Where you at?

oh i KNOW where you at!
(that's for you mum)

Last week we spent the most wonderful week in the Outer Banks, NC. I seriously don't know how a single post can do it justice, but i'll certainly try.
- one of my bestests got married
- we crashed her honeymoon
- we saw horses on the beach
- we flew a kite
- i got to take some photos i love
- i celebrated my 31st
- G fell in love with donuts, cupcakes and a ginormous house and i fear life may never be the same.

and so are some photos from the lovely day...i'm sure i'll have more to share once my batteries are charged...say around christmas :P







Clearly a kid who's seen too many drinking games in her day.

The Alcantarians...keeping workplace romance alive since 2004

Thus was the response when i told a friend of ours about...

PETER'S NEW JOB!

Peter will be a technical recruiter with this great lil company i know. Heck ~ a great lil company i work for!

Currently we're a small-ish company (about 150 strong in DC & Boulder) and in the upcoming year we're looking to almost double our full time employees given the amazing contracts that we are gonna win. So peter's job is going to be a busy one. But at least i know it'll be rewarding and the people he'll be working with are ~ hee ~ like family :P

Good luck Pete-a-lee!
(but we will miss you at home)

Family Fun Fridays

I've always loved Octobers. Fall is my favorite season and halloween is SO. MUCH. FUN. I loooove to make costumes. I looooove cooking fun foods. and i Loooooove pumpkin well -- pumpkin anything, but pete-a-lee makes a to-die-for PSL (that's pumpkin spice latte for you newbies out there)

Last friday night we had a blast making dinner & dessert.


And in theory - tonight we'll 'play' a little more AND carve pumpkins.

Mi Casa

es horrible!!! (that means my house is a big ass mess)


So for those of you not in the know -- we're doing a little remodeling. I LOVE our home, but after 4 years i'm kinda tired of it. Since we can't exactly build on ~ why not completely remodel right?!?!

If last time our place was Starbucks Chic ~ this time will be Lake House Lovin.

Floors will be a polished concrete. Furniture eclectic as we find the funds :) And the walls will be toned down to a cheery but super super light yellow. Here's the general game plan.

We've successfully removed the carpet from all but G's room. And interestingly enough...i don't sneeze anymore the hour after i wake up like i used to. And to think ~ i originally researched this for G's allergies. Now we're debating on the floor stain color. I think we have a favorite, but i'm interested in others opinions...I KNOW you all have opinions :P

While peter was visiting the kids the other weekend I refinished the entertainment center. And look forward to refinishing the buffet (crackle) & the corner cabinet (accent color on the inside).

Of course its a ton of work ~ but its fun (mostly) and i can. not. wait. to see the finished project :)

G's first bully.

So this weekend i did not one but TWO things i swore i would n.e.v.e.r. do.
1) put g's living room toys front and center in the entertainment center (pics/post to come)
2) take her to the mall to play. yea. ewe is right.

Anyhoo - we had been shopping all morning, it was raining, and it was on the way home. G was LOVIN it. Just running around like a maniac and going down the slide headfirst like the big kids (but really ~ why do parents let their 8yo play here?!?) But then this 4-5 year old girl really takes a shine to G. Perhaps b.c. she was the youngest & most rambunctious in the group and she wanted to put her in her place?? So this chick follows G around, pushing her off the toys, blocking her from the slide, etc etc. They'd shove each other occasionally and for the most part G really held her own. Until this lil gangster acutally started chocking G and pushing her around. As soon as I stood up she stopped and G came over with giant doe eyes and said "Mommy she's mean. She hurt me" I said i know - but next time she comes near you - you look her in the eye and say "i don't want to play with you ~ you're mean".

Sure enough the second G was more than 3 feet away from me, that little girl was back. G tried climbing up on a mushroom and she blocked her. And what happened next made a whole row of watching parents smile. G glared into this girls face and almost growled the words i told her. Then just to solidify it ~ she finished with a hearty little shove and walked away.

Amazingly enough it worked! We stayed at least another 30 minutes and the girl kept her distance from then on.

One of the dad's commended me on my composure. I smiled and said thanks. But really. I wanted to drop punt the little bitch out of the play park.

:)

Donkey Bites and all that jazz

So yes. I got bit by a donkey. and it hurt. and i'd like to report that G added a new word to her vocabulary ~ but unfortunately she already knows them all.

BUT in other news...

We went to an apple orchard AND got to press our own cider. Ironically two rather unrelated events.
First we went apple picking which was awesome (sans damn donkey bite) G thoroughly enjoyed APPLES from TREEs and running down the dirt roads in her lil house on the prairie ensemble. She loved her new friend ~ "my lil mary". How she got that name is beyond me as Mary is anything but G's or little for that matter. She's my age (ha) and a pretty darn tall svelt lady. So the name alone is joke worthy. Anyhoo we picked apples, got scared by massive pigs and had a great time with some new friends.

