seed. sprout. bean.

my boys

2012-01-26T22:06:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving in Monterey

2012-01-26T22:05:00.000-08:00

Halloween

2011-11-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

/a>

Morning Cereal

2011-10-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

Nature's Path Vimeo from Jeremy Seifert on Vimeo.

(I love me some...) Pearl

2011-10-02T21:53:00.000-07:00

Pearl is becoming quite her own. She's a ham, and funny... and going to be quite a handful. (did i mention that she's gonna get away with far more than her brothers?) I didn't think I would be a push-over, but third borns' have a way... I should know. I am one.In the doll pictures, Pearl is lugging around Sally, my well-loved doll from childhood. It makes me SO happy to see my Pearl loving and appreciating the doll that my Nana (grandma Pearl) used to call "UGG" (for ugly).That is until my mom bought her a copy of the Velveteen Rabbit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Velveteen_Rabbit). That put an end to that!

Camping in Frasier Mill: Mountain Home State Forest

2011-09-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

This is an exhaustive set of photos! (I got a little carried away). Last weekend we celebrated Finn's first week of kindergarten and my 33rd birthday by going to the woods. It was our last weekend to camp before the camping gets cold!I suppose the pictures speak for themselves: lots of wild blackberries, rainbow trout, good food and jumping!

First Day of Kindergarten

2011-09-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

Last days of Summer

2011-08-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

Summer will come to an end in two weeks for us. I am mourning the loss of schedule-less days and only driving as much as I WANT to, not HAVE to.
The end is bitter sweet for sure.

Big things await us in a couple of weeks. Finn begins Kindergarten. I really can't believe this. I know he will love it, but I am sad at the same time. It feels like the beginning of some kind of time-quickening that I'm not ready for. T starts preschool! My baby boy. It's all too much. I think that Pearl will be my best buddy come September while I feel the lonesome quite around here. I've grown rather fond of ... maybe even dependent on the whirlwind of two boys.

It's been a beautiful summer. It's not officially over yet; maybe we can squeeze in a few more adventures before it's all said and done.

Our latest addition

2011-08-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

Arrow, an Australian Shepherd and our first dog.

Traveling Home

2011-08-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

the barn

2011-08-23T11:30:00.001-07:00

Heritage Farm: Seed Saver's Exchange

2011-08-11T21:57:00.000-07:00

Decorah, Iowa

2011-08-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

Pearl's 1st Birthday Party

2011-08-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

4th of July: Tulsa, Oklahoma

2011-08-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

Visiting the Seiferts and Gabrielsons: Edmond, Oklahoma

2011-08-10T20:59:00.001-07:00

Camp NanaPudge 2011: Branson, Missouri

2011-08-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

Special Agents: J,F,O and T

The Way to Oklahoma: 47 trains, 16 dirt devils, and one very large canyon

2011-08-10T20:02:00.001-07:00

On the Road Again

2011-07-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

We've been on the road now for two weeks of our 5 week summer road trip. Two adults, 3 kids and a Eurovan Weekender for camping. These pictures are Day 1, leaving our home in Los Angeles. Notice all of the smiling faces? I was so relieved to finally pull out of our driveway. We didn't end up leaving until 2 1/2 days later than planned. I think we underestimated the amount of work it takes to leave your home for 5 weeks and travel with 3 young kids 5 and under! I guess it's good in some instances that Jeremy and I are both pretty easy going about travel expectations! Anyway, more to come on our first couple of weeks on the road!

Happy Birthday Sweet Pearl!

2011-07-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

Antelope Valley

2011-05-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

Aliso Beach Remix: mother's day

2011-05-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

paint

2011-05-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

Easter

2011-04-26T23:01:00.000-07:00

Aliso Beach

2011-04-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

R.I.P. Ophelia & Rose

2011-04-13T14:21:00.000-07:00

We've lost two chickens over the last two months. Rose to an opposum, and Ophelia for causes unknown. I have to admit, 6 chickens were about two too many. We buried our first pet out in the back corner of the yard. Finn made a bouquet of flowers from some that he grew personally. Jeremy asked the boys to say a few words. Finn said, "You liked it when we picked you up." Scout said, "The other chickens liked you." I thought these were pretty sweet. We sang "You are my Sunshine" and said a prayer thanking God for the eggs that these two ladies had provided all these months.

a winter garden

2011-03-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

I take no credit for these yummy veggies. Finn and Jeremy have made another successful garden! I'm a lucky gal! The broccoli pictured is from seeds Alex brought to Finn from his trip to Spain last year. It was delicious!

