the garden grows

In honor of the beginning of summer, our little garden has cooperated quite nicely in starting to fruit. The early fruiting strawberries have been around for quite a while...though we've only gotten a handful of ripe strawberries, so we've had to go picking on the farm to satisfy the little ones' appetite for sweet, juicy, summer goodness. But more recently, we have seen signs of edible things to come...the broccoli started flowering last week, and the yellow gooseberry tomatoes have started to fruit. It's been quite exciting in this little garden of ours. It's also been keeping us quite connected with the state of the weather - rainy day? Great, no need to water! Hot and dry? May need to water twice or three times! The last time I was this conscious of the weather was when Jason and I were dating long-distance and always flying back and forth (and always worried about how the weather would affect our flights). The garden has been a much less stressful, and much more natural, way of connecting us to nature and the cycles of rain and shine, heat and relief. God's earth is quite something.

father's day 2012

This is the third year we've celebrated Father's Day. As tradition goes, the daddy in the house got something framed and something hand-made. :) This year, we also let him sleep in on Sunday - to a glorious 9am! He awoke to hot coffee and banana muffins for breakfast. The baby cooperated and took a nice long morning nap in his crib, while the toddler and I went out to get some groceries. Daddy? He got a quiet morning to himself - the much coveted "quiet time" in the home. And then, we grilled! Our downstairs neighbors got a nice little grill for the house, and it's been sitting there brand new, just waiting for an occasion to be used. And so, in honor of the father and father-very-very-soon-to-be, we did a little BBQ lunch, Korean style - complete with kalbi, seasame leaves from the garden, and fresh-squeezed lemonade. With each passing year, I marvel anew at how my husband has grown more and more into a daddy for the boys, and how much they love and admire him. It's been fun to watch the roles and relationships grow. Happy Father's Day!

strawberry jam

Yesterday, we spent the morning in the strawberry fields, picking and eating and running around. In the afternoon, we made these with the freshly picked strawberries. :) It's been a couple years since I last did any sort of canning or jamming, but with a little mashing help from Collin (who definitely lost interest after the initial mashing), we did just fine. It helped that Owen sat in his seat sucking on strawberries (through a cloth mesh) for about an hour. :) I wanted a low sugar jam. Traditionally, jams are around 50% sweetener! Which is kinda gross. So I followed this recipe, mostly (using Pomona Universal Pectin). For the sweetner, I used half (turbinado) sugar and half (local raw) honey. Last time I made jam, I used all honey, and I didn't think it tasted all that good and was a bit runny, even with added Pectin. So this time, I used half and half. Even with the low-sugar recipe, I still only used a quarter of the sugar and honey in the recipe. So in the end, for the 6 cups of mashed strawberries, there was 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of honey. I was worried that this might make the jam not taste very good...but this morning we tried some, and it was still pretty sweet! The best part is the fresh strawberry flavor that comes through. :) So, all in all, the first jamming session of the season went pretty well, I think. We will enjoy this jam for the next month or two, and then hopefully we can try a round with blueberries come July. I do believe summer has arrived! :)

he waits

Yep, that is my little man standing there, eagerly waiting his turn - his first time in a bouncy house. I sometimes forget how small he is until I see him next to other kids. He wasn't allowed into the bouncy house because all the other kids inside were too big - so he had to wait for the next round, when they would only allow smaller children in. He knew the fun was coming, so he stood there, by himself, waiting patiently. He didn't complain, didn't look back, just stood there, trusting that those two big girls would let him in at some point. Jason and I stood a ways off, surprised by how independent he has become. OH, and yes, he had a smile on his face the whole time - before, during, and after his time in the big blow-up house. I always felt ambivalent about these big play houses for kids - do they really need something like this to have fun? Why not just let him run around in the grass? I still think that. But, man, I loved watching that big goofy grin on his face - like he just couldn't contain all the fun and excitement in his little body. It's nice to be a kid sometimes. :)

last day of daycare

With a little class party, some tiny bunt cakes, and a blow of the candle...Collin finishes up daycare today and officially enters preschool next week. The days can be long, but the years sure pass by fast! Love you, little man! :)

some encouragement

Today, I got an email from World Relief, an organization that Jason and I have been supporting for several years. Over these years, we have gotten to know some of the God-loving people in the organization, and it's been an encouragement to us to hear about their work and their hearts for God. The email I got today was about a "Ten for Congo" journey, where ten women will be heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo to learn about World Relief's work there and to advocate for the women of Congo in particular. Lynn Hybel documents the journey here. One of the most devastating things about the Congo is the prevalence of rape. Something like 9 out of 10 women have been raped in the country. Hearing the statistic is a bit mind -and heart- numbing. Over the last two months I've been working with a little four year old girl from El Salvador. She has been abandoned by her parents, and she has been raped and molested. It's been difficult to document her story (for the courts) with her aunt, who has taken her in here. The hardest part is hearing the little girl talk about things that she should know nothing about. There is something quite jarring about hearing an innocent four year old's voice talk about the details of a rape. The juxtaposition of the two is quite shocking, a heavy reminder that all is not right in the world. For some reason, getting the email from World Relief - reading about the women and their hearts for the Congolese, hearing their thoughts and concerns, knowing that they too are experiencing a juxtaposition of the general "goodness" in their lives (safe kids, beautiful flowers, a loving home) with the general "wrongness" experienced by the women in the Congo - brings some encouragement to me. That there are others who feel the tension of celebrating the joys in the world while being up close to so much pain and injustice. There is encouragement in the reminder that there is a God who sees it all. There is a quiet hope in knowing that he can heal and mend, restore and reclaim the broken.

