garden update, skippable

this is more for me....So it's late summer, summer garden is wrapping up. It was a less productive year than I expected and I think I can cut myself a break as I did have a newborn/infant this season, and I do all the gardening and care for the bees/chickens; York said he wants nothing to do with it (including watching kids so I can have some time) so it's hard to be anything but slightly neglectful to everything. However, I did harvest/am still harvesting tomatoes, figs, blueberries, peas, strawberries, muscadine grapes, beans, radishes, acorn squash, basil, cucumbers, lettuce, bell peppers, onions, garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach, and carrots. My numbers aren't great, though. This year I planted fewer cucumbers because last year I had so many I ended up feeding many to the chickens; this year I barely had enough for a few salads and never had enough for my favorite cucumber soup. I have not yet figured out how to plan enough peas, blueberries, or strawberries, but that's ok because the boys just eat those straight out of the garden. I have so much basil I've made enough pesto and frozen it that we should make it through to next summer without a problem, which is great since it's the boys favorite dish. My onions and garlic were small because I harvested them too early, but they were/are still delish. I need to figure out how to store them better; I thought they'd be ok in the basement and so far most of the onions and garlic are but the potatoes molded almost immediately. I need to get a move on the fall garden.
The bugs were bad this year, so much so that I complained enough that for mother's day York sprayed some of my plants with Seven Powder....freaked me out, but did the trick! I don't think I cannot grow organically considering the boys propensity for eating straight out of the garden...even the squash flowers they eat! The Japanese beetles were the worst and I believe I read that the more years into organic gardening you go the worse the bugs get so next year ought to be a doozy.
Then there was the headless chicken incident and the other day I went to inspect my beehive. I didn't smoke them like I usually do and I remember taking note that they were drinking up the honey with intensity--which is usually what they do when I smoke them (for fear that a fire is coming and they might have to get the heck out of there), but when I don't smoke them they usually just think I'm trying to steal their honey and they get mad and try to sting. Anyway, I didn't think it was that odd, but I did move a few of the honeycomb frames around...then yesterday there was so much activity it worried me to the point that I googled, "my bees are going crazy." They were just flying around the hive so much, like something was wrong. But google said it may just be an orientation flight since I moved stuff around, but today things looked way quiet and when I went out to check on them they were gone. Two bees I saw and that was it. I'm trying not to overreact and say it's colony collapse or anything, there were ants and beetles and nasty wax moths already moved in. The honey was all gone. I am very sad about this. I hope they just flew away and found a new home. The other day the tractor came to the soybean (round up ready soybeans, by the way) and sprayed something on them. I have no idea if this is at all connected, but it does worry me. I really, really loved my bees. I don't know if I'll get a new colony next year. I think I have too much going on, but I already miss them.

first day of 1st grade

Wiley had his first day of First grade, in Sky class, today. I dropped him off; it was just the two of us and he tried oh so hard to be brave. He clandestinely wiped his tears, but I saw him and when we went into the classroom it was sooo busy and overwhelming and he was very unsure even though several of his friends, including his two besties from kindergarten, were there. The other parents tried to help, one introduced Wiley to her son who was in 2nd grade (it's a 1&2 composite classroom). So when Wiley started to really cry I took him to a quiet corner to let him cry and comfort him. It was then that his best friend, Edward, came over to comfort him--with no prompting from anyone; his mom wasn't there (probably dropping off her older son). Edward said, 'we're here, and there are lots of us here. It really isn't that bad.' Wiley tried to cheer up and he and Edward spied some toys, but then they flicked the lights for the kids to gather for settling in (a Quaker way to start the day, they are do some silent reflecting and centering; it's very neat). Wiley did not want me to stay for this and Melissa (Edward's mom) showed up. I asked if Wiley could sit with her and she said yes. As they walked away Edward put his arm around Wiley and said, "I'll take care of you and you'll take care of me." Oh my. I've told this story all day and it still makes me verklempt. I just can't believe kids of their age have this much heart, empathy, and caring. Truly, truly amazing. I am so grateful for this.

Today I came home and asked York my usual child hand off questions, did CB sleep? poop? eat? Here's the answer I got to if she ate: "I fed her a few spoonfuls of strawberry jelly. It's the only baby food kind of food I had.....she loved it."
OMG.

Do you like the word hot? I like the way it feels in my mouth. --wiley

And I just found my keys; they were stuck down in my camera bag where both York and I had already checked. I am pretty embarrassed by this.

beach vacation

We had a wonderful trip to the beach. Some highlights:

There was a lot of yelling--which is a memory that would have most likely faded had I not just immortalized it, but overall, the young boys out of their element and comfort zones did very well.

We got to see some meteors from the meteor shower. They were super cool. Wiley and I sat outside looking for them and I saw three. One was a huge red streak across the sky.

We buried the boys in the sand up to their heads they seemed to like that.

The photo shoot wasn't nearly as painful as I worried it would be.

Dad was a very good sport throughout the trip.

The swim out to the sandbar was frought with peril and thank goodness dad was there to pull Archer and me to safety. And to make two more trips to take both Wiley and Archer back to shore.

I had a great few minutes of splashing and jumping waves in a rough sea with my sisters.

Cora Bell seemed to enjoy eating sand. Her poop still seems gritty. She fell asleep almost immediately every time she was shore side.

Pop taught Wiley that where his head goes his body goes and his swimming is much improved.

Pop taught Archer the breaststroke kick: up and out.

Archer went from scared--hold me!--to body surfing--the good waves are out more!-- in a matter of minutes.

Ms. Han cooked some delicious shrimp! I'm inspired. When she was teaching Wiley to say thank you in Vietnamese he thought she was asking him to "come with me" and he said he didn't know what to say.

I couldn't walk for most of the vacation due to 60 calf raises.

I got a lot of help for which I am very grateful.

key debacle

Here's what was on my windshield when I went to get my car unlocked, after sitting in the Chapel Hill Country Club for a week:

Hi Friend,
I just wanted to let you know that some knucklehead vandalized your car by slapping an Obama sticker on it. The last thing you want is to be driving around all day, looking like an idiot.
Take care. A Good Samaritan.

The fact that there is a comma splice in this drives me crazy for so many reasons.

One of the things I was quite worried about was the colander of fresh figs from my fig tree I had left in the car; I was worried it would be moldy and smelly, but instead I had a nice colander of dried figs.

And I didn't find my keys.

While Wiley was sitting next to Cora bell playing: I lost my lego guy's sword
Me:uh oh
Wiley: is that uh oh because my Lego guy is defenseless or because Cora bell might have a chance to swallow it?

As we were looking for the beach house and Charlie and Mimi pulled up Wiley says: Mimi how is it?
Mimi says: I dont know we haven't been there yet
Wiley: no I mean being married

This morning I woke up and found something had eaten the head off one of my chickens. Then Emily got married.

Shall we take bets now on how many legos Cora Bell will swallow in the next year?

At 6 months, Cora Bell is 22lbs, this is 99th percentile. Her length is something like 75th percentile.
At 6 years, Wiley is 44inches and 44pounds. This is 25th percentile.

"mom, when I put my lucky penny in my mouth, I accidentally swallowed it." --Archer

Cora Bell is 6 months old. She is such a happy baby. Wakes up with a smile and smiles all the time until she's tired, then to sleep easily and happily. She has learned to say DADADA which makes York happy. And she's officially eaten sweet potatoes, avocado, and bananas. We just think she's the best.

super whiny Archer voice: "moooom, that's not fair that Wiley got born first."