Good Grief

B's love for the Peanuts gang is manifesting itself even in backyard play!  Here, he takes on the role of Lucy and provides dialogue for "Charlie" Brown-- ha!



They were pretty excited to be playing in the cool night air.....or they were just happy to be getting a delayed bedtime!

(and yes, he's already in his PJs)

Effort

Well, that's kind of a depressing payoff!!

(Thinking of loyal readers, Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Fred, since I know they shell peas from their garden all the time!)

After a several year hiatus, we're doing a CSA again this year.  It's a farm from one county north but they have a local pick-up.  They offered a bi-weekly share which is great since it's hard for me to keep up with all the veggies every week.   This past Thursday, we got these peas, green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, cauliflower, kale, onions, and beets. 

Flashback Friday

Snap of the kids on the playground equipment post-VBS yesterday (B is trying to do his "evil face" but is laughing too much!):

Aaannnndddd..........June 26, 2011:

HAPPY FRIDAY!

From Across the Table

We found ourselves with a free evening yesterday so my much-needed trip to Target turned into a lovely couple of family hours at an outdoor shopping center.  Spontaneous dinner at CPK?  Why not?   Everybody sure looked like they enjoyed it!

I keep thinking it's Friday.  Between our VBS and the BG's youth camp, this week has been busy and exhausting.  Onward we go!

Car Picnic!

So a nice bonus of volunteering in the kitchen is that we generally wrap up about an hour before VBS is over.  I wasn't prepared for this on Monday but yesterday, I slipped out and ran to the grocery store to get a few things we needed.  The kids and I had talked about going by the library after VBS so, on my trek to the grocery store, I invented a plan wherein I'd get some munchies for lunch while I was there and then we could have a CAR PICNIC in the library parking lot before doing our book exchange.  Of course, since I came up with this idea on-the-go, I didn't really have logistical stuff that I needed, so I also bought a bag of ice and asked the in-store Starbucks guy if I could have some empty plastic cups and lids so I could split some beloved Gatorade between them!   Success!

The heat index here was 102 yesterday but a big storm came through last night (15,000 lost power in our county BUT NOT US!!) and today is supposed to be delightful.   The three of us escaped to the pool yesterday afternoon when the radar showed the storm still far enough away.  I'm keeping a mental count of how many visits we make so I can have a sense at the end of the summer of how much we paid per visit (can't help it!  the annual dues are a LOT!).....but I will say that I've realized I need to "set aside" a big chunk of the dues as the cost of having a community.  I've met so many more people during the last year so now there's always somebody to chat with when we're at the pool!   That's worth something, right?!

PS:  Can you see what the B-man is reading?  He is OBSESSED with the giant compilations of original Peanuts comic strips.  I think that book covered 1973-1974.  Little sister now wants her own giant book, of course, so we came home with 3 more.  She started cackling on the way home while looking at her book-- which is hysterical because a) she can't read and b) she sounded just like her big brother who laughs uproariously when he reads the comics.  She is such a little copycat....but it's cute.

A Week at Everest

If the church marquees around here are any indication,  the Everest Vacation Bible School theme is a popular one this summer.    Our church's decorations went the way of "winter wonderland" and definitely set the mood for the week:

There are just over 300 kids (preschool - Grade 5) registered and then another 75+ youth (middle school/high school) serving as group leaders:

So, for those of us working in the kitchen, we have LOTS of snack prep to pull together!   The snack each day comes from the curriculum and ties to to the daily Bible verse/emphasis.  Since Day 1's focus was on God's power, the snack was an "energy trail mix" made of 6 components.   This VBS program also focuses on the kids serving each other, so each day, one specific age group makes the snack for the entire 400 people.  Yesterday was the 2nd and 3rd graders-- I'm really interested to see how it goes when it's the preschoolers!  Ha!

I didn't think to take a pic of our set-up (I was too busy running around refilling bowls, etc) but the kids moved through an assembly line of pretzels, corn nuts, cinnamon/sugar pumpkin seeds (this brand ordered in bulk-- love learning about new food suppliers!), craisins, butterscotch chips, and chocolate chips, filling little plastic cups with the mix.

If you think that, after they left, we didn't have to dump a whole bunch of the filled-to-the-brim cups into a giant bowl, swirl around to redistribute more evenly, and then refill back into the cups, then you don't know kids and their love for butterscotch and chocolate chips!

