Ordinary - July 31 - Soda

Rarely do they get soda.

Never have they had a can while swimming.

Clearly an indulgent Mom on a hot summer day.



Ordinary - July 30 - Swing

Old tire and a tree

two brothers swing happily

summer vacation

Ordinary - July 29 - Farm Camp

In addition to art camp this summer, we signed the boys up for one additional week of camp.  It's such a popular camp that everyone automatically gets into a lottery upon sign-up, and this year each boy  actually got a spot...one in outdoor adventure camp the other in market garden camp.  They are outside 100 percent of the time.  Today was spectacularly beautiful...the sky, the sun, the green, the summer day ideal for two boys.   When I picked them up at the end of a long day, they were starving, thirsty, dirty and happy.  Just the way I want them.       

Ordinary - July 28 - Distracted

The boys took a large load of towels out of the dryer and their task was to fold them.  They became distracted - for close to two hours  -  reading books to one another as they lay on top of the warm towels.  When they were finished reading they continued their job and folded the laundry.  With summer, comes the luxury of a very slow morning, and the gift of  space.    And a patient mom who realized what was most important here.  That mom was Anna.  She stayed busy on her projects not pestering the boys at all....knowing that eventually that chore would be done.  And it was.

Ordinary - July 27 - Balloon

 

Our family loves hot air balloons.  Mostly for the chase and landing.

But sometimes we also have an opportunity to explore them a little more closely.



Ordinary - July 26 - Algae

Old pond — frogs jumped in — sound of water.

Basho

Ordinary - July 25 - Hinge

I was out taking photo's yesterday and came across an old barn.  I took a bunch of photo's and one of this hinge.  Anna is starting a new business soon and it's called Hinge.  What I love most about this is that it's been a slow and steady process.  She and her colleague have been thoroughly researching, gathering, building, and working on starting up their new company for nearly a year.  They have been working with a graphic designer, lawyer, real estate agent, and about a thousand other helpful people for a very long time now.  And it's opening soon.  I am limited here in how many details I can provide, but you know it has to do with architecture and design if you know Anna.  And here are the character traits of Anna that make you know it's going to be successful - she is meticulous, thoughtful, creative, hardworking, devoted, full of integrity, careful, responsible, talented, kind, determined, ambitious, and extremely capable of anything she puts her mind to.  So stay tuned. And if you live near us and need architectural services, Hinge will be opening in a couple of months.  More details soon. 



Ordinary - July 24 - French Toast

A great thing about 8 year olds is they can cook for themselves.

 



Ordinary - July 23 - Playful

In our family we strive to be silly, playful, and fun.

Somebody starts it and we all eagerly follow along.  Often stupidly. 

Always our vacations are fun like this,
but other ordinary moments bring out our best playful spirits too.   

We like it this way.


 

Ordinary - July 22 - Melon

Summer melon always tastes delicious - especially when served outside in the sweltering sun.
Anders is now a fan and we are awaiting Kuba's arrival into the cantaloupe fan club.

Ordinary - July 21 - Birthday Cake

I enjoy making and decorating birthday cakes, so today I wanted to make my own cake.  I baked a three layer lemon cake with lemon/vanilla icing.  I decorated it with white piping -  it was very simple, but delicious.  We ended a spectacular day with a large slice of cake with vanilla ice cream.  Before the birth of my first son, I absolutely would have baked a chocolate cake.  But because he absolutely hates chocolate,  I too have become a fan of yellow cakes and vanilla ice cream.  This is one of the benefits? of being a mom.  

Ordinary - July 20 - Zinnias

I love zinnias.  Absolutely love them. 

Their bold and saturated colors make me so happy.  

Each summer I fill my house with as many bouquets of zinnias as I can.

I planted a lot in my yard this summer just for picking. 

I also pick them at the farm.

Tomorrow morning I am headed to my school to pick some coral ones

from the pick your own flower boxes. 

I am getting there early when the world is still quiet.

Tomorrow is my birthday. 

This is my present to myself - a bouquet of coral colored zinnias. 

 

Ordinary - July 19 - Tomatoes

We belong to a local CSA - Intervale Community Farm.

We've been members there since Anders was a baby.

Just this week our small share brought us 3 large and 3 small tomatoes.
Right now, all of them are sitting on our windowsill.



Ordinary - July 18 - Posing

I take a lot of photographs and I have since the boys were babies.

I feel somewhat handicapped without my camera.

Because of this my boys are good at and comfortable with posing.

See how naturally Kuba hams it up at the yogurt shop?
I just have to like the green wall and ask him to stand there.

His idea to keep that spoon in his mouth, not mine.

 

Ordinary - July 17 - Holding

Often when they walk Anders and Kuba will hold hands.

It's part of their MO to me.  Anders especially loves to hold Kuba's hand.

They truly are such good brothers. 

Here the boys are walking to the library to check in their summer reading log.

Afterwards we all went to get a burrito and Orange Leaf Yogurt. 



Ordinary - July 16 - Confidence

An amazing day to be sure.  Sort of not ordinary, but I am going to post it anyway.

Today Kuba scaled a mountain, walked a desert, and JUMPED,

wildly and excitedly with abundant thrill - straight into the deep end.

8 feet deep.

Over and over and over. 

