backyard flowers outside -> inside

In the spring and early summer, I endeavored to use every available inch of space in our backyard for planting. This included a small strip along either side of the fence. The flowers have grown beautifully and over the weekend, I noticed that we had enough to bring some inside!

Henry was happy to help me cut and arrange them.

He made one for himself, ran upstairs, and set it on his nightstand.

{my dresser}

{Felix's room, next to the picture Henry made the morning Felix was born - in fact, I think it was being made downstairs while Felix was born upstairs!}

gray booties for Felix

I knit these booties for Felix a while ago, but by the time I finished them wool season was over. It was finally cool enough for him to wear them on our evening walk the other night! {You should have seen the glee with which I went outside to check the weather and ran back in, exclaiming, "It's cool enough for the booties!"}

{in the beco baby carrier, toes toasty warm}

corners of my home: a desk for Dan

Remember the desk I found awhile back at Salvation Army? I found one for Dan there too! I've always wanted to have a secretary desk in my house. Plus, now if Dan leaves his books and things laying around on the dining room table, I can say, "you have a desk, you know."

first canning of the season: apple & peach sauce

{Henry slicing apples; Jude was watching as well}

{the painting that ensued once they were bored of slicing apples}

{I am so glad I invested in this water-bath canner last year}

{as well as the utensil set - makes canning so much quicker, easier, and safer!}

{they finished painting just in time to help ladle the applesauce into the jars}

{after the boys were in bed, I decided to make a second batch}

{peaches and apples!}

{the end result...9 jars' worth!}

{my reward}

the morning after {hurricane irene}

We decided to take a walk this morning to see what impact the hurricane had on our neighborhood.


I discovered this wonderful flower box, which somehow I had never seen before...

The worst we found was this:

Henry decided to see what would happen to various objects when he threw them into this puddle (rocks, leaves, etc). Jude and Felix enjoyed looking on:Jude just kept saying "wow!"

I was pleased that our flowers fared well through the storm.

Check out the lantana! It's looking good, if I do say so myself!

Henry really wanted to visit the fallen tree again, so after dinner we set out to see it once more.

We got there just in time to see this:

I've never seen such serious looks on my boys' faces as when they were watching that bulldozer.

I know there was a lot of damage done by this storm, so I am very thankful that the impact on our neighborhood was so minimal.

{this moment}

Joining SouleMama for this Friday tradition...one picture, no words, a moment I want to pause, savor, and remember. Please leave a link to yours below if you wish!

#1 on my Almost-Autumn to-do list

Last night, after a (rare) long day at work/away from the boys, I made my daily visit to SouleMama. I was inspired by her suggestion to make a summer FUN to-do list. But first, a caveat: given where I live, summer is my least favorite time of year because it's so hot and humid for 6-8 weeks on end that you really can't go outside - not with babies and toddlers, anyway. No matter what you do, they get dehydrated and overheated within 20 minutes.

But about two weeks ago, I felt IT. The Moment when the Wind Changed from summer to fall. It was another hot hot summer day, probably in the mid to upper 90's, but that's when it happened. Ever since then I've been noticing the subtle shift in the weather - it's getting less humid and a little cooler as the days go by. The past two days have been absolutely gorgeous - blue skies, fluffy clouds, slight breeze, windows open, and more time spent on the front porch than inside the house. I've begun my fall knitting.

We have now officially entered Kate's Most Favorite Time of the Year.

So, I guess I should call my list the "Now I can do all the things I've been wanting to do all summer but haven't been able to because it's been so f-ing hot" list.

#1: Pick fresh fruit at a local farm.

{setting off toward the apple orchard at Larriland Farm this morning to pick my favorite variety, Gala!}

{heading over to the peaches with 2 full bags of apples}

{blackberries!}

{we decided Breakfast for Dinner was in order so I made peach compote}

{which paired perfectly with the blackberries over the pancakes!}

{Felix's first experience with blackberries}

{he made this sour face every time, but kept eating them! It was hilerious.}

After dinner, the chinese checkers set arrived in the mail!

{Henry's first game of Chinese Checkers. He loves it, of course. Have I mentioned that the only thing he wants to do these days besides draw in his sketchbook is play games?}

It was such a perfect day. I almost forgot that there was an earthquake this afternoon! Ha!

#2: Day trip to the beach! (not tomorrow, but someday soon!)

The Children's Garden

We spent a glorious morning last week at the Botanic Garden. This is easily my new favorite destination, as it engages all three boys simultaneously! They walked in, surveyed the scene, and chose what to do with themselves without needing any direction from me. I would have been able to sit down and drink some coffee or do a little knitting if I hadn't been so busy snapping photos (still with my iphone, as I haven't gotten around to getting a new "real" camera yet).

Felix, of course, enjoyed crawling around and splashing his hands in the water that Henry and Jude spilled. He managed to sample several plants throughout our visit before I caught him and fished the leaves out of his mouth. I assumed they wouldn't put any poisonous plants in the children's garden and I appear to be correct, as it is now Monday, and he is still alive and well.


Jude's favorite activity was sweeping with the broom (he loves sweeping and vacuuming at home, so much that he has his own little broom and a vacuum that actually sucks up dirt), but he also enjoyed the little house as well as watering the plants.


Henry spent most of his time watering the Lantana tree in the middle (did I mention before that Lantana is my new favorite flower?), but also enjoyed working the water pump that spits water out of the fish's mouth.



We were fortunate to have the children's garden to ourselves for about half an hour, but it soon got crowded so we moved on. Here they are inspecting a little fountain in one of the other rooms:
We ended our visit by walking around outside, and found ourselves at the First Ladies' Water Garden, where of course they got soaking wet. My policy on fountains in DC is go on in until someone stops you. Why not?