Crazy squirrels...

So, I get it, it's nut hunting season and the squirrels have, well, gone nuts, but come on. Don't cross the road UNDER my tires dude, all that work gathering nuts, gone to waste!

I am a mile and a half off the main road. It's takes a few minutes to get up there. How many squirrels can I kill along the way? Apparently the three that were dumb enough to run under my tires...

Enough already. I was tempted to turn around and go home after all the carnage, but seriously, it was safer on the main road, away from the squirrels.....

Observations of the day, a parents perpsective!

Want a glimpse?

DS #1 (16) when I asked him to log in to his email so I could check his activity he looked at me and asked if I was going to yell or speak calmly about what I would find. Um, guilty? Nothing bad, but he had broken a couple of limitation rules (which I already knew about from parental control reports, but...). Yep, we talked calmly and then I blocked his access for the rest of the week. No pouting, no fussing. Admitted guilt and accepted punishment...something is going right!

DS #2 (9) is up in his bed singing songs from the 70's and 80's (lots of Jackson 5). Why he isn't sleeping is beyond me, he's been tucked in for two hours and the house has been quiet for just as long. On the other hand I love listening to him...

DS #3 (7) On the ride home from school: "Mom, I will love you forever if you buy me a milkshake!" You know what, I did buy milkshakes and I do think that he will love me forever!

DS #4 (7) After consuming the milkshake prompted by his brother proceeds to look at me as we get out of the car and says, "Don't watch me, I have to throw up! I'm going behind the tree!" and he did, go behind the tree that is, where he proceeded to hurl multiple times. Lovely. Fortunately he was OUT of my van! Fast forward to bedtime...he brings me a note (he loves to write notes) "Dear Mom, sorry I threw up my milkshake. It was good." Um, which part, the milkshake or the hurling???

DS #5 (7) While running through the house DS falls, emits a high pitched scream followed by a wail. DS #3 calls out, "It's okay Mom, there's NO blood!" Alrighty then. I walk over to the injured one, "DS #5, are you okay?" "Yup, see, there's NO blood!" Perfect!

Flower mosaic

This is my first attempt at a mosaic. I {love} flowers and I really wanted to capture the beauty of them!

Summer Harvest!

It's a wonderful thing living in a farming community. I feel richly blessed in a way that the average city or even suburb dweller can't compare. I live in an area surrounded by farms, traditional, organic, Mennonite, Amish, and I am able to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables year round.

That said, I do miss out on things like regular exposure to the theater and amazing restaurants, but seriously, as I wipe the fresh tomato juice off my chin I think I'll live, for now, and relish (pun intended) the bounty that surrounds me.

Thursdays are magical days here. Our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box arrives. For about $29 a week, we get a box of seasonal fruits ad veggies plus a dozen eggs. Sometimes we get a stewing or a roasting chicken as well. We've been doing this for three years and I am amazed at the transformation of myself and my children. We always ate veggies, but not like this.

This week included white eggplants, two quarts of cherry tomatoes, a quart of ugly (seriously, they are ugly, but they are the BEST in flavor) tomatoes, a generous allotment of cucumbers, okra (um, yeah, not my favorite...) a sweet baby watermelon, and a dozen cage free eggs. Oh, and the best part of the week was the extra box of cukes for any subscriber to help themselves too. Oh my, it you have not eaten a freshly picked cuke you have not lived. Seriously. There is NO comparison to the cukes you find in a grocery.

Today's lunch consisted of and ugly tomato and a cuke, sliced up, tossed in Kosher Sae Salt and a slice of Havarti cheese tossed in for good measure. YUM! I just had some more for my afternoon snack...heaven, pure heaven.

Tomorrow is the Farmer's Market. I'll go and bring home the most amazing array of delights! On my list: peaches from the T. Farm (like no other peaches I have ever eaten), corn on the cob, watermelon, cantaloupes, plums, a couple of jars of local jam, a jar of local honey, peppers, more cukes, potatoes, bread and scones from the Organic baking lady, etc. Sigh.....who needs chocolate when you have tomatoes and sea salt?

Oh, just in case your interesting in finding great locally grown produce near you, you can check out this site: Remember good eating is just a click away! What are YOU hungry for?

Remember Me??

Yeah, I have been a bloggin' slacker. Guilty.

So, let's see... DS #1 has turned 16! YIKES! Let's leave it at that. DS #2 has glasses for reading. Poor thing, a genetic nightmare from two parents with poor eyesight. He never had a chance! DS #3-5 will be seven years old in just.three.weeks!
DH has a new job, well, same building, desk, etc. just working on a new program, but it came with a cool nice sized raise, happy about that! Me? Well, enjoying the slower pace of the summer. LOVIN' the neighborhood pool!

I've been looking at beach houses to rent for our annual trip to the Outer Banks! I found the best house! Three master bedrooms, king sized, with outstanding bathrooms. All with jetted tubs! FUN! Oceanfront again! My brother and his family, my parents, and my SIL's mom will be joining us again. This is our annual trip and I am so looking forward to going!

I got new bedding for my bedroom. A duvet cover that is black with a white vine pattern that reverses to a white with black vine pattern. For sheets I got a soft blue. Very crisp together. Haven't decided if i want blue on the walls. I am thinking not, that way I could change the sheets and easily transform the bedroom... I am thinking about red.... possibly a limey green....or, how about a soft, buttery yellow? The possibilities!

A blank canvas...

So, we've been in the "new" house for two years now. I haven't decorated out master bedroom. All the furniture and bedding we have came with us, which is fine, I like it, but I am feeling like starting fresh. The room is a blank canvas...literally. The walls are white. Ok, the trim and the doors are some horrible shade of, well, not sure what to call it exactly....maybe coffee with a bunch of cream added? Anyway, that's what I have to work with. The walls can be painted anything and the doors are the old bifold style so they are coming down anyway, so they'll be a lovely crisp white. As for the trimwork, yeah, it's gonna change!

So, what do I do? What colors shall I use? I am far more adventurous than DH. He's fairly boring really (in this sense anyway!). I could go a bit with with black and white toile and add brightly colored sheets in blue and be thrilled. Or a red and white checkered quilt with crisp white linens and billowy curtains. I like cottage style, vintage looks, even chenille. Not crazy about modern styles or bed in a bag theories...

Any ideas? Any color schemes?

Tonight I Wanna Cry...

So, have you heard this song? It's by Keith Urban. Sad, haunting at times, wistful, and so very appropriate for me right now. You know those days, weeks, where you simply feel more and more overwhelmed, where everything is compounding and there doesn't seem to be any relief in sight and crying might be your best bet? Yup, that's where I am. I'm fine, just passing through, but that's where I am...