Garden Update

Finally taking a minute to update what's happening in the garden.  It hasn't been pretty.  We had a huge infestation of squash bugs and also some stink bug activity.  Couple that with the drought conditions and things were steadily going downhill.  I have a whole new respect for people who run organic CSAs and for the price of organic food.  No wonder.  It's a ton of work, a lot of failure, and there are no "quick fixes."  You get tons of bugs and you have to think of how to control them without just resorting to toxic chemicals.  You have to be willing to sacrifice a lot of time and effort to be creative.  I will need to spend the winter pondering my "plan of attack" for next year's bugs.  (Shhhh...don't tell you-know-who, but I think it involves an aviary species with fluffy tail feathers and dinosaurish looking legs.)

We eat bugs.  Lots of them.  Do you?  

I finally ripped out almost everything that was just "stinking" and making me angry.  (Dying garden plants are like someone screaming in your face, "Hey you, look at you, you're a big failure!"  Okay, maybe not that bad, but still, it was ugly out there.)  Here's my notes to self on what was going on mid-season for me:

1.  There are no greens in the world that would've sprouted for me after basically March.  I tried succession planting Black Seeded Simpson, Spinach, Mesculun Mix, and Rouge de Grenblouse, all with no luck.  My chard did come up, but the heat made it bitter.  I should've harvested it as babies and not let it get full size in the heat, maybe?

2.  Bush beans were totally destroyed by something that made holes in the leaves.  Wilted and ugly, but did manage a decent harvest of the green beans.

3.  Tomatoes = horrible.  I am so so so so disappointed in the varieties I picked this year, with the exception of the Sungolds.  Tons of beautiful green tomatoes, but as soon as the ripening process started, my Tigerellas got covered in a weird bumpy brown leprosy.  The Zapotecs were misshapen across the bottom (so pleated) that bugs were easily able to crawl into the cracks and they got infested.  The Bloody Butcher basically came in rotted.  All of them split.  Then the bugs happened.  Then the birds happened.  I can see why "heirloom" varieties have gone extinct.  Perhaps other gardeners like myself got sick of their crops failing and needed a more reliable variety?  I can admit that I should've done something more about the birds and the bugs, but I don't get how hard it is to ripen properly or what I could've done to manage this problem better.  I imagine it had something to do with the watering.  More on that later.  I am so thankful for Sam (shout out!) who brought me a ton of beautiful heirloom tomatoes.  I turned them into a wonderful sauce today.  I even had my first canning experience, which hopefully means I can remember that batch of tomatoes at least into the fall.

4.  Cucumbers just needed time to come up.  They stored horribly though.  Took the first couple out of the garden and put them in the fridge.  I love a cold cucumber salad.  When I went to eat them they were totally soft and wrinkled.  Do they not like the fridge?  Does the store put wax or something on them so this doesn't happen to them there?  Not sure I will grow them next year if they are so finicky.  Too many to eat right after picking...

5.  Yes, it was a squmpkin.  HOWEVER, this year, our squmpkin was edible.  Think of a cross between a pumpkin and a spaghetti squash.  But mostly spaghetti squash.  Cooked it up, tossed it with tomatoes, feta, basil and olives.  Plain goodness.  They might be ugly, but if I can eat them, I don't consider them a waste of all the space they took up.

A Squmpkin.

6.  Celery did horribly.  That stuff was bitter, hard, and a waste of space.  This is year two of failed celery.  Either I need to research growing it properly or give up.

7.  Lemon basil is amazing.  Plant more of it next year.

8.  According to my gals at Roots Farm, for my broccoli/cauliflower cabbage moth caterpillars, I should dip the heads in vinegar water and the caterpillars will fall right off.

9.  Honeydew and Cantaloupe didn't really work.  In fact, our honeydew went completely missing.  What?  The cantaloupe is about the size of a baseball.

10.  Flowers needed serious thinning.  I hate thinning.  It breaks my heart to select some poor little plant that has to die.  So I leave them all.  And then I learn why they tell you to thin.  Ooops.

11.  Peppers in the side box are doing wonderfully.  I consider this my biggest victory of the Garden 2011.

12.  Zucchini did mediocre.  Maybe got 5 huge ones.  Crookneck squash did a little better, but both got sabotaged by the squash bugs.

Another note of interest:  I've said this for three years now.  But I mean it this time.  I HAVE to consider some sort of drip irrigation system, either a bucket system or one tied into our hose.  I can't keep up with watering, especially not in the kind of drought conditions we had this summer.  That will be my huge spring project.  Another thing I will research over the winter.

