Cherry Blossoms and Kites

We went downtown Saturday morning to take in the cherry blossoms and kite festival. All week long as the white and pink blossoms were coming out everywhere, Evalyn excitedly pointed them out as we drove or walked by the "snow" covered trees.

Cherry Blossoms and Kites

The night before our outing she'd gotten in her head that there would be horses (a carousel) and balloons at the festival. Maybe we'd mentioned "downtown on the Mall" and she thought of the carousel at Columbia Mall or something. Who knows! But from the moment she woke up she kept asking about seeing the horses and balloons. Fortunately for us, there WAS a carousel on the Capitol Mall that we rode after strolling the blossoms and flying our kites. It was great kite weather with a nice strong breeze and sunshine. We also stopped in at the Natural History Museum and looked at the animals and dinosaurs on the first level. After that we were all tired and made it home in time to catch most of the first session of General Conference. Whew! It was a fun day for everyone. Even if Evalyn didn't get a balloon.

I had fun flying my pink elephant kite. I love kite flying. I haven't done it enough since I was a kid. There's something exciting about having this piece of fabric or paper and sticks rise in the air and soar with your anchoring it to the ground. One year when I was 8 or 9 probably we made kites for the 4 older kids and then flew them in a big field in town. It was a lot of fun and made us all feel like kite experts since we "helped" our parents design and make the nylon and wooden dowel kites. I remember mine had a stenciled Cabbage Patch kid, Heather's had a lightbulb, and Adam's was a lighting bolt and cloud. Fun memories. I want my children to have that same feeling.

Heartbeat

So the big news in our family that hasn't made it on our blog yet is: we're expecting Baby #3 this September! We are looking forward to the new addition with excitement and of course more of the unknown: how will it be with 3 kids under the age of four?? Once the baby grows out of the bassinet, where will we all sleep?? I'm sure we'll figure it out...

Evalyn came with me today for my 16 week appt with the midwife. When they put the Doppler on my belly to hear the heartbeat, I asked Evalyn what it sounded like. She said with a cute smile, "It sounds like a cat!"

Not sure if she pulled that from her own little head or the Curious George episode on heartbeats and doctor's visits. Matt thinks it's the latter.

Prior to going to the doctor, I asked Evalyn if she wanted to come with. She thought about it and went to consult her Daddy. While Matt was getting Evalyn dressed, Daddy asks again: "Do you want to go to the doctor with Mommy?" She responds equivocally: "Who is going to get better?" Daddy: "Mommy". Evalyn: "Okay, I'll go."

Hanging Clothes Out to Dry

Three years ago when we moved into our house that came complete with a pair of 1940's era 100 foot spaced clothesline poles, I had domestic ambitions to be a "green" laundress and enjoy the splendid comforting scent of line-dried towels, bedding and clothes. Needless to say, a lot of reality happened. It wasn't until we did some major yard work last spring/summer and moved one post to a more reasonable 50 foot spacing that we actually strung some line.

I still remember feeling self-conscious with the first load of laundry I hung out. It was only towels, but I felt like there was something weird or silly about it. Or futile. I probably hung out another 4 or 5 loads total until the weather turned.

So now it's nice out again and I've been mulling over how to be more green in my family's day to day lifestyle. Laundry seemed like an easy part of it. I've been using Seventh Generation's Lavender laundry detergent. I LOVE the scent of lavender. Getting that whiff while pouring the soap in and adding the clothes is like eating a piece of chocolate for me. Then I add about 1/2 a cup of white distilled vinegar to the fabric softener compartment. It freshens clothes amazingly, especially towels, and I still get the lavender fragrance when taking the wet clothes out. Sounds weird but it totally works.

So my maiden clothes hanging experiences this spring was mixed. I had a HUGE basket of kiddie clothes and 50 clothespins. I was doubtful not too far into the hanging process that all of the itty bitty clothes and socks and panties would make it up and I was right. Still had room on the line, but needed more pins. So I took the last 1/4-1/3 of the load back into the dryer since I needed to get the laundry finished and couldn't just wait while two more loads piled up.

While it felt wholesome to be standing in the sunny breeze and watch my two little ones play and toddle nearby while I hung their clothes out to dry, I had this nagging feeling of futility. "What is the point? I'm doing this more as an experiment of faith than anything else. It doesn't seem practical. Am I really going to do this with every load of laundry as long as the weather is good? What does it matter that this load or part of a load was hung out to dry rather than machine dried?" I didn't time myself but it seemed to be around 15-20 minutes to hang them and another 15-20 min when I took them down and folded them a couple of hours later. I also discovered that it would be nice to have one of these aprons or bags. :) Although I'm sure I could figure out how to sew either....

I felt good being outside, stretching and reaching; being productive while my children played and explored. I have very vivid fond memories of being a young girl playing in the hanging damp clothes as the sun and breeze billowed the sheets and dried the jeans. My heart smiled with joy to see my daughter discover that same thing.

Will I keep hanging clothes out to dry? Yes. Will I reach a point where I don't feel like an inconsistent hypocrite because I still use my dryer? I sure hope so. An article my husband sent me from the Washington Post made me smile: It Isn't Easy Being Green: What Kermit the Frog and Green Moms Know

One final note, I came across a website called Project Laundry List. I guess I should count myself lucky to have the freedom and space to dry my clothes on a line!

My Very Productive Day

Wednesday was a very productive day. I washed all the dishes, hung out a load of laundry, put Henry down for his morning nap and weeded 3 flower beds all before 11 AM! Of course this shouldn't seem like such an amazing feat, but considering my track record of late it was.

I've also been wanting to get back into blogging again. This seemed like a good note to start back on. So here's some photos of the morning.

Spring Gardening

Of course I have a few more thoughts to add, but I wanted to get this post up first. I've been distracted from it for 2 days already...

Discovering Worms

We were working in the garden today and Evalyn discovered worms. I found one while re-edging my garden bed and called her over to see. She didn't want to hold it at first, so I put it back in the dirt. She kept coming back and watching to see where the worm went. When he'd disappeared in the ground, she started digging around to find it again with no luck.

A little later I found another worm and called her over again. This time she wanted to hold it and took it to her own dirt pile. I just watched and listened as I worked, wondering to myself what she'd want to do with it. She kept asking "Where should I put it?" I responded, "Worms like to live in the dirt." It was fun waiting to see how long it took her to think of putting dirt in a cup to make a home for it. Sure enough, "Should I put dirt in a cup? Should I?" She repeated to herself as she filled a cup with dirt and wandered away with her new little pet. It was a treat watching her.

Making Eggs

This morning while I was reading and Henry was napping, Evalyn proceeded to entertain herself with the Kleenex box and a spray bottle of water. She had a very specific procedure: pull out a tissue, lay it on the floor, spray with water, roll/wad up into a ball. Next, put the egg into a nest (basket). Repeat at least 2 dozen times. "Look Mommy, I'm making eggs!"