One of the more recent insects that GLLAM took in as a temporary pet.  

(Madeline says its a type of moth)

Lauren's Little Toad

Lauren caught a little toad during our camp out last weekend and proudly mothered him overnight.

She was very sad to send him back to his home the next morning.  Fortunately, she's pretty convinced he'll be waiting at the farm the next time we go out.

Abby on the Violin

As promised, here is some footage of Abby's violin lesson from today.  She's been working very hard!  We are proud of you Peaches!

Done Mommy!

This was the last of a series of 6 videos I took of Lincoln trying to whack the wind chime with a butterfly net.  He finally decides enough is enough and declares, "Done Mommy!"

Lego City

The kiddos managed to create this during quiet time one day last week and its been on display since.
Each piece has a very specific function in "Lego city."

Not too shabby considering they had the very basic Lego set to work with.  Nice job GLAM!

The Almost-Completely-Green Smoothie

We gave our hand at a true green smoothie this week.  Here's our recipe:

2 cups filtered water
As many organic greens as we could smash into our 3Q container:
   dandelion greens, parsley, cilantro, wheat grass, carrot tops, rainbow chard, red head lettuce, spinach...
1 whole lemon, peeled (add a bit of peel also)
spoonful of raw honey

Important side note:
I threw in a strawberry when GLLAM was looking so I could technically call it a "fruit" smoothie.  See!  Look kids!  Fruit!  It worked like a charm and they downed it in 6 seconds.

Brit Graduates!

My cousin Brit graduated from OSU this past weekend.  She lived with us for a few years so it was a  proud moment for us.  The kiddos brought coloring books to keep busy and used them to make signs for her.....which she actually saw, no small feat considering there were about 50,000 people in the stadium!

GLAM convinced this kind gentleman to give them their first rickshaw ride back to the car.  "Just like in India!",  one of them cried.  Well, not quite.
(Did I mention we all 7 climbed on after I snapped this photo?  Well, we did.  We also tipped generously)

Congrats Brit!  On to the next big thing.

The girls picked some fresh mint from the farm and have been using it for mint tea this week.

Monday Special

Let's call today's green smoothie, the Raspberry Mango special.
(we could also call it the Wheat Grass Chard but it sounds much more appealing the other way.)

2 cups filtered water
pint fresh raspberries
1 mango
1/2 lemon, peeled
flax seed
hemp seed
as many greens as you can shove in - in this one I used: spinach, rainbow chard & wheat grass

Mix & Enjoy!

PS - If you are a green smoothie beginner, use a bit more fruit and greens that are mild like spinach, romaine & the like.  Wheat grass, kale & dandelion greens are much more bitter so use them sparingly until you get used to the taste.  Oh, and lemon/lime juice do wonders for bitter greens. ;)

Big Boy Bike!

Gabe has been asking me for several weeks to take his training wheels off so he can ride his bike, "like a big boy."  I'll be honest, I've kinda been begging him off, I mean he just turned 4!

This afternoon he said, "Mom, would today be a good day to try?"

Now how can you say no to that?  I can't really even take credit for "teaching" him since he pretty much just jumped on and started riding.

And 2 hours later, he's still out there riding.....

Linc insists on wearing shoes from the moment he wakes up in the morning until the moment he goes down at night.  As soon as you get him from the crib in the morning he says, "Shoes?"  He doesn't care if he's unshowered and diaper-clad is just fine with him.  Doesn't mind if breakfast isn't on the table yet (actually he does but that's a different saga), he just wants his shoes.

  Case in point.

Turning 2 next month and he's still a fan of baby wearing.