Anyway, the garden is horribly sparse right now.  I cut all the rotten, nasty tomatoes off the vines and do see some new flowers and growth.  I'm giving them a chance to make it up to me.  I ripped out or harvested pretty much everything else except the pumpkin, herbs, marigolds, and the peppers.  As sad as it is, I am excited to think about a fall garden.  Here's a list of what I hope to plant next weekend or into September:  carrots, turnips, parsnips, maybe brussels sprouts (but I think I'm too late), greens like kale, chard, and spinach, lettuce, beets, green onions and garlic.  I'm really thankful for my friends Jen and Jessie who recommended Cherry Gal and Fedco seeds to me, as I have had trouble logging into my Seeds of Change account and they can't seem to fix my problem even after three phone calls.  I just ordered my garlic from Fedco and most of the seeds I will need for fall from Cherry Gal.  (I realize she is "heirloom" varieties, but she has a great seed sale going on right now and I have to give it a chance!)  I also have some seeds left over in the fridge from last year.

My biggest plan for the fall/winter is to create a mini-hoophouse over one of my beds.  I found the idea online after looking up ways to extend the growing season.  I will take the version that this guy did and build to our specs.  (Okay, perhaps Ken will do it, or maybe I can hire one of my favorite teenage boys to do it, but either way, I'd like to have it done so that I will be able to grow greens well into the winter with careful planning and gallon jugs of warm water.)  The first two years that I gardened, I petered out in August and didn't want to even consider a fall garden (except the garlic), so this will be my first foray into really trying to get the most out of my raised beds.  I'd love have green stuff to eat for as long as possible, and maybe even get a jump start on the spring crops by overwintering things.  We'll see...

A Picture Perfect Childhood (Review)

I've been crying again.  Constantly.  At every children's book the girls and I read together.  It's starting to get embarrassing.  I'm starting to feel like a fool when Caeley says, "Stop tearing up AGAIN, Mommy!"  I can't help it, we've stumbled upon a TREASURE TROVE of books, which have come out of "A Picture Perfect Childhood" by Cay Gibson.  This woman has single-handedly taken all the guess work out of picking quality picture books to read to kids of all ages.  But this "book about books" is more than a book list.  It is inspiration to be judicious in the selection of reading material for our children.  It is inspiration to take "textbook learning" and move it into picture books.  It is a plea to keep the "old fashioned" idea of family read-aloud time, even when our children get "too old" for picture books.  Not to mention, it is full of words of wisdom:

-"Parents need to slow down and reach into their child's heart because it is our mission."
-"Words can build up or tear down.  Let us build up those tender young souls because if we do not do it, no one else will."
-"A wise man once said that children are the message we leave to a world we will not see."
-The idea that the beginning of schooling should mean the end of picture books needs to be abandoned. (paraphrase)
-"There will be no revitalization of literature if we do not show the next generation how to be still and find the solitude needed for reading and developing their inner self."

We used this book last year to find our "Read Across America" books, which is just one of the many themed book lists the author provides.  In case you are curious, other themed book lists include:
-"Let's Get Cooking With Literature" featuring books about a different cuisine each month like "Gumbos and Soups" for January, "Pancakes" for February, "Breads" for March, "Sweet to the Sweet" for April, "Apple Harvest" for September, etc.  I can only imagine some of my more culinary friends using this book list as a pre-school/home economics curriculum for their wee chefs!  (Mary Jo and Danielle, that means you!)
-"Adoption"book list full of books dealing with the subject of adoption.
-"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" about all things and players related to baseball.
-"Around the World With Cinderella" featuring different versions of the Cinderella story from all around the world.  Great for the princess in all of us.  Not bad for geography lessons either.
-"In the World of Dolls" featuring books with doll protagonists or books about dolls.
-MANY history/cultural book lists including "Civil War," "Immigration," "The Great Depression" "Pioneers and Westward Expansion," "Underground Railroad," "World War I," "World War II," and "September 11" to name a few.

