Five on Friday

1.  Sometimes this still happens.  #NappingHouse

2.  I Can. Not. Keep. Up.  #3aDay

3.  We are the proud owners of a set of Miracle Blades.  My parents have had these for most of my life.  And just like my parents' set, ours came with two "Miracle Blades"--one for our house and "one for our boat" (the promo from my childhood).  #forwantofaboat

4.  On Tuesday night we churned out 125 "almost-as-big-as-your-head" chocolate chip cookies.  

#welcomebackcollegestudents  #recyclingthewreathbox

5.  A nice long walk with friends with tree-climbing, over-the-road-bridge-walking, iceless-ice-hockey-rink-running and apple-picking.  #perfectmorning

Linking up @ Lauren Elizabeth:

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Feeling inspired by How to Really Seize the Last of Summer (with a free printable), last week we made a fruit pie.

It was delicious.  And summery.

My mom's recipe for easy Fresh Strawberry Pie:

Yum!

Funnies: Unfashionable

T: (Pulling into the driveway)  "Why isn't Daddy stylish?"

Me: (Taken off-guard because no one could be a bigger fan of all that is J than T)  "What do you mean?"

T:  "Well, why doesn't he drive something like...an old-fashioned car or a convertible or something stylish like that?"

:)

Our two black cars are definitely boring.  And even when given a chance with a rental (J's sporting a silver Chrysler 200 while his recently rear-ended car is in the shop) we still end up in car snoozeville by the small crew's standards. :)

Also, can I just say that I think that our vegetables are mocking me?  I just discovered a hidden plant sprouting from the back of the compost--and the compost--THE COMPOST--is growing better tomatoes than me.  What in the world?

Five (or so) for the Week: Squeezing in the Summer Fun

We had a full week of summer fun:

0:  Monday--grocery shopping (ultra fun. ;).

1.  Tuesday: A meet-up at the park with friends we won't see for a few weeks.  And then later a baseball birthday party at the park for M&T.

2.  Wednesday: The county fair. (A favorite--watching these two ride a few rides together and whoop at the fun of it.)

3.  Thursday: Swimming at a new friend's house.  They had a blast using their lake skills in a pool--"jumping into 8 feet deep!" :)  So much fun! :)

4.  Friday night baseball with friends and fireworks.

5.  Saturday morning breakfast out.

6.  Climbing the front yard trees.

7.  Saturday neighborhood birthday party.

Just two more weeks of "summer!"

A Soft Spot for My Arch-Enemy

Spiders

Arch-enemy is perhaps a bit overly dramatic.  But, seriously, we have a long and sordid history--I have had one inside the elbow of a sweatshirt fresh out of the laundry (discovered minutes later while sitting down to watch TV), crawling across my pillow (in our house, in our bed) just as I was about to lay down my head, a giant black one crawling up my neck in the bathroom and another one floating across the surface of a freshly drawn bath.  (A few weeks ago, at my parents, I even came within a hair of taking off my shirt in front of everyone when I thought one was on me.  Close call.)

Spiders CREEP. ME. OUT.

Basic spider philosophy--Things will not go well for you if you are in our house.  (This applies to mice and ticks as well.)  (Daddy-long legs are the exception.)

BUT, outside (far away from me) is another story.  I do admire a good web.  And so it is that we have been stalking a giant spider building a huge orb web on our deck.

J spied him a few nights ago as it was finishing up its work.

 The spider (a spotted orb weaver?) is probably 1.5-2 inches long.  The web about 2-3 feet in diameter.

 Spider top:

Spider belly (shivers!):

The next night J spotted him just before he started.  And while Beza slept, the rest of us gathered around for a two-hour show (From 8-10).  (No joke.)

It built it right across the deck stairs.  (It's now common practice to do a web sweep before we go outside.  That thing would totally catch a kid.)

Crazy amazing.  

Of course, then we watched him catch a few bugs and eat them.  C.R.E.E.P.Y.  And, yet, fascinating all at once.

(T-man totally fell asleep on the kitchen floor.)

Tonight, while eating dinner on the deck, we discovered a smaller one building a web attached to M's chair and the deck side. 

 No one even squirmed.  

We definitely have a love/hate relationship with our arachnid friends. :)

(Worth noting: If the web is still there in the morning, M likes to release the "anchor" lines one at a time and then roll the whole web up into a little ball of silk.  Also, no joke.)

Sometimes the Days Go Like This...

My Yesterday

It started with me cleaning up one bathroom fiasco just as another bathroom debacle walked through the door requiring massive amounts of questions with answers that left me shaking my head and equally massive amounts of hand-washing.