Tennessee: 2 1/2

2011-03-19T20:07:00.000-07:00

I don't remember 2 1/2 being such a challenging age with Finn. I think Finn went through terrible 3's instead? Anyway, T has been keeping me on my toes. Since I've been somewhat frustrated, I thought it might be therapeutic to focus on the things that have been so much fun with him lately.

1. He's been really interested in drawing lately. The picture above is his Octopus.

2. It's been fun watching him play with other children (mainly Finn) more, instead of the parallel play they do when they are younger. He and Abel had some fun together a couple of weeks ago when the Smith's came over for dinner. I love that they wanted to go poop together!

3. He is officially riding his balance bike! He's become a little obsessed to the point that if he's outside, he's sitting or riding on it.

4. He hops in Pearl's crib in the morning after she wakes and plays with her (while Jeremy and I fight for a few more minutes of sleep before getting up!).

5. He is the best balloon blower-upper I've ever known!

T-Scoutie-My-Boy, you sure keep life interesting! I wouldn't have you any other way.

Jubilee Singers

2011-03-10T09:27:00.000-08:00

Jubilee Singers -Dance.Dance.Dance from Jeremy Seifert on Vimeo.

Friends and Family!! We're in the midst of pressing vinyl for the Jubilee Singers self-titled album as well as the "Sleep" album (both should be out next month). Here is a video from a song from the self-titled. If you are interested in pre-ordering one or both, contact us at jubileesingers@gmail.com

Nana & Pudge Visit

2011-03-04T13:45:00.000-08:00

Nana & Pudge came out to visit at the end of January to help me out while Jeremy was away for work. I don't know how we could have survived without them here those two weeks! We stayed busy while they were here: Chinese New Years in Chinatown, Valentine garlands, Pearl's first trip to the fabric district, woke up to the smell of bacon every morning (thank you pudge!), etc. Nana was recruited by Finn to help sort his collections, and recruited by me to teach me to crochet. My mom and I made a small blanket for Pearl together. Later my mom came across a scrapbook page from when her mother, Pearl (my nana), taught her to crochet way back when! Pudge and (baby) Pearl spent most of the time as pictured above....

other stuff

2011-03-02T20:27:00.000-08:00

Salvation Mountain

2011-03-02T20:20:00.001-08:00

Mud Pots

2011-03-01T19:43:00.000-08:00

Niland, California: Red Hill Marina on the Salton Sea

2011-03-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T10:17:00.000-08:00

Elephant Seals: Cambria, CA

2011-02-04T09:53:00.000-08:00

Jeremy had a speaking engagement last week in San Luis Obispo. It sounded like a good trip for us to tag along with him, so we did. We went up to Cambria where the elephant seals have just migrated along the coast to birth and nurse their new pups! Such a strange and beautiful site! Finn started giggling when he realized that all of those hundreds and hundreds of lumps along the beach were seals, not boulders. Scout was more interested in picking "sour flowers" to chew on along the path. The beach pictures are south near SLO.

Chicken Herding

2011-01-23T10:35:00.000-08:00

The boys have gotten really good at wrangling chickens these days. These are some crazy chickens....actually, pollos locos around these parts. Scout calls it team work as they chase and block them in to return to the coop. Finn is carefully guarding his winter garden, of course! That would be Greta on the fence....She likes looking into our kitchen. Meanwhile, Pearl just watches and smiles...as usual.

the river

2011-01-19T21:52:00.000-08:00

New things for Pearl

2011-01-04T19:39:00.001-08:00

First foods, sharing baths, and lots more laughter.

DAY 6: San Pedro Tide Pools

2011-01-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

Day 5: Malibu Creek State Park

2011-01-01T19:26:00.001-08:00

DAY 4: Park and 1st Yoga class in over a year!!

2010-12-31T19:38:00.000-08:00

DAY 3: plans of sledding thwarted due to nasty colds.

