Weekend Randomness

This weekend was supposed to be chock-full of activites...not a dull moment to be found. But then on Friday, a little bit of weirdness infiltrated our plans. I had an eye doctor appointment, so Deetra watched Noah for me while Kendall was at Camp Invention. We had planned to go up to the local library for their Friday Summer Concert Series, which this Friday was featuring Arnett Howard...one of our favorites! Since I wouldn't be back in time, Deetra offered to take Noah and Shea up there and I could just meet them. Perfect! As it turned out, my appointment went really fast, mostly due to the fact that once again, I have PERFECT vision. How blessed am I?!? So, anyway, I ended up beating them to the library. The concert was awesome, as usual, and the library had a great turnout. But even so, Noah just doesn't have the focus or drive to sit that long and behave. We made it almost an hour and then he (and I!!) was done!! I noticed on the way home that I had a little bit of a headache, but thought it was just tension due to the fact that I was frustrated with Noah and it was so humid. We got home, and Noah played with his cars until we had to leave to go pick Kendall up. Still I had that lingering headache...and now my eyes were very heavy...

During Kendall's camp showcase, I felt a little bit better, but still kind of "off". Afterward, we headed home and cancelled plans with Shawn and Deetra for dinner. I just didn't feel good, and knew I wouldn't be good company. Finally before bed, I took an Advil and hoped the combination of that and sleep would kick the headache's ass and I would wake up feeling great.

Not so. I woke up on Saturday feeling a little better, but still with a lingering pressure in my head and heavy eyes. I made the kids breakfast, cleaned up the kitchen, and sat down to read my blogs. When Barry got up (it was his day to sleep in), I continued to try to be productive, but it wasn't looking good. I let myself drift off to sleep on the couch for about an hour, and when I woke up, the room was spinning. It hurt to even move my eyeballs, and I got instantly nauseous if I moved top fast. What the hell? I was scheduled to do chair massage at the Gaming Convention downtown at 2:00, but I actually had to call and cancel (something I've NEVER done before), because I couldn't even get up and walk. It hurt to move, speak, and it even hurt to CLOSE my eyes. This was no good. Barry took Noah to his zoo camp and left Kendall to take care of me...she was very sweet and entertained herself the whole time. By the time he and Noah got back, I had managed to move myself into my comfy bed and was watching The Parent Trap with Kendall. I was starting to feel a little better, but still very lightheaded. And an hour or two after that, I actually made it outside to watch Barry shoot his new bow. That view brought a smile to my face...seriously, I'll take a strong, know-my-way-around-hunting-stuff, can-build-anything kind of guy to a metrosexual any day of the week! Rrrrrrrr....We went to bed, hoping that I would wake up more myself, as we had plans to drive an hour southwest to visit my dear friend Heather and her family for dinner Sunday. I did feel better, so we were happy we didn't have to cancel! We managed to get some work done around here before we left, and we had such a good time! The kids all get along so well, and of course, so do the adults! We had a wonderful dinner of Korean barbecued pork, corn on the cob, garlic and rosemary potatoes, and lemon bars. Mmmmmmm.....!!! Then it happened. My friend Heather is fiercely competitive and she and Barry have been competing now for 13 years!!!! It all stems back to the young and engaged days. We all went out one night, and Heather, who considered herself quite the "holder of her own liquor", challenged Barry to a drinking contest. I thought she was crazy. Heather's drink choice of the evening was Amaretto Sours and Barry, of course, was drinking beer...he was to drink 2 beers to every 1 of hers. I tried to talk to her about the implications of this decision, but she wouldn't have it. Well, you can certainly figure out how it ended...no need to rehash Heather's susequent crash-and-burn. Fast forward to yesterday...she is STILL talkin' trash about how she drank Barry under the table. Seriously, I don't think she remembers anything! So now she makes the HUGE mistake of telling Barry that she could totally kick his ass in an ice cream eating contest. I thought my ears must have been deceiving me, because everyone knows that Barry has a hollow leg...and Heather is lactose intolerant!!! I seriously thought she was nuts!!! What the heck was she thinking? There was no way this could turn out good. So anyway, her husband was sick of the trash talk that's been going on for the last 13 years, so he started scooping the ice cream and kept antagonizing her, telling her how she was letting him down and she was ruining the good Rando name, and was she sure she didn't want another scoop? After (very) large bowl # 2, she started to look gray. But she persevered and ate another bowl...and so did Barry. After the 3rd bowl and 3rd flavor, she had to concede. She looked positively miserable, maybe even more miserable than I did the day before, and there sat my husband, smiling and asking for another bowl. Oh, my dear Heather....you must learn to pick battles in which you have an ADVANTAGE, not a DISADVANTAGE!!!! I plan on calling her today to see if she kept it down...poor girl. And even as we were leaving, she was saying that taking her lactose-intolerant handicap into account, she probably actually did kick his ass. All I could do was shake my head as we pulled out of the drive. Here are the pics of the ice cream eating contest....Yes, Noah is helping in this picture, but we knew he would want some, so Bob put an extra scoop in Barry's bowl for him. I assure you it did NOT affect the outcome of the competition!!! LOL!!

