The Little Farmer

Every single day Lucy goes to the garden with me to pick carrots while I tend to vegetables and harvest others. She usually picks about 4 or 5. Sometimes she'll keep going and I have to distract her so she doesn't pick them all. Sometimes she also picks beets. It's such an adorable activity to watch as she picks them and knocks the dirt off on the side of the garden bed, and then goes to sit on our stairs to take the greens off for the chickens. I never direct her. She does this all on her own and enjoys it after watching me do it one day and lending her tiny hand. It's so wonderful having a little helper around here, especially a super cute one.

Sunshine and Lots of Love

       

A few weeks ago Lucy and I received a complimentary baby-wearing photo shoot from a friend who is starting up a photography business in Fairbanks. She shot many great photos. These are a few of my favorites. We lucked out and had a sunny day for the shoot!

We've actually had a sunny week which has brightened our days and reminded us that summer is still here. Lucy and I have been spending a lot of solo time together without Matt as he is working nights on a spec cabin. We missed him for dinner five nights this past week. We have visited with friends and enjoyed our usual quality time together. Here are some photos from the week.

Lucy got into box of bandaids while we drove to our friends' house the other day. She put a total of 8 bandaids on her legs and feet and with quite the precision!

This looks like a bridge but Lucy and Kaelin are hopping around on a trailer holding mushrooms that they found. It is pretty hard to get good photos of both these girls as they are always moving around excited when together.

Lucy and Kaelin eating broccoli out of Kaelin's grandma's garden. They ate quite a lot of side shoots !

Lucy picked her own bouquet of flowers the other day and arranged them while I worked on mine. The only thing I did to help was give her a vase. She filled it with water, broke off the extra stems, and arranged the flowers. She was right in the sun and squinting when I tried to get her photo but I love this one anyway.

Right before our mama and Lucy dinner. Happy about our centerpieces. 

Lucy showing me how delicious the first large ripe tomato from our greenhouse tastes. I found her on the steps eating it while I ran down to the garden to get some rosemary.

Sometimes Lucy's expressions just cannot be beat. By the way, Lucy has eaten about 80% of the ripe cherry tomatoes in the greenhouse so far. I think the tradition may continue with the big ones! I don't mind at all, however, I will have to try to protect my precious brandywine tomatoes we can all enjoy their flavor together.

We made fresh pizza dough and then toppings together. Lucy is using the ulu with confidence to chop some garlic for our fresh pesto. I had her put her opposite hand on her wrist so she wouldn't get hurt. The colander of basil next to her was all harvested by Lucy as well. She pulled all the leaves off the stems for me. My little helper!

I was going to simply take her photo with the fresh pesto but she snuck a bite right in front of me.  After her taste she said "Little bit hot". I explained that was the fresh raw garlic. She answered with "Tastes good mama!".

Having Fun on a Rainy Day

It rained for most of July. Now, only the third day into August, I am suspecting the same could happen this month. We woke up to the thermometer reading 44 degrees at 7am. It poured on and off all day. We conquered it: Lucy and I played inside all day together, gathered veggies from the garden in the pouring rain (Lucy pulled her first carrots ever), made summer stew and homemade donuts!

This is Lucy's arrangement. She made a bed with the tongue depressors and such, put mama mouse inside it, covered her with a paper towel blanket and made playdoh "babies" to put on top of the blanket.

She was very proud so I took a photo of her to send to Matt at work. She gave him a crinkly-nose smile.

We made sprouted grain donuts. Lucy helped knead the dough. She was so excited.

Lucy cut out most of the shapes with my guidance. She was so excited I had a hard time guiding her hand before she  pressed down on the dough but we managed.

A smile for the camera.

Frying in coconut oil is a lovely thing.

Our product. Unfortunately Lucy's special custom shapes were already devoured by the time I took a photo. She made cute little long shapes and said "fry these too mama!".
I have to give credit to the recipe and I highly recommend it: http://nourishedkitchen.com/sprouted-grain-doughnuts/

Rainy days don't get better than this. I am a lucky mama.

A snooze after a snuggle.

A Belated Happy Father's Day

Lucy watches Matt make some finishing touches on the stairs made from recycled gym flooring. 

We celebrated Father's Day mostly on Saturday night with a relaxing evening consisting of going out for sushi, an ice cream cone, and playing in the park. Lucy ate potstickers for dinner and loved the dipping sauce most of all.

Sunday brought more work for Matt. He pretty much goes non-stop these days but so lovingly takes the time when he can to include Lucy and tell her what he's doing. If there's one thing Lucy is really into, it's helping her dada with projects and learning about tools. She can't seem to get enough of it!

She's just an interested person in general. Today we worked in the garden together tweaking the drip irrigation that seemed to be loose and had lots of leaks. She went around helping me fix all the connections saying "There, works now" or "All better" or "Drip there". Lucy just rocks our world.

So that's how you do it Dada?

McCarthy and Grandma Nancy's Visit

On the Richardson Highway headed to McCarthy

Grandma Nancy (Nono) arrived on a Wednesday evening all the way from CT. Lucy said when she saw her she was going to bounce up and down, run around, giggle and give her hugs and kisses. And that she did! We only wish that all the grandparents could have been here to receive the same fabulous Lucy-welcome. Matt and I were running on fumes when Nono arrived. We packed and packed and left only half a day late for our adventure to McCarthy to work on our cabin...a day and a half after Grandma arrived.

One of the bumps along the way to McCarthy. We only got two flats on the whole trip! Well, this one was a blow out.

Grandma Nancy was such a trooper. We feared she didn't know what she was in for or that she wondered what we got her into. Did I mention she'd never been on a camping trip before? So far, the trip wasn't easy and we arrived in rain and cold to McCarthy at 1am after a 13.5 hour drive (including stops). The trip CAN be done in 8 but not this time! We finally got inside the tent at 2am for bed. The first day it rained and was pretty cold. Lucy and Nono paid no attention and just played away in the tent. Lucy wasn't fazed. She was so excited to be camping with grandma!

First day of camping. Grandma brought her bag of tricks.

First nice day - we headed to town and had ice cream.

Our accommodations beneath the cabin. Bathing beauty is in the center.

The girls headed to Kennicott for lunch and sight-seeing one day. It was cold and windy so we didn't stay too long.

Out for lunch at Kennicott Glacier Lodge - Lucy waits for some ice.

The ladies.

Lucy getting her ya-yas out in Kennicott.

Out for a walk near our property.

Lucy hanging with Canute.

First sunny day - at McCarthy Creek.

In town.

Lucy became a fan of "Bedtuhmye Tea" and smacked her lips after each sip.

Lucy and Dada time.

Silliness in the tent - Canute tries to squeeze in for a snuggle.

We met Hamona the pig in town one day.

First wall up!

Proud Grandma and Canute.

Sharing some pumpkin seeds.

Prepared for mosquitos. They cam out pretty heavily the day before we left.

Lucy warms up after our sun shower together.

Matt's accomplishment - stood all the walls and installed some windows in a week.

Back at home - we played catch up on the garden.

Our little garden beauty.

Lucy and Nono plant her own garden box.

Precision pouring with a leg up for balance. She did so well!

On Brownie, the horse, at Ann's Greenhouse.

At Pioneer Park on the train.

This is Lucy's "smile" for the camera these days.

We had a great couple of weeks. Time flew by! Lots of work had to get done and we did it thanks to Grandma. Lucy woke up the next morning after Nono left and said ""Nono go?" with her hands up in the air. I told her she flew home on the airplane. Lucy responded with her high pitched "Mmnhmm!"