden Land! Spring is truly here, and today is the best day we have had in 2009. Time to break out the SPF60! Oh... April Fool's!

It's just another sucky day of steady rain... but we did sneak out the other day in between showers. The kids are in desperate need of sunny days and space to run around. I know, July will come soon enough...