On to Day 2!  It's supposed to get up into the upper 90s today......ugh!   Think I'm gonna be pouring LOTS of water!

Stylin'

I feel like we had plenty of activities this weekend but, according to the photo stream on my phone, we did nothing.  Oops.  All I have to share is this pic I snapped of Miss C yesterday afternoon upon digging out a hat from her room to go outside and check on her daddy mowing the lawn:

Vacation Bible School starts this morning.   C is finally old enough to go and I felt the pull to volunteer all week so I'm off with them, as well.   I think I'm helping out in the kitchen but I don't really know what that means--- full report tomorrow!   :-)

Friday Faces

First of all, I want to assure you that there was indeed another little face at the girls' slumber party Wednesday night.  I just didn't snap a pic until after yesterday's blog was posted.  But look at how smiley 4-month old Norah is-- complete with ankle bling, no less!

Miss C and I bunked in the fabulous attic room and she entertained me with all her faces at one point when we were playing up there:

Hope your weekend is as full of expression!  Happy Friday!

Girl Time

We went for a little drive yesterday:

I took a few treats for our adventure:

We found a lunching partner:

She also liked to watch TV:

And do a little dancing:

But then it was time for bed:

Friends are fun!

Sigh.

Ran across this little gem yesterday at a grocery store:

Sadly, the (empty) samples had just been cleared off the table so I couldn't try the grammatically-challenged snack.

That reminds me that I never posted a pic I took a coupla months ago.  I was stopped at a light and just had to shake my head when I looked over and saw a church marquee. (I had to take the pic super fast so I know it's hard to see-- hope you can zoom it.)

I'm happy to report that, within a few weeks, the extra "o" had made its way to the sign so hooray for that.  Apparently the sign is correct: it never IS to(o) late...to fix your spelling.

It Has Arrived.

Summer break.

(Well, except for the BG, who still left the house at 6am to go to school and wrap things up.  And he'll continue to go there every day for weight room workouts-- and the entirety of next week which is the youth camp they run--but you know, whatever.)

Blueberry oatmeal muffins are in the oven.  Kids still popped up at 7am (of course) and are off watching various electronic devices.  While I'm certainly excited about a few months of a slower pace, I'm not excited about the inevitable struggle to balance out-of-the-house adventure with lazy-screen-driven-entertainment inside.  Alas, we will trudge on but at least we got a decent start this past Saturday...

The BG had a car wash so he was going to be gone for several hours.  I really wanted to get the kiddies out of the house and do something physical but, let's be honest, I'm still Emily so I planned the outing around the restaurant at which I wanted us to end up for lunch!  Ha!  So the 3 of us trekked about 30 minutes to a neighborhood park (in a very not-local neighborhood, obviously!) because I read on the county parks website that it had a playground and I read on the geocaching site that there was a hidden treasure.  BOOM.  Morning planned!

There actually were three different sets of playground equipment and there were lots of "old-school" things across them:

And we even managed to find the treasure-- see the hidden plastic box?

There actually was only one "trinket" in there but we laughed because we were in a very nice neighborhood and the "trinket" was a brand-new super-cute fabric pencil-case!  So that was just fine!

And look what just came out of the oven!

Fish Kissies

Two pancakes ran together in the pan yesterday and, when I tried to separate them while flipping, they divided in an unexpected way and we were left with quite the "fishy" pancake!

Here it is giving Miss C some love (probably because it appreciated her piscine pajamas)!!

It's Almost Here!

(Summer, that is.)

But we're already getting ready!   The scene in our backyard yesterday afternoon:

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Get Outta My Head!

I was wandering around a little grocery store yesterday and felt an immediate kinship with it for featuring an entire section in the bakery called "Crusty Bread."   And then, even better, I found this gem:

Pulling off a hunk of (crusty) bread is like my dream.  And hey-- now I don't even have to pull that hard!!

(I'm actually trying to be "good" so I didn't buy it but, believe me, I'm going back for it later! It would make me feel better if I could share it-- anyone want to come over??!!!!)

PS:  I'm just now realizing that the description says those hunks are "bite-sized portions."  Wow.  Did a giant write that?!

