Thursday, July 15, 2010

Summer means...


stinky, sweaty boys sitting close to me as we read another chapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

late night runs for movies and treats.

hundreds of tiny popped balloon pieces out on the lawn from water balloon fights.

mounds and mounds of laundry because outfits must be changed at least twice a day.

the words, "Mom, I'm bored" escaping the lips of a child or two daily.

trying to come up with something fun for them to do....yesterdays activity? Melting crayons over hot rocks just from the oven.

whining, arguing siblings because no one gets enough sleep.

sleeping in, eating at strange hours of the day, basically no schedule at all.

walks late at night after the sun goes down.

otter pops. So many otter pops.

a house full of friends. The record so far this summer? 11 little boys! Oy!

daily chore charts. And everyday the same question, "Do I have to do my chores today?" Umm. Yes.

a constant shortage of swimming towels. Must remember to buy more when they go on clearance.

lots of dinners cooked on the grill.

homemade smoothies.

so many trips to get a frozen yogurt.

sitting on the porch reading a novel.

fresh fruit.

sleeping with the windows open at night- there is nothing like fresh evening air!

glitter toes.

visiting with neighbors we haven't seen since last year.

worrying that summer is going by too fast.

hating the thought that before I know it, we will be back on a schedule, doing homework, and putting the flip flops away.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

I remember....

I remember there was a jar of pickled pigs feet on top of our fridge for a really long time. Gross.

I remember waking up one night to my sister whispering to me that 'someone' was in our house. We hid under the covers while our hearts beat so hard that our bed was shook. We thought that it was the intruder who was making our bed shake. It was a long time before we dared come out of the covers.

I remember running through the sprinklers every summer- and without fail, I was the only one who would step on a bee and get stung.

I remember my dad calling us outside to 'come see'. We warily looked into the back of his truck to see two glowing eyes looking back at us. It was a kitten he had found while out hunting.

I remember driving my dad to Insta-Care to have his broken ribs x-rayed right after leaving the DMV with my new license in hand. I prayed the whole time that I wouldn't crash our car because dad was in enough pain already.

I remember sitting around the kitchen table decorating cookies with my girlfriends at my 5 year old birthday party. I felt so grown up sitting there laughing and frosting cookies with my best friends.

I remember when my clogging partner dropped me at the end of a performance at an elementary school. I jumped into his arms and he didn't catch me- on PURPOSE. I got up, turned around (while the kids in the audience laughed and laughed) and kicked him (hard) in the shin. Then I marched off stage.

I remember trying to break my habit of biting my fingernails. I told myself that my pinky finger was off limits and then eventually added another finger and then another until I had broken the habit completely. I was so proud. And from then on I was 'known' for my long fingernails.

I remember dumpster diving behind some businesses across the street from our neighborhood and taking all kinds of office papers and stamps and using them to play 'office' with.

I remember babysitting for a family when I was 10 years old, whom I didn't know very well and they paid me with a jar full of pennies when they got home 8 hours later!

I remember wishing that I could be grown up like my babysitter Tina. I wanted to be like her in every way. To this day we still keep in touch.

I remember sitting on the flat gravel roof of our home on the Fourth of July, watching the fireworks. The air was cool, but the heat from the roof kept us toasty warm.

I remember eating a whole bag of Doritos with my friend Sara and thinking she was the luckiest girl in the world because her Dad bought that bag of chips just for her.

I remember wanting to have pierced ears so badly that I stole a push pin off of the bulletin board of an office building that my mom cleaned at night, and used it to pierce my ear. Then I went to an older neighbor girl and told her that my older sister had done it while I was sleeping and begged her for an earring. She wouldn't give me one.

And speaking about earrings....I remember stealing a pair at Grand Central. I felt really bad after, but never told anyone about it. (until now)

This post was inspired by Tiffany at the wouldbewritersguild. Thanks Tiff. This was fun!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Saturday afternoon....in pictures







(the bobbing for apples thing was totally his idea....silly boy!)

Happy Monday to you!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Something to do...

Are your children in need of something to do?

Last week, Nicole and her friend Laura came up with the perfect summer activity/treat. (If you have young ones, supervision is recommended :) )

What is it they are doing? Let's take a closer look....


Roasting mini marshmallows over tea candles, using bobby pins as roasting sticks and then when the mallows are nicely toasted, sandwiching them in between teddy grahams with a tiny piece of Hershey chocolate. Indoor smores!
Yumm! So cute and so fun! It has become a favorite thing to do lately while watching a movie.
What fun things have you or your children found to do this summer?


Saturday, July 3, 2010

Happy Independence Day! See you next week!

Friday, July 2, 2010

He's a First Grader!

Ian graduated from Kindergarten yesterday and I'm still in shock! I can't believe that for the first time in 16 years, I will have no children home with me during the day. Crazy!

Here are a few pictures from his Kindergarten Program.

Here is a slide of him and the picture he drew of Suzy Snowflake. See if you can find him in the group of kiddos below.

Saying goodbye to his Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Venning- a wonderful teacher!

Now he's in First Grade!!!!
And to celebrate, he wanted to go to In-n-Out Burger....yum!
Way to go Ian! You learned so many things this year! I can't wait to see all that you learn in 1st grade. Love you buddy!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Strawberries 'n Cream

I cannot believe it is the 1st of July!

I must be having fun because time is flying....at least I think that's what they say.

One of my favorite summer events as a child was Strawberry Days in Pleasant Grove. It was a day for playing with cousins, amusement park rides, food and lots of strawberries.

My grandmother was the queen of cream. She used cream in 90% of her recipes. No lie.
She taught me that breakfast (Cap'n Crunch and Malt-o-Meal) tasted sooo much better with a little (or a lot) of half and half poured on top. And that was also true with strawberries.

And so today, in honor of July, strawberries and my grandmother, I share this picture with you and wish you the happiest of July's!
Now I must go and eat this bowl of strawberries 'n cream. Yummmmmm.