harvest time

 

 

 

 

 

Earlier this week Ivar walked outside with me and said, "Oh! Nice Day!" And yesterday he was playing in the garage by himself when he put his mouth on the screen of the door and yelled at me in the kitchen, "Mama! Shoes On! Outside!"

So that's where we've been. And it's a good thing we've been soaking up each day, because today the temperature dropped and I quickly remembered the season that is just around the corner.

Here's what we've been up to:
+We go on cow hunts two or three times a week now. When cars go by our house Ivar seems to think they also are going on cow hunts. A truck will drive by and he'll point saying, "See cows?"

+One of our favorite farms to visit is just a mile up the road. I saw the farmers wife outside and thought I had better introduce myself so that she would know why that mysterious black jeep is always parked next to her pasture. She was so kind and invited us into her calf barn to see "Baby Cows!" It is all Ivar talks about now.

+Actually, he talks about baby cows and "Combines!" The combine came through our field on Saturday and Rory and I were so excited that we woke Ivar up from his nap. Ivar is the perfect kid to have on this adventure with us. At Elsie's 2 month doctor appointment there were three combines in the field working right out the lobby windows. Could you ask for greater waiting room entertainment?

+On Sunday morning Rory dressed Ivar and they were matchy matchy. Adorable. Jeans and blue plaid.

+We had Groves cousins over this weekend and jumped in leaves. Ruby calls box elder bugs Sweetie Pies. She seems to think they're adorable. We have a whole lot of Sweetie Pies around our house and I was grateful for the opportunity to reframe my opinions of these spawning bugs.

+While they were here Rory had his folks help him put one wall up at his build site. A barn raising of sorts...  And the foundation and floor made for a great stage for Toby to show us his roller shoe skills.

+The landscape is changing around here with the corn down and leaves falling. Today I stayed in all day with the kids, read books with Ivar in a blanket fort and made chili and corn bread for supper. I love this time of year.

elsie's baptism

While we had the whole Harrington family gathered, we had Elsie baptized. She was baptized on the deck of the fish house at the cove.  Jedd had started the fire earlier that morning in the potbelly stove, so it was nice and toasty warm. We used water from Lake Superior that was warmed a bit and placed the water in the same pottery bowl that was used for my own baptism. I liked that it was water from Lake Superior, not that it makes any difference. It's not magic water that does the baptizing, it is God's promises to his children, claiming them, and the parent's promises to God, claiming Him and publicly professing that this child is God's kid. And we will raise her know her Maker.

Annika, Jedd, Sonna and Simon are Elsie's sponsors. Sonna was quite nervous before the baptism, but I told her there was nothing to worry about. All she had to do was say, "Yes!" I promise to pray for Elsie. "Yes!" I promise to teach her about Jesus. "Yes!" I promise to tell her why I believe in Jesus and show her how to read her Bible so that she too can learn of God's love.

Elsie fell asleep just as the service was beginning, and startled her arms a bit when Grandpa Paul placed the water on her head. But she was very peaceful, just as peaceful as the water on the lake.

You can read about Rory and my decision to baptize and dedicate our kids by clicking here.

harrington family reunion

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just got back from four days on the North Shore with the Harrington family. It was so awesome that today I am feeling homesick. And I'm home! But Mat and Stephanie flew home yesterday, Uncle Mark, Aunt Jane, Yang Yang and Nui Nui had left the day before and now everyone is back to work and school. And I miss them!

There are nine kids in the Harrington clan, ages eight and under:
2 months old: Elsie
1 year old: Ivar
2 years old: Svea (turned two on Friday!)
3 years old: Nui Nui
4 years old: Nellie
5 years old: Sonna
6 years old: Simon
7 years old: Mara
8 years old: Claire

Pretty amazing to me. Mara and Claire used their time on the drive home yesterday to braid their hair together, as in, they put their heads together and braided chunks of each of their hair into one braid. These cousins love each other so much.

Much more to tell, and share. More later.

shopping for sunglasses

 

Anyone else have an identity crisis when you go to pick out a pair of sunglasses?

 



As I try on each pair I begin to wonder, Who am I? Am I girl who can wear aviators? Who can wear aviators? I saw that woman at Lake Harriet that day with an awesome pair of aviators, but maybe those were expensive. What makes sunglasses expensive? Isn't it just plastic and metal. Or what about these? The big purple plastic frames that are back from the eighties. Is it right that these are back so soon? And if I wear these does it look like I'm trying to keep up with the trends? Should I be? Is it bad that my favorite outfit is flip flops, hoodie sweatshirt and jeans? Should I try harder?

And after I tucker out from trying so many pair I begin to look at myself in the mirror, without sunglasses. You look really tired. You've got some dark circles under those eyes. That's not hair gel holding that clump of hair together. It's spit up. You are a mother of two. How in the world? And I wonder if I'll ever feel like a grown up and how if I have two kids, I probably should know what my style of sunglasses is by now.

Then I start to look at all of the fine lines and wrinkles around my eyes. Annika recommended that night time face cream. You should get some when you're here. But it was like twenty-five bucks. Rory would probably love you more if  you just saved that money...

Just grab a pair.

And in the end I seem to always buy the most non-descript pair of sun glasses that are sure to be sat on or lost within the next few weeks anyway. And then I'll be back in that same spot, having the same identity crisis.

messes

Life is exciting with an almost two-year-old around. Ivar is really gifted at finding creative things to do with his time while I am nursing. The more quiet he gets the more certain I am that I will have a photo opportunity waiting for me.

Those are all nice words I have chosen to explain that Ivar is a tornado. He leaves a path of destruction everywhere he goes and I am always cleaning up his messes. This first picture is all of our paper products. Clearly he was sitting in the middle as he spread out the plates and silverware. Please keep this picture in mind if you are ever over at my house and I serve you anything on paper. You may kindly ask for an actual plate and fork.

This is pretty normal for an almost 2 year old...unrolling the toilet paper. But below you'll see a mess that is a bit more original. He got the full and open can of pineapple off of the counter, pulled it down (that's juice on the floor), put some pineapple in each of these Ivar bowls and ate the entire can. I only found out about this mess when he ran into the living room with guilt and glee and a very sticky face, feet and fingers yelling, "No! Pie Apple! All gone! No!"

I don't always get the camera for Ivar's messes. Only the ones that make me grin a bit. I didn't get the camera when Ivar dumped his alphabet crayons onto my three-day-old laptop last week leaving bits of wax covering the keyboard. Nope. No picture of that mess. And thankfully no video with audio either. I was mad. Could only blame myself, but that didn't make me any less mad.

 

In the end, the laptop is fine, the paper products never get used anyway, the toilet paper is reusable, Ivar loves pineapple and somehow I have the joy of watching this little boy discover and learn each day. He makes me laugh so hard.