A Bushel & A Peck

Our perfect summer got really hot and humid. But today I woke up and it was cool and breezy and just the right weather to go pick peaches. The kids each got a coupon for 2 lbs. of free peaches so we headed to the local farm. We usually go there in the fall for apples and pumpkins but I've never picked peaches before. I was surprised to find I've never seen a peach tree before either. Most of the peaches were still hard but I found one that was soft and it was delicious. When we pick apples we are able to use an apple picking tool to get those that are out of reach. But not with peaches. Instead I ended up hoisting my children as high as I could get them. Man, they are heavy. Afterwards we had frozen custard. Now what to do with all those peaches? Maybe some jam, homemade peach ice cream, cobbler, pie. . . .We wore Eric out!

Week at the Pope's

I decided to run away from home and of course I ran all the way to my sisters. Sometimes you just need to get away and having taken our family vacation the day school got out (which was a long, long time ago), I felt I needed another one. The kids finished swimming so we really had nothing to keep us home. So Tuesday I drove to Kansas. I'm pretty much doing what I'd do if I were home, but it's nice to have someone to do it with even if it means more KIDS, more NOISE and more MESSES. At least its a change of scenery. Plus, I really like hanging out with my sister.

Here's what you'll find at the Pope's:

*Not a lot of love between Jenna and Allison. The "loving cousins" mode that they used to be in is gone. Taking it's place is the "2 yr. old" mode. A little bit of hitting and pushing and some stubborness. Don't let this picture fool you.*Research-The other night I went to check on Ryan and Ethan and found them still awake. Instead of sleeping they decided to do "research" at 10 pm on the Greek God Zeus and the Great Pyramid. After being bored all day with nothing to do the idea hit them late at night and they went with it. And it wasn't just an excuse. They really did do reports and showed them to us the next morning. Why can't they think of these ideas earlier in the day?*Tan Lines-We've gone to the pool 3 days in a row and are pretty much sunned and pooled out. Eric loves the pool though. He kicks and kicks. We call him our "little motorboat". None of my other kids took to the water like he has at this age.*Texting. I've been having so much trouble with my cell phone lately. Scott took me to pick out a new one with Kate's help of course. She had no problem showing me the phone and color she thought she, I mean, I should have. She's already counting down the days until I upgrade so she can have the phone of her dreams. I keep telling her it's going to be awhile since I just got it. Though the next thing I hear is Scott asking Kate if they want to text each other. Thanks for the encouragement Scott!*Super Saturday. Traci and I "crafted" today. Unfortunately, it took us a couple hours to do a 3 minute craft. But of course we're experts now. (It wasn't this craft)*Potty Talk and a lot of it. We're potty training the girls. Jenna's into it, Allison not so much. She'd just rather show off her underwear. Unfortunately, we're still working on #2 and the not so highlight of my trip was catching some before it hit Traci's floor. YUCK!
*Birthdays-Scott had a birthday and Jenna is ready for hers. She's already got it all planned out even though it's not for a few more months. I told her that my birthday is next and she said while nodding her head, "We can share." The kids thought it was fun to blow out the candles as we lit them. Just as we had them all lit there was someone who couldn't resist.

The End!

Swim team has officially ended. No more early morning practices. No more late night meets and then getting up EARLY for early morning practices. Yes, it's time to sleep! Too bad we only have 3 weeks before we have to start getting up early again.

The kid's swim team had a great season, finishing 2nd out of 9 teams. It's been fun to watch the Kelsey, Kate and Ryan improve their strokes and beat their times over the course of the summer. Kelsey even qualified for the end of the season Conference Meet. She swam 3 events: 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 50 fly. She got a 9th place finish (out of 32) in the fly. She's good! I'm tempted to dig out my old ribbons and see how we compare.

When we weren't cheering Kelsey on, Ryan was visiting the on-site ambulance. Turns out if you throw a stick at a tree it might bounce back at you, or more specific, at your nose. Ryan's nose had a gusher. Luckily it wasn't broken. That went quite nicely with Jason's black eye he's been sporting all week when he got an elbow to his eye playing soccer. Or maybe he just really like the guy liner he wore for the rock party. I hope not!

Tonight was our swim banquet. The kids all got patches and swim caps with Olympic swimmers names on them. But the highlight of the night was the paper plate awards. The coaches bring to light funny things, happenings, sayings, etc. from the season and award the kids for them. Some were "Best Excuse", "Best Pool Deck Sleeper". . .Kate got her 2nd paper plate award. (She got one last year too) This year her award was the "Which is Which?" Since Kate and her best friend Amanda look so much alike with their cap and goggles on they thought it was fun to constantly confuse the coaches who couldn't tell them apart. Who needs an trophy when the kids are just as happy with a paper plate? Coaches Mike, Lindsay, Kim and Chris.

Eric's Growing Pains

Eric is 8 months old today. Guess what he's sporting? 4 new teeth all coming in at the same time. Ouch! That makes 6. Now give me something to chew on. Yeah, Ryan's face will do. It looks like Ryan needs some front teeth too.

I added the Rock Band pictures.

Rock On!

I've joined a rock band. Don't have a name yet though one thrown out there was "Hot Flashes" Not sure about that one. A friend of ours threw a surprise "Rock Band" Birthday Bash for her husband Saturday night. We all dressed up and partied all night long. Okay, we went home at 10:30 but only because I hadn't finished my lesson for Sunday. Otherwise you know I would have lasted at least another 15 minutes.

I'm a little behind the times of what's hot and popular right now. I've heard of Guitar Hero but have never seen or played it. The same with Rock Band. But I'm hear to say it was a lot of fun. I have an intense dislike for video games (my family can never get me to play with them. Okay, I played Mario Kart once and was terrible and found the whole experience hum drum. But Rock Band was different. I felt the thrill and the challenge and am hooked. Now we just need to get the game, the instruments and the system to play it on.