There are just too many great lists in this book to include here!  My favorite part, though, is quickly becoming the title section: "A Picture Perfect Education."  This is a list, by month, of books that would pertain to ANYTHING that ever happened in that month.  Or sometimes the books are just randomly placed in that month, like the fairy tales or myths.  I decided to start requesting these books from our library for July and August, and I was NOT disappointed.  And neither were my tear ducts.  To give you a taste of just a few of the books for August:
-A book about Pompeii (buried in August?)
-A book about Esther Morris, born in August, the first woman to vote in local elections (news to me) and a notable player in the early suffragette movement.
-Other books about famous folks with August birthdays, including Annie Oakley, Sammy Lee, Roberto Clemente, the Wright Brothers, etc.
-And one book each in the following categories (these categories are included EVERY month, so even if you read only these books each month, you are still giving your kid an amazing literature experience!): Art, Music, Shakespeare, Poetry, Language Arts, Science/Nature, Geography, Fairy Tale, Myth, and Tall Tale.

Yesterday we read the Esther Morris book.  So good, so informational, so age-appropriate.  I cried.  Today we read a story called "Train to Somewhere" which dealt with the orphan trains in the late 1800s/early 1900s.  I never would've thought to request a book about this topic, since truthfully, I had never heard of these orphan trains.  The book was beautiful, poignant, sad and yet happy.  I cried.  Again.

Cay Gibson is a Charlotte Masoner at heart, believing that children should be exposed to the best of whatever you are exposing them to--whether music, art, literature, or picture books.  Her commitment to quality control is what makes this book stand out.  Sure, I could go to my local library's search engine and type in a search for books about the Civil War, and narrow it down to the ages of my children, but I doubt I would be lucky enough to stumble upon the gems that Cay has already found for me!  She has saved EVERY parent who reads to his or her children (I hope that's all of them) an invaluable amount of time and legwork.  This book is NOT just for homeschoolers (although man alive, you could build some amazing curricula around the book lists here...) and not just for those with little children.  Many of the lists obviously include subject matter that is not really for young children at all (see the historical list above).  Yet through picture books, parents have the opportunity to explore some of these really sensitive issues in a way that feels non-threatening and less scary for kids of any age.

I can't say enough nice things about this book.  If you include it on your "back to school" shopping list, and really use it this year, I imagine that you, too, will feel like you stumbled upon a gem!

(Caveat: I have noticed that there are some typos in the book.  For example, a title might be something like, "Places to Go" and Cay might put "Place to Go" or something like that.  This could be mildly or largely irritating, depending on your patience while searching for books in a search engine and how picky the engine is about spelling...I did have to cross check a few books by searching by author name, but it has not detracted at all from how much I love this book!)

(PS:  I was not in any way paid or otherwise bribed to write this review.  I just really love this book!)

(PPS:  One last thing, I promise.  For any education majors that might be out there reading this...PLEASE get this book.  Get it for yourself.  Get it for your fellow teachers.  Get one for your school's library.  In fact, parents of school kids should donate copies to their kids' school libraries....)

A Harry Potter Catholic

I will gladly admit:  I am a Catholic.  And I love Harry Potter.  I love the books.  I love the movies.  And I don't feel one bit guilty.

I just got back from seeing the last (sob! sob!) Harry Potter movie.  What an empire.  What an amazing, truly gifted woman you have to be to create these tales that millions of us have enjoyed for so long.  I am aware of the conservative rumblings against the Harry Potter phenomenon.  And I don't begrudge anyone who decides the books are not appropriate for their kids.  I know my own girls will not start reading them for quite some time.  They are just too scary (and progressively mature) for my little princesses.  I also want to be able to talk at a higher level about some of the themes the books raise.  Every parent knows what is best for his or her family, and this post is not an attempt in any way to suggest that it's wrong to shield your kids from the HP phenomenon.  I also won't get into all the arguments for and against the movies from the Catholic perspective.  There are so many books and websites out there about it, and to say that it's a heated debate is putting it mildly!

Here are just some of my very disjointed thoughts on the whole thing:

One of the biggest arguments against the HP empire is that J.K blurs the lines between good and evil.  I have been thinking about this a lot lately, especially as it relates to the sacrament of reconciliation.  Caeley and I recently had another lovely visit to the confessional.  And I don't say that sarcastically.  It is a truly wonderful feeling to speak out loud the ways that you are failing and to know that God sees you, hears you, loves you in spite of this, and is helping you to pick yourself up by your bootstraps and begin again.  (Not just that, but His love and grace are poured out on you to strengthen you in that journey!)   And if Catholics truly believe that we need this sacrament, isn't it because we acknowledge that we are all a blur of good and evil?  Original sin and all that stuff, right?  It seems unfair to demand that a movie hero or heroine be a perfect example of holiness to our children, when we teach them from a very young age that NO ONE but God is perfect.  We instill in them that we are all capable of sin.  Sometimes big sins.  Sometimes little sins.  But not one of us is exempt from it.  Heck, even the saints had honest to goodness struggles, and were usually quite aware of them!

