We got a check from Oma for Lou’s birthday. I asked her what she wanted and she said a hammer and safety glasses. She got the idea from our Montessori Services catalog. We got them, and they are adorable. We went to our local lumber shop and got some nails with fat heads on them. She has hammered now about 5 little sessions since the weekend.

Good times.

Here’s the image that sold her on the hammer. So cute.

• In vitro children may have slightly higher cancer rates.
• Evening light interferes with teens night time sleep habits.
• BPA on 40% of receipts from stores.
• Migraines may be from celiac disease.
• Is marriage good for your health?
• Trying to figure out the real perfect body proportions using blind people – Spoiler: it’s the same as sighted, healthy yet slim curves.

• Jessica Bell

The photo is misleading, that’s Indian idly, which is supposed to be eaten with your hands. But you get the point.

So “That’s poor etiquette” is a helpful phrase for us. It seems to sum up many reasons to do things. Or not do them.

Example 1, Nose picking:
Instead of telling our kids “Ew, that’s gross and icky!” We keep it more indifferent and say it’s poor etiquette. One reason is because nose picking and eating might be good for the immune system, but we still don’t want our kids to do it. So instead of freaking out, we let them know it’s poor etiquette and give them a tissue.

Example 2, running around the house with no underwear when guests are coming or going outside not fully dressed:
My father in law has a saying, which we all lovingly quote, “That’s not done in the better homes.” I remember him using it while my nephew was running about with just a diaper on in his front yard. Family quotes are the best.

Example 3, drinking with your hand:
Ero has taken to using his hand to drink or eat anything liquid like. He can’t quite understand etiquette, but instead of making him stop completely I tell him it’s poor etiquette and hand him a spoon to use. I walk a line between letting kids play with their food and poor etiquette.

So there are many reasons why we use the phrase. I’m not even sure it it’s proper grammar. But it works.

• Bill calls for stricter rules on cosmetics.
• How Ecstasy harms.
• Not starting smoking means never having to quit.
• Artificial sweeteners can raise blood sugar.
• How Acquired Diseases Become Hereditary Illnesses.
• Marketing foods to kids is about to change.

• Marissa Textor – These are charcoal drawings, not photos.

Christopher Robin: Pooh, what’s your favorite thing in the whole world?
Winnie the Pooh: My favorite thing is me coming to visit you, and then you ask, “How about a small smackeral of honey?”
Christopher Robin: I like that, too. But what I like most of all is just doing nothing.
Winnie the Pooh: How do you do just nothing?
Christopher Robin: Well, when grown-ups ask, “What are you going to do?” and you say, “Nothing,” and then you go and do it.
Winnie the Pooh: I like that. Let’s do it all the time.

Our days are spent doing nothing. I really, really like doing nothing.

Our garden last year had mildew everywhere, tomato blight, and about 20 feet of giant pumpkin vines with no giant pumpkin. This year our garden is looking good.

We are getting almost a dozen cucumbers a day now.

They are called “Diva” cucumbers and they are amazing. We collect about 10 orange cherry tomatoes a day, which are so delicious they never make it indoors. Today we also had our first taste of Matt’s wild cherry tomatoes which are the smallest tomatoes I have seen. Their taste is meh, but I bet they will be great with pasta.

Every day we go out and tend to the garden. The kids like to pick the food and to water.

Sometimes they actually get the plants.

All of the time they get themselves.

The kids painted on wood panels for Peter’s birthday.

They picked their colors and content.

I painted the sides whatever color they wanted when they were done (a little art trick which can be done on canvases too.)

I think Lou’s will look lovely up behind the Heath vase…

Isn’t that beautiful? It rivals today’s abstract art. But in fine art it is very important what the artist was thinking, what they were intending to invoke. And Lou was painting a pizza.

• Dark matter may be building up inside the sun.
• High school students smoking show slower rate of decline in years.
• The benefits of blowing your top - a good read on getting angry.
• Measuring a child’s neck instead of BMI.
• That study that said genes could show longevity is probably flawed.
• Happiness and sadness are infectious.
• Turbulence discovery could lead to better planes – yay.

• Andreas Gursky

I don’t know the allure of grass clippings, but my children gravitate to them.

They must sense they are back there because they come running.

They make stew, little lawns, and who knows what else.

The little corner where the compost bin turned into a compost heap is one of their favorite places in the yard.

Grass clippings. Go figure.

I believe that to be Katakana, and not Kanji. I’m almost certain it’s not Hangul.

Montessori believes that children practice writing before they practice reading. Which I thought was neat, and I agree.

Lou’s been writing all kinds of little letters and symbols lately. She’s also got some actual letters too.

Oma said it was important to have a pencil in a child’s hand as soon as possible, and I agree. We keep paper and pencils or pens out at all times. It’s been great. Grammy says that center thing is a Totoro.