We are almost at the end of the birthday marathon around here. This weekend was another pre-birthday celebration with family that were in town visiting. It was a little low-key party for Elizabeth, who we've now thoroughly confused about which day is her "real" birthday. You can tell she was a tiny bit excited about this gift, no?

And because my brain seems to be a dark empty hole where things go in, never to be recovered again, here are a few things you might like, (before I forget):

Home Farming is a social network recently launched by Triscuit. A social network for farmers?? Well.... it's designed for the home farmer and the site is pretty amazing. You can create a profile, ask questions, join discussions, upload photos of your home garden...But the features that I really love about the site are the ability to plot your garden online and look up a "planting plan" based upon your zone. Just enter your zipcode and you'll get a nifty little chart with what to plant and when. Check it out. It's a great resource.

Celebrate Urban Birds : The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is currently sending out kits for an urban bird count to research how birds use green spaces in urban settings. And while we don't live in an urban setting, I plan to load up the kids and head to a local park to do our count. We recevied our kit in the mail yesterday and it is beautifully designed and packed with great information for so many common birds we see every day. I am a firm believer that the more we know and can identify the natural world around us, the more we appreciate it.

Ken Ken : It's the new sudoku. It's good for the brain. And good for hammering home those basic facts.

10 Real Helps for Really Busy Moms : from the lovely, Ann Voskamp

this bag, please.

something to remember

something to eat (with all those eggs)

something that will put ten pounds on you.

something I'd really like to make

something that would look good outside my kitchen window.

something i plan to look at in the middle of august.

happy tuesday, friends. in the course of writing this post, the winds picked up and i heard the cringe-worthy sound of a limb cracking and falling to the ground. it took out a whole slew of wires coming into our house. and somehow, miraculously, everything is still working. (though the eletric meter has been ripped off the house. free power??! yay!)

P.S. I share lots of these "things" and other homestead happenenigns on my facebook page. Become a fan and get in on the fun. :)