Yellow

It's the color of the big ball in the sky that has been baking BearCountry in 95-100 degree temps for far too long.

It's the color of Julia's dress that her second cousin wore five years ago.

It's the color of the first apple* of the season that we promptly turned into apple crisp for dinner last night....after we ate yellow corn, carrots, fresh bread, and garlic roast with gravy. Yum!

Now if only I could figure out a way to spread out my motivation to cook throughout the week instead of doing it all in one night....

*we still don't know what kind of apples these are...anyone out there know? What we do know is that they don't get any more red than that little tinge at the top, they are soft, tart, and HUGE!

Can you tell what she's doing?

Alphabitty Moments - The letter F

Those little magnets that always end up on the floor have been on our fridge for three years. They were on our last fridge and we brought them with to this house two years ago.

They are the reason our kids learned what sounds letters make. It's true. The song is catchy and surprisingly not all that annoying on the scale of annoying toys. Sometimes we make a game out of playing with the letters. Each letter and sound that they get correct means they can move up a step on our kitchen steps that happen to be right next to the refrigerator. The kids think it's fun and love to shout out the sounds. I love that they are having fun AND learning.

Now it's your turn to link up to your Alphabitty Moments post - don't worry if you aren't on the same letter as I am - things got all out of whack because of Sharon's wedding and not having internet access the week after.

As seen in our yard

all the colors of the rainbow and then some


(All photographed today around our yard)

Why hello summer

it's nice to see you again!





Thanks for warming our backs, highlighting our hair, providing endless hour in swim
suits and wildlife around every corner...

Our weekend in a nutshell

Saturday we did a lot of this....


Sunday we did a lot of this (thanks Mom for the blocks!)


and we saw lots of these because


once you let your butterflies (thanks Rena!) go they tend to hang around for a few days.


Our Father's Day was pretty low key - kabobs, biscuits, and seasoned fries for dinner and lots and lots of outside time. We're selling our sandbox so the kids had one last hurrah in Tuggy2 by turning it into a swimming pool. While Daddy was at the office tonight we went around the park and collected the first of the black raspberries so we could surprise him with a tasty ice cream treat for dessert.

For more "how I spent my summer vacation" posts click here.


****Also wanted to say congrats to Jessica - her comment was chosen by random.org as the winner of the Piece of Pizza Fractions set. I'll be in touch soon with how to redeem your prize!******

Simply Tuesday

FOR TODAY (thanks to the Simple Woman's Daybook)
Outside my window...THE SUN IS SHINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (can you tell it's been raining for days?)
I am thinking...about my jobs.
I am thankful for...my kids. They have been the bright spot this past week.
From the kitchen...ice cream cones.
I am wearing...capris, a red tank top, and a baseball hat I got on a high school band trip to Toronto.
I am creating...a new (temporary) bedtime routine this week.
I am going...other than a trip to the grocery store, the library, and to T-Ball we will have spent the week at home
I am reading...books about scorpions to Sam and about Dogs to Julia
I am hoping...that the weather is good next week for my SIL wedding and for get-togethers with family from all over the country.
I am hearing...the dishwasher, the TV (Max and Ruby video), and the kids giggling
Around the house...our butterflies are starting to come out of their 'raccoons'. The first one made quite an impression by bleeding all over the place. Didn't expect that!
One of my favorite things...my plants - the flower beds and our straw bale garden. It is so relaxing and satisfying to tend to them.
A few plans for the rest of the week: T-ball.
Here is picture for thought I am sharing...
Even stranger than the blood pool in our butterfly
home was the weather today - The sun was shining
AND it was raining.
Here's the proof - shadow of Julia's umbrella
AND raindrops behind her. Crazy!

birds of a feather

More rain? Maybe.....I can't remember if it did in fact rain yesterday. The sun sure didn't bother to show it's face - that I know for sure. Our big outing for yesterday was a trip to the grocery store for cinnamon rolls. We live large don't we? We also picked up some eggs so we could have pancakes this week. Again, livin' large here in BearCountry!

Julia was out of sorts all afternoon so it was a good thing she fell asleep at rest time. I don't remember the last time she took a nap. It's been a few weeks at least. PapaBear returned from a weekend up North with his dad and future brother-in-law so we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening getting things unpacked.