Book Rec

I saw enough favorable mentions of this book that I put it in my library reserve queue several months ago.  It was obviously a popular request for lots of people but I finally was able to pick it up last week!  I found it to be a very engaging story of several generations of family and, while it kinda lost steam at the end, all along the way, I kept thinking, "it's amazing how much I want to keep reading this even though there's not some huge incident or conflict."   She just writes families well!   Recommend!

I think this is my first Anne Tyler book...???   I'm pretty sure I can picture Saint Maybe lying around our house in Corning-- maybe my mom's book club (The Happy Bookers...ha ha ha) read it?  In any case, apparently Tyler's talent, like this novel, spans the generations!  :-)

Hmmmm....

Not so much into interactive games, huh?***

Okay, then-- we'll return to photos!   You know I love a girl in bold colors.  She loves to dance it up in the driveway:

***I knew Brother would come through and he also got my Moore Mind Meld Messages™ not to ruin the whole game for any other respondents.  Polly's exuberance (we had an entire text message chat about it) cheered me up and Tom's surprise participation has started my day off right.  Thanks to you three for playing!!!  You are my favorites today!

Letting the Nerd Flag Fly: Interactive Quiz Time!

My latest podcast find has been NPR's "Ask Me Another" which is actually a trivia/quiz show recorded in front of an audience.  It features lots of little games and both episodes that I've listened to have made me chuckle out loud as I've been walking the 'hood!

The first one also inspired me, after making the BG listen to one of the games at which I knew he'd excel, to get creative and extend the experience to our own creation.  Since this particular game focused on band and song names, however, it was obviously a team effort.  (I am sooooooooo not a music person.  I mean, unless we're talking about the bass clarinet because then, I'm totally your girl.  Or was.  Or something.)    But he is.   And we both love word play......so......I thought I'd bring our nerdy creations to you!!

Okay, I'm too lazy to go back and listen to whether this particular game had an official name but here's the deal:  based on the clue given, you're trying to guess a "new band name" that is formed by changing one letter out of an actual band name.   The clue will reference both a song title from a real band as well as something that suggests the subject of the "new band name" created by changing/dropping/adding exactly one letter from the real band name.

Are you confused?

Here's the example they gave during the actual game(more or less-- again, I'm too lazy to go back and give an official listen):

"If you want to walk like an Egyptian, be sure to make tight, 90-degree turns."

So that would be THE ANGLES since it's THE BANGLES minus the B.

Make sense?

The podcast featured this game, recorded live, with a batch of 5 or so clues that the contestants had to answer.  But here are our own homemade ones the Kentobeans came up with the other night while shooting baskets.  How many can you get????

•  We tried to get a reservation at the Hotel California but it was all booked due to the artists' convention. (*full disclosure-- this was the first one I came up with and it was just pointed out to me offline that the "answer" actually involves a switching of placement once the letter has been replaced, too.  Oops)

• I was very clear in my personal ad that, if you want to be my lover, you must be a proficient volleyball player.

• Upon dying, he was rather shocked to find a lion at the top of the stairway to heaven.

•  I kinda hate politics because I can't get no satisfaction when I vote.

• She'd heard that her periodontist was a big traveler so she asked him for a vacation recommendation.  He suggested Paradise City.

•  Do you think Noah was comfortably numb by the time the ark was built?

• Since he spent so much time studying the solar system, he wondered if his grey matter might resemble drops of Jupiter.

Being Active

Since it's been raining so much this week (where are we, Dallas?!), we haven't gotten to do much with the new basketball hoop.   We finally got a little time yesterday afternoon:

But.......it quickly turned into this:

HAPPY FRIDAY!

More Ramblings

Good morning!

After an evening where I seriously was regretting not having on a COAT (it's June, people!), it looks like we've got one more cold/gloomy/wet day today.  Of course, this would be the "beach week" theme for C's preschool camp!   Oops.

I know I'm late this morning but was getting a project done-- with a little break to buy an "end of the year (ish)" Lego set for each kid.  The B-man has had to keep his room clean for quite awhile in order to get this little treat....plus, each kid dumped out piggy banks and we sorted and counted coins to help defray the cost.  Amazingly enough, the sets they wanted were each eligible for Amazon's new free same-day shipping so the order I placed half an hour ago will be here by bedtime.  CRAZY.

