Back to school celebration...

I love back to school time.

I have always loved school. 

My favorite parts include, but are not limited to;  the smell and feel of new paper.  the freshness of new pens and lining them up all in a row.  organizing my binder that will hold all of my important work.  putting everything neatly into my brand new backpack.  wearing  the new outfit I chose weeks prior for the very special day.  receiving the class syllabus and looking ahead at what was to come.  flipping through the new text books and analyzing each new chapters title. organizing my desk.  etc...

Though my unyielding love for school, and all of its new paper excitement, continually tested more than my intellect.  If fact, it never failed to confirm my shyness and often raised my anxiety level to the point of nausea.  I was nervous to see all those faces looking back at me.  I was nervous to choose a place to sit.  I was nervous to navigate the hallways.  I was nervous to meet my teachers.  I was dying inside regarding the seating arrangements during lunchtime hour.  and dreading the free time given on the playground.

SO... I do not wish the same for my children.  I do wish for all the excitement and I do expect some level of nerves, but I hope it is not debilitating. I hope they embrace the newness with confidence.  I hope they join clubs and make a lot of friends.  I hope they play sports and give it their best.  I hope they run for student council or perform in a theater production.

So I set a table to discuss...

I created a back to school survival in-case-of-an-emegency kit...

This is to be broken when, and only when, you must ingest a food to make you smart, soda to reboot brain power, candy when you get the jimmy legs during study sessions, and pencils when you have searched high and low for the 100 pencils you have already used and then lost!!

Somewhere around June 17th the word s.c.h.o.o.l. was deemed a 'cuss' word.  I entertained this notion fully aware of the relief felt when a school year ended and a brand new summer began.  

But I am through with school being a bad word and I now say...

Cheers to school!

Mr. Witt and I had spent some time thinking about the words we wanted our children to take with them to school in this new year.  Words that would encourage a positive experience. Words they could refer to in those little heads of theirs when they were away from us.  Words to help guide them thru the exciting experiences ahead.

We took turns picking words on the table and communicating what they meant to us and how we would use their sentiments while navigating fourth and second grade.

kindness

humility

adventure

confident

perseverance
intention

knowledge

 FAMILY

We all spoke.  And listened.

We were fortunate to have Ms. Grams join us.  She is not only a grams but both Noah and Gabi's very first preschool teacher.  She picked the word kindness.  She reminded us of their first lessons as new students.

1. Be Safe

2. Be Kind

And with those words she can captivate a group of three-year-olds like no one else can!

 So I hope that opening up this dialogue will help lead them to the good stuff in life...

 Fourth and Second grade are going to be fantastic...I know it.

All the words had significant meaning and I have hopes that they will bring comfort and strength tomorrow at 8:00am when the first bell rings.  

I know you will do great.  I know you will show kindness, have humility, seek adventure, keep confident, persevere, discover intention, gain knowledge... and most importantly share in all of it with us, your mom and dad;
your family.

good luck to you darlings...

with love, mom

Kids came back with a hurricane...

Quite a lot has been happening in the last 48 hours.

I wish I was better at signing in and jotting down some thoughts.  Once a day would be ideal...

For this is a journal for the kids to look back at what was when they were younger and growing up... but sometimes you just have to enjoy the happenings and not worry so much about the journaling.


Noah and Gabrielle were escorted back to the forest from the desert by a lovely grams.  The shrieks upon arrival were earth shaking, coincidence?  I think not.  And then we were granted an entire day, in the house, while it rained, to just chill.  and enjoy.


So I gave Gabi her first lesson in sewing...

She learned to feel her scissors and cut beautiful fabrics.  

She learned to use the serger to overlock her fabrics raw edges.  We practice using the foot pedal which she did all of for her entire project.  She was very good at using appropriate speeds as well as keeping control of the material.

She picked out her applique and chose its perfect placement...

We ironed it on very carefully and gently pulled back at the sticker.  It came out beautifully!

And then all that was left was to admire her very handy work.   

 I think it came out darling, don't you?


Hope all of you enjoyed the wild weather and are safe and well.

Food is for comfort...

 I love summer food.

I love to eat outside.

I love to eat grub that I grill.

I am obsessed with eating right off of the cutting board.

I have been collecting pictures of my food over the past month or so because it looks so beautiful and delicious....

Grilled tortilla topped with goat cheese, roasted peppers (roasted by muah) and fresh farm argugala.

ingredients in bowl below include small heirloom tomatoes, roasted corn (on the grill), cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

<---mixed together and served with bean and cheese tortilla and spanish rice.


scrum-diddly-umptious!

