Perpetual Motion

Well... here I am again trying to catch up!  In an attempt to accept life as it is, I am not going to apologize.  It is real life, and it's busy. 

Today Gwenyth and I went Strawberry Picking.  She was a great helper and we picked over 24 pounds of berries!  The rest of the day was spent making jam and freezing berries to use over the coming year.  As I hauled my pressure canner and jars up from the basement, I realized the season of preserving has just begun.  The canner will now live on my stove until the last jar of applesauce is processed in late fall.  From now until then it will be perpetual motion in the kitchen.  It is the season where kids are both welcomed into the kitchen to mash berries for jam, as well as shooed away when the stove has four burners going and hot liquid in every pot.

Today I realized I will have a new challenge.  His name is Luke.  Luke has developed a path through the house I like to call his "Path of Destruction."  It starts in the sunroom, which is also his bedroom, and ends at the top of the stairs.  This path consists of everything Luke has figured out he can do from point A to point B.  And I'll give you a clue, none of them involve toys.  Instead, it involves opening drawers, turning on the water to the bathtub, pulling the toilet paper off the roll, putting his hands in the toilet and splashing, unfolding laundry, banging cupboard cabinets in the kitchen (over and over and over!), and his favorite, eating any paper products that are on the floor along the way.  If it is made of paper, cardboard, or any related material, it will be chewed on.  This kid has ruined more board books than the other two combined!  His favorite place to pull up is by the stove and his favorite cupboard to open and close is right next to the oven...

This could get interesting.

Luke is now almost 17 months old and continues to amaze us every day.  He may not look like he is 17 months old, but don't let that fool you!  He loves to stand up in the middle of the room and then look around as if to say, "Yeah, I'm doin' it.  No big deal."  Sometimes he can stand there for 20 seconds and other times he falls down as soon as he gets up. He can cruise along furniture, and does a mean bear crawl that gets him anywhere he wants to go.  He doesn't have any official words yet, but he has signed "more," "all done," and "dog," at different times.  His main goal is to be in the middle of the action.  This guy makes sure he is not left out!

Here is a photo recap of the past couple of months.  There does happen to be a big hole in my pictures.  The kids and I have spent hours in, and around, the garden and I have no pictures to prove it!  I will be sure and fix that over the next couple of weeks.

Easter in Strawberry Point

Apple and pear trees for our backyard. 

Luke's new favorites: Hats and the Piano

Mother's Day

Last day of Kinderhaus with cousin Gabe



Gwen's 6th Birthday



Now We Are Six - A.A. Milne

When I was one I had just begun
When I was two I was nearly new

When I was three I was hardly me
When I was four I was not much more

When I was five I was just alive
But now I am six, I'm as clever as clever;

So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.