Fashionistas

New fashionistas post: http://web.mac.com/kimberlybyrd/iWeb/Site/Blog/B8D0975F-0FDB-4BAF-985C-E3D81FE8938D.html

Tie-die deux

Can ya'll please send me an e-mail to tell me if you can see the new site? Here's a new post:
http://web.mac.com/kimberlybyrd/iWeb/Site/Blog/AA6EFC35-3FAF-499B-9345-9C39C9E0ACCD.html

A lovely day

link to site: http://web.mac.com/kimberlybyrd/iWeb/Site/Blog/BFD2ADE4-E105-4168-93B5-84E0DC1EDD9A.html

Squirmy RIP

Link to this week's blog: http://web.me.com/kimberlybyrd/iWeb/Site/Blog/93F0606F-5EC2-43EE-858B-E90411BADB63.html

Trying a new site!

Hello to all!

I have spent many frustrated days lately with blogger.com and have now tried the very easy application on my apple. See what you think!

http://web.me.com/kimberlybyrd/iWeb/Site/Blog/D1BA4260-CCBB-42AC-BC43-8D201FB36C59.html

Many pictures await!

Hippie Haven

It's tie-die mania here at the Byrd house. We had our first foray into the world of messy dies and rubber bands and it's awesome!



Here's Charlotte opening up one of the first ones:


and William:



They turned out pretty cute. I did some embrodery on several of them which didn't quite work, but for the most part it was a great and colorful adventure.

Since I last posted, William finished his summer camp at Camp Invention, where he made a hovercraft, a space helmet (pictured), did crime solving and chromatography (pictured), and took apart my old computer from grad school.



I cooked for 7 hours on Friday and made what may be the best meal of the summer (there's always one!). It was an Indian feast with a lime papaya salad, thai chickpeas with coconut and sweet potato, dal with apple and coconut, red rice, fresh corn raita, a ginger and tomato salad, and afgani homestyle naan. Here's Charlotte and Gracie early on in the cooking process:


Something large and wonderful has emerged from the garden. Our first zucchini!! The kids were amazed. William wanted to hang it as a decoration.



That's all folks!

Garden Bounty or Garden Bust?

Ok, so mama is not the best gardener. Pretty darn bad, actually. Good with the indoor plants, but outdoors is always a disaster. This year we planted two huge raised beds and approximately 37 heirloom tomatoes, most of which now have some sort of bacterial wilt and are pitiful. The bunnies ate all the peppers and the strawberries, the carrots never grew much, and the chard is invisible. The bright spot is the baby bok choy and zucchini. Above, Gracie is holding onto our bounty with a death grip. She refused to put our two precious produce specimens down, knowing full well they'll be few and far between. Maybe next year!!

In a moment of desperation, I let the kids get in the suitcases and I wheeled them around. Charlotte said it was the most fun she had all day, beating out the adventure to the Asian grocery store United Noodles for all sorts of exotic yumminess. Gracie had so much fun in the suitcase she refused to get out.

With a little of the proceeds from teaching the Hamline University class, I purchased some new cookbooks. Here's my first loaf from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads. It took a couple of days (it's a slow rise) but it did taste a bit like great harvest bread, if I do say so myself.


Tommorrow it's a cooking adventure with Flatbreads and Flavors. We're going to India!

Did you all have luck with the picture album website from the last post? Let me know if it worked for you. http://threelittlebyrds.shutterfly.com/

A post at last!

Well, I'm finally back at it! I had a lot to catch up to in the last 6 weeks, so I posted 67 pictures and 3 videos on a shutterfly site. Much easier than this slowpoke site that only allows 5 pictures per load.

We had a busy July! Check it out at
http://threelittlebyrds.shutterfly.com/

More coming soon! Love to you all.

Kinder Ballet

This week brings our first summer camp, Charlotte's kinder ballet camp. There are ballet crafts, ballet stories, and of course ballet dancing. Here is Charlotte all ready to go!

Summer delight

What a wonderful summer weekend! Summers in Minnesota are the best, and sharing it with friends make it divine.

First off, I attended an overnight knitting retreat with my neighborhood knitting group, The Tangletown Ladies Needlework Society. We went to a cabin 1 -1/2 hours away on a lovely little river. We ate and ate and ate, and knit a bit. Man, I am bad at knitting, but luckily I'm pretty good with the cooking, so that saved me. The Needlework Society is full of smart, interesting and funny women: progressive reverends, writers, and cooks, which made for great conversations. I was in heaven.