Anyway, I am still feeling not quite right today, so Brian is getting me in for some emergency acupuncture, then I am headed to the chiropractor right after. Maybe what I really need is some of that ice cream....can you believe I sat and watched the entire competition and didn't even have one single bite???? Boy, there must be something wrong!!! HA!

New Layout!

So, what do you all think of the new layout??? I've been wanting to change it up for a while now, but I needed my sweet hubby's help...and he finally had time. I like it! What do you think???

Green

With all of the rain we've been getting around here, everything is so green and lush, I can barely stand it! The mornings smell so crisp and clean and the air is supercharged with nitrogen from all the lightning. Things are growing like crazy! Witness ...

A Stella de Oro daylilly from my flowerbeds Zucchini, baby! Lots and lots of zucchini!

Oh my, the green beans...I LOVE the green beans!!

There they are...my first little tomatoes...

This is an eggplant plant. (haha). It doesn't look so good, at least in my mind. I've never grown eggplant before, so I can't be sure...but I'm pretty sure this frail-looking little plant can't support a big, bulbous eggplant!! I guess we'll see!

Ah yes...I can barely wait for the harvest! This year we planted a plethora of veggies...

• Cucumbers (2 kinds)
• zucchini
• yellow squash
• tomatoes (5 kinds)
• Peppers (3 kinds)
• watermelon
• jack-o-lantern pumpkins
• giant pumpkins
• green beans
• eggplant

We also finally saw fruit on our 2 cherry trees and our currant bush. I'd never had currants before, but Barry had to have them. I guess his Grandma had a currant bush, and he has very fond memories of eating them. Hey, I'm game for anything! And guess what, guys? It's almost raspberry and black raspberry season!!!! Mmmmmmmm....get ready for some yummy recipes!

These Boots Were Made for Walkin'!

Last night, as we were getting dinner ready, I heard Kendall go out the basement door. Within seconds, I heard Noah wimpering, "Wait for me, Kendall! Wait for me!"

Now, I knew that he didn't have any shoes down by the basement door. And it had rained , so the ground was muddy...and where we go out the back door under the deck is all stones right now, so I wondered what on earth his solution would be. Just as I was pondering this, I heard the back door open and close. I looked over my shoulder, out the window, and saw him heading to the chicken coop...wearing his Daddy's work boots. It was so funny, I can't even tell you. The pictures do not do this scene justice! The boots come all the way up to his little knees, and he had to pick his feet up really high just to take a step. Don't you know, he walked all the way out there in them, arduous though it was...just so he could hold the chicks?

The problem was that dinner was ready, and we told the kids that no, they couldn't hold the chicks right now and to come in for dinner. So Kendall locked the gate and came in. Good girl! But Noah, well...he gets his one-track mind on something and that's it!! He got all mad that she locked the gate and threw himself down on the muddy, wet ground and laid out there throwing a fit for about 15 minutes. No, I am not exaggerating. He laid out there, rolling around in the mud, wearing his Daddy's boots, for all the chicks to see...making a complete spectacle of himself. And we ignored him. That's right, we just left him out there, doing his thing, and went about eating dinner. This is the only way to deal with him when he gets like this. Nothing you can do will stop it anyway, and we don't want to give him attention for that behavior. So, we sat down, ate dinner, and watched him throw his fit. Finally, when he realized no one was coming for him, he got up, put the boots back on, and made his way up to the house, still sobbing and repeating, "I want to hold the chicks...", but calmed down quite a bit. Here he is on his way up to the house... Notice the boots are now on the wrong feet...didn't bother him at all!Once he got into the house, he was pretty much fine. He just wanted me to hold his hand while he was eating. He's funny. I'll tell you, there's never a dull moment around here, and that's the truth!

