B, to his twin: M, if Winnie the Pooh ate all the honey in the world, how much honey would there be left?

M: Zero!

Found by Daddy Bear: my diamond!

Last night, he saw something sparkle on the carpet in the middle of the living room. The carpet that had just been vacuumed, thankfully by the twins, so it wasn’t a very complete vacuuming job.

That really made my day! Now to take it to a jeweler and get it put back in my ring!

Two things went missing in the last 24 hours.

One is T’s upper right front tooth. This I am thrilled about! He refuses to pull a tooth or let someone else do it, and the tooth dangles and causes him distress whenever he eats or talks, which is not fun for the rest of us, either. So I’m glad it finally fell out while he was eating supper last night. (Mental note to self: make sure to prepare stuffed peppers whenever there’s a loose tooth.)

The other missing item is the itty bitty diamond in my engagement ring. It’s gone! I took off the ring, since it looks pretty sad with just a little hole there. I’m so glad I have a plain gold band for a wedding ring! The chance of finding a translucent, tiny diamond in this house is certainly less than .5%.

We spent an afternoon on each of the last three weekends hiking in the nearby mountains.

The first time, Daddy Bear took only T along, while I stayed home with the twins.

Those rocks look like they came straight out of a Dr. Seuss book!

They had a really good time, although it was a bit chilly.

They discovered a tunnel …

and even a table!

They also did a bit of climbing.

They got to look down both into our valley

and across the mountains into the next state!

The snow-capped mountains in the background form the rim of a large volcano.

These guys came home with lots of stories to tell, and then the rest of us said, “Hey, what about us? Can we go on that trail, too?”

So, one week later, we did!

This boy was thrilled to be back on the same trail. It was warmer and there was less snow.

Um, guys? Maybe not so close to the edge? Please?

Can you spot the parking lot somewhere down there, with our white truck?

T played tour guide, showing us the tunnel he saw the week before.

And there was a really neat cave!

Our valley

That table again

There were crevices in the rock that were the perfect sizes for little boys to climb into!

Looking up from part of the trail

We stopped often to play in the snow. How strange to be standing in the warm air and playing with freezing cold snow! Warm, felted mittens came in handy that day!

Our valley once again, from higher up. Look how much higher we were than those tall rocks!

And here’s another picture of us with the snowy volcano. (Still awake? I hope this isn’t too repetitive.)

Finally, the intrepid little hikers reached the top and were rewarded with a snack.

We stopped on the way down to rest a bit and play in the snow again. Not the most comfy place for a nap, Daddy Bear and B!

Then we had a picnic in the back of our truck, but unfortunately, I was too busy handing out food to take any pictures.

We’re having a bit of a heat wave right now. It’s pretty unusual to have temperatures around 90 degrees at the beginning of March, especially when so many places in the east are getting a late snow surprise! We were drawn to the cool mountains once again, and this is where we spent part of Sunday afternoon:

A beautiful mountain stream, perfect for the boys to splash around in!

Also perfect for Mommy to sneak in some knitting.

Well, that’s it for now. So, who wants to come and visit? Better hurry, because with all this heat, the bugs are going to arrive early this year. Not to mention the snakes …

Oh, just climbing mountains, dyeing yarn, and doing plenty of school. I’m working on preparing photos to share, so hang in there, dear family and friends!

Sometimes, life just gets so busy that I barely have time to breathe! I’m frying pancakes and being interrupted with questions even while I type this little note. And our overly sensitive smoke detector just went off … better get back to those pancakes!!!

I wish you all a calmer Tuesday than I’m having!

Said B just now: “Breakfast is one of my favorite three meals of the day!”

M, looking at a “learn to draw” book from the library: A superhero! But this one doesn’t have wings.

Mommy: Not all superheroes have wings, guys. Besides, they’re all made up. None of them are real.

T: Except me!

B: Hey! This book has abominal snowmans, too!

Here are some things I’ve made so far with the yarn we dyed with Kool-Aid:

Orange felted mittens for B.

Striped felted mittens for T. The advantage to felting the mittens is that the holes among the stitches are closed up and the fabric becomes denser, so that cold and moisture have a harder time getting through.

And a purple mouse that I think turned out a little better than the other one I tried a while back. I don’t think I should go into business making felted mice, do you? Sorry about the blurry picture.

Speaking of knitting, B might have had these nifty socks tomorrow …

… if my needle hadn’t just broken a few minutes ago. So he’ll have to wait until I get new needles.

We celebrated in Tucson with most of the family in attendance. And since their birthday coincided with the Superbowl, we had a Superbowl party, too!

Pictures of the present-opening are rather haphazard. For some reason, the twins kept holding things in front of their faces, so my supply of good pictures is limited. I’m borrowing some pictures that Grandpa N took with his cell phone.

Thanks to everyone who gave our twins books, cars, clothes, birthday cards, and other nice things! They had a very special birthday.

After presents, we had the cakes. For the boys and myself, we had a GAPS-legal pumpkin custard (the round one with the striped candles), and for everyone else, I made a spice cake with coconut flour, with maple frosting, from this fantastic little cookbook.

They acted shy during the singing. Blowing out the candles is much more fun!

Since it was their birthday, I let them scrape out the rest when they had finished eating their portions.

Yum!

Here’s B at home, enjoying some cars and trucks.

They are actually playing with them as I type. They’ve created an entire world over there in the hallway!

I also want to thank everyone for surprising me with some late birthday gifts — that was an unexpected blessing!

Also, thanks to everyone who gave them cards and/or $5 bills, including Grandma S in Indiana and Farmor and Farfar in Sweden! (And did Farmor notice which shirts the twins chose to wear on their special day? )

This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays, which is hosted this week by Cheeseslave.

I’d like to share one of my favorite gluten free foods that I’ve already posted about: Easy Sprouted Buckwheat Bread. (Click on the link to go to my original post with the recipe.)

You can whip this one up for a quick breakfast if you sprout the buckwheat groats overnight. Buckwheat is high in protein and rich in bioflavonoids. People with allergies will be glad to know that this recipe is also dairy free and egg free.

We are now on GAPS and have to avoid grains, but this is a recipe we will gladly return to when we’re done with GAPS!