Promptly upon my return home, we had an ice cream party with our good friends the Logans to celebrate the ending of a successful school year. Undeterred by previous pizza grilling disasters, we forged on ahead, and finally, success!! Crisp and crunchy asparagus, gorgonzola and spinach pizzas. Michael was busy making mojitos which included copious amounts of vegetation.




The children discovered later that the neighborhood boys were sleeping out in their tent, so of course ours had to go up as well. Predictably, that lasted about an hour and a half.



The next day, I went to church and heard the most delightful sermon on beauty. We have a new intern from Berkley, and he rocks. I'm really hoping they will post his talk on their podcast soon. http://www.unityunitarian.libsyn.com/.

Later, our friends Geoff and Dawn arrived for an afternoon nibble of a Queen of Sheba tart and a garden tour. The girls became totally enamored with Dawn and became a permanent fixture on her lap. Geoff is the mastermind behind the weehouse. See weehouse.com

Meanwhile, Charlotte has blown all of her allowance money on a towering four pack of princess shoes. Day and night she is sporting her new apparel, and she couldn't be more thrilled. How can shoe obsessions begin at the age of 4??

the byrds get wet

Well, it's been quite a week!

William and Charlotte began their 2 week intensive swimming class at the U. They love it, and their teachers are terrific. They just about blow with excitement everyday before it starts. There are only two other children in the class with them and they are learning A LOT. William is now doing the front and back crawl across the pool, and Charlotte dunks with abandon. Plus, I joined a gym this week and have been swimming for exercise. Its a swim-o-rama.







William had his last day of school today! Mama was sad, William was not. I'll miss his teacher, Ms. Johnston. She was wonderful.

William's quote of the week:

"You know what I learned throughout this year?
I am very likable."

Yes you are, William! Yes, you are.

Here's William with his friend Mac. They carpooled together a lot this year, which really saved my sanity. Thanks Mr and Ms Coleman!


Well, look! Here's Ms Coleman, attending a reading party with the first grade class last week. I didn't know we were supposed to bring a blanket, so she kindly shared hers. Charlotte spent most of the time with her head nuzzled in Ms. Coleman's lap. Ms Coleman was a good sport about it. We've come a long way from the beginning of the year when Charlotte wouldn't get in the car with her!Here are some of the highlights of the books William made this year.
First, there is "Sharks Doing Their Stuff"


Then, his poetry book, "I Like Poetry."

Here's a poem, "I like chickens"
i like cickins
green cickins
bloe cickins
qwick cickins
slo cickins
i like cickins

We've been talking about chickens quit a bit at home, huh? The subject came up at our neighborhood knitting night this month, and my neighbor got wind of my idea. It did not exactly go over well. We might have some work to do before those little silkie bantams start strutting their stuff at the byrd house. How could you say no to a face like this?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mypetchicken/384233601/

William also wrote a cute note to Michael.

thank you for helping me on stuff I need help on
to Mickl
from William
I love you
you are a grat dad

(on the back:
and you are grat at fishing)

We received two big boxes from the Mayeuxs, and Charlotte was in heaven. Hello Kitty jammies and red danskos, oh my!

On the baking front, we had a huge kitchen disaster. The "Angel Cheesecake" blew its top. Charlotte knew it would. When we were pouring it into the pan, she said, "um, mom, do you think this is going to fit?"


Well the whole adventure certainly didn't stop my friends and I from digging in! Delish!

Sibling Love Train

Hallelujah! The sibling love train has pulled into the Byrd station. Maybe it will stay for a few days, maybe a bit more or less, but we are delighting in each splendid minute. Yesterday William and Charlotte played together for 5 hours. We didn't hear a word from them. Five hours!!

The day before, William made the sweetest award for Charlotte.
I'm thinking if I was Charlotte, I'd just keep a copy of this nearby and I'd be set for life. Really.



Transcription: eward to charlotte becas of hre goodnis in lif. we love you. goldinmatl.

Translation: Award to Charlotte because of her goodness in life. We love you. Golden metal.

Did you know Gracie's favorite activity is toothbrushing? Everyday, the toothbrushes come out at least 7 times a day and she gnaws on them. All of them. (Don't tell my mom.)



Last week Charlotte found out in her field days at school that she is great at t-ball and she loves soccer. Here is with her special award. And, showing you a splendid 5th position.






Here are some more cutie pie pictures from Grandma Carole's special visit. We still miss you, Grandma!