I wasn't quite sure how to dress the part of a rocker though. Luckily, The YM/YW had a service project at a Rummage Sale and I found these boots. It was just what I needed to help inspire me for the rest of my outfit. Jason's outfit all came from his closet. Scary. I painted my nails black, applied black lipstick. I was going to spray paint my hair but I just had my haircut that afternoon and my hairdresser talked me out of it. She was pretty sure the black and red I had planned would not come out of my hair before church the next day. Maybe I'm not so rebellious as I thought. Jason was going for the 80's look but ended up looking more like a member of "Green Day"

The set up includes a guitar, bass guitar, drums and a singer. And of course the big screen.
Brock, Josh (Birthday Boy) and Jason

Erin and I rockin' out on guitar! I'm not sure why my mouth is wide open.
Josh on the drums.
Erin on vocals. The Girl Band-Amy and Kristi

Do You Have To Go Potty?

This is the extent of my vocabulary this week. With only one diaper left it came down to either buying another pack of diapers thus prolonging two in diapers or FINALLY getting Jenna excited about panties? While I've tried potty training before my attempts in the past have fizzled. Diapers are just easier. But Jenna is 2 1/2 and I really didn't want to spend the money on the convenience any longer. We even went to the library and got the Potty Movie. One's life isn't complete without being instructed where your pee pee and poo poo comes out. Not to mention the very catchy tune that I can't seem to stop singing to myself.

"When I was a baby I had a diaper

Round my little tummy; that was that!

Everything was easy when I had a diaper:

Didn't have to do much; that was enough.

Wee-wee went there. Poo-poo went there.

Mommy change the diaper when dirty or wet!

Now that I am bigger: no more diapers;

I've got a potty. Gonna figure it out.
Yes, I'm going to my potty, potty.

Now I'm going to my potty, potty.

Yay, I'm going to my potty, potty now!"

At first Jenna was excited for the treat that awaited her after her trip to the toilet. Then all of a sudden the chocolate chips weren't enough. We had to move to gum or cookies or whatever treat she was in the mood for at the moment. She's pretty good at manipulating the situation in her favor. Every 20-30 minutes I'd take Jenna to the toilet. Soon even the candy was losing it's influence. Jenna was tiring of her trips to the toilet.

This morning Jenna woke up dry and I took her to go potty first thing. She didn't want to go and burst into tears. Not the toilet again. But I held my ground and was rewarded. There's no greater joy than when your child goes to Potty!

Now I can't wait until the day she tells me she has to go. And I'm pretty sure that's going to be a place that either doesn't have a toilet or it'll be way on the other side of the store.

Fireworks Under The Arch

Last night we joined some friends to watch fireworks underneath the St. Louis Arch. It was the last place I ever expected to be. Jason DOESN'T like crowds. You will never see us at the movies on a Friday night. So I was surprised when he actually agreed to brave the traffic and the thousands of people that were going to be there. We almost backed out when we heard the Cardinals were playing the Cubs. Downtown was going to be packed! We had a great time. The weather was perfect-there's been hardly any humidity this summer. We brought a picnic dinner and ate and chatted with friends while waiting for the fireworks to begin-about 3 hours later. In our family picture you can see patches of grass. By the time fireworks started there wasn't a patch of clear space in sight. I thought Jenna might get scared from the noise but she laid down and oohed and aahed with the rest of us. Eric slept through the whole thing. What a good baby. Getting out of the parking garage was a little tricky. It took an hour but once we cleared the garage we made it home in record time.

Now we can add "Remember when we watched fireworks under the Arch?"

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY AMERICA!

My Summer So Far

It's not often that I make it to the movies, maybe once or twice a year. In just the past couple of weeks I've gone 3 times and surprisingly wasn't disappointed. Each one in my opinion, is a MUST SEE.

1. Iron Man: "is an ethical rags-to-riches story in which the morally impoverished Tony Stark finds that true wealth is found in good deeds, not good stock options." (okay, I copied this from a movie review site.)
I really liked this movie. Though if it hadn't been recommended to me from other women I don't know if I would have seen it. The picture on the right doesn't entice me at all. I'm glad I did though. It was clever and funny and I loved the ending. I left the theatre chuckling to myself.

2. Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian- I didn't see the first one and after watching this, I couldn't wait to. We watched the first Narnia tonight. As we're headed to bed Kate says to me, "Sometimes when you watch a movie it changes you, in a way." My sentiments exactly. I'm going to bed definitely pondering these movies.

3. Kitt Kittredge: An American Girl- This movie is not just for girls. It's a clean, feel good, although I almost cried through the entire film, family movie. Ryan was a little nervous about seeing it, he thought he might be the only boy. I think he might have been but the movie is really for everyone. It's about a girl, her family and her community during the Depression.

Also a couple of books I've read that I couldn't put down once I started. You know, the kind that you willingly stay up all night to read.

1. Book Thief by Marcus Zarkus
About a German girl who lives in Germany during WWII, told from the point of view of Death.

2. The Thirteeneth Tale by Diane Setterfield
(Plot introduction from Wikipedia)
Vida Winter, allegedly the most famous novelist in England, and quite possibly the world, has never been forthcoming when it comes to her past. Her entire life is a secret, and for fifty years reporters and biographers have attempted to discover the truth. With her health quickly fading, Ms. Winter hires an unknown, bookish biographer, Margaret Lea, to bear witness to the tragic story of the Angelfield family, their eccentric beginnings as well as their demise. Margaret, who has family secrets of her own, must unravel the mysteries of the past in order to reconcile not only Ms. Winter with her ghosts, but also Margaret with hers.