Catch Up

So here's a few things that happened while I was on a blogging hiatus:

1) The big girls received the first MAJOR haircut of their young lives.

Before:

It was sooooo long!

And after:

The "after" picture is horrible of them (they both must have been between facial expressions or something??), but gives you the idea. They each donated 10 1/2 inches to Locks of Love.

It seems like these kids of mine grow in fits and starts. They will wear the same clothes for a couple of years in a row (NO LIE), but then all of a sudden- KA-POW- they are instantly about 7 years older than they were the day before. In the same time frame as these haircuts happened, Kate also lost her first 2 teeth, they both finished Kindergarten, and Kate got her ears pierced.

Hi! What are you trying to do to your poor mother? Must you suddenly be, what, THIRTEEN or something?

2) I learned that the reason I was napping my life away was not because I was simply Lazy, but I was (slash AM) pretty severely anemic. Oh, sweet validation! Oh, little red iron pills that make me dream of days of pooping gone by!

I've been taking some Serious Fucking Iron (or SFI) for almost 2 months now, and I can certainly see the difference. While it will likely take quite a bit longer for my iron stores to reach and STAY elevated, it sure is nice to have a bit more oomph each day. Just wondering though, how long do you think it's safe to play the "but Honey, I'm anemic" card?

3) We joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and have started receiving a weekly farm share. So far so good, but hot damn, it's a lot of lettuce to eat! (Sorry kids, no money for a vacation, but LOOK, we have LETTUCE!)

(I kid. I mean, while a share- or half share in our case- was a large chunk of our grocery budget, it evens out to be around what we would spend weekly of produce anyway, albeit not all at once.)

(Ha, ha, ha, I say that as if we have a budget! Have we EVER had a budget???? *mumblemumblemumblenomumblemumble*)

This is what we got this week:

That's rhubarb, lettuce, more lettuce, some other kind of lettuce, basil, kale, radishes, and cilantro (in the center). Theoretically, there is also some spearmint springs in there somewhere, but my sniffer can't find them. And I really wanted to use the mint for a recipe... Ah, well, CSA user hazard, I suppose: "Woman looses her mint in vat of other greenish garden-y type things." *SIGH*

(Do you think if I merely took a little lick of each bunch of greens, one would taste minty? I mean, do I have to bite into it to find the mint, or would a little lick do????)

Grandma; View

If there's one thing I know for sure, it's that my grandma is the coolest person I know. I have had a life-long love affair with this woman- she cracks me up, she makes me think, she's smart, wise, and honest. I know that if she is around I laugh until my cheeks hurt and come away with a better understanding of myself. And while plenty of time is spend just talking and enjoying each other, my grandma is not the "sit in a rocker" type- she dances and paints and raises dogs and gardens and cooks like a mo-fo and on and on and ON.

I know it's a little unconventional to absolutely *love* hanging out with someone who is 50 years older than ones self, but there you have it.

I don't get to see my grandma much, as she lives a distance away, and she winters in the south, and she's busy and we're busy ETC and on and on. But whenever I get the chance to spend time with her, sometimes just for a day or afternoon, I jump on it. I suppose one of the benefits of not living closer is that we really cherish the times we do spend together.

Since becoming a mother, seeing my children form a bond with my grandma is probably even more rewarding than spending time with her myself. It's funny but my girls are just as enamored with her as I am. The sit on her lap and loving yet absentmindedly rub her cheek while soaking up every word she says. Which is exactly how I used to spend my days with her as a girl.

Last Thursday Grandma was in MN visiting my aunt, so we shamelessly barged in on them and stayed all day, well into the evening. For a woman inching in on 80, I think she's still getting around pretty well. Here's some photographic proof:

Playing with sidewalk chalk:

And Ring-Around-The-Rosie:

And taking a break to cuddle with a couple of the puppies she's selling:

++++++++++++

Also, I don't feel as if I've ranted and raved about how awesome our campsite was. We had such a beautiful view of Lake Pepin that it took me by surprise every morning. I'm quite serious when I say that every time I emerged from our tent I would exclaim "[EXPLICATIVE]!!! Can you believe this view?????" And then I would chuckle/snort and accidentally inhale a little slosh of spit and have to revive myself before even taking my first pee of the day.

In any case, here's a few shots of what we were forced to view DAY IN and DAY OUT for 4 days:

Sailboats!

Off to the left in the campground beach that we frequented:

And the sunsets, man, they sucked:

She's Baaaa-ack

Hello, and so sorry to interrupt your scurrying out the door to back up your rented U-Haul to the local department store to fill with cases upon cases of sunscreen, popsicles, and band-aids (oh, wait, just me then?), but I thought perhaps it was time to swing by my own blog and say howdy.

(And SRSLY, what is with the band-aid consumption in the summer? And why are there only approx. 3 per box, none of which are big enough to cover anything bigger than a flea bite?)

We are all well here in Caza de Green. Our summer schedule is in full swing, and we are enjoying our small town living, which allows us to walk or bike to nearly everything.

This week the big girls are taking a theater class and are learning a small play to perform on the last day. They think this is TEH BOMB.

Over Father's Day weekend we went on our annual camping trip on Lake Pepin, and it was a rejuvenating trip in which I realized that HELLO, it's so much easier to camp without a baby! Not that we didn't have fun other years, but this year our kids were so big and capable of doing so much that it was truly relaxing for the adults.

Oh! Also, Marin seems to have starting growing hair now! She was such a baldie for so long that I am enjoying her curly-and-still-baby-fine locks.

I hope to be doing more blogging, so hopefully I'll see ya around!

Now, how about some pictures?

Last day of Kindergarten (SNIFF)

Marin and I at the campground beach.

Joan and Kate, upside down.

Reading in the tent before bed.

Bald Eagle that was just hanging out in a tree very close to the road leaving the campsite.