2010-12-31T19:37:00.001-08:00

DAY 2: Aquarium of the Pacific

2010-12-30T19:45:00.000-08:00

DAY 1: Arboretum

2010-12-28T22:13:00.000-08:00

Jeremy has a few days off this week! We decided to have a stay-at-home vacation and get out everyday to explore Los Angeles a bit more. On Day 1, we went to the Arboretum in Arcadia; it's such a beautiful, magical place in the midst of a big city. (p.s. I got to christen the camera jeremy gave me for christmas!)

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T20:03:00.000-08:00

Finn's Birthday

2010-11-19T14:03:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the pictures Amanda! We managed not to take any!

Finn is 5.

2010-11-10T21:14:00.001-08:00

I can't believe he's 5. (I cried a little last night thinking about it.)

Halloween

2010-11-01T21:17:00.000-07:00

Harvest Festival

2010-11-01T21:16:00.001-07:00

Pretend Farmers

2010-10-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

There's an on-going argument in my family about how one gets to be a farmer. This discussion came to be when in junior high, I told everyone that I would someday live on a farm. My sister-in-law insists that you must either be born into a farming family, or marry a farmer. Well, I did neither. But I think I may have birthed one!

The gourds in the picture are ones Finn planted and harvested. The blue corn is grown from seeds from the blue corn that he grew at our old house. Finn and jeremy went back and harvested that corn, brought home the seeds to plant here, and now we are eating it! And the chickens.... some friends of ours couldn't keep them, so we've adopted them. When they gave them to us they hadn't been laying. Finn had them a day, and they started laying again! He has a special touch, it seems.

The sweetest thing is that Finn has a money jar that he has specifically declared as money to buy a farm. He has it all planned out. He told Jeremy and me that we can have a house on his farm, encircled with sunflowers. He also said that he and Pearl would go get the farm going first, and then Scout could come join them. I believe he'll make it happen, and I WILL get to live on a farm after all!

Pearl: 3 months

2010-10-14T21:45:00.001-07:00

Road Weary

2010-10-01T13:53:00.001-07:00

Birmingham, Alabama

2010-10-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

Jones Valley Urban Farm

2010-10-01T13:43:00.001-07:00

Ocean Springs, Mississippi

2010-10-01T09:02:00.001-07:00

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

2010-09-30T13:37:00.000-07:00

Tupelo, Mississippi

2010-09-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

Auburn, Alabama

2010-09-30T13:00:00.001-07:00

Birmingham, Dreamland BBQ

2010-09-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

Memphis

2010-09-29T08:42:00.001-07:00

Little Rock

2010-09-22T08:18:00.000-07:00

Tulsa

2010-09-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

Pearl Adele' Brown Seifert is 1 month: (and she finally has a, well two, middle names! pronounced Adelay)

2010-08-06T21:24:00.001-07:00

brothers

2010-08-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

Finn and T are both loving being big brothers to Pearl. They've been so great with her. She's one lucky little girl. In the first photo, Finn is educating Pearl about every variety of tomato in his seed box. He has a big metal briefcase that holds all of his seed packets that he's been collecting for over a year. He kept exclaiming things like, "Pearl, when you get big enough to eat, you are gonna LOVE these Cherokee Purples. They are SOOOOO yummy!"

Pearl Seifert 07/06/10

2010-07-12T12:49:00.001-07:00

Born at home, in water, July 6, 2010.
8:22 a.m.
7 pounds 4 ounces
19 3/4 inches long

we are in love.

It's taunting me...

2010-06-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

Father's Day (and my due date, come and gone!)

2010-06-21T17:18:00.000-07:00

Jeremy spent Father's Day building a beautiful fence for our backyard with the help of finn, scout and nana. We ate some delicious lamb, drank a good beer, ate watermelon for dessert...and tried to NOT think about the fact that my due date wasn't panning out!

Scout turns 2!

2010-06-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

(thank you audrey for taking pictures!)

2010-06-14T15:00:00.001-07:00

8 months w/ number 3

2010-05-21T15:12:00.000-07:00

last weeks on grand oaks ave.

