veggie eye candy

there's been lots and lots of veggies to get through every week now------and they are the yummy kind that we like!  long gone are the days of garlic scapes and kohlrabi.  and since our whole CSA share is paid if full now, every week we pickup it seems like we are getting "free" food! ;)  the melon is incredible..the kids fight over the cucumbers and tomatoes.  i had a killer eggplant parm, and every week we have scrambled eggs and the most delicious roasted potatoes you can imagine.  the kids gobble up the broccoli with pasta and olive oil at least once a week, too.  the corn....oh, the corn...seriously the best corn i've ever tasted!  we all sing the praises of our CSA now!  (thank goodness because i couldn't handle the joking and eye rolls that i was getting at the beginning of the season any more!)

ten more weeks to go, too!

ryan seacrest, and on being a teen

" because of the teen choice awards, i really want to see the 'twilight' movie----i know all the characters' names...like bella, and ryan seacrest.". -grace

energy shifts

lulu's driveway drawings...the first "people" that she's ever drawn!  we were ridiculously excited about this. 

 

the energy has definitely been shifting around these parts.  even though it's still super hot and humid and very much summery, in my mind i'm planning for the fall.  it's going to be all about transitions in the month of september (actually, the kids start in late august...right around the corner!)----getting the two big kids off to school and back into their routines.  joey will be in full day 1st grade...which is huge because he was only in K for like two hours a day.  there are bus routes to get comfortable with, lunches to make, forms to sign, fears to conquer.  and then it's just lulu and i, left to fill up the hours of the day with our own kind of fun (i suspect there will be lots of kitchen help and tops eaten off markers).  thinking about boosting up my massage business, maybe taking my show on the road and doing more in-home massage.  i am looking forward to the fall, but sad to see summer go.  really, it should go down in the books as one of the best, by far.

lately, i've been painting again.  and it feels good to get back to it.  and i've had to get really creative in the kitchen, too----making some new meals and challenging myself to use all our CSA veggies every week.  in my free time (when i'm not passing out at 7pm), i've been obsessed with the really bad abc family show 'bunheads', the hbo show 'girls', and the bravo show 'gallery girls'.  it's getting harder and harder to find time to watch inappropriate television because grace is like her daddy and could stay up until 1am if i let her.  there are lots of nights that i go to bed before her!  there's no way on earth i would ever let her watch 'girls'----it makes me blush and i have to shut the shades when i watch it.

i get some alone time this weekend.  john is away for a couple of days and the kids are away with their grandparents.  i can't decide what to do.  part of me wants to plan something elaborate for myself, and the other part of me wants to get my beach chair and a good book and sit on my ass and read, uninterrupted, for a couple of hours.  maybe take a swim in the ocean.  maybe take a nap on the beach.  maybe just sit and think about nothing, and everything. 

big love to you, and you, and you.  xx

summer polaroid

soaking up
every minute
of this
beautiful summer

what about you?  xx

veggie update!

just a little visual veggie love!   the csa is picking up and we're getting lots of veggies, which mostly go right into fresh salads or are cut up and roasted on the grill.  i've also been cutting up some of the veggies and the kids will eat them raw at the town beach, where we've been spending the bulk of these hot summer days (carrots, cucumbers, snap peas).  it's been so hot and so beautiful and i feel so blessed by the bounty of nature!

best.summer.evah.

road tripping with boo, old school style (except with GPS and cell phones)

finding love in the strangest of places

hanging with em and baby lindan in maryland on the water

seeing the beauty of nature everywhere

trying new things in philadelphia

cheering on this little girl in the state championships!

there's nothing like swimming in hotel pools with your sibs

hayrides driven by puppa

taking the time to smell the flowers

visiting friends all over...  and seeing mama al in CT

hanging by the pool...and at the beach...and at the farm

watching hubby make some stomach-turning cocktails at the big 4th party

celebrating our 11 year anniversary on the water in newburyport...no kids and not a care in the world!

a couple of crafty projects for some loved ones

family time at parker's maple barn

amusement park with friends!

letterboxing

a little dress-up time

our seventh year of vacationing with this beautiful family

sitting around the fire, just being

csa goods

trying to keep a visual log of what we get every week with our CSA (community supported agriculture).  i think it will be cool to look at everything when the season is done.  it's also for the kids, to help them identify all the new veggies that come through every week.  here's what we've gotten so far::

things have been a little light, mainly because of the weather and because it's an organic farm, so they don't use any pesticides or any other chemicals to grow the food.  what we have gotten has been delicious, so i'm pretty psyched.  looking forward to getting some kale to juice with!  also looking forward to digging into that head of lettuce later today.  the kids have been loving the sugar snap peas, dipping them into a small bowl of balsamic dressing for an afternoon snack!

what have you been loving to crunch on this summer?