The fact that Harry struggles so much with his own temptation towards evil, literally because he has a part of Voldemort inside him (what a peachy piece of original sin, huh?) and the fact that he OVERCOMES this temptation seems to mirror beautifully the plight that Catholics (and all people) face in this world.  Do we not all struggle against our own little Voldemorts inside us?  And when we struggle, is it not LOVE that helps us to overcome this?  Not just love from our friends and family, which is portrayed so beautifully and poignantly throughout all the movies and books, but also the love of God?

But it isn't just Harry that we see facing this struggle---so many of the characters deal with the draw from goodness towards evil, or as is the case with the Malfoy family, the eventual turning from evil towards good.  (The scene when they choose not to fight with Voldemort is SUCH a great moment in the movie!  Maybe one of my favorite scenes.  I know some could say it is sheer cowardice, and not noble at all, but I think that it was actually valor.  They knew what turning from him could mean and they did it anyway!)  The characters are constantly making truly difficult choices, sometimes choosing the high road (Harry SAVES Draco for PETE'S SAKE!) and sometimes not.  The realism of this struggle speaks to all of us.  

I think it's also worthwhile that J.K. seems to be reminding us not to judge the heart of another.  We can't assume one person is wholly evil and another wholly good.  Snape's death in this movie, when he tells Harry to collect his tears for the Pensieve, speaks volumes about his own heart, and how appearances mean nothing.  (Not to get all religious about it, but I think I've heard that same theme in another really awesome book.)  There are many times when a "good" character shocks us by choosing poorly and vice versa.  But I don't think we are shocked.  I think part of the reason these books and movies have been so wildly popular, and NOT just with kids, is that each one of us can probably identify closely with at least one character in the movie.  (Are you a Hermione or a Luna?  A Neville or a Ron?  A cross between them?)   J.K.'s characters are nothing if not rich and complex, believable yet culpable, and refreshingly imperfect.  They are striving for the most part towards goodness and trying to love and seek love in spite of their shortcomings.  I can think of a no more perfect description of my own life as a Catholic wife and mother.  "Imperfect but striving towards good and trying to love others and God in spite of my shortcomings."  I truly look forward to experiencing this journey all over again with my children.
 

We Interrupt This Program...

 I feel like I haven't had a moment to come up for air since I last blogged.  I knew after vacation that I would be hurtling myself into the world of "getting ready for next school year," but I didn't know just what that would look like.  I was in denial about how much work I had to do, and it has suddenly, and quite painfully, become my daily reality.  (Should mention that this is all self-inflicted work, since I freely choose to design my own curriculum, rather than use something made easy for me.  But I already wrote about that sometime when I was more sane.)  Consider this a "whopper post"--a catch up on a bunch of random stuff.

WHAT'S NEW

I have decided that for a month, we are kickin' it legit "Little House on the Prairie" with respect to food.  I don't know whether it's my own guilt about being such a foodie, or my utter distaste for cleaning out the pantry and chest freezer (both of which are full of who-knows-what), but either way, I am spending one whole month (July 15th to August 15th) trying to eat just what we have in the pantry,  freezers and of course the garden, which is really coming into full swing now.  I am going to try at all costs to avoid huge grocery store trips.  So far, it has been the most awesome experiment because it has taught me that I don't have to "meal plan" around these beautiful recipes I find online (you know, the ones that have tons of ingredients that you don't have...)  What I should really be doing is learning to cook healthy, simple meals with the tons of cr*p I have stuffing my cupboards!  It has also taught me that I complain way to much that "I need to go grocery shopping" when the reality is that I'm just too lazy to be creative with what is sitting under my nose.  Take today's lunch for example.  I had a bunch of shredded zucchini left from the chocolate chip cookies and coffee cake I made.  Enter leftover polenta cakes, bacon grease, a couple eggs, some bread crumbs, a frying pan, and Wa-la!---Zucchini cakes, cottage cheese and a mini polenta cake.  Healthy, filling, and economical.  Tonight's dinner:  marinated pork chops, tomato, basil and mozzarella salad (I did have to buy the moz this morning), and green beans.  This is a fun game.  But this is day 5.  Stay tuned for updates on how we survive...