Then we went to the CSA farm for our apple cider pressing. Our farmer had 2nd quality apples on hand for us to pick through and an awesome new cider press. What amazed me the most was 1) how easy it was and 2) how many bee's there were. But seriously - not a single sting among us. Apparently honey bees don't really do stinging unless you really tick em off ~ and apparently pete-a-lee was on his best behavior :P We were expecting approximately 2.5 gallons of cider and took home a little over 2 in our mr. beer 'keg' that is happily sitting in our fridge. But not for long as it is SOO YUMMY!

And another one ~ if only cause the bees are soo clear!

mmmm radishes!

So i had NO idea what radishes grew partially above ground. For some unknown reason i just presume they grew 100% under ground like carrots do. BUT THEY DON'T! and...they grow in like 23-25 days. A month. Talk about fun for a toddler (ha ~ who am i kidding, its fun for me. I LOVE a quick turn around)

So Monday we were at the garden weeding and just generally checking in on things (yes more stolen stuff) and i saw these little red thinks peeking out from the dirt under some beautiful green leaves. I was SHOCKED to see how much 'peeking' was going on. And have to admit - i think they're just adorable.


After a whole 24 hours of debating weather or not they are ready to pick or now ~ we finally gave into temptation and went late last night to gather the most assuming suspects from our garden. A little butter, salt & sesame crackers and we had a wonderful late night snack.

Perhaps its the changing of the seasons thats put me in such a great mood, but i really can't express how in love i am with these little radishes.

hee. call me crazy.

One little, two little, three little...

Here she is one morning after breakfast.

And here she was on another day telling her friend not only did she like his 'clippie' but that he had a nice pack-pack as well.

And of course you've gotta sit & have a chat when your drinkin your water after lunch.

For a few days I presume it was the sheer likeness in size that made her friends so appealing. But then one day I heard them talking. I asked what she talked to her friends about and she told me they tell her stories. I asked what the stories were about and she told me 'animals. you know like deer & beer and frogs mommy'. But of course i thought. And though i haven't seen a bear in 10+ years in the area ~we saw one only a few nights later.

Honi Honi

after and awesome weekend in deep creek ~ this has to be my favorite lil video.


For those of you not in 'the know' the Honi Honi is a local bar on the water. Used to be a LOT of fun b4 they 'family-ized' it.

just sayin hi...

CHEESE CHEESE

Now while you heart is melting as i know mine does --- take a look at THIS fun little video taken only a few moments later :)

Stealing is...NOT NICE

Can you believe it -- can you effin believe it.

SOMEONE STOLE ALL OUR RIPE TOMATOES FROM OUR GARDEN!!!!!!!

Tomatoes that i planted from SEED.

pissed doesn't even BEGIN to explain how angry i am.

I DID IT!!! (no really - I did it!)

So i have successfully given away 2/3 of G's clothing.

BAH.

First undies ~ now this. We were on a goodwill / freecycle kick today and i realized we're hoarding 2, 35gallon containers full of clothing ~ PLUS a few more grocery bags full AND an entire adult size dresser. FOR A TWO YEAR OLD.

so yea it hurts and i'm on the verge of meltdown, but no worries I've kept my favorites (including jammies) and am excited to be CLEAR of the CLUTTER.

AHHHH.

(haha - if only it were as simple as getting rid of a few bags of clothing!)

Mama Knows Best

So could this be the beginning of the middle of the end of diapers?!?

I can hardly believe it. She's wearing big girl undies. EVERY DAY now. Is this insane of what?!? MY BABY. Granted she's not 100% yet (and does a lot better with a nagging mommy than a fun and exciting daddy) BUT ~ give the girl a choice and its undee-pants every. single. time.

My mom totally called it. The pull ups / sewn diaper pants were still 'diapers' just thinner ones. Not till we (she) bought real little girl undies did we feel the shift in 'tude.

Still in shock though. My BABY wears undies. BAH.

Loot part II

b.c. i did promise pictures.

Loot!

So we're FINALLY reaping some gains from our little garden this year.

The tomatoes are BEAUTIFUL. Hearty and amazing. Its really amazing how much different they are from your 'home depot' brands. Until now we had staked them with broken sticks, but they were getting a little wilely and another gardener gave up his stands for the season. SCORE!

We've harvested a spaghetti squash and have another one patiently waiting. A single acorn squash. I don't know why ~ but the squash flowered a LOT ~ but didn't really produce a whole lot.

The kohlrabi is just a beautiful plant. And out of two plants we've been given 3 'baseballs'.

The broccoli is a BUST. Beetles have been having a hay-day with it, and well...we let em.

The lettuces have pretty much gone to seed while we were on vacation. But the swiss chard is shaping up nicely and looking beautiful with its thick red leaves.

