The Garden was Planted

Back in March, there was some question about whether or not I would get a garden planted this year. It did happen and we are reaping the rewards... beans, kale, swiss chard, potatoes, strawberries, blueberries (well 7 blueberries), tomatoes, summer squash, cucumbers, basil, thyme, sage, oregano, mint, chocolate mint, peppers... all in a small backyard! The backyard growers program is fabulous... so glad our friends and neighbors jumped on board, and then coached us on how to do it.

Here is the garden in early spring...

I "gave" the girls the side yard to plant. It was quite selfish of me as I took the prime locations. (There, I confessed.) There was a time I had visions of working alongside my girls in the garden, but I got quite possessive of it. Not sure how to help myself relax OR figure out a way to give them some space in the main garden OR just realize that this is my special hobby... part of my "caring" for myself. Anyway, I have all fall and winter before we try again.

 The PRIME spot... good sun, good soil...

 The girls did help me plant impatients along the fence. They have grown beautifully!

 My spider web for growing peas and beans.

 Daryl built these for me when we lived in our other apartment. They did ok on our deck, not well at all in front of the house and fabulous as an herb garden.

 Another look at my spider web.

The stawberries and blueberries... wow... do strawberries go CRAZY. I ripped them out of this bed last fall and they came back like crazy. I've already pulled a lot up again and they still are spreading.

A former toybox was turned into a box for growing potatoes. Later this week, I'll show you our harvest!

So, the garden was planted. I want to take pictures of the garden now and I will post them soon!

Questions with Grace, age 4

Happy 4th Birthday, Grace!

Interview with Grace:

1. What is your favorite color? red
2. What is your favorite toy? baby dolls
3. What is your favorite fruit? strawberries
4. What is your favorite tv show? DoDo (Dora the Explorer)
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? fruit
6. What is your favorite outfit? dress-up clothes
7. What is your favorite game? Yatzee
8. What is your favorite snack? Donuts
9. What is your favorite animal? Zebras
10. What is your favorite song? Jesus Loves Me
11. What is your favorite book? Max and Ruby
12. Who is your best friend? Another Grace (her 2nd cousin)
13. What is your favorite cereal? Kix
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play
15. What is your favorite drink? punch
16. What is your favorite holiday? Easter
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My sack
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Eggs
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Cookie and whatever you want for the rest
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? teacher
21. What was your favorite thing about being 3? my sackie
22. What are you looking forward to about being 4? playing grown-up and maybe read a couple books at pre-school

Anything else you want to say? Maybe just sign my name.
grace

Last week at Grandma's house, daddy decorated a special cake for the birthday girl. In honor of being at the farm, Grace had asked for a "cow" cake. Daddy does it again!

 

On My Bookshelf

I haven't been keeping up here on the blog with the books I have been reading, yet this year has been one of the better years of getting some books read. Currently, I've been reading C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. It is a "theological fantasy" about the Christian concepts of heaven and hell. I've enjoyed it thus far, but find that I cannot read many chapters at a time because there is so much to process and chew on.

A "for fun" book I just picked up at the library (I like to browse the stacks of new books and grab some that catch my eye), is Maria Goodin's first novel. It is a story about a young woman's journey to discover the truth about her past in midst of the fantastical stories (lies?) her mother tells. When her mother becomes ill, Meg returns to try to convince her mom to tell her who she really is. I found it fairly quick paced and kept my attention. Although I "figured out" where it was going, Goodin's writing was engaging and I wanted to continue reading the book. 

One passage caught my attention as a way I would want my daughters to think about "falling in love," a counter balance to so much of the "Disney version."

It's not like you said it would be. No bolt of lightning shoots across the sky, and no nightingales spontaneously burst into song. I do not find myself engulfed in a dreamy, magical cloud or swept away in a whirlwind of glittering stardust Instead, I suddenly feel real, as if all the splintered parts of myself have simultaneously come together. I am the child I once was and the adult I am today. I am all of my good ponts and each of my bad. I am brave but afraid, healed but damaged, strong but helpless. I am everything I have admitted and all that I have denied. The personI am right now in this moment is the product of everything I have ever been - the truth, the lies, and everything in between.

When his lips touch mine, I don't feel myself falling, weightlessly, like you promised.

Instead, for the first time ever, I feel myself become me.

The Kitchen of Half Truth, Maria Goodlin

 I found this so appropriate to my story (although written so much more eloquently than I can), especially this month... the month of our 9th wedding anniversary. Thank you, Daryl, for encouraging me to become me!

