Svea and Ivar: best of cousins

Remember these sweet valentines? Svea and Ivar are six weeks apart. One of the best joys of my life was being pregnant at the same time as my sister. Sweeter still was when Annika and her family moved from Montana back to Minnesota to be closer to family.

Ivar adores Svea. He can't get enough of her. He can't stop talking about her. He can't wait to see her. He'll wake up in the morning and excitedly mention to me, "oh! I know. We could go to Svea's house today!"

I first heard this music on our disney cd. It's from the fox and the hound, and when I heard it I imagined these two best friends and all the fun they have together at age two. Annika and I recently met up at Lake Nikomis and I took some random footage on my camera with this song in mind. 

Best of Friends: Svea and Ivar from Becca Groves on Vimeo.

this week at the grovestead...

+This week at the grovestead, acorns are raining down from the oak trees. And one of our pumpkins is already bright orange. Tonight we had a big harvest meal with potatoes, sweet corn and tomatoes from our garden. Which was awesome timing, because we're trying to eek through the rest of the month without spending a dime due to a big summer of fun spending.

+It's hot here in Minnesota, but actually each day has brought a nice breeze and I haven't thought its been unbearable. Rory is taking advantage of the heat and brewing sun tea. It's remarkably easy and we really like it.

+Did you notice the new picture of me on the side bar? A serious perk of helping with the Soul Sisterhood retreat was getting my picture taken as compensation. This was the first time I've had my picture taken alone since my senior picture, in which I was leaning against an imaginary tree in front of a splatter paint back drop. I like this picture much better.

Rory was looking at this new picture of me and asked Ivar, "Who is that?" Ivar answered, "I don't know." Hilarious. It may just be that my hair is in a pony tail a wee bit more often than down and curled...

the tire swing

Since the day we moved in, I have wanted a tire swing in one of our oak trees. Not because I'm that into tire swinging, but because I think oak trees and tire swings go together like tomatoes and basil. 

I found this tutorial online and got to work. Lucky for us our grove was stuffed full of old tires that I had removed earlier this summer and placed in the pole barn. So I had my pick of tires to choose from. I spent a lot of time scrubbing it clean, and then drilled three holes in the bottom so that it will drain the water when it rains.

Ivar liked it and didn't need a push. Being up that high and gently spinning was fun enough for him. 

And then we gave a ride to Cookie Mama and Cookie Baby. 

And when we're not playing on it, I think it makes for the prettiest yard decoration. This was early this morning with a humid fog on the ground. So lovely.

trimming a tree near you...

Yesterday my dad showed up and started trimming our trees again. If you've been wondering what he's been up to in his retirement it can be summed up in two words: travel and trees. Lots of both. He got this new extended saw thingy that lets him reach branches way up high. And since this purchase, many of our trees have gotten a much needed haircut.

It's a perfect Paul Harrington project. He often mentioned that ministry was so ongoing...you rarely got to see a project finished because you were dealing with human lives. But tree trimming...now there is a project that shows immediate results.

Yesterday he seemed downright chipper to be out in the muggy heat. He kept saying things like, "I grew up in this. It's good for my pores. This is good exercise, think of the money I'm saving by not joining Lifetime."

Ivar is a quote a day

Ivar: Is me three?

Me: No, you're still two. But you'll be three in November.

Ivar: Mmmm. It takes a long time to get three.

***

I told Ivar I was going upstairs to put on my workout clothes. When I came back down he excitedly showed me, "I got your exershoes!"

***

Me: Ivar, why were you so sad in the kitchen just now. Why were you so upset? Do you think you're kind of tired?

Ivar: Probably a lot.