Update & Projects

I can't believe another week is almost finished.  Four weeks from tonight we will be meeting our new teachers!  I'm so sad about school starting up again - it's been such a short summer!

I wanted to update everyone on the projects;   School Pictures - are up!  I've not taken pictures of them yet but will show that off soon.

Rachel's Garden...  while suffering the heat of Texas summers and Bad Bunnies, the garden seems to be holding it's own!  The periwinkles, saliva's zinnias are doing super - the  poor cone flower that didn't look like it was going to make it -  then rebounded has succumbed to the whims of the bad bunnies......  (Rachel 12 -Bunnies 7) 

Cookbook project... well I've attached pictures of the cookbook/paper mess I've held onto for years - some recipes I've had for 20+ years on a small pieces of paper - most of the time knowing where they are - and sometimes losing them for short periods of time.  I've typed 25 recipes into the computer now - and they are saved.  One step closer to an official Tammy's recipe book, and eliminating the stacks of papers and books.  Over the years I've held onto magazines and books for one or two recipes so I'm  letting all the extra stuff go!  YEA!  So far I've let go of three recipe books and this huge stack of magazines and papers!  Maybe I'll make room for a new cookbook or two!   :) 

Rachel's class made whole wheat pasta today - and vegan brownies... everything was really good!  She wants to start cooking right away so maybe this weekend we will start.  :) 

We are going to a local peach orchard - I've checked and they will have more peaches ready by next weekend and I think I'm going to try my hand at some canning and of course the children love making jams and giving as gifts.  :)  I'll keep you posted!  :) 

Legos of Love

I had to show you the picture of Anikan  Skywalker and  his star trooper ship  for ya'll to see.  

(I was told he made it just for me because he will love me forever)    

Ahhh a Mother is a very blessed person.  :)

Hot Monday

It was a breezy 103 today!  They say it's going to be cooler tomorrow - only 102 degrees!  It's 10:30pm and 92  degrees ... ugh.  It won't really cool down here till sometime in October.  I love these sunset pictures... but Hubby was driving so relax; I wasn't taking pictures while driving down the road. 

Rachel had a wonderful time today at a cooking camp.  They made so many things on the first day I don't know what they are going to make the rest of the week!  They did a savory stuffed sweet potato, a dressing for a salad, an apple oatmeal muffin, a blueberry turnover and a  little

sandwich.  :)  

Patrick and I had an unexpected surprise with Aunt Jenny and Abraham came by for a quick visit.  Jenny &  I are going to work on Christmas cards next month so we picked out the stamp set and I'll order paper on Friday!  We had a nice visit and  lunch at a little local Mexican place.  I wish I had my camera - the food is always good.  Patrick had a blast with AJ.   And AJ has a very nice voice - he was singing along with the music in the restaurant.  :) 

Hurricane/Tropical Storm Dolly brought so much rain to the South of Texas  -a 10 hour drive from here and  yet the other day all we received was a bit of shade... the clouds were so low it looked like rain or low enough to touch and  yet they just blew on by.... So, here's to breezy shady days... 

Quiet summer days...(last Friday)

Nothing new to report - all is pretty quiet and really nice.   The children are doing super.  We finished our official piano lessons on Wednesday for the year.  But, since  we missed so many of them in June they give us make up days - and while I don't really care to  drive  to the music school on Saturday afternoon - it will keep them 'going' until new years lessons start the last week of August.  Patrick begins guitar lessons and Rachel has piano and is beginning Theory -at  her teacher's  suggestion and we're going to give it a try. All I remember about piano lessons when I was in sixth or seventh grade was misery - my piano teacher was an amazing lady but to a girl who didn't really care to practice I'm sure I was her nightmare.   As a matter of fact she asked me to not return..... to my relief.   Rachel on the other hand has been playing the piano every day for the last 3 years - now most of  it is made up songs or  her lesson songs from memory but she loves to play.  And when I sit down with her she does a very nice job.  This is one of those moments where she might be living out a dream of mine.  I could sit and listen to piano music all day - and would love to be able to play but never put that time or energy into it  that Rachel does  every day with no effort at all. 

The days are blending together but today is Friday and that means a new episode of  Dr. Who   :)  Rachel had a friend over for a play date today ! They had fun - painting aprons and cooking.  We made ham & cheese  sandwiches - where you roll them up in that yummy flaky dough (from

 a can) and then some fruit kabobs and don't forget the Princess Petal Punch ( blue Gatorade, fruit flavored soda water and some fresh mint) mmm. It was pretty good!  They loved the baking and assembling.  :)   I forgot dessert - we took marshmallows  - dipped them in white chocolate and sprinkles! mmmm needless to say - we only had two each of those! Whew - very rich!   It was all very 'girly'.   

