Sunday Stills: Metal

A Squirrel In The House

Does anyone else have a sock monster that lives in their house? I am always coming up with stray socks. I generally keep them in a basket and wait for their mate to show up. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Its a mystery to me where these missing socks go. That's why I blame the sock monster. Until now. I have made a discovery. Earlier today, Katie had taken the cushions off the couch (which, FYI, is one of the few things that drives me absolutely crazy***). I asked her to put the cushions back on, and while she was semi-cooperating, she noticed a 'wace tar' in the couch. She reached into a hole in the couch lining to get the car. It was then that I spotted a sock. Yay! I thought. At least that is one less stray sock I will have floating around. When I pulled the sock out, I saw another....and another....and another. Jackpot!! It appears that we have a sock squirrel in the house. (I believe Katie to be the most likely candidate for this) After pulling out about 6 or 7 socks, I reached back in to see if there were any more 'treasures.' What did I find? Well, one of our decorative couch pillows, the high chair cover, and Katie's toy camera. I wondered what had happened to that stuff. Now I know to check the innards of the couch next time I am missing something. You never know when the squirrel will strike again!!

Entertaining

Rachel and I try to skype (video call) each other at least once a week. If it weren't for, say, my three kids, we might just skype every day. But that ain't happening. Yesterday was our 'skype date,' but we had some technical difficulties. My microphone wasn't working. Not to be discouraged, we ended up typing back and forth for the better part of an hour. Rachel would laugh at me when I would forget and start talking to her. She said it was like watching a silent movie. Then, after typing back and forth for several minutes, Rachel would say something to me out loud and it would startle me a little bit. We always seemed to have had two conversations going on at once. We established the correct spelling in the terd vs. turd debate. It's turd, by the way. We showed each other our sewing projects. We managed to use several of those amusing 'emoticons' provided by skype. My favorite is the flexing kidney, also known as the disembodied flexing bicep that looks like a kidney. I would like to know who comes up with these things. I mean, you can use anything from a foaming mug of beer, to a dancing ninja, to a vomiting smiley face. And you never know when the 'emo' pushing hair out of his eyes might come in handy. So despite the fact that Rachel probably felt like she was talking to a mime, we had a lot of fun... saving the world, one dancing ninja at a time.

Random News

• Tyler is walking, I mean really walking....fast!
• James rode his bigger bike all the way to Grammy and Chappy's this morning. I can't believe how big he is as I chase him while he is giggling hysterically.
  
• Speaking of getting big, Katie had her first solo playdate at my friend Candi's today. James kept saying 'When is Katie going to get back?' I'd say 'Do you miss her?' and he would say 'No, I just want to play with her.'
• I've been canning like a maniac. Peach Syrup and Chile-Tomato Jam to name a few.
  
• Tyler is a crazy climbing fool. He climbs on everything!!! Here he is on my kitchen table:

• James wanted to have tea with me while Katie was gone. He took everything off the table, wiped it down and got out a tablecloth and put it on the table, so we could have a 'real tea party.' It was very sweet, and after he drank his tea he told me he really didn't like tea that much.
• I've surpassed the 100 pound mark from my garden. So far, 103 pounds!
• We've finally (!!!) finished the floors and enough of the painting to get the kids into their own beds again. Tyler and James moved downstairs and Katie upstairs. For the last two weeks, Tyler and Katie have shared a room and every little peep Tyler makes is liable to wake Katie up. It was very nice to sleep last night!
• Jeff starts school in 2 weeks. Boo!
• Katie is still downing tomatoes at a rapid pace. So far today, she has had tomatoes at breakfast and after lunch.
• Told you that was random news!
  

Sunday Stills: Flames/Smoke

Candlelight

Here is where I started to play around with long exposure times and moving my hand in and out of the shot. I could sit and experiment forever, but alas, Tyler had yet to go to bed so I had to cut it short.

