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Well Vera had her last day of preschool last week! We really loved her creative arts school and the close little community of friends and teachers she had there.  She is really proud to be done and moving on to kindergarten - in fact she thinks the younger kids are still going every Tuesday/Thursday and can't seem to grasp that everyone is out for summer.  Goodness it really is crazy that she'll start kindergarten in the Fall!! I even just got her a little pottery barn backpack on sale today :)  It's just amazing watching a child grow and learn. 

 

Amelia wanted her horse in the picture :)

 

First day of school back in 2010! 

*el juego

One of my most favorite things in the world being a mom is to watch my kids quietly playing in their own little world.  It makes my heart swell :)

Edie kept herself busy here putting puppy and other things in the backpack - moving to another room, taking them out, repeating, etc. She had some little agenda going on in her sweet little head.

Vera played with this teeny tiny hippo all day which was the prize inside a chocolate kinder egg.  She'd hoped for a fairy, but loved this little hippo. She cuddled it and put it to sleep and made a leash for it, took it on our memorial day picnic, bathed it and reluctantly let Edie hold it a couple times. It's just so magical seeing a child's imagination at work!

*Edie lately

Just wanted to note down what Edie is into lately - she's cracking us up.

:: unzipping couch cushions/pillows and hiding stuffed animals and pajama pants in them
:: finding ants and not-so-gently picking them up with her little pincher grasp, exclaiming ANT! biiiiig ANT!
:: carrying around Vera's little backpack with puppy inside, exclaiming MY backpack!
:: biting, scratching, throwing things across the room when she is mad. Me: Edie we do not bite Mommy! Edie: Oh.  Me: It hurts! Edie: Oh. Owie? *kiss*
:: jumping on mom+dad's bed
:: not into diaper changes
:: going AYA! [outside]
:: "draw draw" on things she's not supposed to.  Me: Edie do we color on the chair? Edie: yeah! Me: No, we do not color on chairs.  Edie: Oh. 
::"reading" letters she sees: Ooooo EEEEE beeee EYYYE GEEEE EYYYE
:: biting the ends off crayons
:: going ahead and doing almost anything we tell her not to.

*el domingo

At various points in the last couple years I've wanted to do regular "Sunday afternoon" posts. Aren't Sundays the best? The morning structured by church, home for a nice-ish lunch [well we used to do that... today I stood over the counter and scarfed leftover yogurt dill dip and crackers..] and then naps and the afternoon free to be together as a family. Especially in Spring - I mean it can't get any better. I took a couple first of the girls eating their popsicles and playing with the hose and decided I would take pictures the rest of the day to share here. Ben worked until after Edie's nap and then spent the rest of the day with us - it was really nice :)

I love to ask the question, "Who wants ____??" because Edie always replies "meeee!!!" no matter what you fill in the blank.  In this case I was asking if they wanted popsicles - I wish I had a video of how excited she was. Vera obligingly came to sit so I could get a picture of them:

They could have stayed here playing with the water the rest of the day:

...but we decided to go for a bike ride! We rode to Whole Foods which is just a little ridiculous... I mean in the "look how sustainable and cool our family is" kind of way :)  But I've always wanted to ride to the new store as it's not that far and I just love the idea of riding your bike wherever you need to go [sigh.. Missoula].

On the way back we stopped at the park for a while. It is always packed on Sundays which is actually kind of fun and festive.  Ben watched Edie as she went down the slide over and over and I sat on the [fake] grass and relaxed which was quite a treat. 

After dinner I planted our tomatoes, beans and beets and then Tia came over and showed us how to see the eclipse through binoculars. So fascinating! I had thought I would just watch it later on the news [lame, yes] but am so glad she stopped by.  I took this picture of her silhouette on the door:

A pretty nice day :)

*

The girls and I spent a good hour on the driveway yesterday - Vera riding her bike around pretending she was going to outer space and back, then sifting through a small pile of sand [something to do with her treasure map and captain hook..]. Edie was languishing after her 5:45 wake up and only a micro afternoon nap. I had a third round of yerba mate [needed after MY 5:45 wake-up call]. Anyway, just some everyday for ya.

*

A blog I follow is having a "pantry/freezer challenge" - motivating me to get through as many meals as I can using the things I have already. I was quite proud of myself last night being creative with what I had on hand. We had leftover salmon and pasta. I made a pesto with arugula, lemon juice, Parmesan, pine nuts, green onions, parsley + salt and then mixed it into the penne with some ricotta [from like 3 weeks ago - we always have remnants of this kind of thing that never get used] and some pasta cooking water. Yum I loved it and so did everyone else! It's a proud moment watching your 1.5 year old eat arugula :)

Tonight we'll have burgers - making a dent in the dozens of buns leftover from the graduation party! Maybe making this "public" on my blog here will keep me accountable and we'll save some money this month and get that freezer cleaned out...

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*el pescado

Rosie came to stay with us for a few weeks before and after graduation to help out with the kids, the cooking, etc.  Most of you know she has the magic touch when it comes to preparing food - everything she does tastes delicious and looks beautiful.  A few things we had that I want to remember are the sukiyaki, green curry, Ben's grandmother's rice pilaf, gobo [burdock root]...... I know there are others. 

The two that I really want to make a lot this summer, using things from our garden are these two salsas she got from Giada De Laurentiis - a citrus/parsley one with salmon and an arugula/parsley/lemon one with the halibut.  SO fresh and delicious, I just wanted to keep eating spoonful after spoonful.  I would really like to add more pescado to our diet.  Don't you just feel so healthy and smart when you eat salmon??  I definitely believe in eating good quality foods - I just try to temper the cost a bit having a weekly beans+rice dinner and as many 'leftover' nights as I can get away with.  Anyway we are having  fish tonight and I'm going to make one of her salsas using all the arugula and parsley I already have in the garden. I love summer eating :)

Here's the recipes:

Halibut with arugula salsa

Salmon with citrus salsa verde

*DOCTORADO

BEN CATER, PHD!

I recently found this fun one on my phone - wasn't aware of it. I love it!! 

Crazy tired kids, crazy hat hair...

Vera and Rosie made this awesome banner. Vera drew everything - all the trees, mountains, surfer, trout, etc. Rosie just guided her along :)

The graduation was Friday evening, and earlier that day we went out for an awesome lunch at Pago with our families.

Saturday we had a party here at our house.  I feel like it went pretty awesome!  I remember when we first got to Salt Lake and were at the Farmer's Market. Ben always gets a pulled pork sandwich from a particular booth - in the very beginning he declared that's what he wanted at his graduation party. It seemed so far away at the time! It's so crazy that it's come and gone already!!  We did have some delicious pulled pork sandwiches and bbq chicken along with homemade salads and a big costco "Professor Ben!" cake.  

It was so fun seeing all the people who have supported Ben [and us] over this phase in our lives.  I do wish I'd got more pictures - hopefully people will email some on over ;) 

If you're curious about our plans...... we don't have any!!! Ben needs to finish writing his dissertation and will defend in the beginning of June.  After that we may have a clearer idea of what to do. He's waiting to hear about a couple temporary type jobs and we are also considering moving to Nevada if it doesn't work out here financially.  It's comforting to know God does have a plan and he will guide us through it!

*candyland

Things have been super busy with Ben's graduation (!) last weekend and family still in town.. Still I'm sad I've hardly put anything "cotidiano" here on the blog.

Last night Vera and I played candyland. She was very wistful at the end just *wishing* she could go live in the candy castle. I suggested she imagine one up and draw it - which she was SUPER excited to do. I updated the picture from this morning - here is the finished product taped up on her wall. She is so proud of it!!

More updates on the graduation soon...