Friends...

What a blissful, BUSY few weeks we have had! It is finally that time in Maine where the weather is cooler and sunny, no bugs to carry us out of the yard and tons to do, so what does that mean? Visitors! It is so great to catch up with all the wonderful people who moved away and love to come back. Why can't we just build a town where we all live?! Bliss!
Nicole is in Tasmania working on her Ph.D. and we are lucky enough to see her a few times a year when she comes back to Maine. She has such a fun energy, both kids love to be around her. I always love hearing about her adventures and fun she has enjoying life.

Sweet little Zora and her parents came to visit from LA.

Zora's momma, Cindy, is such a good friend of mine - I wish we had the chance to connect more. I am hoping they will someday move CLOSER!

Our friend Heather came from DC to catch up with life in Maine. She is always such a joy to be around and I love that we have the chance to see her next time we hit DC.

Heather was staying with friends of ours and their son Peter got to come play with AnaSofia and Kasper while the mommas visited too. You can see AnaSofia and Kasper love their buddy Peter!

It had been 3.5 years since we saw Heather and Haley. I babysat Haley while her Momma went to school occasionally and was really sad when the two of them left. They only live a few hours away but we don't get a chance to see one another enough. I couldn't BELIEVE Haley and how mature and amazing she was. I am hoping AnaSofia will get to grow up around her a little more to learn some of her wonderful ways!

And finally our amazing babysitter Meghan who we might not see as much now that summer is over - she wows AnaSofia and Kasper by pulling up on her motorcycle (yes, very cool), building forts, making bracelets and playing outside. We've loved getting to know her.

Just a little journal of our few weeks of friends. It has been a special time. Hope everyone has had a chance to reconnect with those they love even if it is by telephone or mail. I took the time to mail a few handmade packages this week that I hope made some people smile. Nothing is better than a surprise gift, right?!

More of the same...

Lazy summer days filled with...
A little sewing from this book from one of my favorite mommas. I like her fly by the seat of the pants sewing instructions (although she did have a lot of formal training first...). I made this "mama's night out bag" using a vintage tablecloth and my favorite sheets (the ones I also used to make our play tent shown somewhere on here).

Some silly, fun art we did for a new baby coming. I call it "bookshelf art", as in put on your bookshelf behind a few things...

Eating dinner outside - yummy garden fresh beets and carrots with pork chops made using a recipe from this great book.

And a naked AnaSofia showing off a bug (in this case a grasshopper).

So yes, more of the same which is all so lovely to me because once this weekend hits our Fall is filled with friends, festivals and fairs which is also lovely but I am really savoring the routine of our summer days. I hope you are too!

Not much to report...

This is us NOW:

sewing (Kasper is only modeling this outfit, I promise I am not torturing him THAT much!).

growing (check out those two little teeth!).

playing at a new beach with friends.

(There is always time to find a caterpillar!).

eating outside ALWAYS.

and watching the bats and flowers glow at twilight.

So not much to say, but it is all very lovely! Happy summer days!

36 years...

We had a wonderful day today celebrating a very special guy...
Soren woke up to a "traditional" Danish breakfast prepared for him by the kids and me.

Kasper giving his birthday smile!

AnaSofia wanted to give her Far an "orange, one-eyed monster". Hm... So she picked the fabric, described him and Momma helped her put him together.

She was very proud of her little invention, so was Far.

Soren had a lot of help blowing out his candles that night after spending the afternoon napping (ALL of us!) and playing at a fantastic outdoor pool in town.

Happy Birthday Soren! We are so thankful for all you do for our little family!

Here's to Good Friends!

We are so thankful to have such wonderful friends in our life. We were lucky to spend the past two weekends (bbq and then a fly in!) with two of our favorite people! John and Elizabeth invited us to their house for a barbecue to give AnaSofia her 3rd birthday present. She was pretty excited about it all.

Hunting for skunks with Elizabeth (well, not REALLY... Although if you know Elizabeth you might not be surprised...).

Showing off her coat.

REALLY showing off her coat (or her belly?!).

Checking out Mr. John's plane.

The girls taking it all in.

And talk about special birthday gifts! AnaSofia received her OTHER cool birthday gift from them in the mail - a fantastic kit to hatch butterflies. The caterpillars arrived with their food, house and instructions and then we were able to sit back and watch the action. It was such a fun few weeks and now we see the butterflies around the yard.


This past weekend we went to their house for the annual Miller's Field Fly In. It was AMAZING to see their grass airfield FILLED with planes and watch three planes flying in as we arrived.
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Weekend Fun

We headed to the coast to relax this weekend away from the busy-ness of home and work and enjoy a few summer moments as a family...




Hope everyone had a chance to get their toes a little wet this weekend!

The Elephants Come Marching In!

We are sewing on the yucky days around here and playing outside on the nice days. Thank goodness it has been nice and summery these past few weeks, it makes the days so much fun! Between trips to the lake, visiting friends and enjoying the flowers in the yard I did manage to finish overalls and recycled t-shirt pants (Thanks Uncle John!) for the kids. AnaSofia loves doing art projects while I sew or making teddy bear a "t-shirt" by putting pins and tape on fabric. It is a really wonderful time for us together when Kasper is sleeping.
AnaSofia wanted an elephant on hers so Kasper got the same. I made my own pattern for both and many people who have seen AnaSofia's overalls say they look like their 60s disco era clothes. Fine with me! It was fun and I figure they will be wearing coordinated outfits until they realize they don't like it!

Garlic Scapes!

This is the time of year when I start to wonder how we will EVER survive the winter without fresh veggies from the garden and from our CSA farm. The taste of a fresh carrot reminds me that we need to relish in all the goodies now because come cold weather we can only dig through what we froze or canned and try to make the best of it. It is sometimes hard for me to think of what to do with our abundance of produce this time of year but I make sure to use every last bit because I hate to waste all the green goodness, sometimes that means putting arugula on everything from pizza to poached eggs.
The best discovery this year has been garlic scapes, the yummy (and beautiful!) shoots from the garlic plant. We have been using them a lot these past few weeks in scallion pancakes, stir fry and I am now grinding up the remainder with a little olive oil and freezing it as a flat sheet to break off and use in stir fry, burgers and other dishes this winter. Here is a yummy fresh salsa recipe we have been noshing on around here:
In a food processor combine 5 chopped garlic scapes, 2 hot peppers and pulse for a bit. Add 1 onion, quartered and for a few more seconds. Add a handful of cilantro and a 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes. Pulse for another few seconds and YUM!!!