This one was taken moving the flame back and forth through the frame

I Might Regret It Later

This morning, James told me that he wanted a pet bull. I explained to him that bulls don't exactly make suitable pets for little boys. He asked his favorite question in the whole wide world: WHY??? I explained to him that bulls are really big and don't exactly have the nicest disposition. It was at that point that the conversation went downhill fast. I told him that farmers often turn their bulls into steers by castrating them. It calms them down. Of course his eyes got pretty big when I told him what castrating them entails. I said 'Aren't you glad they don't do that to people?' And he said, 'They do that to some people, but very often.' An hour later, when Mom was over, it wasn't long before I heard him downstairs telling Grammy that bulls get their 'tesicles' cut off! I hope this one doesn't come back to bite me when he takes it upon himself to tell everyone and their cousin. :)

Tomato Obsession

I think I could easily become obsessed with tomatoes. This year I tried several colorful varieties, including Green Zebra, Orange Banana, Violet Jasper, and Yellow Pear. Our tomatoes, combined with those from the farm make for very colorful salsa.

Family Fun

At the farm

Things have been crazy around here. Jeff took a day off and we went to the farm together. Sunday we went to a local farm and picked 40 pounds of peaches, which I canned**. Ugh. I officially hate canning peaches. But I digress. We have also been replacing the floors in both upstairs bedrooms. Its a major pain, having things packed away and the kids sleeping in random places and waking each other up. But as my friend Candi reminded me it seems like we always have something like this going on. And she's right. We bought our first house in 2004 (?), did some serious renovations, bought a new house and did some not-quite-as-serious remodelling projects, and then remodeled our first house again after our tenants trashed it. So I think we have had more than our fair share of home projects. The floor is looking quite nice though!! I am so happy to have nice floors up here, as opposed to the hideous crumbling tile. Here I am rambling on incoherently. Yikes! I better go before I really say something stupid. (No comments from the peanut gallery...:)

**That is, I canned everything my children didn't devour. They have been eating their weight in peaches everyday. (The peaches are no Palisade, Colorado peaches, but good, and are pretty small)

At the orchard

Jeff's Latest Shenanigans

Jeff Tries To Run Me Over

My Florida Dress

On our trip to Florida, Grandma, Aunt Phylis and I took the kids on a trip to the JoAnn fabrics in their area. I had heard it was big and I really wanted to see it. And I must confess: it was quite nice. I picked out some fabric which was really not something I would normally pick. However, I thought it was really pretty, it had a border of seashells at the bottom (how fitting!) and I loved the color. The problem was, the line was a mile long. After waiting for a while, I was ready to give up. Grandma and Aunt Phylis pushed me back in line and told me that they would wait. To make a long story just a little bit shorter, I waited in line, got my fabric and checked out. It ends up the fabric was on some crazy clearance and I got more than 4 yards for $7!! I love a good bargain. Turns out I had enough for my dress and one for Katie (in progress). So there you have it, a dress made for a few bucks with fabric procured in Florida. And excuse the random pictures, please. I have resigned myself to the fact that a combination of my lack of photogenic-ness, and Jeff's propensity for taking goofy pictures is not going to add up to anything fabulous. Oh, well. You get the point.

Katie's New Gig

Katie got accepted into a the super-elite Preschool Airforce Training Camp. She is currently learning to direct landing aircraft so that she take over the job of the guy who is currently in charge of landing Air Force One.



Aren't you proud of her? ;)

PS. Jeff was having fun with Photoshop last night, can you tell?

PPS. I haven't given up on Sunday Stills. The last two weeks I haven't been able to find what I am looking for (graffiti and clouds) when I have my camera with me.