Oh yeah, let me give a shout-out to my friend Deetra, who has just started blogging. Please join me in welcoming her to our little corner of the blogoshpere! Check her out here!

Camp Invention!

This week was Kendall's first camp of the summer...Camp Invention!!! She went every day this week from 9:00 to 3:30 and had A BLAST!! They had 5 modules every day...Art Park, M.A.R.S (Moving at Rocket Speed), Sludge City, Recess Remix, and I Can Invent: Fantasy Inventions & Complicated Machines. These kids had so much creativity...it was AMAZING!

Here is Kendall with one of the 7 robots (yes, 7!!) she made. She also designed a telescope that always views nighttime...it's pretty cool! Her group designed a "green city" after they cleaned up "Sludge City", which was overrun with pollution and poor city planning. They also designed a rocket to get them to Mars, a rover for travel once they got there, communication tools, and took an entire session to plan the things they would need for their 2 year trip. Totally cool, I tell you! The things the kids did was so impressive!!
After we left the inventor's showcase, we headed to the local dairy bar for some ice cream to try to beat the heat! I was such a piggy...I had a banana split. Haven't had one of those in, oh I don't know...6 or 7 YEARS!!!! I couldn't even eat it all. Noah and Barry had to help me!


It was a good Friday. Hope you all had a good one too!!! Now get out there and get yourselves some ice cream!!

Hoopnotica!!

Ok, first off let me apologize for the quality of this video...but I just had to share!!

You all know my best friend Sheri, right? Sheri and I agree on a lot of things...almost everything, in fact! And we definitely agree that things should be FUN. Even exercise! If it isn't fun, we're not doing it. Period. Fortunately, since Sheri doesn't have quite the chaotic life I have right now, she makes all the most amazing finds, and this is no different. This video features her, demonstrating her newest find, a 4 lb. hula hoop with a video called Hoopnotic. There are fitness classes centered around this hula-hooping phenomenon, called Hoopnotica. We tried it out last night, and I can say that without a doubt, my abs were feeling it!

And so, without further ado....here is Sheri getting Hoopnitized!!!!


Go Sheri, GO!!!!

The Bug Man

Last night Barry played poker with his buddies, so I took the kiddos up to our local library to see The Bug Man. I had heard that the Bug Man is always a hit, and as you know, Kendall LOVES bugs, so I thought they'd really enjoy it. Kendall was mesmerized. She answered quite a few questions that no one else knew the answer to, and I was pretty proud of her! Noah, well...let's just say that the only time Noah was really interested was when the Bug Man was talking about how people around the world eat bugs as part of their normal diet. He had taken crickets, frozen them, fried them in coconut oil, and tossed them in powdered sugar. Of course, the big shock value of the evening was asking if anyone wanted to try them. Who do you think was one of the first ones to have their hand up? Yes, that would be my son. Why? Because Noah loves FOOD. And he did it, too! Didn't even miss a beat...grabbed a cricket, looked up at me with it squished between his chubby little fingers, said "I eat a cwicket!", and popped it in his mouth. UGH! I tried really hard to act like it was no big deal so he (and Kendall) wouldn't freak out...but YUCK!!! That kid is something else!

So anyway, we got to see 2 different kinds of praying mantises, a black widow spider, assasin bugs, and a scorpion. Most of my pictures didn't turn out well because the Bug Man moves too much, I don't have a great zoom, and also because Noah was sitting on my lap, and he does NOT sit still. So, here is the best I have...

A Weekend at Mohawk Lake

Our hard work throughout the week was rewarded with a trip to Mohawk Lake in northeastern Ohio. Our friends Bruce and Shayna have a lake house up there, and they invited us for the night Saturday. I had to work Saturday morning, so Barry, Scout, and the kids dropped me off at my office and headed to a nearby metropark while I saw my two clients. Then they picked me up, we went to Whole Foods for lunch, and we were off!!

It took us about 3 hours to get there, but we had a really wonderful drive up. The weather couldn't have been more perfect...the sun was shining, there was no humidity, and just a few fluffy white clouds in the sky. When we got to the house, the kids wasted no time getting suited up to play in the water...and Scout was in within minutes! He was so excited to have Bruce & Shayna's two labs, Katie and Maggie, to play with!