WHAT'S GETTING OLD

Toddler poos.  Three a day.  In cloth diapers.  While I certainly don't claim to have the most diapering years of anyone I know under my belt (that award would go to Ellie), nor would I win an award even for the most diapers changed in the past year (Ellie and Alexis, you have to duke that one out!) but it is my solid belief that one poopy diaper rinsed with the stupid sprayer into the toilet is worth about 15 disposable poo diapers changed.  So, if we look at it that way, I darn well expect an award to show up in my mailbox soon.  Three a day!  Really?  (And ironically, the only child to be really not interested in sitting on the potty by this age...Sigh.)

(Sorry, no pictures for this one!)

WHAT'S DONE 

Finally finished both the big picture of Caeley's third grade schedule as well as the weekly plan.  This is a huge relief to me!  I can't get at the nitty gritty stuff until I see the whole year at a glance.  I also know that realistically, I won't get to all the nitty gritty (planning out the US History schedule, Spanish schedule, etc.) but that stuff can also be done during my weekly planning times during the year.  It's a luxury to have it done now, and it does save so much stress during the year, but if I don't get to it, at least I have the big stuff done.  Also got my personalized planning books done for both girls.  That's another ginormous project that saves me so much time and organization during the year, so I'm super happy it's out of the way!  (I make my own planners because I can never find one that allows me the freedom to write in my own dates,  that also has boxes for checking off work, NO subject headings, etc.  I also embed in the background of each box the subject that fits in that time slot for the day.  Since we don't do traditional scheduling, it's virtually impossible to find a planner that works for me....)

Couldn't get the picture to flip, it even imported wrong from iPhoto.  Oh Well.

WHAT'S NOT DONE

Still working on Meara's schedule.  And the fact that I've devoted every free moment to school planning means my house looks like something out of an episode of Hoarders.  Okay, maybe not that bad, but bad by my standards.  And the kitchen just piles up during the day.  Sorry Ken.

CAUSE TO CELEBRATE

I'm still on a roll with morning prayer.  I still have my interruptions, but A is sleeping so much better in the mornings and so I'm getting back to being spoiled with quiet time.  (There was a time, long long ago, that I woke up at 5am, prayed, went to the gym, and was all chipper and ready for the day.  I hope to get back to that sometime in the next 2 years!)  But now that I said that,  I'm sure I'll have to miss prayer time all next week because my life will implode.  Speaking of working out, I have starting trying to work out again.  It is a double- edged sword for me---it makes me feel so good mentally and physically, but it makes me so darn tired when I'm still nursing that I either have to compensate with caffeine in the afternoon or a nap. Usually caffeine, but that can turn quickly into the ugly cycle of caffeine dependency.  I'm really trying to avoid that to find the balance between how often I can work out without becoming angry zombie mom.  

My morning exercise takes me past some inspiration that's just the perfect way to start the day:

CAUSE FOR FEELING CONFLICTED

I can't decide whether I'm looking forward to school starting or not.  Part of me is having a panic attack for the following reasons:  1.)  "school starting" means Ken goes back to work.  And all the lovely evenings on the back porch with my smiling, cheerful husband are out the window.  It's been so so so nice having him around more, not working any dances, functions, or other such craziness until 3am.  It's been even better watching him really reconnect with the girls, who relish the extra attention they get from him in June and July.  I am sad to see we have such little time left.  

2.) I feel like I've been "so busy" this summer, and still haven't had time to do all those little projects and things I wanted to do.  Forget about the fact that some days I feel like I've barely had time to cook a decent dinner.  AND I'M NOT EVEN HOMESCHOOLING RIGHT NOW!!!!  WHAT in the WORLD am I doing with my time?  How are the days slipping away so quickly?  I am totally stumped.

Enter my children.  Two girls who love to hate to love to play together.  All the "unstructured free time" these girls have is sometimes their worst enemy.  While I'm all about the lovely maidens twirling around in their fairy dresses in the garden all day, the lack of structure this summer has been torture for me, and I suspect it's been somewhat torturous for them, because they can not seem to get their acts together.  Lots of whining, bickering, and tattling going on here, and I'm just about ready to start school just to give everyone something productive and reasonable to do.  (I had high hopes of doing a very loose schedule with them this summer, but it just hasn't materialized.  At least not completely, and I don't like to do things halfway, so since I didn't feel committed to it, I just scrapped the idea.  Vacation happened.  Then camp happened.  And here we are.  All unstructured and crabby.  This is why I could never unschool.)

Hold on!  Lest I allow myself to become too downtrodden, I can walk down memory lane with my pictures ad prove to myself that our summer hasn't been a total wash.  (And what a blessing pictures are to a person like me, who remembers nothing!)