State of the Garden

(My garden does NOT look like this anymore)

Its official. The garden is a now a jungle of bushy tomato plants, monstrous squash vines, and weeds. Thankfully this year I've somehow kept the weeds mostly in check. My neighbor keeps looking over the fence and saying 'boy, the weeds are doing good,' and I want to say 'Don't you know the difference between squash and weeds?!? Tomatillos and weeds?!? Those aren't weeds!!' I mean, seriously, it is quite a feat to keep the weeds in check, especially when I am simultaneously trying to keep my three kids from picking green tomatoes and trying to ride their scooters down the slide. Don't accuse my squash of being weeds, please. Every morning and evening I go out with a basket and pick whatever is ready. I've found that if I don't go out at least twice a day the squash get out of hand. And because I am big dork, I weigh everything and record it. I know that may sound a little nuts but I do it for a few reasons. First, I want to see how much I can actually grow in one 11' by 55' patch. Second, I want to see if I actually am 'making money,' in other words, do I grow enough to make the money spent worthwhile? The answer is yes, by the way, unless you count my labor...but its so fun I don't really count that. If we were talking about scrubbing toilets or something, that would be a whole different story. And the third reason I record everything is so that I can see how much of each particular type of produce I grew. This will help me next year to decide what's really worth growing, and what we grew too much of. (Squash, anyone?) And if you reading this thinking bla, bla, bla, just shut up about the vegetables already, I will tell you that my grand total of produce so far is 65 pounds. That is nearly a James and a Katie put together! Considering we are just getting into tomato season, I am happy with that. Now off to make pickles!

Some of My Favorite Things

Some weeks, like this week, make me reaaaaally tired and grumpy. Too much to do, too little time, and the kids sense that and act accordingly. And by accordingly I mean that they try to test your sanity to the limit. But alas, even on the crummy days there are still things to smile about. So, here's the abbreviated list:

• Looking out my kitchen window to see James galloping around the yard on his stick horse in full 'farmer' regalia
• Talking to my friend Erin for a full two and half hours. Yes! 2 1/2 hours. Nap time is grand.
• Katie's pigtails
• Tomatoes from the garden, and lots of them!
• Visiting 'our' farm
• Flowers from the garden
• The beautiful new floor Jeff installed
• Jeff making me laugh, and roll my eyes, every single day
• Katie calling Tyler 'Ty-weeeer'
  
• Blueberry Lime Jam
• The kids' new-to-us swingset
• Watching Katie eat a bite of really spicy salsa, then trying to cram her head into her cup
• Tyler's smile, his happy shrieks, and his chubby legs
• Friends who will watch my kid and take him swimming and feed him donut holes (makes for a very happy kid!:)
• Seeing my sister this past weekend!!!! (And you too Phil! You're alright too :)
• My pile of sewing projects waiting to for spare time
• A good book
• Watching James go from totally-freaked-out, loudest-screaming kid at swimming lessons to jumping in, canonball style, as the other kids ask 'Did he just drown???' James said, as he came up with a huge grin on his face, 'I was really having fun!'
  

Latest Hip Check

I'm still here. We had our computer put away for the last several days so that Jeff could install a new floor up here!!! No more nasty pink and green speckled, dark brown and tan checker-board tiles!!!!! (Can you tell that makes me happy? That stuff was hideous.) Anyway, we're back in business.

Katie had her hip check this morning and I don't know if I am happy or not. Basically, the word was 'looks good, hip is stable, the femur has improved, socket is still flatter than it should be, wait and see...' We talked again about surgery. Last check up seemed like we were out of the woods, but it all depends on how much growth her hip does on its own. Dr. Speigel said he doesn't want to do the surgery unless its absolutely necessary, and he waits longer than most doctors to do it...around age 4. I asked him if her socket stays the same would she have to get surgery, and he said we would definitely have to consider it. The bottom line is, no one knows how much 'remodeling' her hip will do on its own. By age 4 is usually when it really slows down. So at next year's check-up we'll figure out whether she will need surgery or not. I know there is no way around it, but I really hate the 'wait and see' part of this. Ugh. And I have decided (well, I already knew this..) I will NEVER live in a big city. The traffic is enough to give me a nervous breakdown. I hate driving in Philly!!!!!