Went to my first PTA training last night (where I needed the coat walking to and from my car).  Just for a bit of perspective, our school district has......192 different PTAs.  The mind boggles at the range of experiences, membership numbers, and issues that are faced within this gigantic district.   I have just this week met the dad (!!!) who is going to be president at our school and I think we are in for a big adventure!   (Just like Pee-Wee.  In fact, my first task is to find the basement of the Alamo.)

It's 7:52 AM.  I should probably fix B's lunch since we need to go out to the bus stop in 20 minutes.  I'm not going to cry about lunchbox-preparation-time being over soon, although we're routine enough (SHOCKER) that it's not too bad.  He always has a sandwich (alternates between ham&cheese and pb&j), something salty, a fruit and/or veggie, and something sweet.   I alternate between a juice box and a reusable bottle with mostly water and a titch of juice.  Every once in awhile, he gets pizza in the cafeteria on a Friday but he depleted the money I put in his cafeteria account and I didn't feel like messing with that again so close to the end of school.

Oh, speaking of which-- the last day was supposed to be next Friday, the 12th.   The state didn't waive all our snow days, however, so they added Monday the 15th. And then made it a half-day.  What the what?  How many kids are going to go to school for a few hours on a MONDAY??

(Um, my kid will.  Obviously.  Rule-followers UNITE!   But will he have any company?)

Mid-Week Ramblings

• You know how there are some weeks when everything happens at once?  Yeah-- that's this week.  I have been doing more and more contract work for an educational organization (which is great!) but there are a lot of deadlines this week.....which is the same week that everything PTA is getting kicked off.  Had an event last night that included officer elections and then am off this evening to a county-wide training.  Since I generally get most of my work done in the evening, it's a little stressful!

• Yes, this is my excuse for not having a blog post prepared today.  I stumbled to bed a little before midnight and got out a little after 6am and, while I know that's normal for a lot of people, it is NOT my "usual" or my preference!  I'm a firm believer in the restorative power of sleep!

•  In between projects, I've been trying to keep up with household management stuff like the 87 loads of laundry, etc.  I've been catching little snippets of TV while folding clothes and did finally finish the HBO documentary on Scientology, Going Clear.   Fascinating stuff.

• Speaking of folding laundry-- I have to confess that I have the.hardest.time getting motivated to put it away.  I will leave stacks of clean clothes on the downstairs couch for days and days.  This tendency also extends to unpacking groceries.  I mean, I get the cold stuff into the fridge right away, but the pantry items?   Yeah, I still have some in a bag from a grocery store trip we took on Sunday.   And, this makes NO sense, but after I mow the entire front yard, I always push the mower around to the back and leave it 10 feet from its storage place.  What the heck?   Would those last few feet kill me?  I might never know because my "just can't do the last step" sickness prevents me from finding out!  :-)

• I'm newly friends on FB with a woman who has kids at the elementary school and also does nutrition/fitness work.  She is leading a free 30 day "booty challenge" (as in, exercises for the glutes) where she posts videos each day of particular moves we're to do so I decided to give that a try.   I am currently having trouble walking upright but hey, it must be working, right?

• I don't think I have the brain space to know anything else.  We're all good.  Hope you are, too!

As Requested

The big brother asks and you all receive-- I aim to please in the little sister/blogger category!  (See comments in yesterday's post.)

Miss C also got a little bonus out of this experience.  She was already awake, lying quietly and flipping through books, when I walked by her room at 6:48 this morning.  I told her that, if she found some shoes and came outside with me for a pic, then she could get up before the 7AM deadline.

She was game.  (HA HA-- game!)

Party Time

The BG left the house as 6AM on Saturday and was gone until 4PM at a spring passing league tourney.  The kiddies and I managed to amuse ourselves while he was gone but we were really just looking forward to the evening's festivities:  a 2nd birthday party for the little sister of Miss C's preschool bestie.  We love hanging out with their family and we knew the backyard friend fest would be fabulous.

And did I mention that they were having Chipotle catering??  Um, yes please!   (You can see the foil pans in the background.  There were two kinds of rice, two kinds of beans, two kind of meat, and both crispy taco shells and tortillas.  YUM.)

 The besties:

Mr. B with the birthday girl:

In an effort to make our homestead as fun as theirs*, here's a sneak peek (literally--I took this through the window) of the BG's Sunday project:

*since that's impossible, we're really just trying to have more opportunities for active play!!