Daily dose of Cuteness..... and Dog Days of Summer

Hide and Seek;  Lucy is always trying to get away from the 8 month old puppy


A game of Tug of War with the stuffed bunny carcass 


Saturday  Bath or Play Toy



Just some pictures of our furry girls today -   :)   I love taking them outside - especially Goldie and especially when the sprinklers are running .  She thinks they were specifically put in for her and she loves running through them.  :)  

Goldie is either in  Time Out or Lucy won't play with her.    She's a bit down and out here.

End of another day - with a curl up on the couch..... see? It's like I said I can't move or sit without these furry girls being on or near me!   

TV woes

:)   I say woes - but really we are fine - we have other tv's - it's just one those  inconvenient happenings when the main TV goes out.  

I walked out yesterday morning and went to turn the TV on and  it didn't even  click - no response! We are TV  watching people. I enjoy watching the local news and seeing what's going on around town and I love watching the Food Network.  But this weekend was a bit special - we (children and I) are watching the series finale of The Avatar - a Nickelodien  cartoon that's been on for years and the Avatar was following his destiny at battling the Firelord King.  So.... wh

at's a momma to do ?  I brought in the TV from  the downstairs  guest room; PawPaw's room.  Now this TV is our Den TV till changes are made... I always thought it was a pretty cool TV - it was my very first that I purchased in 1982! I never realized how small it was! And our TV in the bedroom  is Hubby's first tv he purchased from  1984! Needless to say we are all impressed with the older tv's. 

Update on Rachel's garden,,,,,,   not doing as well as  we'd like but it's just so hot and Silly Wabbits like the flowers.  :)  I'll add another picture soon. 

One other project I want to do is a Family Recipe book.  Just want to get 'that' out there too!  

One of my sister's asked for one ages ago and I started on it and let it slide. Now another sister is married and I'd like to try again.  I'm very good at letting things slide but really want

 to focus on Follow Thru from now on.

I did go back and purchase some more frames from the store that had them on sale AND I've already put the pictures in them - I'll hang them on  Tuesday!   I was so surprised and happy I purchased 7 frames and it came to $53!   Not bad  :) 

Have a great week!   As you can see I need to go and take 'someone' outside.  I cannot do anything lately without Goldie being attached to me! 

Toothfairy, Toothfairy, who has the tooth?

We recently had a date night and while we were out the girl child lost a tooth; one of the last of her baby teeth.  

Before  going to bed,  I could not find her tooth anywhere... then for some reason I went downstairs and totally forgot about it that night. Hubby and I had been 'talking' and I went downstairs  and just forgot about the  the tooth fairy.  

I went right to sleep with out a second thought... (shame on the momma)     

At 6:00 A.M the following morning my daughter came running in with a sad exclamation that the Tooth Fairy had forgotten her! Oh bad Momma - I got up immediately instructing 'the Daddy' to keep her talking while I raced to my 'stash' of cool money and raced upstairs under some other pretense.  She followed me pretty much after 10 seconds of conversation with  her daddy.   Once again I swiped under her pillow and no tooth, vowing to find it later -I promptly hid the TWO Susan B. Anthony Dollar coins under  her pillow and slipped to Patrick's room via the bathroom between their rooms...  breathe - oh yes - I had forgotten to do that because she was so close on my heels.  As I  took a deep breath from running from my closet upstairs to her room - I heard her squeal of glee at the two unique coins.  :)    Whew....  now to find that tooth....    :) 

Bad Bunnies.....

If you live in our neighborhood, you know there are a million bunnies.... most of the time they are so cute and thoughts of Peter Rabbit come to mind as they hop from yard to yard.. but when planting a garden of course... bunnies are not your friend... 

Here's the latest likes of the bunnies - Sweet Potato Vines are a favorite and the pink flower of some sort - it was almost a foot tall day before yesterday!  :(  

Rachel isn't understanding why something would take away from her garden.  Little life lessons everywhere.   We'll look at some new plants that bunnies do not like -  like marigolds or periwinkles.  :)   

I'll keep you posted.. with a weekly update on her garden  :)   Have a great week!

Quiet Sunday....

No news to report today - it was very quiet.....  we did have breakfast with H&G (Honey and Grandad) at the favorite place... La Madeline's.   I usually have a muffin and coffee but today I splurged on the Cinnamon French Toast.  See I told you it was delicious... I chose the boysenberry syrup... 

The children and I  took naps,  practiced piano and loads of laundry...a very quiet day. 

The flowers are doing well- everything is s till blooming but the zinnia today was looking a bit droopy but it still had new blooms on it. :)  I don't think this is a good picture but the cone flower is making a recovery... see the new flowers opening up?   Rachel and I are enjoying her garden.   Have a super week!

Projects Continued :)

Ok - since  I've finished one.... (Rachel's garden)  I've moved on to another project!