The Birthday Dress

I just finished this dress for Katie's birthday in September. She caught me working on it once when she woke up early, but she didn't even ask what it was, so its going to be a big surprise for her. She likes dressing up and being a 'princess,' so I think she'll like it. Even more exciting, I made it out of curtains I found at a yard sale!! :) The buttons, which are not as crooked as they look, are from Grandma Cheyney's button stash! I think its going to be big on her for a while, but at least she'll get lots of time to wear it.

How Could I Forget?

...to post this picture:
I guess this is what happens when someone has too much time figuring out features on their cell phone. One of Jeff's coworkers did this. Disturbing.

Squash, anyone?

We are swimming in squash around here. The 'Boston Pickling Cucumbers' I planted ended up being Patty Pan squash. Someone was not paying attention the day they packaged those seeds. Incidentally that's the second time that has happened to me, last year being the Green Zebra tomatoes that came out red, and decidedly un-Zebra-like. The trouble with this year's seed mix-up is that I'd already planted a very similiar type of Patty Pan squash. Now, its ATTACK OF THE SQUASH BRIGADE every time I go into the garden. So far, I've used it to make Zucchini Yeast Rolls, sauteed squash, roasted squash, steamed squash, squash with fresh basil, Zucchini Chocolate Cake, Vegetable Chowder, Veggie Pizza, Veggie roll-ups, squash and black bean quesadillas, and squash pancakes! (Yes, I stooped to that level, and no one was the wiser for it.) I've resorted to picking them really little so I can try grilling them whole, and so they take up less room in the fridge. :)

Farm Day

Tuesday is the day we usually go to the CSA. Today we had a lot of fun. We met some goats, walked on the nature trail, and picked up a whole lot of delicious food, including blackberries and yellow watermelon! The kids found a little 'cave' in the sunflower field to take a break in.

Katie ate her weight in cherry tomatoes. I am not sure if we brought many home after she was finished raiding the basket. Tyler brought home more than his fair share of dirt, and cheeks stained with blackberry juice. James went all Bear Gryles on us while on the nature trail, picking up a big log to use. After telling him he could not keep it to make a raft, he decided to make a lean-to shelter instead.
I am so glad we bought a share at the farm, not just for the food but for the experience of it all.

Sunday Stills: Rule of Thirds

"...put your subject into the upper or lower part of the shot or in the left or right half of the pic. Composition is the name of the game here and you can use any subject you find."

(Taken Friday at the Burlington County Farm Fair)

Watching the Dressage competition

Beautiful old Tractor in the antique tractor show

Farm Fair Pictures

Antique Tractors


Funny signs: My favorite sign is the one on the top right. They actually went so far as to laminate the poster so that it could include 3-D stomach contents!

I feel like this cow deserves its own post. How hilarious is this?! I love it. Painting the cow's entire digestion system, complete with arrows, really puts it over the top! This 'cow' is for practice milking.

We saw creepy singing vegetables, sat on a hay bale horse, rode a pedal tractor (the kids, not me!), and withered in the heat

James was a huge fan of the tractors. He went from one to the next with a big smile on his face.

Awesome curly-haired sheep. I think we are kindred spirits. Sadly, this sheep's curls hold up better in the humidity then mine do :)

$10 Pony Ride!?! Technically it was $5, but Katie (surprisingly) got scared and refused to go on a pony, so I paid $10 for one ride. That's the way it goes. As you can see, they had a very cheerful and chipper guy to motivate the ponies to move. He had that same expression on the whole time, even when he told the girl before James 'Good job,' with absolutely no expression in his voice. James, on the other hand, was a very happy camper!

Guess What We Found?

