Sum-sum-summertime
Last Friday we took our little guppy and minnow to Bubby’s aunt’s house for a pool party. The water was frigid but those kids absolutely did not care. Well, the guppy only stayed in for a few minutes and spent the rest of the time wobbling around deckside, practicing her land legs. But the minnow and her cousins bobbed around like little ice pops out in the water while Mama got sunburnt on her shoulders because she forgot to put sunscreen on herself. After stuffing ourselves with pizza and breadsticks, making a sandy craft and soaking up some sun, we headed home for the how-much-longer-until-bedtime countdown that goes on in houses across the land with wee ones in our care. Sun + water + lack of nap = wears a person out, big or small.
Thanks, Aunt K, for hosting another fun day! We look forward to it every year and it just wouldn’t be summer without it.
Cool as a Cucumber
Here’s what I made with the first two cucumbers from our garden. My attempt at my mom’s refrigerator pickles. Getting a “recipe” from her is like pulling teeth, if it is something she just makes from memory.
Her: “Oh, just throw in a little of this, then some of that. Do such-and-such for a while. “
Me: “What’s ’some’? A cup? 1/2 cup? 4 gallons?”
Her: “Oh, whatever you think.”
Me: “What’s ‘a while’? 15 minutes? 3 hours?”
Her: “Oh, until you think it’s done.”
Me: “…”
So here’s the recipe, if you want to call it that.
Slice cucumbers and onions (ratio of approximately 4:1). Soak in salt water (1 T salt and water to cover) for two hours. Rinse and add 1/4 c vinegar, 1 cup sugar and some sweet pickle juice. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
37/365
176. Getting lost in a movie for a few hours
177. Looking at pictures of my girls
178. Checking on the girls when they are sleeping
179. The gentle hum of a fan in a quiet house
180. Ancient soft perfectly broken-in t-shirts
Beat the Heat
One evening last week we took the kids downtown to play in the fountains. We went in our van. Down by the river! … Anyway, they had a grand old time splashing around for about an hour until the creepy crawly critters started to come out to chomp on little legs. My camera no longer feels the need to work properly and I’m wondering if it got splashed a few too many times? This was a great free evening, except for the ice cream we got afterwards. That was great, but it definitely was not free.
What’s for Dinner
Last week was one of those “I really need to go to the grocery but I kinda need to wait until payday so we’re gonna eat what we’ve got” kind of weeks. They happen sometimes but they’re not all bad. I mean it’s not like we were down to bread crumbs and peanut butter or anything. We probably all need to use what we’ve got more than we do and doing this forces you to get a bit creative. Creativity is never a bad thing, is it? I gleaned this recipe from the tortilla package. Thanks, Azteca! Arwyn was not a fan and requested “cheese quesadillas like we always have” but Bubby liked it. I made some homemade guac to go along with the pizza and a tasty little Mexican-at-home-on-a-budget meal was created. Now, where’d I put that margarita?
Mexican Pizza
8 Azteca® Flour Tortillas
1 small can refried beans
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup taco sauce
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 cup diced tomatoes
sour cream, if desired
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place 4 tortillas on ungreased baking sheet(s). Spread thin layer of
refried beans on tortillas. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese on each tortilla. Place another tortilla on
top of cheese. Press down on top of tortilla. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Remove baking sheet
from oven. Spread tortillas with taco sauce, lettuce and tomatoes. Sprinkle with remaining
cheese. To serve, cut each into 4 wedges. Top with sour cream, if desired.
Makes 4 pizzas.
Mama Got a Brand New Toy
I sold a bunch of stuff on ebay and bought myself a brand-spanking-new 3GS. Isn’t she pretty? I just got her last week and I haven’t come up with a name yet. Now I just need to get a job to pay for the dang service. We went from having the cheapest crappy cell phone plan in existence to the Jaguar of phones and plans. That’s a shocker to the ol’ pocket book. I’m still waiting for my purple case to arrive. I’m terrified I’m going to drop it or it’s going to fall out of my purse or one of the kids are going to get ahold of it. Since I showed Arwyn some of the cool stuff it can do while waiting at the lab the other day, she wants to get her little paws all over it. If anybody knows of any apps that I just have to have, lemme know in the comments!
Da-da-da
I didn’t totally forget about Father’s Day, I’m just running a bit behind. All of those birthday parties overshadowed everything else. I’m amazed I remembered to pay the electric bill, but thank God I did or we’d all be a big sloppy puddle by now (heat wave!) without our AC. I tried to get a picture of the girls in their matching shirts that Juju got them for their birthday, but sometimes one-year-olds aren’t too cooperative when it comes to photo shoots so this is the best I could do.
Bubby did get some nice gifts (new sleepy pants, chopsticks, a book, and Transformers) and breakfast, but that was about it. The rest of his day was spent mowing and grilling for his family. Love you, Bubby. I’m so glad you’re my Baby Daddy.
Wonderfully Mad Curiously Crazy Uncommon Birthday Nonsense
My beautiful girl turned five last week. FIVE. How did that happen?!?! Even though this milestone was expected (duh) it still came as something of a shock. I can hardly wrap my brain around it. I look at her and just can’t believe how quickly the time has flown. Sometimes when I peek in on her while she’s sleeping her sweet little face looks just like it did when she was a baby. She’s getting ready to leave our little nest and venture out into the big, wide world without me there every step of the way. Which is great for her, but rather freak-out inducing for me.
After much consultation and list-making, the birthday girl and I decided to have an Alice in Wonderland theme for this year’s party. These shindigs just keep getting better and better. I have so much fun planning these parties and spend way too much time on the details. I could not have accomplished my vision this year without a lot of help. A big shout out to Juju for dishwashing, cake and favor decorating, Bubby for signage and cd label making, and Matty B for sketching. And anyone else that helped that I am leaving out, thanks a million.
We had another pool party (gotta get our money’s worth out of that dang pool), saved ourselves some headaches by ordering pizza and let the wild things loose in the yard and house. Now to remove that ground in pizza from my dining room floor…
All photos can be found here.
Home Again
Last week we made a trip to my hometown to visit Aunt Banana for a few days. We filled the days with visits and activities, with lots of park and play set time thrown in. You gotta love a visit that includes greasy food, garden hoeing, library visits, swinging and fresh tats. For the first couple of days I’m always amazed that I actually kind of like it there. It’s quiet and peaceful, it feels safe there, I worry less about something happening to the kids. But by the third day I am bored out of my mind, completely out of ideas for what to do with the kids and can’t wait to get back home and sleep in my own bed. It is nice that we live close enough to make short visits but far enough away that I feel a sense of relief when we drive away. It’s a strange sort of combination of feelings. I’m always glad to go, but equally glad to leave.
All photos from our trip can be seen here.
36/365
171. iphone
172. iphone
173. iphone
174. iphone
175. iphone apps
