Day 204 (7/23/11) - Ta Da!!

We bought some delicious cherries at my favorite place, Sprouts. Maelen was quite proud of herself because she was able to tie the stem in a know with her tongue. Good think she is finding her talents and not just wasting her whole summer.

Day 203 (7/22/11) - Environmental Nature Center

We are on the hunt for a good Eagle Project for Jared. Today we went to Newport's Environmental Nature Center. It was awesome! I didn't even know it was there. They had a butterfly house that was amazing. We went on a nature hike after that and enjoyed every minute of it. Unfortunately, there is a waiting list for Eagle projects but at least we got to enjoy the beauty of the center.

Day 202 (7/21/11) - Water Polo, again and again

Oh yes. Here we are again. It is sure fun to watch though. There's something pretty great about watching your kids doing something they love. This time I have the team huddle picture. This coach is Serbian and it is fun to hear him talk.

Day 201 (7/20/11) - Carpet Cleaning

A long time ago, my parents bought a carpet cleaner which they let us use whenever we want. I'm not sure why it is and I am pretty sure this is something not right with me, but I like to see how dirty the water is when I am done. Sick, I know. This time it was particularly dirty...I don't think I cleaned the carpets for the whole three years I was RS President. Ew.

Day 200 (7/19/11) - BTW

By the way....included in my envelope of vinyl (see previous entry) the vinyl lady threw this in for me. I love it!! She put vinyl on a melamine plate bought at Target. Genius. Now I can't wait for Halloween.

Day 199 (7/18/11) - Vinyl

Our ward did this craft in RS, but since I was visiting other wards for ward conferences, I never got to sign up. These were too cute to pass up so I contacted the lovely lady who cut the vinyl and did my own. Love it!

Day 198 (7/17/11) - Harry Potter

Maelen went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter on Thursday/Friday. It took her until Sunday to catch up with her sleep enough to show me the cool 3-D glasses they had at the movie.

Day 197 (7/16/11) - Dinner with the Fam

When I gave blood, I was given a coupon for free skillet queso and Kendall had a coupon for a free kid's meal, so we headed off to Chili's for dinner. Luckily Jared has Maelen to "help" him with his speech techniques while we dine.

Day 196 (7/15/11) - Cereal Bonanza

Just a sampling of the cereals I bought for $1.49 each. I can't pass up a good cereal bargain. Especially with my cereal monsters eating like there is no tomorrow.

Day 195 (7/14/11) - Water Polo, again

Water Polo again. This week against some big Los Amigos boys. Scary. Good news is that Jared scored a goal! Pretty good for being the only kid not on the club team.

Day 194 (7/13/11) - The Biebs

Funny thing about this picture is that Maelen can't stand Justin Bieber. I made her do it so we could take a picture of Matt. He claims to be a big fan, but we are still not sure if he is pulling our legs or not on that one.

Day 193 (7/12/11) - My Humdrum Life

It's about time!! This laundry room was well overdue. I took out the shelf and got behind everything to clean it really well. I was able to throw out a bunch of things that didn't belong. It always feels better to get things clean and organized.

Day 192 (7/11/11) - Pool Party

Bob Whitney, a member of our ward, recently had all his family in town. He invited a bunch of families in the ward, with kids the ages of his grandchildren, to come join in a pool party Family Home Evening. The kids all had a lot of fun together and Bob gave a great lesson. It was a great evening for all of us.

Day 191 (7/10/11) - Who knew?

I saw on one of my cooking blogs that you can put soda into an ice cream make and... voila! Slushees! We just had to try this one. And it actually works!

Day 190 (7/9/11) - Beefsteak Tomato?

I know when I bought my tomato plants that they were labeled "beefsteak". I know this for sure because I was wearing my prescription sunglasses. Yet somehow, this is what I am getting so far. Looks more like a glorified cherry tomato. A little disappointing but I am sure they still taste great.

Day 189 (7/8/11) - Blood Drive

I have a stalker. Well, maybe several. They are the telephone solicitors from the Red Cross. A siren must go off when it is time for me to give blood again and they immediately call to give me the hard sell. They have been doing a drive and Lake Park which sounds sketchy, but I love it because they get you in and out so quickly.

Day 188 (7/7/11) - Jared's Pizza

The tradition for the boys in the ward is to go out for food when one of them is advancing in the priesthood. Poor Jared missed TWO food nights, one of which was for him, because he was sick two different weeks. His scoutmaster knows him well though. He bought him a pizza loaded with different meats just for him to eat all by himself....well maybe one piece was missing, but a being such a good scoutmaster, he deserves something.