a transition

It's official. We have enrolled Collin in a Mandarin Immersion Preschool. He will be there three days a week, and the whole thing is completely in Chinese. He will be home with me the rest of the days, and I suppose I will be speaking to him more in English, though actually, maybe not. He's been at his current daycare part-time for the last 2.5 years. I am a bit sad to see him transition out of a place that he's become so familiar and comfortable with. Since the daycare is just downstairs from my work, this transition will be the first time we are not in the same building for almost all of the time! I will miss being able to randomly stop by and see him throughout the day. Alas, they grow up so fast! I am excited about this new preschool too. I'm glad he will be immersed in another language (and culture)...and am excited for the ways he will learn and grow there. I of course have my reservations too - how will I feel when he comes home singing Chinese songs instead of English ones? How will it impact him that most of his peers and teachers are Asian now? Will he have a hard time transitioning into a completely Mandarin-speaking environment? When I look at the bigger picture, I know that it doesn't matter all that much where he goes to preschool. Likely, he will not retain too much Chinese when he gets older anyway, and in the long run, he will probably be fine having gone to either a Chinese or English speaking preschool. But, as I am learning, so much of parenting is not about the destination (will he retain any Mandarin in 10 years?)...but more about the process. What decisions do I make as a parent about how I'd like him to learn and grow in his early childhood? What kind of learning environment would I like to put him in now (regardless of whether or not he retains it 10 years later)? How does this change or shape my parenting and teaching on the days that he's at home? For me, these questions are not so much driven by a future goal, but they are more about how I would like to parent and raise my children in the present- what I might envision home life and school life to look like for our family today. As one of my former co-workers use to say - parenting keeps you in the present. The past is fleeting and easily forgotten...the future is uncertain and unknown. And so, we live in the present and remember that God is in control. Today, I look forward, with excitement and a little nervousness, to this next transition in our family life.

two days in vermont

We decided to take a family trip to Vermont this past weekend - it was much needed after a busy month, even though we had to squeeze it in after a church board retreat, my 10th college reunion gathering, and a farewell party for some dear friends (all good things - but see why we needed a little getaway? :)). We weren't sure how the trip would go with the two kids, but we picked a spot about 3 hours away and started driving towards the Green Mountains on Sunday morning. As soon as we got in the car, Collin shouted out "We're going on an adventure!!" It was a fun way to set the mood for the trip, and it was often repeated for the rest of the trip. Fortunately, the kids and weather cooperated beautifully. The husband and I had a relaxing drive up (and back), and got to enjoy some quiet time to talk and read together. Quiet time to talk and read is a big big deal, and it felt like a breath of fresh air...it didn't hurt that we were driving through beautiful mountain ranges and scenic country roads. A welcome relief to city life, if only for a little while. The kids had a fun time running (or rolling) around in the grass, and getting a little bit wet in the many shallow streams and running brooks we passed...

We also went up Mount Equinox, one of the high points in the Green Mountain range of Vermont - where supposedly you can see four states at once. What we didn't know before we arrived was that Mount Equinox is owned by the Carthusian Monks - an intensely seclusive order, where talking is kept to a minimum. We got to see their monastery complex from a far, but guests were certainly not welcome to come close to the monks in isolation. Nevertheless, the landscape was beautiful, and Jason and I kept commenting on how we felt like we were in a totally different country being in such lush green mountains, very small towns, and general slower pace of life.

Oh and what trip is complete without a little hiking and some ice cream?

We stayed at a lovely B&B (the Nutmeg Inn) in Wilmington, VT...though spent much of our time in Manchester and Weston, right in the Green Mountains. We did drive through Chester, VT...which we may make the destination of our next Vermont adventure! Sometimes, a little time in a different place can feel like a long vacation - this was one of those trips. We both came back refreshed and ready to tackle the next week of life.

mother's day 2012

This Mother's Day, we headed out with some friends to the Arboretum's Lilac Sunday, the only day in the year where food is allowed in the Arboretum. We had a lovely picnic with 9 kids and 8 adults. Okay, lovely and chaotic...with lots of love, sandwiches, and strollers. Oh my, so many strollers! I suppose it was quite appropriate for Mother's Day. Every year, Mother's Day seems to grow in importance for me. It is not so much that I want to be appreciated (though, well, yes, that is nice too!), but it is a chance for our family (and friends) to celebrate together - celebrate our survival as mamas, our partnership with our spouses, and our love for our children. And to celebrate our own moms and moms-in-laws as well...to remember that they too have gone through this season of love and exhaustion. :) And so, amidst all the diaper-changing, food-making, tantrum-throwing fun of these days, I am thankful for two energetic little boys, their daddy, and a couple Mother's Day gifts from "school":

:)

around here lately...

I have been wondering if and when I'd actually wear this shawl that is finally finished...

We have been building...and planting. :)

We have discovered a new favorite museum a little outside the city...

And we have been thinking of ways to thank the boys' teachers this year (with strawberry plants of course!)...

In the midst of a busy season, we are remembering to enjoy our time with each other and to notice all the growing things around us (kids and plants and knitted projects alike!) just a little bit more. Happy May!