nine weeks

We have nine - that's right, nine - weeks left until summer break. Oh my. Feelings of joy mixed with fear. One thing we plan on doing this summer is participating in The Great Sunflower Project. You can read details at the link, but basically you plant sunflowers in your yard and record how many bees you see (or don't see) visiting them each day during a 15 minute period. I am totally alarmed by the disappearance of honeybees and want to help, of course, but I would be lying if I didn't say that mainly I find the idea of locking my kids out in the backyard for at least 15 minutes wildly appealing. 15 minutes of quiet and helping the environment? Done!

at home with nature

There's nothing like panoramic nature wallpaper to make a home feel natural. When I was a kid, my friend Lisa had a beach scene mural in her basement. We thought it was so beautiful. We would strike Hollywood poses in front of it and take pictures. We felt so glamorous. I found the amazing bedroom in the first photo on poppytalk.blogspot.com. It was designed by the Dutch bag designer, Esther Veereschild. The second photo is of a dear Belgian friend's home. I'm contemplating a mountain scene in my son's room. Though maybe it's a bit to kitschy for resale. What do you think?

Dear Sugar City!

Yes, Sugar City is a real place, nestled amidst fields of wheat, potatoes and sugar beets. My dad's family comes from this charming little town. It is a quiet place, where children run freely in the fields. The air is clean and crisp and smells of fresh dry grain. The sky is blue and stretches wide as eternity...

George's Cocoon

From Allyson:
George caught a massive caterpillar last summer (http://
www.cirrusimage.com/polyphemus_moth.htm) and it spun a cocoon in a
jar in his room and stayed in that cocoon all winter. The monarch
caterpillars he caught around the same time spun their cocoons and
were back out in a week or two. But not this baby. Last week he told
me he thought it was probably never going to emerge. Yesterday before
church he came out of his room with THIS. Cool.