The kids swam, we cooked dinner over the fire, played cards, and went tubing. What fun! Kendall was a little scared to get on the tube at first, but then when she did, she didn't want to stop! Like we didn't know THAT would happen....

Anyway, it was nice to get away. Of course, now we're back and it's time to get ready for the week to start. But not without sharing a couple of pictures of our fun time for your enjoyment!!

The Last of the Strawberries

Friday night was Bunco night with the girls, and since I was a co-hostess, I was in charge of bringing food. Well, as you all know, I had strawberries coming out of my ears...so I decided I would use them to make something light and refreshing. Strawberry cream puffs fit the bill! This recipe is one of my favorites for summer, so I am sharing in hopes you will all try these...they are SUPER YUMMY!!!!

Strawberry Cream Puffs

1 c. water
1/2 c. butter
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 c. flour
4 eggs

Filling:
2 pints fresh strawberries, sliced
1/2 c. sugar, divided
2 c. whipping cream
confectioners sugar

Put deep glass bowl and mixing beaters in freezer. In a large saucepan, bring water, butter, sugar and salt to a boil. Add flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from the heat; let stand 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny. Drop by 12 rounded tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400* for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack. Immediately cut a slit in each puff to allow the steam to escape, cool. Split puffs and set tops aside; remove soft dough from inside with a fork. Cool puffs.

For filling, combine berries and 1/4 c. sugar; chill for 30 minutes. Use the bowl and beaters from the freezer to beat the cream and remaining sugar until stiff. Fold in berries. Fill puffs with cream and replace tops. Dust with confectioners sugar. Serve immediately.

ENJOY!!!

***P.S. Jenelle - the recipe for I use for the freezer jam is the one in the box of pectin. If you want the shortcake recipe, let me know!***

A Berry Good Time

Today KendallBug and I made our Strawberry Freezer Jam while Noah was napping. I was so happy that she wanted to help...she's been so preoccupied with her baby chicks lately that I can't get her interested in doing anything else! She pretty much did every step herself! So anyway, here are the pics...

First, we mash the strawberries...

Looks good, no?

Then we add the sugar...lots and lots of sugar...

Next, we add the pectin and fresh lemon juice...

Pour it into freezer containers and you're done! Easy peasy lemon squeezey!

Tomorrow we are planning to attempt some blueberry-strawberry jam. Wish us luck!

I made someone's day!!

WOW! I've been given this award by the fabulous and ever-fashionable Kiki, and truly, I am honored to be in such fine company as the other bloggers who received it! Of course, Kiki makes my day, she is at the top of my list! I love all of her anecdotes, her wonderful spin on life, and most of all the pics of the beach. I cannot wait to meet her in August! Now, on with the honors...there are too many wonderful bloggers to list them all, but here are just a few of my faves!
**P.S. I didn't add any of the private bloggers because I didn't think you'd want me to, so don't take it personally!!! I still love ya!**

Here we go...

Logziella at Logziella's World, and yes, as many of you know, she is no longer keeping her blog, but I don't care! She still makes my day! She is her own person, through and through...and writes with such honesty and candor that you can't help but be sucked into her life. I miss her blog already... :0(
Kenady at Womanhood and All That it Entails - A busy wife, mom, and store manager of the Gap. She shares all kinds of lovely pictures of her cute kiddos and great stories to boot. She exudes warmth and I'm hoping to get to meet her when I hit the beach in August!
Sarah Markley at The Best Days of My Life - My newest find, compliments of my friend Amy. Sarah writes with a beautiful simplicity...everything about her blog is beautiful, especially her darling daughters! Check it out, you won't be disappointed!
Lisa Leonard at It's the Little Things - Custom made hand-stamped jewelry...Lisa is a true artist! She is also quite the photographer, and has all kinds of fun links on her site. Not to mention the cute boys that call her Mommy!
Kristin at Countrymouse Comes Unhinged- Flat out funny, that's all I can say! Kristin has a sharp wit and great sense of humor. I look forward to each and every one of her posts...they are always entertaining, to say the least!
Jenny at The Picky Palate - Ooooo, check out Jenny's blog for some totally YUMMY treats! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! She creates all of her own recipes and I am totally jealous of her creativity!
KC at Coomer Country - We've got lots of good 'ol BOY stuff goin' on here! Kandy is the mom to 2 totally cute, totally BOY boys! I love when they play in the mud, make spears, and ride their 4-wheeler...and she documents it all. And then, they are sweet enough to bring her flowers as well! Say it with me now...."Awwwwww....."
Jenelle at Easier Said Than Done - Jenelle always has a kind and supportive word for anyone who needs one. She is the mommy to two boys and just moved into her brand new house, so work abounds! Check out her blog to read up on their adventures!
Alisa at Fully Charged Double A's - Alisa is the very busy mommy to twins Andersen and Ava, born at 26 weeks. Here you can read all about their journey to being the healthy kiddos they are today. Her blog is always full of what's going on with those little cuties and lots of cute pics, too!
Hammer at When Your Only Tool is a Hammer - I love a good rant every now and again, and Hammer's are some of my favorites.


