Remembering Tasha Tudor

Things have been so hectic this summer that I haven't planned
any activities in honor of Tasha Tudor, but I thought it important to remember her. Like Beatrix Potter and Cicely Mary Barker, I was enchanted with her illustrations as a child and now. A few years ago when I was looking for A Child's Garden of Verses for Luke to use for copy work, I deliberately sought out the version illustrated by Tasha Tudor. I'm also certain that I wouldn't have found The Secret Garden nearly as fascinating without Tudor's illustrations accompanying the text.

The recent issue of Victoria magazine has a tribute to Tasha Tudor. Stacey Norwood writes, "She was lauded as a renaissance woman whose personal revolution turned the clock backward instead of forward, and remained until her death dedicated to a vision that was uniquely her own."

I picked this book up at a used bookstore a few years ago and I plan to peruse it a little today and maybe make myself a cup of tea as I enjoy her magical world.

Before and After pics of Sammy's haircut

Okay. I admit it. My heart is broken. I miss these curls so much!
His hair was getting wild in the back and I decided it was time to get the little boy haircut.


Doesn't he look so much older?! I'm so bummed, but I realize now that Sammy looks a whole lot like his daddy! I just didn't see it under all that hair. I suppose I'll get used to the new Sammy, but for now, I'm mourning the loss of all those curls!

Ella's Fiesta!

We celebrate a lot of birthdays during July and August! Here are Luke, Ella, Sammy and Tate at
Ella's fiesta last weekend. In August alone, we celebrate my sister Kat's, mine, Stephanie's (Ella's mommy) and Ella's birthday. We eat a lot of birthday cake in August!


Here's Luke wearing the fiesta sombrero.


Just another cute picture of the birthday girl with Luke and Sammy.

Sam and Cecilia

Here's Sammy with my niece Cecilia. I don't know why Sam looks so serious, but aren't they adorable?

Summer's end

Every year at this time, I realize that summer is over even though there are technically several more weeks left until Autumn officially begins. Last Saturday rain poured all day. I enjoy a cozy rainy day. It makes me want to curl up with a good book and some tea, but I didn't do that. I decided to tackle the huge piles of laundry and go through it all to decide what to keep and what to give away. This is one of the things on my early nesting list. The house was dark as it rained and I reveled in the stormy day. It rained so much that it flooded some of my plants, but that's okay. I'm resigned to the fact that I'm not getting tomatoes this year and most likely no carrots. I think my plants are way behind schedule and I know that the first frost is coming sooner than I'd like. I'm still holding out hope for mini-pumpkins. The weather has turned crisper and it's that first sign that Summer is at it's end, but although I get a short summer here, the transition to Fall is welcome for me. I love the cool nights and I like preparing for getting warm and cozy and bringing out the burnt orange, browns and reds to decorate the house. So, although Summer took forever to get going this year, I'm not sad for the changes coming soon.

Early Nesting?

I always kind of thought that nesting was that short period of time before a woman gives birth where suddenly she can't stand that there might be dust under the fridge. After attending to the dust accumulation under the fridge she decides that she needs to check the expiration date of everything in the fridge which then leads to the removal of every item so she can deep clean. Then, she goes into labor. Anyway, I feel like I've gotten this nesting thing early this time around.

My husband has been on a month long sabbatical and we're (sadly) in the final week already. He's done a ton of work on the basement. He's painted nearly everything and we're getting ready to have new carpet installed, but there's still so much to do and I find myself in panic-mode. We start our new school year right after Labor day and I know that August will go quickly. I've been thinking about all the things I want to have accomplished before we begin another school year and all the things I want to have accomplished before baby girl gets here. There is so much juggling of stuff to be done. We have a small space in the basement that we have designated for a classroom. We bought some new bookcases and Paul is getting ready to stain them and then mount them to the wall. After that, we will need to shuffle all of the books down to those shelves. There is also a bedroom which will become our new guest room and that means moving everything from the former guest room on the main floor down. The former guest room will become (temporarily) the craft room until it becomes baby girl's room, but that won't be for a while because if she's like my boys, she will never ever want to move out of my room. Right now, Sammy is sleeping in his little toddler bed in my room with no plans to move into his bedroom he supposedly shares with Luke. I know there will be a lot of co-sleeping! So, I've been thinking about how to get all this done in time for the end of August. I saw Elizabeth's nesting list and well, I feel in the same boat. Here's the list:

1. Guest room switch
2. Finish Classroom and set up classroom-- need to look for small work desk for Luke (I'll get my hubby on Craig's List right away!)
3. Write Lesson Plans until January
4. Shop and wrap Christmas presents
5. Set- up sewing machine in former guest room
6. Plan Fall meal schedule (that we'll actually follow)
7. Finish all unfinished crafts-crochet, knit and quilt projects
8. Plan Luke's 9th birthday (September 6th)
9. I still haven't made the Jam!!!!!
10. Switch to local pediatrician (I can't take the drive to our current doc anymore!)
11. Go through remaining book boxes that we haven't been able to unpack since we moved over 2 years ago.
12. Gather all outgrown children's clothing and decide what to keep and what to give away
13. Begin new quilting project- Sailboat wall hanging for Luke's birthday
14. Enjoy more nights of just sitting on the deck after the boys are in bed and praying for peace of mind.
Okay, there it is. At least my fridge is always clean. I have severe OCD when it comes to things in my kitchen.