A real live, honest to goodness fair. The kind with real farm animals, tractors and 4-H projects! Good ol' 4-H...not sure we even have that around here. Anyway, we went to the Burlington County Farm Fair this morning (in NJ). It was very fun, and very hot. Mom came and we really had a good time watching the kids experience it all. They were quite excited to see all the animals and go from tent to tent seeing the different kinds. (I refrained from stuffing a chicken or two in my purse) More pictures to come, when I get my brain back in order. The heat wiped us out.

Belated Birthday Pictures

Precious

The other night at dinner we heard some thunder. (Or as Katie calls it 'fun-dair) Katie has been really scared by thunder lately, and she ran off to find James' ear muffs. She wouldn't take them off and actually fell asleep with them. I took them off for her, but only after taking a picture!

An Experience

We just got back from quite the morning. We drove about 45 minutes to a blueberry farm in South Jersey. At one point I thought I had mistakenly drove myself right into Fort Dix Army base. There was razor wire everywhere, soldiers in fatigues with big guns, but it turns out the road goes through part of the base and back out. When we arrived at the blueberry farm it was quite a site. The sign said closed but the owner had told me over the phone that 'we open before you even wake up!' (8:00am...ha, ha! I have kids. We're on to second breakfast by then...) It was a ramshackle affair, with several old trucks, tractors and an air-stream trailer. There was a radio playing somewhere among abandoned automobile carcasses, and an ancient metal water cooler sitting in the shade near a notebook. There was a really old red truck, with a sign stating that blueberries were $1.25 a pound, that a coffee can full weighs 4 pounds, and please don't waste!!! Also, it said to visit the 'webb site.'

Now, when I spoke with the farmer via phone, he referred to it as his 'patch'. I think 'empire' or 'dynasty' would be better terms. There were fields all around, and even across the highway. As I was trying to get my bearings, another car pulled up with a random assortment of individuals speaking a language I never could figure out. They, apparently, had been there before. As I was talking to them, up pulls Fred himself on his tractor. I would guess he is pushing 80. He is quite a character. The other people must be regulars because he said something like 'oh, its you again.' Everyone began to take these rusty coffee can contraptions off the truck and tie them around their waists. The older lady asked Fred to tie hers on. Apparently she is looking for a little Fred love, although Fred is a married man. He gave her a hard time about it and asked her where her husband was. She said he was 'gone.' She asked him to tie three buckets to her (in her heavy accent) which clearly she didn't need. Apparently she always asks Fred (not her companions) to tie her buckets on. All the while he is heckling her about it. Then he turns to us and fires off numerous questions: What are you going to do with those babies? Are you going to take them with you? How are you going to pick anything? They may be better pickers than you. Why are you dressed for the beach? This is a FARM! A FARM! You are dressed for the beach. Look at you! What about the baby? Oh, I can't tell you what to do, now can I? Do you have sunblock? Where is your hat? You're dressed for the beach, not the farm! It was quite amusing. He then turned to the other group and told them to 'take care of the babies. Help her with the babies. Oh, you're gonna have to walk. You help them walk. Its a long way.' So, off we went, the foreign people and I, schlepping my kids with numerous rusty coffee cans tied to our wastes with ancient ropes. Fred yelled after us, 'Does someone have a cell phone? A cell phone?????' The people alternated between talking to us in English and amongst themselves in the mysterious foreign language. For the record one of the ladies names was Carmela, and they called her Carmelita too. After about 45 minutes of 90 degree heat, my kids were done being patient and I had managed to pick 2.5 coffee cans full. (for the record, the foreign people were so busy chatting it up that I picked more than they did, by myself. ha!) I headed back with three very filthy children hanging off me, and three cans of blueberries tied around my waist. We passed Carmelita and she helped me on the way back. When I set Tyler down to dismantle my blueberry carrying apparatus, she picked him right up and cooed over him. Strangers picking up my kids usually is not my thing. But she seemed nice. Anyway, out comes Fred from the middle of nowhere. He immediately takes my blueberries and puts them in the shade so they don't get hot while I am paying. He charged me $8.75 for the whole kaboodle. I was pretty happy with that. After packing my filthy kids up we headed off to the CSA farm to pick up our share. They used the time I was picking green beans to accessorize with another generous layer of mud. Now we're home, somewhat cleaner, with the air-conditioning cranked up. I've had enough excitement for one day, thank-you-very-much!

