hooliganism

Freshly caught hooligan from last night. Jonas even caught one with his bare hands!

eggs

His pops taught him how to make a fried egg, and so it is now naturally his choice for breakfast. A safe choice for testing out a little more independence.

all it takes to make them happy in the morning

it's fundue

We had a fondue party for Eoghan's birthday today. It was fun and yummy, and you know what happens if you drop a piece in the sauce...You have to kiss the person next to you. I positioned myself well and loved all those chocolaty smooches. Eoghan is now 11!

heart day

Jonas busy at work.

 We made pretzels yesterday, some of them came out to be hearts. The sweetest looking pretzels however were the snails.

Eoghan's valentine (stuffed with catnip) for his furry girl.

after shoveling

A very yummy way to use up remaining candy canes, once the tree has been untrimmed, and homes unburied.

cookies

Trying out the new cookie cutters he received for Christmas.

30 Days of Happiness: Day 25

So happy that the sun is shinning through our windows, but sad that I cannot be out in the gorgeous Autumn weather. It is definitely my favorite season, and the shortest in this part of Alaska.

However, the last of our harvest from our very small garden needed to be picked and brought in. E. did just that for me, washed it, and arranged it ever so nicely for dinner. The pods were pretty tough already, but we opened them, and the sweetest little peas were popped in our mouths.

The littlest pea.

J. just had to touch.

30 Days of Happiness: Day 19

Salmonberry jam!

30 Days of Happiness: Day 16

So happy...

I was able to make jam this year! My mom helped me all morning, and at lunch I continued on my own until evening. The work felt so satisfying, and our freezer is like a jewel case.

Lilliputian

I am dedicating this week to all things small, if you feel inspired to join in, please do.

a Lilliputian sized tea party

These dishes are not actually from Lilliput, but from a city in central Mexico named, Tonalá. These were just given to me by my mom, given to her by my dad, from his visits with family. When we lived in Mexico, I remember visits to this city well. My mom and I each, always picked out some sweet miniture dishes to take home.

first trout

His first trout, all on his own. He was so excited, especially since no one else could catch one that was larger. Fried trout for breakfast tomorrow!

sun bread

On the summer solstice, the summer books came onto our bookshelves, and the spring books went in the book bin (where they will sleep cozily until next year). I find that rotating books by season is a good way to anticipate the "new" books to come. Also, the shelves are not so crowded and overwhelming which makes choosing books to read, a joy. These are some of our favorites so far this summer:

Teddy Bears' Picnic

The Raft

The Hello, Goodbye Window

The Sun Egg

Sun Bread

Sun Bread being our best of the best. We love the village of animals, especially the dog baker with her sweet apron. The name of her shop makes it even better, and at the end of the book she shares her recipe for sun bread. We made some up and offered leftovers to the birds, and to the sun of course!

hot and spicy

Mal harvested his first spicy Thai peppers last night. The plant was purchased last summer, but it did not produce any chilies. I actually did not think it would make it to this summer (even though it was kept inside).