And the ??? looks...interesting. We had a 'squash' / 'melon' that was this cute little round orange/yellow thing with NO idea what it was. Turns out it's a Lemon Cucumber. I haven't yet tasted but Pete-a-lee tells me its good!

And lastly the bug bites -- holy mole-ly do we all have out share of those!

Next steps...get seeds rolling for our fall crop!!!(and umm pictures!)

Hey Girlfriend

So this weekend G learned the finer points of the English language thanks to her Aunt & her friend (aka: Lester & Esther)


Yes ~ i know we own a video camera, but when your friends DEMAND something RIGHT NOW. It's so much easier just to get G to talk into the computer :P

I go boogie boardin

We're BA-ACK.

Ahh what a wonderful vacation! This year was sooo much fun. I learned the blessing of a lil thing called a crock-pot and really relished in the 'I have a husband who can do things too' part of vacationing this year. It kinda makes me wonder what the heck i've been stressing out over the past few years. BUT ~ i guess like everything this is a learning curve and just when i think i have it...we'll add something else to the mix & make it complicated again :)

Favorite Quotes from G
"Look mommy BROCCOLI!! Ohhh broccoli ~ MORE Broccoli" - those would be a different kinda tree they have in the south.


"OHHHHH - WATER!!" Close G - those are just boats. There isn't any water under them yet.

"MommyDaddy, daddymommmy when i boogeyboarding i keick my feets"

Its the little things...

So while it seems that not much has been going on lately ~ we've been incredibly busy. Work is busy ~ photography is busy ~ and having a lil one home alllll day is very very busy.

But here are some of my favorite developments.

1) G's new favorite TV show is Jane & the Dragon. I used to think it was because the dragon was kinda cute & the music was fun, but i may have been wrong.

"G ~ please put down the yardstick. It is not a toy to hit things with."
"Mommy it's my swoooooord"
"Oh, well then. Take your sword outside please"

Jane is a knight in training.

2) Giuliane MUST have at least 3 Curious George stories read to her before bed. And George may only be read before bed & no other time. George = bed. (so help me if i forget to pack the book for vaca)

3) ohhh there WAS something but now i can't remember what it was. bah.

**UPDATE*** i remembered...
G likes to wear a Santa hat in the middle of July. EVERYWHERE.

Art-O-Matic Ends....

Ahhhh it is with a happy heart that I report art-o-matic has come to an end. For those of you not in the know...Art-o-Matic is a HUUUUGE annual art show in DC. For years Pete-a-lee's band has played there and I've always said to myself 'you should do something.'

and this year i DID!

I combined two of my loves ~ natural childbirth & photography and did an installation called: Homemade ~ Homegrown ~ Homebirth
One of my favorite things to do at the show was to sit along the back window of the building and watch people pass my site. It was a rare treat when one of those people happened to be pregnant. I specifically wish I had my camera for this one couple. She was completely turned off and her body langauge could not have screamed 'UNCOMFORTABLE!' any louder than it did ~ while her partner/husband leeeeeaned in as far as he could to examine every detail and read each and every quote posted. He wanted to discuss and she wanted to run. and it was something i chose that made them feel THESE emotions. it was quite a kick.

Of course I was called 'creepy' and people pulled away in fear or disgust, but I will treasure soo much more than that.

"This is amazingly beautiful. I pray for strength when my day comes"

"Your work is truly inspirational. Such a wonderful and beautiful part of life"

"Thanks for these beautiful pictures. We need more images of strong women giving birth naturally. I'm getting ready for a home birth in a few months from now - Can't WAIT!"

"I am a young women not yet ready to be a mother, but am very interested in a peaceful natural birth in the future. Thanks you for sharing these experiences & meaningful quotes."

"Absolutely wonderful! Thanks for capturing the beauty of natural childbirth"

"Beautiful Photos - from a mother, home-birther, prenatal yoga teacher & doula"

"Your a feminist!" -- yea i think that's a compliment :)

"Thank-you so much for showing this to the world. More women need to know how wonderful this natural process is. You are such an inspiration! -- mother of two while gave natural childbirth

"Snacks is lovely. Thanks for sharing."

"Feet is really powerful"

"I like the one called life. Unlike the like people have created. It's real."

"Childbirth portrayed wonderfully."

"Amazing. Beautiful. Empowering."

"I want this so much I'll even marry the wrong person for it. Is that wrong" -- umm yes.

"Hooray for Homebirths!!!"

"You've made me so proud. Love Mom" -- yea that's a fav

"I LLLOve it! Proud breastfeeding Mom" -- hee hee LLL

"I am 5 mos and this has inspired me to enjoy the moment, to 'exist' in a miracle. Thank you for sharing"

So was it worth all the time, $$$, & effort?

WITHOUT a DOUBT!