life as we know it

9.17.2013

9.06.2013

sisterly love

Love these two. :) I have so many fun summer pictures that I could post...I think I'll go on a photo posting spree over the next few weeks just to get caught up!

8.12.2013

b.i.f. twenty

Sweet baby girl, sucking those two middle fingers, ready for her nap.

8.07.2013

If you can imagine, the dinnertime preparation hour in our home can be a bit of a crazy time. Olivia is clingy because she's still waking up from her nap, Amelia is grumpy because she's hungry and her snack from 30 minutes ago has worn off already, Meredith and Claire are thinking that RIGHT NOW is a great time to bake some cookies, Aunt Jill is on the phone because she's on her way home from work, and Josh is calling to let me know that he had to stop on the way home to pick up a few things for the new roof that is being put on the house this weekend.

Okay, okay, this isn't EVERY day...just today.

While all this is happening, this little pumpkin...

(she's not as innocent as she looks)...decides that she is going to get into my spice bin, which was sitting on the counter. I didn't notice, and apparently no one else did either.

In a short minute, there was ground cumin all.over.the.bar.area. Yikes.

Meanwhile, this one...

...was trying to make peanut butter cookies for the guys who would be working on our roof. As sweet as that was, a certain adult who was in the middle of cooking dinner and cleaning up ground cumin needed to assist her, and let's just say it wasn't good timing.

The adult told the child to immediately stop making cookies. That event would have to wait for a later hour when the adult wasn't losing her patience.

While I was cleaning up the cumin, the toasted pecans turned into burnt pecans. Lovely.

Finally, I found two minutes (while the broccoli was steaming) to have a discussion with Olivia about getting into my spices. When I picked her up, I realized that she had poop leaking out of her diaper.

Enough already!!

We made it through dinner with only one small milk spill.

Shortly after dinner, obviously not learning anything from the pre-dinner fiasco, a certain 5 year old...

(who is absolutely as ornery as she looks) ...was playing with our homemade batch of firecracker rub.

I could give you two guesses as to what happened next, but really, you'll only need one.

Currently, our trash contains about one full cup of spice and has quite an interesting aroma...spicy.

I always knew we needed to keep weapons, medications, scissors, glue, and the like under lock and key. I think I'm going to add spices to that list as well.

8.06.2013

blueberries

We went blueberry picking last week, and it was absolutely beautiful! Unlike last summer where we were melting within the first 30 seconds of picking, it was an absolutely glorious morning.

Olivia was hilarious. She wanted to have a bucket tied to her waist to pick berries. I showed her how to put a few in her bucket. Five minutes later, I checked her bucket, and the three I had dropped in were still there. I decided to save her some strife, remove her bucket, and let her pick and eat freely. Thankfully, the other three girls and I were following the farm's guidelines and picking more than eating.

We picked 12 pounds, froze about 10, and ate the rest. Meredith made our first batch of muffins this morning, and they were delish.

8.02.2013

ten going on sixteen

Claire and I recently went to get haircuts. She only got a trim, but she asked Miss Jill to curl her hair into big curls before we headed home. Miss Jill delivered. After seeing the concoction of curls on my normally ponytailed tomboy's head, I informed Miss Jill that Josh might not let Claire return for more hairdos. :)

I'm encouraged to know that my child who constantly wears ponytails, camo hats, cut off jeans, and t-shirts, might have a hint of girly-ness in her after all.

She comes by her tomboy ways honestly. I'm pretty sure when I was in 5th grade, my mother thought I would never wear makeup, heels, or a dress except on my wedding day...and that was maybe iffy. I loved going to car shows with my dad, playing football on the playground with the boys, and I thought playing Barbies was one of the silliest activities on the face of the earth.

I'm still not a huge makeup-high heeled-dress wearing kind of a girl, but I can clean up appropriately when necessary. I don't even mind as long as the heels are fairly comfortable. Only time will tell with my eldest.

8.01.2013

menu plan: august 2013

I can't believe it's August already. I scheduled this month in light of school starting on August 19. I also scheduled a planned family dinner out this month. I don't remember the last time that I planned dinner out for our entire family! Don't be fooled. We have a gift card. :) Meredith and Amelia participated in a sausage stuffing contest {stuffed animal pigs being stuffed into pantyhose} at Germanfest, and they won 1st and 2nd places which earned them $25 total in gift certificates to a local pork place. Needless to say, those dust collecting pig trophies currently hold a special place in my heart.

August 1-3

1: alice springs chicken {new}

2: pork stir fry

3: no cooking

August 4-10

4: church picnic

5: maple roasted chicken and sweet potatoes

6: french toast

7: herb crusted chicken in cream sauce {late dinner}

8: amy's sensational summer salad

9: frozen pizza

10: deer and noodles