Here are the rules:Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about blogland!!! Leave them a comment on their blog to let them know they received this award! Beware......you may get the award several times!!!Remember that people can be tagged more than once!!!!!!!!

Strawberries, anyone?

Today Noah went to school, and since I had no clients scheduled today, Kendall and I had the day to do whatever we wanted. The world was our oyster! Oh what to do, what to do? After much discussion, we decided on the U-Pick strawberry patch. Yes, we have a strawberry patch here at home, but when I was out there the other day, it looked like they were pretty much done...and I didn't have near enough strawberries to get me through the year! So anyway, we decided to go pick strawberries and invited Deetra and Shea to go along with us.

The U-Pick field was slim-pickings, I'll tell ya! We did manage to pick about $12 worth of strawberries, but the field was pretty much picked over. But then, when we got home, I decided to go out to the patch to see if anything was left, and HOLY MOLY!!! That patch was overflowing!!! I picked for about 45 minutes and then when Barry got home, we picked for another hour or so. UNBELIEVABLE!!! So now, I have lots and lots of strawberries ....and lots and lots of ideas for things to do with them! tonight we made strawberry shortcake, and tomorrow morning we are making strawberry freezer jam. I think we'll freeze a couple of bags to use in smoothies, and maybe make some strawberry cream puffs...I have a really good recipe for those! Oh, the possibilities....

And now for a few pics...

How can you resist that cute little boy offering you some freshly picked strawberries??

Can you resist the homemade whipped cream? Barry sure can't!!!

Or how about the finished product? Homemade strawberry shortcake...fresh from the Kuck strawberry patch! Can you resist???

Oh yeah, it's THAT good., I swear!

We can never get enough strawberries!!! The ones from the U-Pick field are the ones in the box between the kiddos. The rest are all from our patch! Oh, sweet summer!!! Logzie, maybe you and Chuck should make a detour and swing by for some yummy treats!!

National Cancer Survivor Day

On Sunday, we spent the evening at the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium (the BEST zoo!) for National Cancer Survivor Day. My mother-in-law is a 10-year breast cancer survivor, and she invited the whole family...I think we had 18 of us that showed up! The day was sponsored by The Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital at Ohio State, and all the families got in free, parked free, ate dinner free, and rode all the rides free! They also had live music and a car show! We really had a nice time...the kids rode the ponies, the train, the boat ride, the carousel...you name it, they did it! The weather was hot when we first got there, around 4 pm...and then cooled down nicely. It was packed!!! The zoo normally closes at 6:00, but stayed open just for this event until 9:00. We didn't get home until about 10:00, but then again, we DID stop at Graeter's on the way home for the best ice cream ever!!

I took more pics than these, but for some reason they turned out fuzzy ( I think my camera is having an issue - OH NO!!) ...so here are a couple of the kiddos riding the ponies:

Zipline Video

Ok, here's a snippet of video from one of my take-offs. Most of the time we took off from platforms up in the trees, but here we were launching from the ground across a deep valley to the other side. Woo-hoo!!! The second one is of Barry....he has the camera strapped to his chest as he's zipping along. Doesn't it look like fun? Call us if you're going to go...we'll go with you! HA!!!

Father's Day Fun!

So for Father's Day, I decided that it was high time Barry had a little fun. And I mean some real, get-out-of-your-everyday role, be silly, no worries kind of fun! Some of the most beautiful parts of Ohio are in the Southern part, specifically Hocking Hills. Well, in April Ohio's only world-class zipline tour opened for business in Hocking Hills, and I signed us up for Father's Day weekend. Many thanks to my dear Sheri for the tip, and thanks to my mom for coming to stay with the kids for the day so we could go!