New England Aquarium

On the last Wednesday in May, Hannah had a bonus day off school as the new class of kindergarteners had a visit day at her school (how can she possibly not be a kindergartener after next Friday?!?!). Ann and I had just been talking about needing to do something fun... we talked about going into Boston to ride the Swan boats and explore the Boston gardens, but a morning of rain put a literal damper on that.

Go to Plan B... the New England Aquarium. We had a great time. I was so thankful for Ann and her provision of extra hands and eyes as we had 3 very excited little girls.

Elizabeth and her "penguin friend"

Olson girls mesmerized by the giant fish.

One of Elizabeth's stories about the aquarium is "Turtle ~ scary ~ Hannah." Hannah had sat down on a bench, next to a statue of a turtle. Ann said, "Hey, look at the turtle and Hannah jumped thinking it was real. Lizzle thought that was hysterical.

The bestest part of the whole day... riding the subway! (We could have saved quite a bit of money had we just gotten tickets and rode the T all day:-). )

The sign of a good day, 1 sleeping Olson plus...

another sleeping Olson!

Thanks, Ann, for going with us on our Boston adventure. What is next?!?!

Hannah's birthday

This past Sunday we celebrated Hannah's birthday with some of our church family. She wanted fish, salad, and fruit salad, so we had baked haddock, burgers on the grill, fruit salad, veggie salad, and chips. It was a really nice afternoon.

The party would not be complete without daddy's 11th birthday cake. Hannah wanted a butterfly birthday, so she designed the decorations...

and daddy designed the cake to match. She was SO EXCITED that he had used her design.

(No the cake had not been eaten... the humidity had gotten to the frosting!)

Daddy and his 6 year old firstborn!

On Monday, Hannah had 3 of her kindergarten friends over for a birthday playdate. That was a lot of fun too!

Decorating vases...

and decorating cupcakes!

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

Questions with Hannah at age 6

Hannah Joy... 6 years old (tomorrow)!

 Interview with Hannah:

1. What is your favorite color? pink
2. What is your favorite thing to play? dress-up
3. What is your favorite fruit? apple
4. What is your favorite tv show? Max and Ruby
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? yogurt, sandwich, and cucumbers, and oranges
6. What is your favorite outfit? white dress with purple flowers
7. What is your favorite game? Yatzee
8. What is your favorite snack? apples
9. What is your favorite animal? horse
10. What is your favorite song? La Cucaracha
11. What is your favorite book? Books about nature and things
12. Who is your best friend? Quinn
13. What is your favorite cereal? Oatmeal Squares
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Work in the garden
15. What is your favorite drink? Almond Milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? Easter, because you get to learn about the resurrection
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? lambie, flashlight
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? scrambled eggs with cheese
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? fish, salad, fruit salad, cake and strawberry/Red Sox ice cream
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Art teacher
21. What was your favorite thing about being 5? I liked being in Ms. Polizzia's class
22. What are you looking forward to about being 6? Going to first grade

Other thoughts from Hannah: I like my sisters.

Notes from mom: This year Hannah transitioned into kindergarten two times and she did fabulously. She is reading basic books and loves to learn about all kinds of things, often asking us to check out books about various topics (countries, food, weather, plants, people) from the library. She is very creative and can make just about anything into an art project. Hannah is very social and seems to make friends easily. At school, she and a group of friends have started a "bug team" (Quinn, Jasmine, MacKenzie, Serena, Adam, Sheilia, sometimes August). They explore the woods looking for bugs of all kinds. She plays well with her sisters (mostly). They enjoy dancing, dressing up, and art projects. Hannah still enjoys cuddling. It seems like she is all arms and legs. She loves to plan events and has very specific ideas about how they should be.

Thoughts from Grace: sisters ghyrefbmukjtrgbnm grace

Spreading the Word ~ Slugs and Bugs

I'm not on facebook, so this is a way I have of spreading the news about this kickstarter project from Slugs and Bugs. If you haven't experienced music of Randall Goodgame and Andrew Peterson, I HIGHLY recommend it. I just downloaded the album Under Where?. It is great... the kids love it and I love it. There are great message songs like God Makes Messy Things Beautiful and silly songs like Under Where? .

Well, what I'm really excited about is their new project which is an all scripture CD. LOVE THAT! They are using Kickstarter to fund their project.

So if you are curious about Slugs and Bugs or interested in funding their new venture, click here. They are about $5500 away from their goal with 17 days left.