Prep

In the last 24 hours, I have :

• taken all of the kids to Target, Hobby Lobby, Sam's, Walmart and two Dollar Trees
• cooked taco meat to feed 18
• successfully made Chex Mix, toasted almonds, French bread, salsa, and southern caviar
• burned two batches of butterscotch brownies before giving up
• served my family breakfast, lunch and dinner
• washed, dried and folded three loads of laundry (with more to do)
• made five buttonholes on two jumpers (one was on the wrong strap) and cut, assembled and pleated one dress to be smocked.
• picked all the ripe tomatoes and peppers in my garden and made a bouquet of zinnias
• talked to my mother at least three times

Must be vacation time.

Scouting: Year Three

Matthew has been eagerly awaiting this day: his first den meeting as a Cub Scout.

Jonathan was consoled when I scored a uniform in his size at the thrift store

 to pair with a hand-me-down neckerchief.

Doug will be heading up Matthew's den of Tigers.

And Tootsie was not to be left out.  "When I grow up and I am a boy, then I will be a Scout, too, and wear my socks and go camping with Dad and all the boys."

In Which Jonathan Learns to Ride a Bike

Despite some of the negative aspects of having a strong-willed child, there are advantages. 

And once this boy decides he is going to do something, he does it.

A week ago (with a little coaxing) he took his first "solo" runs (i.e., he needed a little shove to get going).

But today he was determined to do it himself.  He mastered starting and steering in no time flat.

Throughout the afternoon he would ask, "Are you proud of me, Mom?"

"Yes, my dear, I am very proud of you." 

(And you can bet this face is going up on the Wall of Fame).

Carefree

 

Oh, those wonderful days of childhood!

LEGO Lighthouse

It's always fun when Stephen presents his creations when rest time is over.

 

 

I think he is highly anticipating our upcoming beach trip.

 

 

 

He planned all the little details, even down to the spare buoys.

Overheard

Jonathan:  "Excuse me, Dad, but what lies are you filling my head with?"

Tell Me Why....

Product packaging designers are just out to mess with me, I've decided.

I've always felt a strong bond with Steve Martin's character in Father of the Bride as he rants about the hotdogs/hotdog buns in the store.  Why can't the numbers just match?!

While I've grown to accept the hotdog situation (seeing as half the family can/will eat the bun), the issue pops up in other areas.

Like batteries.  (Why anyone would buy battery powered toys is a whole other post.)  Why would someone design an object to need 3 AA batteries?  Do they not understand that packages of batteries come in 2 or 4 or 8? 

Or lasagna noodles.  Yes, that was my breaking point today.  Doug said, "Whatever happened to lasagna?"  Um, allergies.  But I'm delivering dinner to someone else so I doubled the recipe so that he can once again taste it.  The recipe (on the box) calls for 9 noodles.  How many in the package?  15.  Too many for one dish.  Too few for two.

I guess I'm just destined to forever have drawers with random batteries and cabinets of partly-used pasta.

"Let's Go Adventuring"

When she woke up from her nap I offered to read her a book.

 

 

"I want to go with the guys."

 

And who wouldn't want to join these two?

 

 

"Adventuring" has become the choice activity of late.  Though I'm not party to all the details, it involves knapsacks, guns, and tents.  Best of all, it keeps them outdoors for hours.

Marriage Requirements

At dinner tonight, Stephen announced that one day he would get married.

"But I don't want my wife to work."

"And she has to love God and not want to smoke."

He's going to be quite a catch.

Morning Harvest

After biting into a habanero I mistook for a baby sweet bell earlier this week, I was extra careful to double check tags before tasting.

Shellar

Just a week or so after our turtle-finding adventure at the local park (which resulted in very sad boys), the kids were elated when Andrew discovered another box turtle in a friend's yard and we suddenly had a pet.

 

One of the highlights of having a turtle was feeding him worms.

 

 

Alas, he escaped. 

He was recaptured but escaped again.

The kids mourned and blamed Matthew.

 

 

Joy of joys: he was found again yesterday.  Unfortunately, it seems his ear had a large abscess.  I have done a lot of crazy things in my time - just ask my husband - but performing surgery on a turtle may be the craziest yet.   He was doctored and released to the wild (and if he is smart, he will move as fast as his little turtle legs can so that he is not captured again).

First Steps

First steps call for a celebratory tea...

 

 

graciously served by a only slightly disgruntled big sister...

(who had to pretend to be baby "Kat-too" so that she could take a few steps, too)

and greatly enjoyed by the star of the day.

Freeze

"I wish Katherine would just stay little."  Me, too.

The Budding Artist

"I cannot draw the Sistine Chapel because my paper is too small."

The Gang's All Here

The cap to an ultra-busy week (at least by my standards) was a brief visit by Doug's older brother and family.

Apparently he offered lodging, but they insisted on a hotel downtown (and do you blame them?).  We enjoyed a ballgame at the local park complete with cotton candy, drinks, and fireworks.  Fun times!

Little Momma

I wonder if twins are in her future.