well, pretty much i'm the most luckiest person in the whole world.

my little guy is officially in first grade.  it was an interesting year, with some challenges, but in the end he kicked kindergarten's butt and is such a smart, sensitive, and inquisitive boy.

gray is officially in fourth grade (!?!?!?!).  she ended the year with straight A's (again) and just made the tournament team for softball for our town.  not that i'm bragging.  ok, i'm bragging.  (the bragging balances out the bitching i do during all the late night/very very buggy practices i have to sit through many, many nights of the week, and keep lulu up 2 hours past her bedtime for)

summer vacation is in full effect.  (and by full effect i mean today was day 2).  it's different, and harder, being with all three all day long.  i am so blessed to be able to do it, so i won't complain.  but if i were to complain, i would say GIVE ME SOME FREAKIN' WINE BECAUSE TODAY WAS THE LONGEST DAY OF THE YEAR AND I'M READY FOR BED AND IT'S ONLY 7:31pm.  for reals, people, i'm going to bed.  right.now.

i'm headed off on a road trip to maryland in a day....10 hours in the car with one of my bests, just listening to neil young, and eating copious amounts of snacks that i packed for us.  life is good.  and the best part...i get to snuggle on a newborn babe when i get there.  aaaaah.

xx

find me here

i'm off enjoying the weekend...but in the meantime, find me blogging here at the quiet life of violet about some of the things that i'm thankful for! 

five little tidbits

a highlight from mother's day-----hanging around a firepit with some of my favorite people.  watching children fling burnt marshmallows off their sticks, almost catching dogs and flammable princess costumes on fire is a real hoot. 

**  just found an awesome blog that hasn't showed up on my radar until now::  ben and birdy.  i've been thinking of doing some recipes here on my blog and reading her words just put the extra bee in my bonnet.  plus i want her kids to hang out with my kids so they can do weird shit together in the basement while we drink upstairs!

**  lauren luquin has a new ecourse coming up...i watched the video and loved putting a voice to her face! 

**  i would like to make these cinnamon raisin quickies by the ever-inspiring natalia kw

**  reading the book bringing up bebe by pamela druckerman.  which is making me realize that for the most part i raise my kids like "the french" raise their kids (hi, generalizations).  which basically means i let them pretty much do what they want while simultaneously running a pretty tight ship when it comes to things like sleep.  that, the fact that i don't read any parenting books and parent on intuition (with a lot of wine thrown in there for good measure).   which means i'm probably doing it all wrong but i don't really give a sequin-filled poo about it.

**  waiting for this dvd to arrive.  which will hopefully help with the little situation i have with people asking me when #4 is due (#4 doesn't exist)

nyaj

:::  johnny took me out for an early mother's day lunch today, and when he was looking at the check he said "wow, the waitress's name is nyaj.  i've never heard that before"  and it took him a couple of minutes but finally he realized that we were at not your average joe's (NYAJ). 

her name was danielle.  ;)

tidbits

when john was in the army and we lived in watertown, NY for a couple of years, we used to go to this bagel shop and get our favorite bagel sandwiches.  and every time we would go there we'd pick up this free little newspapery thing near the door that was called "tidbits".  all i remember is that there was a commercial for this newpaper on the local TV channel and the commercial consisted of someone saying the word "TIDBITS" over and over.  so eventually it became a thing and our friends all starting saying it. 

and because this post is so random i'm officially dubbing it TIDBITS!


 **  is it me or is the pollen count like out of control this year?  i literally have the worst headache.  i'm considering taking a flask to softball to just survive.

** lately i've been considering getting a flask.  for real.  motherhood pretty much demands one.

**  yesterday i was in the car alone with the three kids for over four hours.  and then i sat through a full mass and then a baptism.  the good thing about being in the car was that we listened to all our beastie boys cd the whole time.  the bad thing about being in the car for four hours is just that.

**  today while i was driving around doing my usual banging in the car, someone rode up alongside me on the highway and started banging with me.  and smiling.  like this guy was SO HAPPY to be dancing.  most people either call the police on me when they see me banging or harass me for miles, ridiculing me, so it really makes my day when someone can just be normal and be happy for me.

**  softball games from 6-8p most days of the week are pretty much torturous.  lulu has to be forced to stay up way past her bedtime.  i have to keep them all busy and try to keep lulu from breaking more of her bones (there have been a couple of close calls).  so yeah.  flask.  necessary.

** today when i was listening to the beastie boys my very well-loved cd kept skipping.  and it was only skipping through mca's parts.  and it was freaking me out very, very much.

**  lulu kept declaring today "i love kombucha!".  it was pretty cute.  which is good because everything else she did today was less than cute.

**  3rd grade homework equals homework for mom

** kindergarten projects equals homework for mom

**  TIDBITS!



tell me some of your tidbits, please.  xx