The Taste of Summer

I dream of this time of year when the tomatoes are ripe and ready. Can you blame me? Just look at 'em!

And then I make my all time favorite sandwich ever. Tomato, cheese (sharp cheddar), lettuce, mayo, on toasted whole wheat. MMMMmmmmmm.....I might have to make myself another one. Really, nothing tastes better to me at this time of year than this sandwich. No bacon. No lunch meat. Just sharp cheese, red juicy tomato from the garden sprinkled with a pinch of salt and pepper, crispy lettuce, and mayo.

I gotta go. That sandwich is calling my name......again.

Walking Away

In my life I’ve experienced the gentle wave of friendships coming and going…getting stronger and then fading away. I understand this happens in most friendships. I’ve experienced it. I’ve seen it in the lives of family members. It happens. In hindsight it makes sense. But during those strong moments you can’t ever imagine not being friends with that person. Then life happens, children, moves, change of life, etc and you find your self looking ahead to new things and saying goodbye doesn’t seem so hard. But what happens when a friendship ends abruptly? What happens when a discussion is opened and you realize that it will only continue to spiral out of recognition? What happens when you realize over half of the time you’ve been friends with someone, they’ve been assuming…judging…and never asking for truth or clarification.? And when given truth and clarification ultimately they end up sticking to the assumption/judgments in the first place. What happens then? Do you fight to hang onto a friendship or do you cut your losses?

Friendships should be mutually beneficial. Like most meaningful relationships in a person’s life, a strong true meaningful friendship ought to bring good out of those involved. What good would be had if fighting for a friendship continued to result in wrong assumptions, bad judgment, slander, etc.

I closed the door on a friendship today. Partly on my own but mostly because my husband insisted. I tend to want to fix things…relationships. It isn’t necessarily a good trait I have. But I tend to try to do everything I can to make things right. This time - though it wasn’t as clear to me as it was to John and a few others - there wasn’t anything more to be done or said. It hurts. It’s hard. And yet, I am relieved as I know that I did everything I could have done to save it. I have no regrets.

Today is a new day.

Random loves....

new movies I've seen and really liked:

Despicable Me - hilarious!
Sofie Scholl - awesome
Get Low - don't have many words for this one other than....watch it

I have a renewed liking for Sour Patch Kids. Almost as yummy as Hot Tamales. Almost.

Vacuum bags. The storage kind you find at Walmart...or on an infomercial. They are truly awesome. Life saving actually. Can you believe I fit 4 king sized down comforters into one XL bag? Yup....down to a size smaller than a couch cushion. Awesome I tell you.

Downsizing. I spent most of my weekend alone cleaning out the kids closets. What in the world was I thinking keeping all those clothes and baby gear?! #1: all the boy clothes have now gone through 2 bodies. Enough is enough. #2: most if not all of our baby gear has gone through 3 babies and is at least 5 years old. The stuff is severely used and could stand to be replaced when the time comes. Downsizing is both therapeutic and lucrative. I now have enough stuff to get rid of to have a garage sale. Plus I'm motivated to keep sorting and finding more.

Garage sale at our house next weekend. Lots of kid clothes, baby gear, winter jackets, etc.

My hammock swing. John cleared a spot at the edge of the field and hung my oh so precious hammock swing that has been sitting the closet for the past 4 years. I love him. So now I have a little quiet spot that is only mine to flee to when I need some peace and quiet...even if only for 15 minutes. Nothing like listening to the wind, swinging leisurely, as I look out into a field. Yup. Life is good.

Romance

My husband isn’t a traditionally romantic man. What I mean is, instead of real flowers for no reason he might grab a bunch of fake flowers at Walmart as he’s walking through to the electronic section. Hey! At least I know he's thinking about me even when he's out running an errand. Or I’ll get the occasional super comfy jammies that he picks out when he knows I’m just a bit stressed (and by comfy I mean soft and fluffy pj pants and a tank…not some silky number). And when he’s being super creative, he’ll spend some extra time at the hardware store trying to pick out the next random yet awesome kitchen appliance that I might like (e.g. old fashioned ice cream maker, popcorn popper, a Forman, etc). Our date nights usually consist of putting kids to bed and throwing in a movie or going outside to finish up a project together without the kids or of course there’s that never ending wood pile that always needs trimming. I must say, I DO like to watch him chop wood…..that man can swing an axe like a gosh darned lumberjack. *sigh*
And instead of love notes and sweet nothings whispered in my ear, he simply glances at me and holds my attention by some magical smoldering eye thing he does. It gets me every single time. Makes me weak just thinking about it. But what I might love the most about my oh so romantic husband is the fact that he gives me a whole weekend alone at home every few months. Alone. He takes the kids for a long weekend to his parents’ house and I get to stay home. Alone. You moms out there would appreciate this gift. It truly is a priceless one. Yes, my husband is not a flowers and chocolates, dates and love notes kind of romantic. Though sometimes I wish he was, I always go back to all that he’s done for me and given me and the details of love he shows me day in and day out. He’s quite simply MY KIND of romantic.

