First half of vacation

Well, we made it to grandma's two weeks ago. The flight was relatively uneventful, other than arriving at around 1 am, which was of course 4 am to us. Needless to say we have been tired, and fighting the early mornings thanks to a sun that rises at 5 am here. I finally had sense enough to black out the windows with blankets, so we have all been sleeping much better and are getting our energy back. It only took two weeks! We have also been very busy with cousins and what not, so I thought I would post a few pictures before I got overwhelmed with a full month's worth.

At the airport, waiting for our first flight.

I kept getting looks from everyone we passed like I was crazy for flying solo with four boys or something.

A little happy birthday to me (and my big sister.) We are a year and a week apart, and always used to have our birthday parties together.

A Saturday picnic down by the water on a day so beautiful, I wonder why we ever left this place.

Collecting crabs!

And a chilly, drizzly morning at the playground, which helps remind me why the South isn't so bad.

All in all, it's good to be home.

Peter Pan Syndrome

Steve left for France this morning. In his prayer over breakfast he said "Lord, help the boys to be good for their mommy- Help James not too be so bossy, help Etienne not to be so rowdy, and help Sebastien not to be so whiny. I'd say he knows his boys pretty well, although I asked him to add a quick prayer that Christian would be through teething soon. I hope his prayers are answered for the sake of my sanity because it has been a rough week for me and my family. Being so far away from my folks and sisters, and Steve being gone makes hard times that much more difficult. There are days when I long for the old and simpler days of childhood- the days when my mom took care of me,and major crises were about things like what we were, or were not having for dinner. Instead, I wake up each morning with the responsibility of trying to figure out what makes these four little men tick. For instance-


The other night, as I got the boys ready for bed, I looked up at Etienne and noticed how grown up he was looking. In a mock severe tone I told him he absolutely had to stop getting so big- that he was not allowed to keep growing. Instead of giggling in response as I had expected, his face got all contorted and a tear or two escaped. I quickly hugged him, assuring him I had just been joking, but he wrapped his arms around my neck and burst into tears. It took me a while to figure out what he was saying, but the gist of it was that he never wanted to grow up. He just wanted to be a kid forever. I was a bit flabbergasted. I mean, all James can ever talk about is being old enough to drive a car, earn some money to buy whatever he wants, and play video games whenever he can. And here was my second born clinging to the present, seemingly terrified of an unknown future, and wishing he lived in Neverland.

I tried to convince him of all the great things he could do when he got older, but he wouldn't be convinced. I waxed eloquent, bringing all of my hard earned wisdom to bear, and trying to ignore my own recent longing for the simplicity of childhood. It all proved futile. So I just sat and held him. He only stopped crying when James, annoyed by his incessant weeping, walked by doing a weird dance and making farting noises with his mouth. In fact Etienne went straight from sobbing to laughing out loud which turned into a strange kind of hysterics. But he jumped off my lap to join in the dancing and rude noise-making. Problem solved.


Oh boys, will I ever figure them out? Then again, if I had known the solution was so easy, would I have used it? I guess I am just not yet used to employing crude humor as therapy. Nor am I sure it's the best way to go about fixing things long term. But I'm learning day by day- that's part of growing up, right? And whether I want to or not, I might as well accept it, because "All children, except one, grow up."

Fourth baby

I'm trying to think of alternate titles for this post. Perhaps 'The Egg' because of the hideous lump on my baby's forehead, or 'Worst Mother in the World' because I didn't even see this happen, or 'Keeping Up', because he got the lump from trying to catch his brothers. In my defense, he has a large vein that runs down the middle of his forehead, so bumps in this location always look worse than they are.

I feel like this kid, more than any of the others, has something to prove. He is way ahead of his brothers when they were this age- walking, trying to talk, and just trying to be a big boy way too soon. I often find him turning circles in the middle of the living room as his brothers race past, trying to decide which way to go so he can join in. But he is always too slow, and he gets so frustrated he just screams. Another difference with this baby is that he is his daddy's boy all the way, and not just in looks. He prefers Steve over me any time. If daddy is at home, then daddy is the one he wants. I am not sure why this is- but it is kind of nice for a change. I'm just a little worried that he's going to flip when Steve leaves next week for a month. Yep, that's right- Steve gets to go to France to see his family for the month of May. I was so jealous of this fact that I booked myself and the boys some tickets to go see my family for a month. So hah! Wait, who wins in this situation? Did I just commit to a five hour plane ride with four boys? Without Daddy? Gulp. Oh, but Grandma is at the other end.

Hide 'n Seek

This game has become very popular around our house since Sebastien can 'count' now. The rules are basic. Hide under mom's covers for an indeterminate amount of time, mumbling random integers and then go find your brothers who are almost always hiding in the same place. Who knew life could be so fun? And who knew sixty-hereIcome was a number?

Untitled from nicole lewin on Vimeo.

Etienne and Easter

This year Easter week coincided with Etienne's 5th birthday, which it hasn't done for the last few years. It made for a very busy week which I am still recovering from- hence the late photos.
We had a quiet party for Etienne. His breakfast of choice?- cinnamon rolls. I asked him what kind of a party he wanted, and all he said was he wanted to be king for the day. So I made him a crown made out of tin foil. He was thrilled. I wonder how long that kind of excitement will last. We also had a picnic at a local park to feed the geese and walk along the edge of the stone wall surrounding the lake. Again- how long will the thrill of such an outing survive? I mean, they just couldn't get enough of walking the edge of that wall. He is so easy to please, that boy. Whenever I ask him what he wants to do for his birthday, he gets overwhelmed by the number of options and gets a little panicky. In the end, he said he didn't care what kind of a cake he got, just so long as there were m&ms involved.