You  know how we get pictures of our children every year from school? - For some reason; as much as I love taking pictures I've not felt like hanging pictures  on the wall - trouble picking out frames, where to hang them - pick an excuse - it also doesn't help that my other half suggests that we should sell the house and move....  :)   so I'm going to go  ahead and put nails in the walls and hang pictures!   If we do move - I've been taught by the best how to patch holes!

So.... I found some frames I like and am starting with Preschool pictures and this weekend! 

I've also begun a new book - the next for the bookclub, Love in the Time of Cholera

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  

I promise to do some stamping this weekend too!  :)  

Have a super rest of the weekend! 

Whew.... busy couple of days

Thursday - Rachel and I didn't walk or ride bikes, we worked in her garden and goodness - I was totally soaked after a hard 30 minutes but.... we finished her garden!  it's lovely and she's enjoying watering it a couple of times a day.  I've tried to explain that planting in July means some of the flowers may not make it but she came in today so excited that another flower had opened up!  She loves her Garden Fairies that Grammy gave her..  :)  They are so sweet.  We did have one hopeless cause that seems to be holding it's own.  It's a pretty purple cone flower.  The man at the local hardware/garden center  had it in their trash cart, I asked, awkwardly if we could have it since it was in the trash and he said it wasn't their policy but he would be working,,, 'over there for a few minutes'..... wink wink....  it took me about 10 seconds to realize what he was saying.  (way out of my comfort zone ~   I walked  over to their trash cart and picked up the tall cone flower and put it in our buggy and started to leave.  So far so good... then Rachel says nice and loud, "Mom we have to pay for the flowers or it's stealing!"....   hmmm....  

Patrick had a super time at golf camp - oh and on Thursday Rachel and I had a nice breakfast at one of our favorite places; La Madeline's it's  like a French Bistro of sorts.    Yummy breads, pastries, their fruits are wonderful, soups,  salads great, Cinnamon French Toast is to die for  but this special morning had  muffins and hot tea - it was fun - the big surprise for Rachel was  Daddy finished his meeting early and was able to show up too. 

Today (Friday) we went to a local water park with some friends..... whew!  I was completely wore out at the end of the day.  My friend had a meeting to go to so I took all four children to the park and my friend met us about 2 hours later!  Oh my.  I was so glad to see her when she showed up!  Keeping track of four children at such a place made me a nervous wreck.  I got the one picture of the four of them and they pretty much wanted to all  run different directions! We were there five hours!

Oh -and I finished the book!! (not at the water park - I'm not at that place yet)   :) 

Wednesday

It was so hot today - I don't think it was any different than any other day - it was supposed to be about 95 today - but for some reason it seemed warmer.  Maybe the humidity was up - b/c I was dripping sweat all day today and just wiped out. 

Last night we had the most wonderful rain - it was steady and strong - for almost four hours - and right now we are also receiving a nice rain - I don't think it will last as long as last nights but it is so nice.   Of course you don't see rain like you do in Mississippi - we had rains there that used to last for days.....   maybe that's where  I developed my love for rain showers and thunderstorms.  Remember the big porch at Twin Lakes and the storms that would roll in  while there?  :)  Oops - the current rain storm is gone... I knew it.       

Rachel and I did our walking at the track this morning  and we added one more lap, to her dislike.  She likes  sweating less than me.   lol   We did not work in the garden  today - everything  was so wet from  last nights rain that I just didn't feel like planting  in the mud. 

Oh - we also had a wonderful time at our local bookstore - they are having a sale - 40% off and if you brought in a receipt from one of our neighborhood stores .... an extra 10% off - woohoo.  I  didn't have a receipt but the children and I each picked out a new book.  I found the 3rd in a series that I started reading with a book club in the neighborhood and am hooked...  I'm embarrassed to say - with a vampire love story!  I'm also reading  Beowulf - and  while it's a bit slower I've sworn to read the book before seeing the movie they put out last year starring Anthony Hopkins.   I like the books better but it's fun to see them translated into film. 

One picture today... it's  the morning after our rain - everything is greener and I love sun rises! 

Projects Continued

Just a quick update,  day 2 - and Rachel and I rode bikes this morning... no pictures -it takes two hands to ride and Rachel is a Speed Racer.  We rode a couple of miles - I feel like we could have rode all day - it was wonderful.  I used  to ride a lot in my young single days - the most I ever rode was 82 miles but I did it allot.  There is a ride in Texas - well - there are rides all over Texas - they typically coincide with festivals of some sort = In Tyler there's an  Azalea  Festival, Gainsville has a an Oktoberfest - (that one is yummy too), there's one in Frost, TX, Italy, TX - I used to do all these rides but the biggest by far is the Hotter N Hell Bike Ride in Wichita Falls, Texas AND it takes place in August - (ugh) the heat is miserable.  People from all over the world come to be apart of that ride. The last ride I did there.. was in the late  80's and I was  doing the 82 mile leg of the ride - I did the first 40 miles in 2 hours (yea!  I was riding with the wind)  The 2nd half of the ride took me 4+ hours....   I had to stop b/c of the heat and then I was against  the wind all the way back to the finish - I did finish .... never went that far again but today with the wind in my face and pedaling to keep up with Rachel - for that moment it  was wonderful.  Of course when you get to the corner you have to make sure your 7 year old is looking both ways  and signaling and  teaching the next generation about the absolute coolness of riding bikes.    

