Summering: At Home

We had a glorious vacation. But we've been home for a month now and we are reveling in summer on the plains. It's taken a bit of time to settle into summer-- but we have. Here is a little visual list of what we've been up to!

This little man turned 6. "Mom, take a picture of my eyeball!"
He loves wearing my glasses.

His presents all wrapped and ready for him.

Bike riding in the evenings.

Playing in the sprinklers.

Fourth of July face painting.

Truman watching fireworks.

Visiting the Farmers' Market.

Swimming Lessons

Sparklers! Truman's first time!

Jumping off the dock.

Weeeee!

Riding their bikes to John and Bonnie's House!

Truman took all his cowboy gear with him!

Birthday baseball game.

Eric's birthday.

Dinner Dinner

If you watch my instagram feed (yellowdoormary), you'll see that I mostly post about us dinner's ingredients, dinner on the table, whose visiting for dinner..... and so on.

Dinner is a big deal at our house. It's a rhythm that is so grounding. When we've had a busy week and we've taken too much food on the road or even at other places-- I can feel us floundering a bit.

On the evenings that seem to run smoothly-- we come in, we check the mail, let the dog outside, wash our hands and then we start in on dinner.

We pick a good pandora station, we set the table together, we chop, stir and sautee together. And then we all sit down for dinner. For me, the simpler the ingredients the easier and more carefree the meal. And at this time of year, how can it not be fresh, local, simple. Last nights dinner, I bought still warm from the sun broccoli from the farmers market down the block. And after a quick rinse, I roasted it with a little olive oil and some garlic. So. Good.


But more than food, I know I love that we all gather. The four of us to talk about our days, our best parts and it's a time to be silly! After dinner we read a bit from a devotion book then discuss how it applies to our own lives. The kids really seem to get into saying what is on their hearts and their minds and I get to see a window into their souls as they start to develop their own moral imagination.


So today, after a very busy week, I am looking forward to dinners together. Simple and lovely foods and faces that I love sharing their hearts as we break bread together.

What moments are lovely to you during the week?

Welcome Back!

Hello friends,
I've been on an unintended blogging break. But for very good reasons! So many NEW GOOD! things coming up.

But for now I'll give you a quick update to our spring/summer manifesto!

Read with the kids everyday-- We're reading Ramona the Pest (with Auntie Jayme!), Five Little Peppers and How They Grew  

Read something for myself, everyday-- I'm reading Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

Grow! Cook! Eat! Invite!-- The garden is growing, pies have been baked, meals have been shared! 

Dry herbs for winter-- I first dried chives in the oven. Tutorial soon.

Use fresh herbs now-- Mint for mojitos, chives in herb dip, bits of basil on eggs, cilantro in salad...

Sing-- We've been singing as we work, as we drive and as we play. 

Plant flowers-- Hydrangas, peonies and lilacs...

Be gracious to my children, slow to anger and abounding in love. I am diligently working on this, it makes for a much happier household. I heard Sylvia Boorstein's interview on On Being with Krista Tippet.  She told a story about watching a family on an airplane. Their kindness to their upset child was just gracious, attentive and productive-- the child settled on her own. "Do not ask am I pleased?... {but} in this moment am I able to care for the child and myself in a kindly way?" Because getting upset and flying off the handle is not kind to me and it is not kind to my children.

Eat outside-- We went camping so we had lots of eating outside! And we've been taking picnics with Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa John plus this week Grandmommy, Papa, Megan and Jayme.

Get into the sunshine-- next time I'll go easy on this... I'm a bit sunburned today!

Let worry go-- When my heart is full of gratitude, there is no room for worry.

Farmer's Market, every Saturday-- Orange City, Sioux City and Omaha.

Coffee and tea with girlfriends-- A few impromtu coffee dates with some special girls, hopefully more!

Do you have a manifesto-- written or unwritten?! Have you been slowly bringing beauty in your life this spring/summer?

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I've been writing letters for The Summer We Sent Letters! Have you? It's been wonderful to get a bit of mail and to send a bit of mail (plus a few boxes)!

A full heart...

Actually all of this weekend was jam packed with goodness.

On Friday night we had a caramel rolls and coffee with Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa John, it had been too long.

Farmers' Market and breakfast with my friend and sweet baby. Then Grandma Bonnie took the kids ALL DAY so that Eric and I could get our house back in order. So much furniture moving going on lately-- a yard sale to come! Isabel got a big girl bed (it was Grandma Bonnies!). And Truman got a 'new' bed (don't mention to him that it looks exactly like Izzo's old bed. Ok? wink.wink.)!

Then our beloveds, watched our kids over night so we could go away. Good night, good wine and full night's sleep was just what my heart needed. I finally 'took a deep breath,' dropped my shoulders and woke up back in my life. Sometimes we get all tied up in the have-to's that we forget about the musts (like must take care of myself to take care of others).

Then yesterday afternoon,  I was able to host my beloved group of girlfriends in a baby shower extravaganza. Complete with chocolate friands, made by Eric. They were soooo good. And hours of good conversation, reconnecting.

