Firefly

This weekend we went on our first camping trip as a family! Blossom's first ever :) There is a primitive skills gathering out in the woods near Hendersonville, NC each Summer called Firefly Gathering. There were tons of classes offered and so many each of us wanted to take. As it turned out, we went to some we wanted and helped the boys in some of theirs and decided next year to go for a longer time (it's offered for 4 days) so we can get more class time in.

Blossom at the campsite, with the neighbor campers' kitten coming for a visit:
Slingshot and other Projectiles class:
Swimming time!
Clay and his buddy on their way to Snakes class:
He knows how to make the girl smile :)

Reed and his pal making tulip poplar whistles:
Soaking the poplar:
Blossom had a great time on her first camp-out! Not surprisingly, lots of friendly folks wanted to hold her during classes so I could get more involved - which was great - we also went to classes on critter processing, mead-making, bamboo cup making and home orchards. We had a great time with the drummers and dancers at night around the campfire as well!

Thank you Firefly folks! We'll be happy to see you again next Summer!

Last Day of Quiet

Last day before the boys get home! I should probably have super productive plans, but I can't seem to find them :) Just enjoying the quiet...
My sweet little angel baby:



Bobby finished up the front steps - so beautiful!

Ew!

Yet another reason to grow your own food! eat locally produced food! eat minimally processed food!
LINK


This article has a list at the end of common companies that are using wood pulp as fillers in their foods - saying that it provides more fiber (although humans cannot digest wood pulp, so it doesn't provide us any fiber).

The more I find out about what big corporations think is okay to sneak in our food, the more disgusted I become! It takes a little more effort, sure, but grow a garden! Support your local farmers market. Make your own foods.


A shot of the garden on this rainy Summer morning - Clay's watermelon are starting to creep up the trellis he made!

New Threads!

The boys are out of town for 10 days! Each Summer they spend about a week with their Grandparents in Memphis, and usually I take a vacation somewhere. Well, this year finds me not totally kid-free this week :) I'm actually being boring and really trying to cram in some work this week! We are certainly having fun times, too - tried a mom & baby yoga class this morning, and did a little crafting yesterday. Here's Blossom's new cute dress I made from a T-shirt:


Pretty cute, right? I love it! It was super easy to sew, I pretty much copied one of her dresses that I really like, and it took about 1 hour to complete :)

Much love all!