Say Cheese!

We should not be left alone with the camera!

Sunday Stills: Summer

Flowers

Tomatoes

Hydrangeas

Mud/Happy Children/Ruined Outfits

Watermelon

Big Things for James

There has been a lot going on in the life of James lately. Learning to ride his bike, visiting new places, swimming lessons, and Vacation Bible School. The first day of VBS he did good. He had a lot of fun, and was only a little bit sad when I left. The second day, he was more upset, but I knew he would have fun. They said he took an hour to settle down. Poor guy. But when I asked if he had fun, he said yes. I asked him if there was anything he didn't like and he said no, he liked it all. Then yesterday, he had a complete meltdown and I couldn't get him to calm down or stay. Even his teacher seemed apprehensive about him staying. So we went home. Today, who knows. His swimming lessons started off with a bang, kicking and screaming. He wouldn't get near the pool. He wouldn't even stick his toes in. Any time I got near him to try to coax him in, he would jump up and cling to me like a lizard to a wall. I could hardly peel him off. Finally, after the suggestion of the instructor, I took the other two off to the playground while he basically took James into the water kicking and screaming. Of course I am wondering if I am going to scar him for life, and if he'll be afraid of the water. I just wanted to run over and rescue him. James is naturally a timid kid and I knew he would probably need some sort of encouragement to do it, but I wasn't sure that was the right thing to do. Sometimes being a mom is really hard. Anyway, the second day I really thought would be the same. All day I talked to him about how he would love swimming once he could stop being afraid. I told him being afraid is normal but if he tried it out he would realize how fun it was. I also told him to play a trick on his teacher. (He is really into tricks) I told him that when the teacher told him to do something (like stand in the pool) to just do it, and the teacher would be 'tricked' because he wouldn't believe that James would/could do it. We also prayed that James would be brave and try it out. Well, he did. He was a little timid at first but the teacher really worked with him, got him in the water and to participate in almost all the activities. He even swam out in the deep end with James. Now James says he wants to swim every single day, all the time!

Especially For Uncle Phil

James riding his two-wheeler

Installment Numero Dos of the Jeff-Radio Saga

Once we finally decided to let the ol' boom box rest in peace, it was time to get something new. For quite some time, Jeff has had his eye on a sound system at BJ's. It has cute little speakers, each about the size of a pint jar. The reciever was small too, maybe the size of a Kleenex box. I was excited to have something smaller and less beastly to replace the boom box. However, anyone who knows Jeff, knows that he will research something, uh, thoroughly. So, after much research, he found that there was a different system that was better for what he wanted. The speakers were only a 'little bigger,' but they would sound so much better. So, he made the plunge and purchased the speakers.

And the reciever.


And the CD player.

Who knew that it took so much equipment to listen to a song. Talk about bait and switch. My dreams of having more space for books was quickly dying. In fact, we had to change out our bookshelf with a hutch we had in the garage, so that the new sound system could be closed up, away from grubby little paws. While I was still trying to get over the fact that the stereo system had become a monster, Jeff informed me that he had to get a sub woofer. I didn't think to ask how big it was, and when it arrived, well, I wasn't too thrilled. Behold, the beast:

While I am still reeling from this latest addition to our already crowded abode, Jeff is playing Tina Turner like a maniac, and blasting anything that has a lot of bass. Ugh. If this doesn't end soon, I fear we'll become one of 'those' neighbors. But hey, when I see a face this excited, I can't help but feel a little bit happy for him. And it was his birthday present afterall.