The kids stayed in bed at bedtime for a change (good ol' bribe of ice cream after dinner tonight did the trick). It was ironic then when I called for them to come out of their rooms so they could see what I found right outside our bathroom window. I know it's hard to tell from the picture but those are little birds perched on our grape vines. There were FIVE of them when I first pulled the curtain back. We had a great time whispering and carefully pointing when a new bird would land right in front of us. It was a bird's eye view well worth getting the kids out of bed for!

A bug's life

A quiet day at home is just what the doctor ordered for this busy family. Our morning started off with the transfer of the 'raccoons' to the butterfly house. I had some catching up to do on the computer so PapaBear played with the kids the rest of the morning. After naps we went outside to do some final touches to the landscaping. Here are the final results:




Hopefully more of the transplanted will perk up after all the rain we got today. Having bark should help with our drainage issues and it looks so much nicer!

As I scooped out bark the kids looked for centipedes. Thank goodness for garden gloves! Did you know centipedes bite? We didn't either.

When all the work was done we went on a treasure hunt. I drew a map and the kids tried to figure out where the king cobra would be hidden. A little distraction while they were on the turtle bridge and the rubber cobra was secretly placed along the path for them to find. They thought it was the neatest thing.

The bug nets came along for the walk - they are a constant lately. The kids put 10 things in their bug habitat by the days end. Sam caught his very first butterfly! I think he jumped a foot in the air in excitement....

Baths and bedtime after some homemade pizza (tilapia for the grown ups) and then it was time to get back to work. With Sharon's wedding coming up at the end of the month I'm trying to get ahead as much as possible. Sam asked for an extra snuggle and I obliged. He loves snuggling in his bed with me as we talk about our day. "what was your favorite part about today Sam?" "CATCHING A BUTTERFLY!" Yep, that's what I thought :)

Ahhhh...summer vacation. I heart you!

stand tall

I handed the phone to PapaBear and asked him to take a picture of the kids and I.
I didn't know he was snapping away as I corralled the kiddos into the frame.


Two things stood out to me when I looked at the results. The first being, if I'm in the picture it's because I handed over my camera and asked someone to take a posed picture of me with the kids.

And two, I rarely, if ever, stand for a photograph with Sam and Julia. You know what I mean moms...you crouch down to wrap your arms around your child(ren) and try to get a good one of everyone looking at the camera.

How cute are they with their bug nets smiling for Daddy and looking so tall next to me!


I'm sharing this post as part of the Mommy and Me carnival hosted by:

Hosted by Krystyn

Rain drops keep falling

but we don't mind. Umbrellas are a big hit at our house. Julia used her check mark rewards to get her very own from the Target dollar aisle. She woke up from a late cat nap too grumpy to truly enjoy it and had ditched it by the time we got down to our willows in the backyard. Sam was all smiles though and especially liked the turtle we found laying eggs.







Speaking of eggs, Julia found a robin's egg on our walk.
The sun popped out after a cool rainy day and it got too muggy for our liking so we spent the rest of the evening in the house. Sam beat me at checkers and then I beat him. I love watching him contemplate his next move.

The highlight of the night was the 20 minute tickle fight that broke out after the checker's game. I remember tickle fights as a kid and Sam LOVES them too. It wasn't fun to have to work after the kids were in bed but I sure enjoyed our day together so it was worth the late night on my computer.

This post is a part of a Summer series called "how I spent my summer vacation" Search that label at the bottom of my blog for more info on why I'm motivated to write these posts.

Red, White, and Blue (take two)

Tonight is a perfect example of why I am doing a "how I spent my summer vacation series". I have been grumpy all afternoon and am not feeling inspired to blog. Normally this creates a domino effect of me not posting and then feeling like I can't post the next thing until I get my act together and catch up on everything else.

So before I turn my brain off and watch a chick flick I will post the pictures from the Memorial Day festivities in our old town.

At the cemetery our good friend Ralph shared a shell casing....


At the parade a little girl shared her flags...


The kids spent most of the ceremony following the parade playing with their catapillars. Amazingly the catapillars survived a trip to Target and Home Depot as well. We brought them home and introduced them to their new home - a bug habitat. They were a hit as were the other bugs the kids caught throughout the afternoon. It was HOT out so we started the sprinkler and the kids splashed a little in the pool. I spent the remainder of the afternoon weeding our flower beds and then planting a dozen perrenials. Julia and Sam were big fans of using the gardening tools so I had lots of help during the project.