Visiting the raptor feeding!

Pa and 'Lita giving the new bike a ride!

My very first "CHEESE!!!"

CAUSE FOR LAUGHING

While there have been some funny moments around here the past month or so (Thomas' attempts to light the alter candles being one!) the funniest story happened a couple weeks ago.  Got all three girls ready and went to noon mass at the tiny, pin-drop-quiet chapel on campus.  Let me set the stage:  We get there with only 2 or 3 minutes until mass time.  There are about 3 other adults there at this time, one of whom is the husband of a friend.  We are sitting there and sitting there, but the priest is late. (I admit, it might've been only a short time, but due to the following story, it felt like a million years.)  As we are waiting, Ailin realizes that both her sisters are wearing their crocs, and she is stuck in her white sandals.  Now, unfortunately, she is just a wee babe of 18 months, and when she says "Croc" (or "truck") it sounds like a horrible F-word that happens to rhyme with "truck."  She notices her lack of crocs, and starts saying, softly at first, "Croc?  Croc?"  Caeley and Meara start "shhhh'ing" her, but this makes it worse and she gets louder.  "CROC!  CROC!"  (But remember, it sounds like, "F***!  F***!")  I am about to die!  I look over and my friends' husband's shoulders are moving up and down and he has his hands in his face.  Caeley and Meara start sputtering and blubbering as they see him trying not to laugh.  Out Ailin and I go, running into the priest in the vestibule.  Moral of the story: It's better to be late for mass, UNLESS you are the priest!

I hope this wasn't too long.  It might be the only update you get for a while....back to life.  Back to reality.

Taking For Granted

Our first morning here, I took a morning runalk (this is a "run-walk" for those that don't know, and is typically what unfit people like me do to try to pretend we are exercising!). I went to the lake near my in-laws' house, which ironically enough is called Drayton Point. It really makes me smile every time I see the sign! I have to tell you, this lake is a naturalist's paradise! If you go early enough, before the real heat of the day sets it, you can catch a glimpse of almost any type of living thing--birds, turtles, bugs, etc. I meant to get a "workout" but I think it was my camera that got the most exercise! It was especially fun for me, given my recent bird obsession, to spot some new or less-common birds that I don't get to see where we are: mockingbirds, thrashers, a swan, and an Eastern Kingbird. (Lex---totally missed you on this one!). As I walked around the lake I thought to myself, "Man, I bet the people who live around this lake really take it for granted!". And my next thought was, "I wonder if when people visit where I live, they think the same thing about the beautiful farms and mountains?". I wonder how much of my "everyday" I take for granted myself? Anyway, before I get all philosophical on you, I'll leave you with pictures from my lake visit.

In My Mind I'm Going To Carolina

If you had asked me yesterday, I might've told you that packing three kids for a week long vacation just seemed too hard. Not only was Baby A a wreck (her nose started pouring today, so I imagine she's coming down with a cold, the knowledge of which doesn't alter history, but at least it affords some explanation...) but her big sisters were overtired and not being their usual helpful selves. Add in an overtired mommy, tons to do, and you get a recipe for disaster. Fast forward half a day, and oh what a difference! Our usual hades-esque drive to NC turned out to be almost flawless. Left at 3am, and made it in exactly 7 hours, including a stop at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Sure, some speed limits might've been broken, but the girls were angels the entire way, and were so so happy to be on vacation. I count this as A's first real trip to the beach, since last year she was only a wee tike. We managed to slip in a quick trip to the beach after nap time, escaping home as the worst storm I've ever been literally IN came crashing down around us. The lightning was so loud it made your heart thump. But not quite as much as seeing the girls on the beach. Why is it that kids look so much cuter in the sand and ocean???!!!!

Trinity Sunday Surprise

I don't usually wear makeup.  In fact, until recently, it has been something reserved only for Christmas, Easter, and maybe the really really special occasion.  But I have started trying to dress up more for church, if only to feel like Sunday is more of a special day.  As I was putting on my face this morning, which of course takes forever because I really don't know what I'm doing, Baby A was hanging out in the bathroom with me.  I was trying to distract her from playing under the sink, which is so tempting because all the bad stuff is under there.  I was finally relieved when she gave up trying and I could finish one eye without 14 interruptions.  Turns out she had found a much more fun diversion....

...blessing herself with toilet water.

Happy Trinity Sunday!

(I guess we have to find a name that rhymes with Rod and Todd now.)