Beatrix Potter

I love her! and you can imagine my surprise when today, (yes, at work) I went to google.com and there she was! check it out!

If you are a Beatrix Potter fan, or maybe just Peter Rabbit, you should stop by his web site: Peter Rabbit

Fun Times at the 4-H Fair

Last week was the County Fair. And, yes it fulfilled all of the cliches that come to mind when you think of any county fairs...no teeth, people with to much hair...in places that they shouldn't have any hair.. exposed body parts, and the list goes on...but hey. We are a family of 4-Her's, and since I work for the University that SPONSORS the fair, we were there, and willing participants.

This was Elle's project. "Ava". She was to take care of her for a week, feed, exercise, etc., and then make a poster with photos of her project and things that you get from your project.

Here she is. At the fair, with her finished poster. Yes, there was much argument over paper color, picture placement, photo cropping...I'll tell you, it's a fine line between positive direction and just doing it yourself. But, alas, it is her project, and I REFUSE to be one of those parents, so i bit my tongue (it did bleed) and moved on.

This is one of the photos that she took. Because I was a GOOD Mother, and let her take all of her OWN photos. I was also a GOOD Mother, and told her that she was ABSOLUTELY NOT putting this one on the poster. It was a part of that "positive direction."

They LOVE the carnival. This was at 10pm, when they had gotten their fill of fair food, and they had rode enough rides that they no longer held any excitement...especially for Will-

Yup. That's him. Hiding behind the pole. And me being the GOOD Mother, saying, "come on, just one picture, please smile for me..." because we all know that when he gets bigger, he's gonna look back and say, "my mom was the BEST mom, she took us to the fair EVERY year, let us eat nasty fair food until we wanted to PUKE, ride rides until we couldn't FOCUS on anything, and took PICTURES so that we would remember..."

Yup. that's me. fulfilling all of their childhood dreams.

It's my job.

Happy Birthday Elle!

I've been thinking all day about the agony I put myself through 9 years ago today....Now, I did know it was going to be painful, but I did not know that it was going to be 30 hours of pain. Just like everything else though, I was GREATLY rewarded for my labors! The little missy is at camp, we are leaving in about 5 minutes to go get her...she'll not want to come home...but maybe Birthday presents will entice her...and the cake on the counter...

Our Little Princess!

Here she is, with her 4-H project...I'll tell you about that later... She is a FABULOUS young lady, and we are very proud of her!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Bwubewys

Our family loves blueberries. And we are very lucky to have a pickin' patch 7 minutes from our house. Unfortunately, everyone else in a 50 mile radius thinks they are lucky too. Because I am guilt ridden with all the domestic things I should be doing, I packed up the kids and went. We had to wait. Because the patch was FULL. After about 10 minutes, ( we cleaned the car) we were directed to 5 little bushes. And I have to say, we picked for about an hour on those little bushes, and got almost 10 pounds!

Pretty little things huh?

This is what I made...FRESH blueberry Pie..mmmmhh

A Low fat dairy product makes EVERYTHING better...

Now, since EVERYONE loves this little pickin' patch, they are only open 1 day a week, and if you are not there by 7:30am, you are OUT OF LUCK. I don't usually feel very domestic at 7am.. so, I really need to enjoy the last piece of pie in the fridge.... Oh, and the cutest thing, Bea calls them "bwubewys". At the patch she of course was eating them, and after the first one, she says: "mmmhh. Mommy, dees are nummy"

Whistle While you Work

It's been awhile. I know. I have my favorite blogs I love to check daily and when they are not updated..it drives me nuts!


So, This is what I have been doing.

Cherry Pie Filling.

My friends neighbor has a cherry tree in her yard. When the neighbor moved back to Florida, she told my friend to help herself to the cherries. Four of us got together, picked the cherries. Ok. I picked VERY FEW cherries. The other girls did most of the picking. The next day, we pitted them all. Again, I pitted very few. More than I picked, but definitely less then they did. We did the pitting, mixing and processing at my house. We used my jars, my lids, my canner. See, I did contribute. We processed 11 quarts, and 19 pints.

It makes me feel

domestic.

I weeded (some) my garden.

Look at these lovely little gems! After dicing them up, sauteing them in olive oil, salt & pepper I had to fight the kids for my share.

It makes me feel very domestic.

Laundry. Laundry. Laundry.

There is more on the line today......

I AM DOMESTIC.

And doggone it, I am TIRED. I have the right to be tired. I am growing a baby. I deserve naps. Maternity leave need to start DURING the pregnancy, not AFTER!

Although, I have been trying to teach my grumbling children that we need to be happy even though we have chores. It really boils down to Snow White...just whistle while you work....I should listen to myself some days... We do have food, clothes, and a house (it does need to be cleaned..) God is Good.

Norte Dame

Before my dear friend Sarah starts her chemo, we decided to spend a day with her. Doing what she loves. She loves Norte Dame. It is a really beautiful campus, and we all had a very nice time checking out all the hot spots, and notable sights. I am sure you will recognize them.The Grotto

The Dome

Inside the Cathedral

The kids had a really great time running around, and checking out all the buildings. I am a good mother, and used every opportunity to mention that if they did really well in school they could go to college there...of course, IF they apply there, and IF they get accepted, and IF that is where they want to go, they will also have to get the Lilly scholarship...or we will have to eat macaroni & cheese in the homeless shelter for the rest of our lives... Seriously, we are saving for their college...with much lower expectations.

Summer...phew!

It's hot. They don't really care that it is only 4 inches of water. And she'll do anything he does...

How long do you think this will last?