2010-05-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

we're moving in two weeks to neighboring highland park. ordinarily this wouldn't be such a big deal, but we've lived in this house for more than 4 years (most of finn's life), and scout was born in our living room. we've really made quite a few special memories here and are sad to leave it. it's a good move though, but just crazy timing. i am planning to have a home birth again in about 4 weeks. we will have only been in the new place about two weeks! we've been trying to pack a little, but also just enjoy this place, the boys, and the garden we'll have to leave behind. we've got some corn, peas and carrots that will have to be left. but we'll at least be able to take our tomatoes, spinach and lettuce along. i think i'm the most sad about leaving the grape vines out back. oh well. here's to new things in life...a new baby...a new garden...and some chickens out back!

butterflies and gardening

2010-04-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

We recently adopted a caterpillar and watched it grow from caterpillar, to chrysalis, to butterfly. No less beautiful and miraculous is watching the transformation from a tiny seed, to a plant that produces a fruit.

Finn has had a green thumb since he and Jeremy began gardening together over 2 years ago. Not a day goes by that I don't walk outside to see Finn "transplanting" some pumpkin sprout or bell pepper plant he's discovered growing in our wood chips. For Christmas this year my parents gave Finn several gardening tools/pots to plant whatever he desired, and a bean window so that he could watch the sprouting process from roots to leaves. Every morning before breakfast, we hear the dragging of a chair across the floor to the piano; Finn has positioned himself on the piano where his projects are growing to check the progress of each seed. This is a love and passion that comes from both sides: Jeremy's Grandpa, my uncle Kermit, Uncle Bruce and Aunt Sandra.

7 months pregnant

2010-04-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

trip to oregon

2010-04-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

5 1/2 months

2010-03-07T16:28:00.001-08:00

two of my favorite things

2010-03-05T16:43:00.000-08:00

i feel like there are so many things about the boys that i want to remember these days and write about. but for now, i'm posting some of my favorite pictures from the week. i recently found my camera that was lost for over 3 months!

10 Years!

2010-02-02T08:58:00.000-08:00

Arkansas

2010-01-17T18:17:00.000-08:00

For Christmas we flew to Tulsa the day after the first blizzard in it's history. Needless to say our christmas was very white, and lots of time was spent snowman-building. In Guthrie with Jeremy's family, Finn spent the days sledding down the hill behind Jeremy's parents' house with his older cousins. Pretty nice!

For the New Year we got to stay in a beautiful Arkansas cabin for Camp NanaPudge 2010! After CNP we drove through Fayettville and got to spend some time with our dear friends the Murray's before they move to India.

Then finally we drove through Siloam Springs where we met. We lived in the top apartment of the corner building in downtown Siloam during our first year of marriage, ten years ago! There's a picture of it above. I miss that little apartment and how simple things were (or seemed) back then.

Colorado

2009-12-02T15:36:00.000-08:00

when jeremy found out.....

2009-11-15T09:50:00.000-08:00

So if you haven't heard, I'm pregnant with number 3. We were very surprised and are still getting used to the idea little by little! It's good that you get to have 9 months to prepare yourself. Jeremy was out of town at a film festival when I told him. These are the pictures he took so that I could witness his reaction!
That was a month ago. Things are better, and we look forward to meeting the next (and LAST!!!) addition to our family sometime in June.

Finn is 4!

2009-11-11T15:36:00.000-08:00

halloween

2009-11-01T21:33:00.000-08:00

First Rain

2009-10-13T22:52:00.001-07:00

2009-10-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

the mess

2009-10-13T22:31:00.001-07:00

I think the title of this post may become yet ANOTHER name for Scout.
An adorable, feisty, uncontrollable mess.

Pumpkin Carving

2009-10-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

Finn and Jeremy carved a pumpkin last weekend. Finn gave very specific instructions that this jack-o-lantern was to be a very happy one....and NO CANDLE INSIDE! We finally convinced him to try a candle after it got dark, and he and T stared at it for at least 10 minutes and giggled.

31

2009-09-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

I turned 31 last week! I think since Jeremy wasn't here for my 30th, he wanted to do something special; he tried finding a sitter so we could go out and celebrate. When we had no luck, I thought we should just include the boys and take them to Chucky Cheese for the first (and most likely, the last) time. It was really fun, and a good attempt at trying to feel younger! Finn and T had these crazy blank expressions on their faces most of them time. They were pretty overwhelmed by it all. Once Finn figured out that he could use his tokens to collect tickets, he went crazy! He loves collecting multiples of one item. In the end, he turned them in for 5 miniature tootsie roll pops. What a deal!

summer's leftovers

2009-09-17T14:44:00.000-07:00

2009-09-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

So, summer is officially gone; Finn starts preschool today. Here are some remnants of summer that weren't previously posted.