Saturday morning was a church-wide breakfast and Easter egg hunt. Well, as James noted, it wasn't so much of a hunt as a race. The eggs were just lying on the ground everywhere, so the whole hunt took about 45 seconds. They had a blast though. Some dear friends had invited us for Easter Sunday, so we spent Saturday afternoon at their house helping preparing Easter dinner. Easter day itself was really lovely- 72 degrees and sunny. The perfect combo for an outdoor feast of lamb and many other goodies. There was also another egg hunt for the kids, and a wonderful afternoon of good company and quiet conversation. I wish I had taken better photos, but here is a quick slideshow if you are interested. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow

Well, since we didn't get any snow this year, or any cold weather for that matter, our first garden post is a good deal earlier than last year. We kept waiting for the cold to come and finish off the final remnants of our last year's garden, but it never did. And I am still nervously watching the ten day forecast for any freak April freeze that could destroy what we have planted. But it looks like we should be pretty safe. I hope so, cause things are coming up like there's no tomorrow.

Here's a little tour if you are interested. As you come through our front gate you will be greeted by these sunny poppies that I planted last April.




Yes, you heard that right- last April. I planted them along with the sunflowers, but the sunflowers grew so fast and big that these little guys didn't stand a chance in their shadow. After we cut down the sunflowers, they tried again, and managed to grow some leaves before "winter" hit. Then they just waited patiently for several months until this spring, when they were glad to see I decided against twelve foot monster flowers and exploded into life. They have made an impact I guess. I was walking the other day about six blocks from my house, and a woman I had never seen greeted me with a "Hey you! You're that lady aren't you? That lady with the poppies!" I had to laugh.

Along the other side of the fence are the green beans and of course zinnias.



I had saved some dried beans from last year's crop and was very pleased to see them spring up right away this year. I felt so frugal, you know, saving a buck-fifty or something. And also very pioneerish. I mean, if the worst happens, I know that I have an infinite supply of green beans to feed my family, right?

Our potted plants have increased in number and variety.



It's kind of bad that we live about two blocks from the best nursery in town, because it is always tempting to stop by on the way home, just to grab one thing of course. Yesterday, Steve brought home a fig tree!



I never know what that man is going to bring home next.

This is a funny little tree that is very special to me.



Once when my mom and dad were visiting a cousin in California, they noticed her curly willow tree and really liked it. My cousin gave them a cutting to bring home with them, and it rooted and grew like crazy. When we moved away from that house, they took a cutting with them and planted it at the new house, where it is now a rather large tree. My older sister wanted one too, and took a piece home with her. When she came to visit last March, we asked if she could sneak a few cuttings from her tree in her baggage. They survived and this is the result in just a year. It's the tree that keeps on giving.

My irises made a much better showing this year than the last.




And I know, like we didn't have enough strawberries already.



Our planter boxes are similar to last year- radishes, beets, lettuce, chard, brussel sprouts, onions, peppers and of course tomatoes.




What we planted in the farthest box was kind of an accident.



We had been steadily adding to our compost for over a year, and it was finally ready to add to the garden. The last box had a lower dirt level so I threw it all in there and mixed it up. I guess we didn't let it compost fully or something, because after a couple of weeks we started seeing serious growth going on, and it wasn't weeds. I do not exaggerate when I say there were at least fifty tomato plants starting up, well over fifty squash (at least we think it is squash- could be cantelope or cucumber as well) basil plants, sunflowers and zinnias and even two or three peach trees from discarded pits. (The big bush is my rosemary that survived the winter nicely.)
We toyed with the idea of letting it all just grow and see what would come, but remembering last year and the explosive growth of the squash and tomatoes, we decided to let the squash (or cantelope or cucumber) win the battle early. I did transplant the peach trees though. They are so cute and I am curious to see if anything will come of them. Gardening can be such an adventure!

As I was coming in from watering, I just had to snap this shot.



All my little kiddos boots all in a row, ready to put on little feet that can't wait to help mommy dig in the dirt. Do you like Christian's little yellow boots? My older sister gave them to me because she was done having kids. Do you think I should give them back?

Happy gardening!

When life gives you strawberries

So the local grocery store was selling strawberries at .79$ a box this week. I love strawberries, the kids love strawberries, and even more, I love cheap fruit. I bought a dozen boxes. This seemed like a lot, but we also love jam, so after gorging ourselves on fresh ones, I made what was left into some delicious strawberry, vanilla bean spread. But it only made three jars, and something in the back of my mind kept nagging me that I wouldn't be finding .79$ strawberries again any time soon. I checked the store flier, and it was the final day of the sale. Panic! Steve had the van and wouldn't be home until after they closed! I gave him a call and asked him, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, to swing by the store on his way home and grab a few more boxes. No big deal of course, but if he had the time you know. He came home an hour later, with this.



I was a little dumbfounded. I mean, 24 lbs of produce!!! This in addition to the twelve I had already purchased. And produce that rots perhaps more quickly than any other. Well, it was a challenge I accepted gladly.

This is a picture of my kitchen early this morning.



I called it 'still life with strawberries'.

This was my kitchen a few hours later.



It seemed to ask "Is it really worth it?".

This is my kitchen currently.



It says to me- "Fifteen jars of jam, 2 gallon bags of frozen berries for smoothies, 1 lovely bottle of strawberry syrup, a large pan of 'fruit leather', the remnants of some tasty strawberry lemonade we made for lunch, not to mention four pounds of fruit remaining to enjoy. I think you could say it was worth it."

Anybody got some shortcake? I'll bring the berries.