I am floored everyday by the amazing-ness of our little community. There is so much love here.

Last night, when I asked the kids "what was the best part of your day?" Isabel said, "Being with Bon-bon two days!" And Truman said, "I'm going to marry Margo, and playing the moon game with Bon-bon on her lap."

Hmmm, what was the best part of your day (or weekend)?


*PS the photo is from Crafty Nature. I tried to make some bunting yesterday, but it didn't look this good.

August Break: Farmers' Market

I haven't been doing good at taking a break this August.

Red is obviously the color my eye was drawn to! 

The August Break: Eating Local

For lunch every day, Eric and I trek less than a mile from our office building (Yes! We work at the same place!) to our little house.

And usually we dig up something to eat, do some dishes, start a load of laundry. You know the normal things.

But I love it when we take a bit of extra time for a quick healthy, filling meal. Yesterday's lunch was locally raised ham with farmers'-market garlic, vine-ripe tomatoes, home-grown potatoes and friend-grown zucchini. A little balsamic and olive oil. And bam a delicious lunch.

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A quote to think about:

Every experience, every thought, every word, every person in your life is a part of a larger picture of your growth. That’s why I call them crumbs. They are not the whole loaf, but they can be nourishing if you give them your real presence.
- Macrina Wiederkehr, from her book A Tree Full of Angels

What's in Store for the Weekend::

In the spirit of my Summer Manifesto, this weekend we will be:

• Eating outside.
• Baking for Farmers' Market
• Spending time with friends 
• Flea Marketing with Rebekah!
• Playing in the sprinklers
• Creating some time for myself in my space
• Taking a nap
• Go out for a walk... Thanks to my beautiful friend Ann for the idea. 
• habit
• Mow the lawn... so long overdue and a little yard clean up
• Finish this book

What are you doing? 

Corner View: Summer

Wild flowers at the Farmers' Market, eggs and honey. These are all things that scream summer to me.

At the Farmer's Market table tops are swelling with selections. Getting strawberries, asparagus... soon tomatoes and sweet corn.

See more from corner view at Spain Daily

Mama's Weekend Away

[Views from the road]

This weekend I did something that I normally don’t do.

I took a weekend off. Eric held down the homefront, and fantastically well, I might add.

[Setting sun from the rear view mirror]

I packed my bags and headed South. Rolled the windows down— and sped towards a relaxing weekend my dear Emily; wind-blown hair in a sea of silence.

[Em and I at the Farmers' Market]

This Emily lives near Des Moines, in a cute little apartment. She graciously hosted me for the weekend, inviting me to all her favorite haunts. We so enjoyed the Des Moines Farmers’ Market, the Sculpture garden, and the super-adorable Ephemera (separate posts, people... It was that awesome!). We feasted on seasonal fare and had great conversations. 

She is one of those friends when we get together the months or years disappear, and it takes just minutes to step into stride next to each other journeying on the same road.

For the next few posts I'll take you on a few mini-adventures. If you ever get to Des Moines, these are things you shouldn't miss!

*At this point I must confess, three of my closest friends share the name Emily...

Weekend Update

We had an amazing weekend, one where everything got done and we were not over-booked. I’m not sure how this happened but I want to replicate it.

On Saturday, we went to the farmer’s market with tons of breads, goodies and jam. Next week will be the last for the season. I’m a little sad to have this season ending-- but having Saturday morning time, is such a treasure.

A sneak peek of the kids bedroom: 

We napped then I proceeded to tackle the kid’s playroom. It too hours and my ‘helpers’ were um, quite helpful. These photos need a whole post, look for it tonight!!!

After this project was completed (at 8 p.m.) and after all the kids were showered and jammied up. We decided to leave the house for an unexpected adventure— we ended up in Sioux City for a little treat. And on the way home, Eric and I got a few quiet minutes to sip our cherry-limeades, with two content babes asleep in the backseat.

On Sunday after church, we went to lunch at our friend’s farm. We made homemade calzones, so delicious.

We had a loaf of apple cinnamon bread-- not gooey quickbread, but a yeast dough made made with apple cider as it’s base liquid instead of water. Yum! Eric made it into the most wonderful bread pudding, from Paula Deen’s recipe. Friends, I was a tad skeptical, but o my. I could have polished off the whole thing with a pot of coffee.

We picked the near-end of our garden. We still have peppers, pumpkins and tomatillos that are holding on for another week or two.

During nap time on Sunday, I got the rest of my housework done, and the laundry all folded and put away. I was a cleaning machine. It feels so good to have the whole house in working order!

How was your weekend?

Weekend Manifesto

This weekend I will:

Watch the sunset over the fields

Can peas, freeze beans, make dill pickels

Spend tomorrow with the kiddos

Clean my house Note: after I took as shower for five minutes, two complete rooms in the house looked like I hadn't spent hours in them...

Look for the little things This is a continual goal!

Go to the farmer’s market-- have to save for next week!

Make a trek to the neighborhood bakery

Spend the morning at the park Boo the rain! (except that it was gorgeous)

Get a shot for Bench Monday

Drink a glass of wine

Laugh with friends

Pick more tomatoes. Make salsa.

