Heaven....I'm in Heaven....

Can you hear that old tune? Its running through my head several times a day these days. Summer has finally arrived here in the Northwest, and I like it! I like it A LOT! I had a perfectly dreamy weekend, starting out Friday going on a letterbox hunt with my friend Anna and her kids. So we had 7 kids with us, ages 5 mos to 8 yrs on our little hunt. What's letterboxing you say? Well, its pretty cool. Folks who want to play this game all across the country have hidden these little boxes in various nooks and crannies in the woods and around town, and then posted their hunt and clues on the web, so any seekers, can find the little box. Then you rubber stamp and sign the little guest book they have in there to proclaim that you are now part of the brave hunters who have found that box. We went way too far at first, and one of my big girls got into a patch of nettles (ouch), but we persevered and were victorious in finding the hidden box! It was great fun!

Oh, and let me backtrack! I received my new favorite book from my very favorite author, my hero, my mentor...MaryJanes new Outpost book! Talk about dreamy! Oh my goodness! If you have kids, and/or if you want to be more outdoorsy but don't know where to start, or if you want to start treating yourself better with more fun, adventure and beauty in your life, you must get this book! It is a little slice of heaven itself.

Ok, back to the weekend. The big girls and I went strawberry picking at our local Strawberry farm on Saturday. The girls were dying with heat at 10:30 when it hit a whopping 75 already! LOL. Anyone outside of the northwest knows this is not even close to being hot, but if you were born here, this is pushing the upper limit of the acceptable temperature level of 68-75. I was loving it. We picked 2 flats of berries, and I just savored every moment watching them pick (and eat), the gorgeous sunshine, the smell of the fields. Aaaaaaah....Then, we went over to a gal's house from the Farmgirls group, and she taught us how to make the most yummy jam ever and also how to can it. Canning and jam making is something I've been threatening to do for a few years now, but for some reason have been totally intimidated by it! Seeing someone else do it made it a lot easier. So, I spent most of my Sunday in the kitchen (thank goodness for air conditioning...it was 95 outside!), making strawberry and strawberry-rhubarb jam, a strawberry rhubarb pie, and strawberry sorbet! Yee Haw, I AM a domestic goddess aren't I? Seriously though, I loved being busy in the kitchen really putting that strawberry harvest to work rather than get moldy on the counter like we do most years after we over pick, and then I'm too scared to make jam and can it! I kept thinking of all the women who came before me who just did this as a regular part of life. It was so satisfying to know that I am "putting up" the harvest for the Fall. How good is it going to be on a cold, rainy morning to be using that yummy jam and remember that hot weekend in June when we made it? I love it.

Here are a couple of shots from the photographic debut of big girl #2 (on the blog at least). I am constantly amazed at what these guys come up with on the camera.




How cool is that? She said she wanted the berry to be the center of the flower she had drawn. Cool beans, man. And here's another one by the same big girl 2.



Is that gorgeous or what?

Then check out what big girl 1 made for dinner tonight. One of her chores this year is going to be making dinner once a week, and this is what she chose tonight, from the Spatulatta kids cookbook...


Now that's one hot dog, isn't it? There's a "pig in a blanket" type thing going on in the body part. She had fun making them, and we had fun eating them.

And here's how I am feeling these days...(never mind the wrinkles please)


If you look carefully into my eye, you can see the photographer reflected back at you. Cool, huh?