Then in the afternoon I found an exploded pull-up in the washing machine and just as I finished mostly cleaning that up there was news of a potty accident on the living room carpet that got tracked all over the kitchen floor.  And then?  While I was getting the carpet cleaner, someone tried to use those pretty "designer" wipes to clean up the mess.

In the end, I'm thankful those days don't come very often and that even when they do they aren't that big of a deal in the whole scheme of things.  And I'm also very thankful for good friends who take sanity calls and make me feel "normal." :)

The people who keep my life from ever being boring: ;)

Love them.

(Blogging to remember even the days like this.)

Teas and Wipes

I've been trying to come up with some fun things for Beza to do when school starts.  The other day I spied a few things on Pinterest and thought I would give them a try.

First, I made a hodge-podge of tea bags.

(Inspired by THESE [except, I don't speak French (?)].)

I found these tins to store them in (at the Dollar Store).
(Think Republic of Tea.)

(I used a piece of junk mail to make a little template.  I filled the "bags" with a small piece of pillow stuffing.  And I used ribbon as the string because I thought that real string would definitely pull out of my stitches.)

 

Then, surrounded by piles of scrap fabric and my sewing machine, I stitched up a few "wipes."  M & T were adamant that wipes need to be white.  I told them, "No, no...these are high-quality, very expensive wipes that come in designer colors." ;)

I cut in a few extra lines to the opening of the wipes bin to make it a little less tight on small hands.

Hoping that these provide Bez with lots of space for imagination.  And if all else fails, at least she loves emptying and refilling a good container. :)

Funnies: Thinking Caps

We just finished listening to 4 Gooney Bird Greene books.  In her honor, they donned their "thinking caps." (Gooney Bird is a bit of an eccentric dresser.)

(T added some spider-man flair.)

Then we did our best to write a few Haikus and limericks (from Gooney Bird is So Absurd).

Haikus by M:

Cat

A cat is so soft.

My cat says, "Meow, meow."

Cats walk by the moon.

Crayons

I love crayons so much.

My favorite crayon is pink.

I love (the) colors.

The Flowers

I like pink flowers.

Flowers grow from purple seeds.

I can draw flowers.

Haikus by T:

Limericks:

 Ben by M

There once was a bear named "Ben."

And (he) always lived in a den.

The girl smelled his head.

And he slept in a bed.

And all the men thought he was a hen.

The End. ;)

Five for the Week

Five Things From Our Week:

Bez is sporting a new do.

I made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies that were apparently already a double-batch recipe.  Perfect for sharing with new friends (twice). :)

Star Wars (The Empire Strikes Back) movie night.  (M and I watched a bit and ended our night a little early snuggled up in our cozy bed.)

Turkey bath.

A waterfall hike on this beautiful Saturday.  (Also, a great way to burn those cookie calories.)

Bonuses:  

• The peeps all got a clean bill of dental health.  Phew!
• Swimming lessons are officially over.  They are all currently obsessed with the back float.
•  Back-to-school shopping is done.  (Except for the 1/2" red binder--it's being particularly tricky.)

Hope you're enjoying this summer weekend!

Weekend Visitors

J's sister and family came to visit for the weekend.  We spent a day exploring the Hudson Valley.

After walking over the Hudson.

We had a yummy lunch along the water.

(Could he be any cuter?)

We spent the afternoon touring the Vanderbilt estate.

And finished the night by watching Hyde Park on Hudson (bringing the day full circle).

Thanks for visiting J&M!  We loved having you here!

Funnies: Laugh or Cry

A few things this past week that might have made me want to cry--but I laughed instead... :)

Ant Love

This boy--he loves ants.  We have ants.  Tiny ants all over the kitchen floor.  He rescued a few from the ominous vacuum--by taking them up to his room.  With a huge pile of crumbs.  A pile that he replenished throughout the day.  The ants are no where to be seen--but probably off producing more ants--what with the abundant supply of food nearby and all.

Showing us how bees move their feet.  10/2012

Tales from the Grocery Store

And these two.  Best of friends or worst of enemies.  On Thursday T chased her down the grocery store aisle with a toilet brush.  A toilet brush.  

Twice as Clean

On Friday it rained so hard that our backyard actually flooded for a bit.  So we ran out in the pouring rain to splash through it.  (Bath Number 1.)

That night J let them go bike-riding.  (Bath Number 2.)

The Secret of the Smile

Dude is not a fan of getting his picture taken.  He especially is not fond of smiling for the camera.  

Case in point.

Then I remembered the power of pottytalk.

This smile is brought to you by a whispered, "Hey!  Poopy-longstocking."  (Courtesy of Judy Moody and Stink: The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt.)

(Of course, then to prevent the endless repeating of said word I had to teach the 3-year-old that only mommies can say "Poopy-longstocking."  Always on our toes around here. :)