After our ride we worked in Rachel's Garden - Very successful - more weeding and cleaning and then the fun stuff began..  :)    She's pretty proud and we are  working on placement of the plants.  

A very  good day...  and I had some yummy tomatoes for lunch! 

Promised Projects...

Part of me doesn't want to say them out loud or show them to anyone because there will be accountability but.... at the same time, I'd like to accomplish some things this summer and think this might be a good way to share and be held accountable.   I'll keep you posted...

 

#1 - Rachel wants a garden.  I didn't plant my vegetables this year and while July isn't the best time to plant in Texas we are moving forward with it.  Being a 'good' mother I want my daughter to appreciate what it takes to make a good garden so I give her garden gloves and the smaller of the rakes and hoeing tools and we begin to clean out the garden.  It's small for gardens out there in the world; just 4x8' but the right size for us right now. 

 

So before pictures and after 15 minutes... needless to say after five minutes of hoeing

 I heard my name being called, "Momma, I don't think I want a garden"  She thought we  would just go and buy the flowers and  plant them.... So she's learned a new word today; prepare  or make ready the flower bed before we put our new plants!  I wanted to do it while the bed  was in the shade - knowing full well if it were sunny and 95 - I would have lost in her in 3 minutes.  

I was walking around the yard making note of all sprinkler heads - we want to put a patio in and need to understand the placement and moving over everything to make it happen. 

#2 A little bit of exercise every day... so after we dropped Patrick off at golf camp, breakfast

 with Daddy - Rachel and I went up to a local middle school and walked around the track a couple of times.  Rachel wanted me to run it....  Yea,,, not there yet - walking is good for me right now.  

#3  My mother recently lost 10 pounds and so she challenged to me lose some with her - so we are shooting for 10 pounds in the next month and a half - hence the little bit of  exercise every day.  It's a good thing... 

#4 More fresh foods and less fast foods.....  I went to our new local farmers market and purchased all this for only $25  ( I think it was a good deal) corn on the cob, new potatoes, onions, green and yellow peppers, green onions, peaches, plums, tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe and some fresh made pasta by a local couple that sell to a couple of the 4 & 5 star restaurants that are nearby and a yummy dill cucumber dressing I love.  

Have a super week!    I'll keep you posted....  

Notes between Daddy and Daughter

Rachel is always writing us notes on this cool  toy - and they are random and constant at the same time - but always  precious - I wanted to get this one down -b/c she brought it to me and wanted me to take a picture of it so she could keep it....... do you see why?..... Her daddy wrote a note back to her...   I love the little things that make life so precious -not just that her daddy wrote her back but she wanted  to keep it by me taking a picture of it.... she's always thinking.  

The Wedding Book - rough draft #1

It is my first attempt  at taking wedding pictures all by myself and the Apple people make it so easy to put a book together.   I hope you all enjoy it!  There are some pictures that will need to be cropped differently but I wanted something to show everyone right away!

I'm pretty proud!   

Love you B! 

It's so hard to do housework..........

I wanted you to see why it's hard for me to get any house work done....   :) 

Their names are Lucy  & Goldie (our rescue puppies) I say puppies but Lucy is three years old and Goldie is now 8 months old and 50+ pounds! She is a Golden/collie mix and Lucy is our Golden/Aussie mix and our lap dog.   Super dogs. 

They follow me around and are consistantly bumping into me or Goldie has actually knocked me down before as I was bending over in the pantry.  When I sit down to fold clothes - the next thing I know I've got Lucy on my right and Goldie trying to 'help' me fold clothes by taking them or trying to roll in the basket or some silly thing. Oh - and the slobbery toys that are dropped in my lap are non stop - yuck.  :) 

In the picture - I had just unloaded the dishwasher and was  trying to put more in when .... they decided to take a rest  right in front of the sink and between me and the dishwasher....  

We have a routine most every night; after hubby and I watch a bit of TV (after kiddos are put to bed) I come downstairs to take care of furry children.  The furry girls get one last time outside for 'business' and chase June bugs then I sit down and work with pictures, email or blog and that is  when Goldie sits very close to me most of the time with her head on my lap - she is such a sweet dog.  I am  in total dismay of  how many animals out there need to be rescued and that I cannot do more.  I wish we could adopt more but two is our limit.  

signing off,   

Pack Leader.....