Day 187 (7/6/11) - Tomatoes

Another sign of summer - tomato plants. Since the backyard is mostly cement and pool, I plant tomatoes in nursery pots every year so we can have some yummy tomatoes. Nothing is better than homegrown produce.

Day 186 (7/5/11) - Oh What Do You Do In The Summertime?

Just another lazy day in the pool (for Kendall anyway). These boats were the best buy ever at Big Lots. Worth every penny.

Day 185 (7/4/11) - Happy Independence Day!

We enjoyed a nice day today and claimed our independence from chores! We hung out in the pool and later in the day went to Mom and Dad's for a BBQ with the family.

Day 184 (7/3/11) - Funnel Cakes

Every fast Sunday needs a dessert. Enough said.

Day 183 (7/2/11) - Nick Cookies

Our little Nick is going to be serving a mission in Talahassee, Florida. Today we had the opportunity to go to the temple with him - his first time. Afterwards, Vicki had everyone over for lunch. I made these cookies in a cookie mold. After I was done, I realized this was a bad idea. A cookie cutter was much easier. Anyway, we had fun decorating them and Maelen decorated one to look just like Nick.

Day 182 (7/1/11) - Flag Stealers

Every year, without fail, a real estate agent will stick a plastic flag in the front yard of all homes in our neighborhood. Not a big deal, but we love the sentiment. Well, also every year, without fail, the girl next door steals ours and many others. This year Maelen actually caught her in the act. The funny thing is, they don't hide it, they actually put them all in their own yard! Cheeky, I know. Maelen was really irate this year and decided to go out late and make it right. When she went out, the flags were gone! The next morning we found all of them and more at a neighbor's house around the corner. But did that stop Maelen? No. She went that night and put them all back where they belonged.

Day 181 (6/30/11) - Fourth of July Show Set-up

Every year I take pity on my poor friend, Susie, who holds way too many callings. She is in the RS Presidency in our ward, involved in girl's camp and just when she returns from girl's camp every year, has to decorate for the Fourth of July show because she is on Stake Activities. For the past few years, I have gone and helped her set-up. Since they do the same thing every year, we have it down to a science.

Day 180 (6/29/11) Tree Hugger

Oh how I wish this picture would have turned out better, but I can't complain when we are driving down the street and I shove the camera at Maelen demanding she take a picture. Not sure what was going on here, but this guy was literally hugging this tree and talking to it ever so gently. I have never seen anything quite like it. It just really needed to be captured on film.

Day 179 (6/28/11) - Jam

My bestie, Kristen, gave me the most amazing jam recipe EVER! This is raspberry peach jam. The trick her in good old HB is to find a good price for raspberries. When that comes along, it is usually an inconvenient time to spend a day making jam but I am willing to make that sacrifice! Turned out this week Sprouts, the most amazing store ever, had raspberries for $.99 and peaches for $.88/lb. Yum.

Day 178 (6/27/11) Oh...P.S.

Oh yea.... with the fabric left over from the rag blankie, I made Adie a mini size for her dolly. Hope she likes it!

Day 177 (6/26/11) - Kiffy's Birthday

I LOVE these babies! I just can't get enough of them. They never cease to entertain us even though our family gatherings could be a little overwhelming.

Simone and Graham loved the bubbles. Simone was desperately trying to do it herself, but couldn't get past just the opening her mouth part.

Here's the birthday boy letting Simone play with the cake. I can't believe Kiffy is 30! I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday.

Day 176 (6/25/11) - Rag Blankie

So a little birdie told me that a certain newborn baby "needed" a rag quilt so she could be like her big brother and big sister. Here is baby Charlotte's rag quilt. Probably not really necessary for summer in New York, but she can wait and use it in the winter.

Day 175 (6/24/11) - Sun!

This summer has already been quite a bit warmer than last. I don't believe we saw the sun much at all last summer. This pool has been put to good use in the short time we have lived here. Glad the sun is finally here so we can enjoy it!

Day 174 (6/23/11) - Water Polo

Jared is one who is always passionate about some past time. Right now he is really interested in Water Polo. This was his first week of water polo camp for Huntington Beach High School. During the summer, they play in a league at Costa Mesa High School. This week, he came down with a pretty nasty cold and sore throat and had to sit out a few days of practice. He played anyway and really enjoyed it. How these kids have the strength, energy and stamina to play this sport, I will never know.

Day 173 (6/22/11) - Piercing Day

For the longest time, Kendall had no interest in getting her ears pierced which was fine with me after all we went through with Maelen's ears. Just recently she decided that she would get brave and do it. Maelen went along for moral support. We headed off to Claire's at the mall and she handled it like a pro. She can't wait to get the studs out and start wearing regular earrings.