Odin the harvestor!

Lately Odin has found lots of enjoyment helping mom and dad harvest veggies (and occasionally eat them too). He finds it MOST fun to harvest using scissors!!! Here Odin is scissoring green beans.
In the background you can see the cucumber plants! Soon we are expecting lots of cucumbers!

Dad's bees are doing their part to make sure we get lots of cucumbers!

Another fun play for Odin is to build tunnels! We build tunnels with everything! But he especially loves pillow tunnels (or also called forts depending on his play mood).

Garden update

Garden is coming along great. Odin likes to pick peas and eat them. Though it appears as though the picking is his favorite part!
Can you say ... "I want the camera!!"

Mom, Dad, and Odin went for a hike in the woods the past 2 weekends and had a picnic. It was really nice. Would have been even nicer if we didn't have to worry about ticks, but that comes with it, at least until the late fall. Of course Odin brought his chainsaw!

Here is a wider angle of the garden with Mom and Odin in the picture. You can see about 1/2 of the beds. The clover we seeded in the walkways is doing great - that's all the bright green you see.

Here is mom at 21 weeks pregnant with baby #2. We're not sure on the sex...I think it's a girl, but i thought that last time. Celia isn't sure what it will be this time. I guess we'll find out later in the fall. Odin is already talking about being a big brother.

Wood Working and Summer Camp

Odin and I made mom a "kitchen herb garden" box out of cedar for Mother's Day. We even had fun getting the wood, the carts are like little pieces of gymnastic equipment.

Odin was a big help with measuring and marking the wood. He took his role very seriously.

We finished it up, added soil, now we just have to wait for the herbs to grow!

Odin came out to visit me while I'm teaching my "forestry summer camp" to NCSU students. He really enjoyed the time in the woods.

He also had fun erasing on the board.

Of course he brought his chainsaw!! Did quite a lot of cutting at summer camp.

He got his first tick of the season as well, but mom got it out quickly and with no problems.

Bikes and Bees!

What do kids think about while looking at 12,000 bees from about 10 inches away???
We got our honeybees in the morning of the horrible tornados that came through Raleigh. Dad had some help from some visiting friends from Sweden, Vilis and Vilija, in installing the hive.
Amazing what the bees do in just a few weeks. They started with nothing, just a wooden bar.
Our first taste of our own honey!! Very yummy! Odin asked for "more honey please!"
We got Odin a "strider" bike, with no pedals, chain, or training wheels. He rides it by walking/running along. He has really learned to balance well. I (dad) watched him go down a gentle hill for 25 feet without putting his feet down on the ground!! This will really help him with transitioning to a pedal bike in the future.

Of course we took a break for some Easter Egg coloring followed by an egg hunt! Interestingly, Odin insisted on bringing his chainsaw on the Easter Egg hunt. ha!

Mushroom Logs and Bee Homes

Life has been very busy at the homestead these days. Gardening, setting up mushroom logs and getting ready for the honey bees! Odin helped dad paint the honey bee's home yesterday.

A couple of weeks ago he helped dad inoculate the mushroom logs. First they had to drill holes in the logs...

and then hammer in the spores.

Of course, around the house it isn't all work and no play! Bubbe came to visit and brought something very cool and special; a keyboard! Now when Bubbe comes to visit they play together. Odin really likes it when Bubbe plays "Wheels on the bus." Odin is also getting really good at counting to 8 as Bubbe tries to teach him musical scales.

Mom's belly is getting bigger and Odin is pretty excited about the baby in the belly.

We are pregnant!

This is just a catch up blog...we've been so busy lately that we've gotten behind. Our biggest news is that we are expecting. We are 12 weeks and yesterday we heard the heartbeat; so amazing! Odin was pretty amazed too! About 8 weeks ago we had a friend (Christi Standley)come and take some professional photographs. They came out great and below is a small selection of some of the best. In these pictures Mom is 4 weeks pregnant and although we didn't know it; Mom became suspicious b/c the session ran long and she became very nauseous when lunch was late!

In other activities...the community garden is coming along fantastically. We've got many spring veggies planted and last weekend Bronson inoculated shiitake mushrooms. In a few weeks we are getting bees too! So many exciting things going on...

Fun with friends

Still more sledding in Sweden! Odin has a big smile!
While dad was working Mom took Odin to a "play zone" for kids and Odin got his first taste of air-hockey...look at this action shot.

We went for a walk with our friends Tord and Agneta and had a fire in the woods. We also, of course, did more sledding!

Odin found a guitar at Tord and Agneta's and was jamming away!

We spent our last evening in Sweden with Kenneth and Anita and Odin had lots of fun running around.

But the best part of the dinner for Odin was when he got to help Anita put out the candles afterwards!

Then the long flights home...but no worries, Odin enjoyed listening to classical music and having a snack. We took many trips up and down the aisles, read lots of books and took a nap. 20 hours later we were back home in Raleigh.