And so, this afternoon begins a weekend alone for me.


Thank you sweet husband of mine!

Yvette

I just wanted to give you all a quick introduction to my daughter Yvette. I found all sorts of fun pics I took over the past couple weeks. I thought you might enjoy them....

She is 3.5 years old. She is loud, girlie, sparkly, she squeals and when she talks it sounds like she whines. She is also one of the smartest little girls I know. Of course I could just be a bit biased. But seriously, this girl has an amazing memory! Amazing. She loves to color and paint and create. She loves flowers, pink, purple, accessories (shoes, gloves, hats, boas, etc). She knows exactly what she likes and wants at any given moment.
She is quite the girl!

Don't you just LOVE her?!

Raspberries, Holes, and Lots of Wood

Early this past spring we planted 18 raspberry sprigs not thinking they'd do much of anything this year but take root. I caught Hayden picking the tiny red berries that I didn't even notice were there until today. SO.EXCITED. We love raspberries. Love.Love.Love.

I can't wait for next year and the year after when the harvest will be more and more. Did I mention that I love raspberries?
Well....I DO!

Wyatt spent the afternoon yesterday helping his dad dig post holes. Something the kids all love to do. Maybe some of you remember this post from our family blog last year? Well, this year Wyatt got to help and boy did he love it!

John worked so hard this spring to finish up splitting our enormous wood pile that collected last fall. We had a couple weeks of openness and order in front of our wood shed. But then, all in one week, 3 of our neighbors decided they wanted to take down some trees. Knowing we burn wood all winter, they so graciously offered their wood to us before burning it. And John, being the man he is happily accepted and assisted in the hauling of said trees. Now we have this....once again....obstructing the view of the beautiful fields behind our house. Darn generous neighbors (just kidding). ;-) We are very thankful for these offers as this will heat our entire home for at least a full winter season. BUT....it has to be split. Great. Another HUGE project to add to the list.

All I have to say is.....I love my husband. Really. He's pretty darned fantastic because he rarely complains about anything. He is grateful and continues on. *sigh*

Introducing.......
"The Mousers"
Yup. They look pretty vicious don't they? Laying there like they actually did something today....or any day for that matter. But they haven't.

(Tabitha in front, Simon in the back)
They do keep the mudroom free and clear of mice though. And we haven't seen anything in the house since we got them last year. So I suppose they are fulfilling their purpose.

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Sunday Sunday

Where the heck did the summer go? I mean really. These past 2 months have flown by and already we are in the thick of July in the heat of summer. Wow.

So yesterday John was working which leaves me with bringing the kids to mass alone. Yes, my oldest brother is living here and he has so graciously escorted us (when John is gone) to mass several weeks already, but I don't always want to assume he's willing to do that EVERY time John is not able to. After all, Sunday mass with 3 kids under 5 can be rather distracting and sometimes frustrating.
Anyway, normally we sit inside the church and force the kids to stay in the pew for the duration of mass unless there is a potty need or a meltdown. They usually do pretty good, except they are super squirmy. Not necessarily loud but squirmy. I decided that this week, since I am doing this on my own, that we'd sit in the back entrance area. It is large, has speakers so we can hear everything, and the the doorway is big enough to see right into the Church and be able to participate in the mass. Great. I thought I was doing everyone IN the church a favor by sitting in the back. You know, so we wouldn't be overly disruptive.

Not so.

The kids did well for over half the mass. Right after consecration, Hayden announces he needs to use the bathroom and ventured out by himself. That was okay. Wyatt and Yvette were chit-chatting in the corner not doing much of anything harmful. I turn to participate in the Our Father when the emergency light starts to blink, the doors close, and an incredibly loud buzzer goes off.

Yup, you got it.....

I turn around to find Wyatt and Yvette racing towards me. Yvette crying. Wyatt has a very sobering look about him. 3 people come racing out of the church with keys and a cell phone.
I was horrified. I was completely embarrassed. They caught it before the fire department came, thank goodness. And they were able to reset it on the spot, thank goodness. PLUS, the lady came over and gave me a hug and told me that it was okay, "it happens", don't worry about it. All I could say was "I'm so sorry. I'm just so sorry about this."

We left as soon as mass ended. I was so embarrassed. *sigh*

Wyatt pulled it. He fessed up in the van on the way home. And when we got home, the story changed...he blamed it on Colin. Seems he's already figured out how to pass the blame.

How can you punish a 2 year old for something like that? He has no idea what he did. Just that it was naughty.
And so OUR punishment is the embarrassment of it all.

I can't believe he pulled it. UGH.

Just when I thought I was doing everyone in the church a favor by sitting the back...

i just can't win.