June with the Beans

Well, here we all are, doing our thing. Lucy is about 12 years old now, and she sleeps much of the time. The doorbell transforms her into a whirling barking ball of energy, still. Superdog. Sofia Louisa (as she prefers to be called) jumps into everything with equal amounts of enthusiasm. Dancing, swinging, and eating are some of her favorite activities. Otis is four feet tall and full of laughs. He practices his jedi moves regularly and is looking forward to kindergarten this fall. Tootsie Roll, aka Princess Ming, has been cozying up to Patrick a lot lately, maybe because he's had to have his feet up. He is recovering from severe plantar fasciitis, which has been pretty painful, but is responding well to rest, icing, and elevation. In his spare time, he is doing lots of programming, building various computer/electronic systems for our house, planning a compost bin (for me!) and teaching the kids how to throw the frisbee. I am enjoying working at home (not for profit). I miss the profit part but it is so worth it to be able to go on trips with the kids, play, cook as much as I want, and maintain our garden and flowers. Mostly, I love how happy the kids are and how much fun we have.

June so far: We have our first strawberry almost ripe. Yay!! My biggest challenge of the moment is keeping the food budget on track with the grocery prices growing at such an alarming rate. I wanted to buy most of my produce at the farmers market this month, but was foiled by an unexpected turn of events and then relieved that it didn't work out because my groceries cost so much at the store. Can't wait until our garden starts producing!! We are looking forward to spending time with all the grandparents in the upcoming weeks. Grandma Kitty is going to spend the night on Saturday, Grandpa Dan is stopping by to say hi, and Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Martin are going to have a treasure hunt for the kids on Sunday. As Otis says, "DoubleLUCKY!!"