Our tour started at 2:30, and we were advised to be there 30 minutes prior. We left 2 hours early and go there in plenty of time... in fact, after we checked in we went for a milkshake before we took off. After getting our gear and completing a brief training session with our guides, Eli and Marissa, the group was off! There really wasn't a lot to practice, it was super easy! I promise!

We hopped in a 10-person ATV and were taken to the first zip. It wasn't very high, and didn't go super fast, but we were hooked instantly. Flying along through the trees, checking out the awesome scenery...it was great! Basically, you just clip onto the zipline with your trolley and a couple of carbiners, which are attached to your harness, grab onto the top with your leather glove-clad hands, and away you go! You brake by applying pressure to the zipline with your left hand behind the trolley to slow you down as you come to each platform. The tour took about 3 hours start to finish, and the cost was $75 per person. I'm telling you, it was so FUN!! We got up to 32 mph on some of the zips! Woo HOOOO!!! If you want to see all the pics, you can click here. I'll try to share a few video clips tomorrow, so check back! Right now I just want to go to bed. I'm tired!

So happy Father's Day a whole day early, Barry! You are the best and we love you so much! I hope you had a really great day!

Love this picture...

I took this picture over the weekend while we were away visiting family. On Saturday morning we went to an auction with my dad and Taffy, and while we were waiting around for some items to come up for sale, Noah found this old wagon. He was infatuated with it, as he is with anything that has wheels! (And no, we didn't buy it!) I snapped this picture and didn't realize how good it was until I uploaded the pictures onto my laptop. I'm not sure why I like it so much...is it the bright red against the greens, or just the cute kid sitting in the wagon??

BTW...does anyone know how I can fix that double header up on the left of my blog? I don't know how it got there, and I can't seem to delete it either! Help me, please! LOL!

Second Grade, Here They Come!!!

Kendall's last day of school was Friday. The rest of the school district was done on Thursday, but her school has missed one extra day due to a water problem, so they had to make it up on Friday. Really, it was just one big party all day! You can see the pictures from the day here.

Barry took the afternoon off and met us at the school at noon. By that time, Kendall's class pizza party was in full swing. The kids were totally jazzed, there was pizza everywhere, and parents and siblings mingled in among the classmates. The kids were busy signing each other's yearbooks, taking pictures, and giving gifts to Ms. Kelley. It really was a lot of fun! There was even a surprise visit from Aunt Jessie! I thought Kendall was going to pee her pants when she saw her...the whole class was even excited!

We took a short break to play out on the playground and have popsicles before the Arnett Howard concert. It is a ritual with Kendall's class that everytime someone visits the classroom, they have to go down the spiral slide, so Barry, Noah, Jessie and I all did it. I'll tell ya what, those slides are tighter than they used to be...LOL!!!

Then we made our way into the gym for the concert. It was really good, as Arnett Howard is always a treat. The kids loved it, and it made it even more special that he went to that school when he was younger (and not so famous!). After the concert, there was even MORE eating! They had brownies, cupcakes, cookies, and sno-cones. Of course, being the mom who doesn't over-sugarize her kids, I brought strawberries and grapes. I guess no one will be begging to come for a playdate at my house!!! HA!

I can't believe the year is over already. She has grown so much, both physically and emotionally. Wow... I'm the mother of a second-grader!!!

Easily Amused

That's my Kendall...easily amused. We got so much rain last week with all the storms that rolled through, that one of our tiles popped up and the water wasn't draining under our driveway the way it should. When Barry fixed it, the water rushed through the tile and down toward the pond. Kendall thought this was the perfect opportunity for a little fun...of the wet variety! She ran in and put on her suit, pulled out the slide, and actually tried to ride the sandbox lid "down the rapids"...LOL! I missed that shot, but snapped this pic and thought it was great. What joy! Obviously, she was having a rockin' good time. Too bad Noah wasn't awake to share in the fun! Oh well, maybe next time!