Two hours of jumping.

Until it became ordinary. 

 



Ordinary - July 15 - Dinner

Dinner with Beth and Hazel is a common happening at our house. 

I think about once a week we eat together.

Anders and Hazel are best friends and our families just feel like family.

Tonight's menu: grilled chicken sausage, rotini pasta with olive oil and salt,

sliced tomato, carrot sticks, grilled onion, and left-over potato salad.

Tonight's dinner games: telephone and twisted telephone. 

Tonight's diners: Anna, Anders, Kuba, Judy, Lea, Beth and Hazel.

Ordinary - July 14 - Backyard

We  have raccoons in our backyard this summer. 

A mama and four small kittens. 

The great thing about this is that they are so cute.

The unfortunate thing is that we also have three chickens.

Racoons like chickens.

 

For dinner. 



Ordinary - July 13 - Legs

We took a ferry to the other side of the lake. 
Just for fun.
Just for dinner.

Just in time for the sunset. 

The shadows from the ferry railing were lovely on our legs.

Ordinary - July 12 - Breakfast

The breakfast of champions - with yogurt and granola added.

Ordinary - July 11 - Front Door

Our front door is never used.  But still, it sits there beckoning.

I decided to give it competition and planted a flower box right next to it. 
 

Ordinary - July 10 - Crocs

What would summer be without crocs? 

 Anders and Kuba have been wearing them all summer for many summers. 

Absolutely the number one favorite shoe of convenience.  Easy on, easy off. 

We've had black, dark blue, royal blue, mickey mouse, and color changing crocs.

All have been well loved.

Ordinary - July 9 - Hair

Kuba's flaxen hair
astonishingly gorgeous
jealous is the sun


Ordinary - July 8 - Waiting

Art in the barn started today. 

It's art camp out in the barn with fifteen young children ages 5 through 8.

My boys love it and so do I.  In this photo Kuba is waiting for kids to arrive for the first day of camp and he is accompanied by our "adopted" neighborhood stray - but really it is our cat now- Tiger.



Ordinary - July 7 - Bath

Here's one area that I have no shame.   Someone posted recently on Facebook asking folks to comment on the frequency with which they bathed their kids.  She said, "Be honest."  Everyone who responded by the time I read the post answered with an every other day pattern.  Some with more frequency.  I was the only one up to that point who answered "once a week."  That is it folks. 

Baths once a week, usually on Sunday nights before the new week. 

This is our pattern and I am sticking to it. 

Ordinary - July 6 - Splash

It's summer and we've been swimming.

This is a splash Anders made today when he jumped in. 

Sort of looks like a bowl. 

A beautiful bowl of splashing drips and drops of water, with my lovely 8 year old sinking below.
Just like a cannon ball.



 

Ordinary - July 5 - Flip

Anders be nimble.

Anders be cool.
 Anders flip into the swimming pool. 
 

Ordinary - July 4 - Fireworks

Each summer we see the fireworks on the fourth of July. 

Some kids when they are little are afraid of the loud booming.  My boys aren't. 

Some kids when they are little cannot stay up that late.  My boys can. 

Some kids cannot stand the bugs.  My boys don't mind. 

I like that the thrill of the crackle and pop is worth it to them - late, loud, and buggy. 

Ordinary - July 3 - Turtles

Mistake.  And yes, we made it. 

Last summer in June while on vacation, the boys caught a couple of small, cute turtles and wanted to keep them.  We made them put them back after allowing them to play with them for a day or two.

Then this year we saw an add for free turtles...with tank, filter, pump, etc. and we decided to take them.  We didn't think to ask questions first, just jumped in with a YES, thinking they would be two ordinary and small turtles.  And then.  And then we went to pick them up.  There were two very large red ear sliders with four inch nails waiting for us.  They were massive and scary.  We had no idea what we were getting into.  The species lives for about 70 years.  The turtles are not native to Vermont, so can't be released into the wild here.  And they generate a lot of waste.  Which means the fifty gallon tank has to be cleaned out regularly.  This is complicated to say the least.  They are not particularly warm or fuzzy and the kids don't really care too much about them., but we are doing our very best to connect and keep them alive.  It's been four months now. 

But who's counting?

 

Ordinary - July 2 - Bed

The boys have a bunk bed in their room. 

Anders has the top bunk, Kuba has the bottom.

Anders hardly ever sleeps in the top bunk, instead prefers to sleep with Kuba in the lower bed.

I keep trying to talk Anna into switching them to a full size bed so they can actually fit well,
 but this is something that is low on the totem pole of priorities,

and so for the time being they share the lower bunk. 

 Someday when they get bigger we will have to figure out a solution

to the tiny bed sharing syndrome.  I seem to be the only one with the issue right now. 

Ordinary - July 1 - Shoes

In our entrance hallway/mudroom we have four baskets for shoes. 

Each one of us has our own basket, but when we get busy, the baskets get jumbled. 

Once when I was cleaning out the mudroom, I emptied all the baskets and found a dead flattened mouse in Kuba's basket.   I think he (or one of us) may have stepped on it in the backyard and carried it in on the bottom of their shoe.  Sometimes our cat, Tiger, leaves gifts of dead mice and dead birds laying in the yard.   I can't think of any other way the flattened mouse could have gotten there.