ahhh, and finally the u-pick

Oh joy! We made it to the u-pick today. We picked 7 pints of strawberries and almost 2 of raspberries! A good start to the berry season. The raspberries were not quite there but were good for the first ones of the season. It has been a cooler spring and I am told the berries are late in starting. I am hoping to make it out in the next couple of mornings before it gets too hot and then we can go to the park after or some such for the kids because as much as they love the u-pick, they would actually rather be elsewhere, unlike me. It was fun to go with Ellen today because she and I match each other's u-pick enthusiasm quite well!

We finished up the Little House books (all except Farmer Boy which I am waiting on because as Samuel says, it doesn't hook up, at least not exactly). I can't believe how good the stories were and am amazed I never read them when I was young. No matter, it was fun to read them for the first time with Samuel and Eva.

Here are a few Little House words of wisdom- little tidbits they are always passing on to one another...
"There is no great loss without some small gain."- our favorite

"Nobody knows what will happen. Prepare for the worst and then you've some grounds to hope for the best."

"Least said, soonest mended."

"That's the way to tackle things. Have confidence in yourself, and you can lick anything. You have confidence in yourself, that's the only way to make other folks have confidence in you."

"Now you must do your thinking first and speak afterward."

"A body makes his own luck, be it good or bad."

"I believe we make most of our luck without intending to."

"The last time always seems sad, but it isn't really. The end of one thing is only the beginning of another."

And my favorite quote from all of the books was when Ma said, "I declare I never have been so embarrassed by a cat's generosity." Ma said this after Kitty kept leaving large quantities of gophers and moles and such at their doorstep each day. She provided for two sets of kittens and the Ingalls family, all at the same time.

Other books of interest being read and listened to-
Cricket in Time Square by George Selden (and there is a whole series of this that I didn't know about)
Mr. Revere and I by Robert Lawson (a horse's telling of the Revolutionary War- really good!)
Freddy and the Bean Home News by Walter Brooks- Samuel loves these Freddy books
...and of course more Paddington books whenever there is a lull in the others

Eva has been drawing like mad these days. She is never far from her notebooks and pencils and colored pencils. She likes oil pastels and crayons and markers as well and draws designs and images and tells stories while she draws. It is wonderful to watch her as she is so engrossed in what she is doing and really enjoying herself. She also spends a good bit of time outside in the garden and picks large quantities of flowers and brings them in to me to put in water and add to our abundant nest of dried flowers.

We had an awesome thunderstorm yesterday that made me nostalgic for the Midwest. We don't have nearly enough thunderstorms here in Oregon for my taste. Maybe a handful since we have lived here, which is 5 years now. It was a real treat and the air smelled wonderful and the rain came pouring down and the kids and I sat in the rain and listened to the rain and thunder and I oohed and ahhed at the lightning and Samuel rode his bike around in the rain. Great fun for all of us. And a great way to cool down as it had been 100 for the last two days. A glorious reprieve!