After a quick dinner of leftover mac and cheese for the kids and a bag of chicken alfredo for the adults I took the kids down to the lake to see if it were possible for all three of us to fit in the kayak. The answer? Yes and no. We fit just fine but it threw off my ability to steer. No matter how hard the wind was blowing or how hard I over compensated on one side we kept turning into the wind. We still had a good time but now we know that the kids will have to take turns until we can scrounge up another kayak. It was a BUSY BUSY day - mostly spent outdoors.....just the way I like it. The only thing missing was a photo of me with the kids in our red, white, and blue.


Unlike after the 2009 parade this is the only photo of me yesterday.












It's always fun to look back at previous year's pics so here's the posts from the 2007 parade
and the 2008 parade


Another comparison since I never got around to posting our traditional Memorial Day photos last year:


2009


2010
aaahhhh red, white, and blue - they sure look good on you two!

Keeping up with the Joneses

We can smell the campfires in the campground from the house. This weekend we joined the Joneses and had a fire of our own and some S'mores. Prior to that Sam rode his bike in the campground like lots of the kids around here do.










We played freeze tag and set up the tent. By 8:00 the kids were ready for bed.













Conor joined us - the kids have been very loving towards him lately and he's been soaking up the extra attention without any complaints.


















The weather finally cooled off to the low 70's after days and days in the upper 80's so people were out enjoying the comfortable temps. Kinda hard to fall asleep with the distractions around us but......










before I finished the first book Julia was out cold.

The fact that she helped me weed two flower beds earlier in the day might have had something to do with it though.

Another day of summer vacation was behind us and this time, our fun was found right at home.

The calm before the storm camping season

We're making the most of it with evenings filled with baseball, hammock swinging, kite flying, soccer, and outside story time.

These photos (all from Monday night) are courtesy of my camera phone and I'm totally OK with that. No fancy camera to worry about and more time in the moment with the kids. I brought my good camera out for our hour hike tonight, but that's a whole 'nother post for another time.....

What a bummer

Summer vacation is over. I feel like I missed it almost completely.

Bummer.

Target doesn't carry my favorite hair dye anymore. I have to use a brighter color.

Bummer.

I can't find a fireplace insert for our fireplace for under $500.

Bummer.

There are beautiful fireplaces on CraigsList, but we only need an insert at this point.

Bummer.

We picked the very last apple on Monday. Sam declared, "Apple season is over!"

Bummer.

We tried to go pick wild grapes on Monday, but the mosquitoes drove us away.

Bummer.
I found clothes in the basement that Julia would have fit into all summer long had I known they were there.

Bummer.

I took Friday through Monday off from work, but spent a decent chunk of my vacation cleaning and organizing the house.

Bummer.

My SIL is going to miss out on Fall Camping. It's the highlight of our year.

Bummer.

The mosquitoes have been feasting on Julia for the past two weeks. She has 18 places where she's made herself bleed.

Bummer.

We almost had an empty campground for the first time in 5 months. (until one lone RV pulled in tonight and decided to stay a couple of nights)

Bummer.

I can't go to my 10 year college reunion because it falls on the last weekend of camping.

Bummer.

Sam starts 3 day a week pre-school tomorrow. My baby is growing up.

Bummer.

What are you bumming* about?

* The definitions I read for the word bumming were much more depressing than I originally intended for this post to sound. You know when you have all this stuff swimming around in your brain and you just want to clear the slate? Well this post was my round about way of doing that.

mI would be bummed if you got the wrong impression.
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Bert & Ernie The Apple

I found this apple under our apple tree this morning. Last year someone suggested that it might be a Cameo, but if anyone else knows for sure what kind of apples are a big as softballs and are quite tart no matter how late in the season they are picked, please let me know! (They never get more than 1/4 red)

I purchased an apple picker yesterday and am excited to be able to pick the apples that are high up on the tree. Already we've collected 5 large sand buckets worth of apples! I guess it's no secret what you'll be eating for dessert when you come to my house for the next year!

Crowning Glory

It's a love/hate relationship

It makes pictures of the moon rising much more interesting so why would I hate it?

Because it makes an obnoxious noise when the wind spins it. You might remember a tweet from about a week ago when I was hopeful that the lift truck would be tall enough to stop the thing from spinning (and squeeking). Unfortunately it didn't work. Good thing I have sunsets like this to distract me!

Wordless Wednesday - Fuzzy But Fun