Take a Sunday nap, after church I wish I would have actually slept

Sew something Saved for next weekend, though I've picked out what I'm going to work on and with what fabric, that's a start

Knit a baby hatstarted!

What will you be doing?

*I'm crossing out all that I've accomplished!

Lately... a photoless update...

I thought the week we left for California was one of the busiest to date. Boy, was I wrong. I don’t think our feet have touched the ground since we’ve been home. Lots of commitments and joyful busyness. I thought I’d let you in on a few of the things we’ve been up to.

Zestos, Inc.
Zestos, Inc. is a new non-profit organization that seeks to meet the basic needs of people in our community with food, clothing, shelter and prayer. Eric and I have joined with friends to make this organization a reality. Our friends Rod and Jayne, have had the vision of a place like this for years and we all have a big part to play, it seems as if our roles were divinely laid out for us.

We have a prayer meeting tonight (Thursday, July 30th) at 6:30 p.m. at Alton Reformed Church, this will be about 45 minutes. If you have time and are in the area, come pray with us!

I created the blog and a facebook page. If you want more information you can see this article, that was put out by the N’West Iowa REVIEW. If you wnt to ask specific questions post them on our facebook wall or email ZestosInc[at]gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you.

The Garden
So I’d love to say that we’ve been out there more than once in the last three weeks, but that would be fibbing. However, we have lots of produce coming in, onions, potatoes, beans, carrots, dragon carrots, peas. Tomatoes that are just aching to turn ripe. Sunflowers that are taller than the house (ok so not really but they are HUGE!).


Weddings, Weddings.
We flew to one (in CA) and had the most lovely weekend. What sweet friends these two have been!

And we had one this weekend which I shot pictures at the reception, lots of photo editing in my spare time!

Plus... we’re helping out at wedding in August, lots of planning/meetings involved. But it should be fun!

Goats Milk.
I believe that I scalded the milk while making yogurt, and when it was finished, the ‘yogurt’ looked like runny cottage cheese, and no one really ate it. Better luck next week...

Farmer’s Market.
However this has been my best season yet, I will no longer be baking for the Market. It cuts hours out of my already busy life and though it is a hobby and creative outlet for me, I think that it’s more than I can sanely accomplish.

I am going to start to post some of my tried and true Farmer’s Market recipes (some are already posted). So that you can enjoy them on your own!

New Puppy.
Lucy is a sweet girl and she’s been such a wonderful addition to our family. But she is a puppy, lots of training not to bite, pee in the house, jump.... Funny, we’re trying to get Truman to not pee in the toilet, not bite, and not jump on the bed.

Empanadas and And List of Goodness

It’s been an empanada weekend.

I recounted my grandmother’s recipe for empanada filling to my twin sister yesterday. Swinging back and forth in a Sioux Falls park giving the ackward but delicious ingredients into my cell phone. "Beef, eggs (Do you know how to boil them?), carrots, onions, olives." Asking, “Are you going to use raisins?” She made a smashing batch of savory meat pies, and I had just made two sweet recipes.

Plum Apricot and Strawberry Rhubarb. O my they were good.

Just a basic filling, fruit, a sprinkle of corn starch, cinnamon, sugar. Stirred up. Made the dough from Baked, cut into 4 inch rounds, filled with fruit mixture, brushed with beaten eggs and finished with sugar. I baked them in a 350 oven till golden brown. It was my first attempt at the sweet variety, but I think they turned out very well. Next time I'm going to try a more flaky crust. Any suggestions?

They went really well at the Farmer’s Market (at which I called them turnovers— as to not confuse the locals, and spare me from explanations). I will be making these next week but in a tiny form. Bite sized loveliness.

Other things that were lovely this weekend:

Friday night watching old friends play new songs via live video feed.

A few glasses of wine with Megan.

Picnic of pizza and cheese-its at the park.

Naps in the afternoon.

Late night facials.

Movie watching.

Homemade sangria and fresh zucchini with pasta.

”nuggling” (snuggling) on the couch with Truman.

Riding bikes.

Walking Lucy.

Eric’s famous latte’s and eggs for Sunday morning breakfast.

Playing at the pool.

What is your list of goodness for today?

Last's Weeks Adventure... just in time for the weekend.

So, I’m running a tad behind on posting as last weekend’s images are now finally getting posted.

We took a little vacation to Omaha to pick up my sister, and while we were there we went camping, visited the Omaha Farmer’s Market and the Henry Doorly Zoo. All of which were amazing.

If you want to see more (a tad out of order), you can visit my flickr photostream.

But here is just a taste...

The kids down wanting to be down by the water.





What we bought at the Farmer’s Market:

Asparagus-- these stocks graced some Birthday focaccia, Roast Beef and Swiss pannins.


Cauliflower-- Roasted, steamed, fresh and now, some's frozen. It is wonderful!


Pickling Cukes-- Haven't used these yet, I'm a little intimidated.


O the flowers! (Did not buy, but loved none the less!)


Have a wonderful weekend, see you next week!