In other news, on my way to pick Kendall up from school on Wednesday, I pulled up to the intersection of two country roads, and lo and behold, there was a turtle crossing the road. He looked just like the on Scout killed, but a little bigger. After much deliberation about whether or not it was a good idea to bring him home, I figured what the hell and put him in the trunk. (He peed on my massage table...can you believe that? Thank goodness it has a case!) She was so stinkin' excited when I showed her!!! She played with him in the inflatable pool for a few hours, but then Scout started to show some interest, so we set the little guy free out by our pond. Maybe we'll see him again this summer. I think it helped to ease the loss of Paint, the previous turtle...if only just a little bit. She sure looks happy, doesn't she?

Awww, He's so sweet....

Ok, I've figured it out! Let's just see if it works...

These two clips are of Noah while we were making cookies. I could listen to his little voice all day, as long as he isn't screaming...LOL! Enjoy!

Rainy Wednesday

Well, it stormed all night last night, and most of the day today. Some people might have been discouraged by the weather, but not me...and certainly not Noah! It was my day off, and I could not have been happier to stay holed up in my little abode with the boy! Oh, what to do...what to do???

After much deliberation, we decided on Kid'nex first. Noah spent about an hour building before he came and rescued me from my office paperwork by requesting that I build him a "whopper-bopper". Now, I have NO IDEA what a "whopper-bopper" is, but Noah insisted that I build one. So I just kept putting the pieces together and asking him if it was right...of course, he was nodding excitedly like a little blond bobble-head the whole time saying, "Yes, yes! Dat's IT, Mama!!" The "whopper-bopper" is the blue thing on the left in this picture...When we were done using our imaginations to build little inventions that we probably will NOT be making millions of dollars off of (Lord knows I don't know what the "whopper-bopper" does...), we decided on a game of Cootie. Remember this gem of a game? Build cute little bugs?? Well, let's just say it SOUNDS simple, but I lost to a 3 year old, and didn't even cheat! Here's Noah's winning Cootie...
And yes, he insisted on wearing his camo hat all day even though we were inside. Don't know why, but hey...who cares? He was happy! After all that, I decided I needed to get some work done, so we started some laundry. Can I just tell you that Noah loves doing laundry??? What did I do to deserve this kid??? He helps me gather it up, carry it downstairs, he pulls up a chair to the washer and turns it on to fill it up (with my help, of course) and then pours in the detergent (again, with my assistance). I am not allowed to help him put the laundry in, however. He wants to do that all by himself! Then he sits on the dryer and watches until the tub is full and it starts to wash. He'll watch for a few minutes, then shuts the lid, gets down, and goes to play until it's time to put another load in. Funny little guy, eh? So anyway, we made all the beds, stripped mine so we could wash the sheets, and unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. After all this, we decided it was high-time for a little snack! And being that it was a dreary day and we had NO PLANS whatsoever, we decided to make chocolate chip cookies...OMG, they turned out so good. And yes, my dear Kate...of course I used Ghiradelli chocolate chips! I ate 3 and then stopped myself before I was sorry!
And yes, in case you were wondering, Noah had his hands all in this project too. He had to pour all the ingredients in after I measured them, and he was the only one "allowed" to run the mixer. He kept saying "Don't touch it, Mama! I do it!" Well, excuuuuuuse Me!!!!

I did take two little snippets of video during the cookie making, just because I think his little voice is so cute... you just have to hear it. Now I just need to figure out how to put that video on here...I've never done it before and have no idea how. But it can't be that hard!

Ok, time to go pick up Kendall-bug from school! See ya!

Oh, Sweet Summer!

Just one more reason to love summer...STRAWBERRIES!!!!

Our patch is so overgrown with weeds this year (this fall we definitely have our work cut out for us)...but we are already getting strawberries! Kendall and I couldn't resist the urge to get out there and get pickin'!! This year the berries are smaller, but still very sweet. Noah just stood in the patch, asking for one after another...not working, just eating...which is actually fine with me, seeing as how he probably would've stomped all over my plants AND the ripening strawberries! Oh, the horror!!!

I knew when we moved out here that I HAD to have a strawberry patch. I remember summers when I was little, going to my Grandma's house and plopping myself down right in the middle of her strawberry patch. It was like heaven...the berries were so big and red, and warm from the sun. I would just sit there and eat one after another until my belly was full and my face was stained red. What a wonderful memory...I can only hope that Kendall and Noah will have such fond memories of our strawberry patch! Looks like Kendall's on her way....she even loves the smell of those little red gems...