We bought the house in April of 2006 it looked like this:IMGP0718It was a fixer-upper on a corner lot. It was in a great neighborhood, close to schools, a library, the bike path. Then we birthed twins, painted the house, pulled out the overgrown  bushes, replaced some windows, built a fence, built a patio, had another kid, read Michael Pollan , read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, read Edible Estates: Attack on the Front Lawn , read Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer, rode Bike the Barns (twice), got tired of kohlrabi in our CSA box, stopped subscribing to a CSA, went to the farmer’s market so often that the farmers know Mr. Brown on a first name basis, built a raised bed in the front yard, cut down the crab(Crap) apple trees, installed rain-barrels, wanted to get chickens, looked into getting chickens, decided chickens were not for us, hired Madison Groundworks, brewed beer, made chili, invited our friends and their favorite shovel over and turned this:brownyardinto this.IMG_5153DSC_0035DSC_0039DSC_0044DSC_0084IMG_5162IMG_5169The kids showed amazing stamina and played in cold, drizzly weather for 8 hours. They came in briefly to use the bathroom and eat, but they tirelessly rescued worms from the old raised bed and relocated them to their new, bigger home.DSC_0057DSC_0062DSC_0069

It’s a bit unsatisfying to build a garden and then immediately put it to bed. But now we have all winter to inventory our seeds and perfect our plant wish list , find black current bushes, asparagus, and quince trees.We will spend the coldest nights debating about which heirloom tomatoes are sweeter. We have all winter to dream of green things to come.

This project is our 10th anniversary present to each other. Tin is the traditional gift….think tin watering can. Happy Anniversary, Farmer Brown. I love you more than dirt.

After opening her presents, Coco comes up to me and in all earnestness asks,” Mom, can I take off my clothes now?”

On Monday the Rebels #1 and #2 turned 3 years old. On Tuesday, Rebel #3 turned 4 months. I have scaled back all goals to the short list of 1. sleep, 2. make dinner without exploding in frustration 3. drink more water. I cannot commit to running in the morning or weekend workouts or shopping or making art or craft or losing weight. I must get sleep to function, and until that happens, everything else is extra credit.

DSC_0032

DSC_0035DSC_0050DSC_0053DSC_0058DSC_0075

DSC_0015DSC_0004DSC_0007

I feel like a little squirrel, frantically hording nuts for winter. So many events coming up. Last week the girls started pre-school. This week is the celebration of our 10th wedding anniversary, the QuilExpo, Bike the Barns, and the Sheep and Wool Festival. And then great grandpa announced that he is moving to Madison this week, so Manly and I will be driving to Milwaukee to bring him to his new apartment on Thursday. And I signed up to be the school newsletter editor. And Mr. Brown returned to night-school for his MBA.

I am collecting thoughts, ideas, yarn and fabric for the cold winter ahead. I am hoping to have enough inspiration to carry me through to April.

Collecting the time to do them is another matter.

I must go, Manly needs me.

How can someone so small be so wonderful?

DSC_0014

DSC_0060DSC_0066DSC_0076DSC_0082

DSC_0014

Nothing says “Summer” like parking in a field. We ventured to the Kickapoo Country Fair last weekend. It was sponsored and held at Organic Valley in the heart of Wisconsin’s beautiful Driftless area.

Highlights from the weekend:

Overhearing two women talking cheese making;  “..She tried training me on the mozzarella and provolone and I could hardly keep up with that” while nursing our young in the family rest tent.

Seeing a field of beautiful sunflowers that will be made into tractor biodiesel.

Meeting friends from The Madison Waldorf School and favorite artist/mother Amy Arnold in the Farm Animal tent.

Walking through the Viroqua farmer’s market and seeing the Amish women tend to their babies while selling baskets and vegetables.

Playing in Pleasant Ridge’s playground before dinner after a long drive from Madison.

Meeting Elin, who lives in Madison and has a weekend farm near La Farge, where she dyes Wisconsin wool with natural flower dyes. She is my unwilling mentor.

Hearing The Squeezettes-All Girl Polka Band and wanting to  drink beer and Polka all night long.

Watching the Rebels willingly sit still for a fairy face painting. Coco the Warrior Princess, Ladybird the Ice Queen.

DSC_0118

DSC_0050

DSC_0004

DSC_0038DSC_0016DSC_0042DSC_0044DSC_0051DSC_0019DSC_0127DSC_0069

Woosh goes July

onthebikes offthebikes onthebikes over to the easel to paint run to sandbox

laugh shout squeal drawdrawdraw

Scruff, scruff, scruff goes mama and the baby jogger

Coo goes baby then kickickicks

Hollyhocks stretch to the the sun

Vroom to Papa’s farm for the weekend

Whoosh goes the red racing motorboats

we rest for a moment and read Sendak, while wild things run amok in the garden

DSC_0002

Purse on wheels, my view of the baby jogger

one month old, hat built by BrownbuiltOne month oldDSC_0111

How to hold The Boy while drinking beer; July 4th party

DSC_0075DSC_0083DSC_0084IMGP3759IMGP3736IMGP3749IMGP3774IMGP3780IMGP3783IMGP3769IMGP3772IMGP3791DSC_0132DSC_0141

Madison’s MMoCA | Art Fair on the Square is not to be missed. The show is huge, so if you like looking at art and not people watching, go early. Mr. Brown and I plan on dropping the girls off at Grandma’s house and catching up with the work of Amy Arnold and Nick Wroblewski, two of my favorite, and somewhat affordable Midwest artists. I hope to find a beautiful woodcut from Nick for our living room above the fireplace. I had hoped to collage or paint something myself, but that just isn’t going to happen. Plus, I think I would critique my own work every time I looked at it. That’s no fun.

Many thanks to Kara at Mama Sweat for the cards and fun comments. Next week I have my postpartum doctors appointment where I expect to get the green light to start working out again. And I just entered The North Face® Endurance Challenge for October.  I was hovering between entering the 10k or half marathon, but then I remembered that finding time to workout is proving much harder than the actual workout, so I chose the 10k. I have started some easy core/base training, mostly because I don’t want to cram my big-ol’ breastfeeding boobs into a sports bra quite yet.

Today I took the rebels to the quilt store. They picked out fabric for their bubble dress . Being 2 1/2, they picked out a very bright cupcake print. One in yellow, one in pink.They are very excited to have a dress made out of cupcakes. Who wouldn’t be?

Yours Truly,

Brownbuilt