Dinner for one.  Grilled lettuce. Chopped.  mixed with Lucini dressing and parmesean cheese. White bean salad that is a mix of white beans, cilantro, cucumber, lemon juice, and olive oil. pinch of salt.  Vino.

Salad below goes as follows:

Lovely friend at work: hey britt, want some lettuce from our garden?  We have tons of it.

Me: heck yea, thanks!!

Lovely friend: Okay, I will bring in a trash bag of it tomorrow.

Me: AWESOME!!  You're the best!

she brought, I ate.  I added fresh carrots, cucs, scallions, advacado, cheddar cheese and my favorite dressing,

Below photo: favorite meal staples by far.  Grilled romaine lettuce salad. chopped. roasted corn topped with chili lime rub (added promptly after roasting).  Sometimes I eat this with a veggie burger, sometimes with a burrito, sometimes with a side of pasta, and sometimes just all on its own.  I love it.  A lot.

Fall is in the air.  I can feeling it creeping in.  It is my very favorite time of year, especially now since we live in the East.  But.  I will miss the tomatoes.  I will miss grilled everything.  I will miss dining outside.  I will miss the 

C. O. R N. so very much.  

We have some time still, not freaking out yet!

Okaaaaaaaaaay....

Trying to freshen up the old blog space...

Looks like I might be paying someone else to do it.

pardon me.

Farmer's Markets are for lovers...

Who knew that Shelburne had its own day... Not us. 

We were just headed out for a little Farmer's Market time and BAM, Shelburne Day!

I was so consumed with enjoying myself that I neglected to snap snap snap away on the old iphone camera app... But I got a few shots and here are some faves that showcase my favorite food, friends, a band, and special treat...  

Corn. corn. cOrn. cornnnnn. CORN. corN. cooorn.

I love me some C.O.R.N.

**however, I do not prefer corn in my soda pop/cereal boxes/granola bars/pop tarts/toothpaste/toilet paper/on my car radio/or any place other than wrapped in foil right off the grill hold the butter b/c it is that good kind of corn.

Dear USA, stop corn cruelty please.

 Was I surprised to see Mrs. Taylor on Shelburne day?


No, no  I was not.

And she had a cute puppy with her and his name is Winchester and she had Bea too...

and these guys were selling the cutest hand made bracelets so of course we purchased one for Gabrielle.

We only got a chance to hear one of the bands play Shelburne day.  I don't know who these guys are but that young man in the photograph has the loveliest voice and we oh so enjoyed ourselves hearing him sing...

We had already had a Rookies Root Beer, we are part of the club you know... but Mr. Witt had not had his fill so we headed back for round two and you are never going to believe what happened!

 The Rad Rookies Mama let Matt poor his own Root Beer!!!

This is, hands down, the best root beer on planet Earth.  I think the secret ingredient (like the secret ingredient in most things here) is that it is made in Vermont... There is just something in air that makes everything super!

Thanks Rookies, for the highlight of this day!

When we arrived back to the homestead we unloaded our products...

YUM.

August is for lovers...

Mr. Witt and I are on the final countdown to our beloved children's return.  This month has had its ups and its downs and I am continually thankful for the experience.  It was lovely to have some time alone with my hubby but was excruciatingly painful at times to be so far from my littles....

This weekend was our last full Friday, Saturday, Sunday alone...all to ourselves.  I think despite the lack of 'making plans' we used it to its fullest.

Beginning with... 

because burgers are not, but farms are for lovers...

 ...burger night at bread and butter farm in our very own home town.  I had been looking forward to enjoying the festivities provided by the fine folks of this farm for a while...I will be even more excited to share it with our youngsters...

This is a groovy kind of place...

 That knows how to throw a Friday evening  
shin dig...

 Amongst the most enchanting Vermont views...

 The live music was delightful and the artists kind and engaging.

Here is a picture of me doing the unthinkable... on the smartphone playing a game... 

WHaaaaaaT?

Super uncool yo!  

 Listen, when my nine year old asks me to engage in a friendly game of Words With Friends, and this nine year old is 3000 miles away, and the two of us are missing each other, and he needs a connection with his mama... well, frankly, I don't care if I were dining with the Queen of England... I will shamelessly tap tap tap on that phone and be quite happy to do so... so there Mr. Witt...

Here are a few pics of Mr. Witt and I having fun on a beautiful farm post silly smartphone game...

Sadly, this Witt family does not partake in the eating of burgers...though, if I were going to, this would definitely be the place for it!!  After we enjoyed the most lovely vibe of this fine event, we headed to get some veggie pizza to enjoy while doing our very favorite Shelbure thing...

Dinner and sunset at the lake and this time over a game of Scrabble!  

Because Scrabble is for lovers too.

weekend to be con't...