Outdoor Preschool

This video really spoke to me.  It makes me want to move to Norway (I'm half Norwegian you know)  It also makes me consider wanting to homeschool or something.  I never really thought I'd say that.  I love that they are learning how to light a fire, build, read a map, hike- all at the age of five.  It goes along with my theory that kids are more capable than we think.  There is an elementary school across the street from my house and I'm pretty sure that the kids only get outside at lunch time.

Cutting Down the Tree 2011

We decided to get 3 this year.  One for the upstairs, one for Luna, and one for downstairs.  For once we decided to leave early so we wouldn't be hunting in the dark with our headlights.  We headed up the mountain road.  There were big icy ruts in the road, only a path for one car.  It was a little scary, I get to be such a chicken with Luna in the car.  We had a lot of fun hiking in the snow.

Thanksgiving on the Coast- The Ocean

Here we are at the beach:

 Discovering that sand isn't all that tasty!

30 Days of Gratefulness: Day 6, My Garden

I am thankful that despite the fact that our tenants were doing all the gardening at our house, I was still able to have one across the street at a community garden.  It was just built this year.  I love the neighborhood we live in, it's growing and new and exciting things are happening all the time.  We got to rent this plot for only $20.00.  They had water right there and we got to know some of our neighbors.  We met another VW Van lover who lives right around the corner.

It was so fun to check on the progress every day.  It is such a miracle to watch food grow from seeds.  

Doesn't food that you grow taste so much better?  Yum!

I'm still pretty new to gardening, but it was fun to give it a go.  We planted white beans, green onions, broccoli, carrots, bell peppers, lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, cilantro, basil, butternut squash, and some cucumbers.  We bordered the garden with zinnias.
Some notes:
The butternut squash took over by the end of the season and overshadowed and killed the carrots and lettuce.  We could have picked the squash just before it got ripe to let it ripen inside.  Maybe it could grow on a trellis?  It was so exciting to see them grow.  We waited patiently to pick them only to find out the squirrels beat us to them!

We had a little weird thing happen.  Right after we planted, someone stole our basil plant and replaced it with a puny one.  Someone planted a nice big pepper plant in our plot.  Someone or something pulled up the cucumber plants.  I guess this is what happens with a community garden.  Not too bad considering there was no fence.

I had so much fun sharing my zinnias with kids strolling through the garden.  Flowers are always a good idea.  One little girl got to pick some and she planned on giving them to her mom who was in the hospital.  I want to also plant dahlias next year, even though they come up later.  A little sunflower plant would be fun also.

The green onions did great.  The broccoli got huge.  Eventually it produced, I'm not sure why it got so tall.  The tomatoes did ok.  It will be better to plant earlier next year.  The peppers did well.  The basil and cilantro grew great, much better than how it grew in the pots.  I still think it's worth it to buy a good basil plant, I have trouble growing them from seed.

Things I would like to plant next year: kale, jalapenos, fingerling potatoes, garlic, shallots

All in all, we only got a little bit of food, but it was a good learning experience and I think next year will be even better!

Filled With Joy

We are reading Philippians in our little bible study group and I'm enjoying getting into the word again, I have been away from it for too long.  I am so blessed and encouraged by this group of friends I have.  Philippians is such a cool letter.  It is good to be reminded of the joy in Christ.  And it's interesting to remember that it's written by Paul while he is in jail, yet he is so filled with joy.  The key to the joy is being filled with Christ and his spirit.  I want to try to capture the joy and record it by taking pictures this month.  I think I'll start a flickr page and link to it on here.  One thing that I want to do that is different than what I normally do with pictures is to take more of a mix of pictures.  I want some pictures to be the beautiful and pretty things, but I also want to capture the mundane, or the chores, or maybe pictures of people serving.  I want a little mix of everything.  The blog world is a place of pretty inspiration, but sometimes it's a little too sickeningly perfect if you ask me.  It can make you start feeling like everyone else has a better life.  I know this isn't true, and I know blogs are just a little slice of life, and I know it's not good to compare, but it is hard when you see amazing pictures and fun things all the time online.  I just need to remember to fill my mind with His words rather than the worlds.  Philippians 2:3-7 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus...but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant..."  Finding joy in serving others, in lowering yourself and helping others, it's not something we see or hear everyday, but it is true.  There is joy to be found in Him.  I need this reminder.  I have been so encouraged and filled with the Spirit by these words.  I want to post mundane pictures saying- I am content.  Seriously, what's so wrong with contentment, not everything needs to be fabulous all the time.  I think it's hard to live in our society because we're disillusioned to think we ought to live a fun life all the time.  I love Phil 4:4-11  It speaks of rejoicing to God, to pray, be thankful, dwell on what is lovely, good, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you...for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am."  Ok, so I'm majorly paraphrasing there but it is a beautiful section of the bible, one of my favorites.

Luna's whole outfit is from the thrift store.  Except for the scarf, my sister in law made that, and the shoes are from her grandma.

 I am reminded of the book One Thousand Gifts.  The book chronicles the story of Ann Voskamp recording a list of gifts she is thankful to God for.  The habit is to be mindful and thankful to God.  I love Christmas- love it, but I do hate that thanksgiving gets completely looked over.  If you ask me, we Americans have it pretty good.  We're pretty rich and spoiled by many nice things.  So I want to take the time to slow down, rejoice, recognize and thank God for it all this year.  I'm joining in with many others to list some things I'm grateful for.

Here goes:
I'm thankful for
changing seasons.  I love the crisp smell of leaves at autumn, and the sound of them crunching beneath my feet.  I love the vibrant colors of fall.  The rich oranges, yellows and red.  I had fun playing with Luna in the leaves.  Fall is my favorite time of year.  I used to spend hours outside playing in the leaves, raking them into houses.  I hope Luna enjoys it too!  She kills me with her cuteness, kills me- I love these pictures.  I'm so thankful for a camera to capture her.

I'm rejoicing that the sun is shining.  I love seeing the sun

I'm thankful to have heat in my house.

I'm thankful I have dishes to eat off of- dishes that get dirty every day.  And I am thankful I can just turn a knob and fill my sink with water to wash them.  After our summer of hauling water and only having 2 jugs at one time, I am so thankful for running water.  I know that people in other parts of the world go to great lengths to get water.

I'm thankful for good friends who encourage me

I'm thankful for health.  I am so thankful we don't have any major health issues.  That is so awesome.

I'm thankful for fresh flowers that were cheap from Trader Joes.  They make me happy when I see them.  I love gerber daisies, they're my fave. and I love that the roses came with eucalyptus.

I could go on and on.