Calm before the Fish Fest Storm

I've been getting a little melancholy thinking about my boy turning 10 later this month.  I've been soaking up all the fun I can and indulging him at every turn - evidenced by the above silly photos.  I read a great blog post about another mama who has a boy turning double digits here.  She took the words right out of my mouth.

My little man has been all about origami lately.  He's made hundreds of small people and my favorite, clearly, is the three origami that feature our little family (above).  Don't you just love my hair helmet?

Sadness has fallen over our household, as Grady approaches the final chapters in the Harry Potters series - The Deathly Hollows, Book #7.  He's savoring the final chapters and distracted himself by a trip to the library to read to dogs & gather easy to read graphic novels.  He doesn't want it to end and just hit a really sad chapter in the book.  He started reading this series on the first day of summer after finishing second grade.  He was so eager and the he's matured and grown up with Harry.  It will be a bittersweet ending, I'm sure.

Last November, I "won" a U-pick membership to Bloomfield Farms during the infamous Valley Ford Pie Auction.  This weekend was their inaugural U-pick party on the farm.  The winds were high, but I had two little boys who I could put to work helping me pick.  We had the best time and the boys laughed, ran, gave wagon rides to each other and learned what elephant kale & spring garlic looks like.  We came home with a bucket full of greens and inspiration to cook all of it during the coming week.

On a different note, I finally figured out why I hate spring.  I hate all of the weeds and tall grasses that overtake our property after the March rains.  It's overwhelming, really.  I put a tiny dent in the weeds in the fire pit area, there is so much more to conquer.  It feels like its a never ending project.

The guys have been busy building an owl box.  It's pretty big and they just need to fill it with shavings and find a location to mount it behind our house.  I just love how they have been working on building projects together this year and solidified their father-son bonds.

We've been taking it slow around here this week with reading, painting, sleeping in and working on small house projects.  The 40th Annual Bodega Bay Fisherman's Festival is just around the corner at the end of this month and I have the task of organizing over 500 volunteers!  Yes, 500.  It all comes down to the wire in the final days before the event and I liken it to a jigsaw puzzle, assigning jobs to volunteers and filling in the gaps.  Every year around this time I vow to take a step back next year.  I'm feeling that way right this very moment but must push through and get to the imaginary finish line.

It's almost here.