Farmers

These two love to go out harvesting in our front yard. Yes, our neighbors hate us.

Remind me to hide the gigantic scissors that look like a decapitator.  Hattie said they don't work very well anyway, she prefers the smaller ones.

JOY!

Can you tell she loves the new dress-up clothes she got in a hand-me-down bag of clothes? 

Endless hours of fun!

It would be no fun to watch tv without a trampoline.

Aunt Kristi Strikes Again

It has become tradition that Aunt Kristi takes my girls to get their ears pierced.  Since Hattie was able to give her her "tall maker" boots, Aunt Kristi took her to get them done.

 Crazy excited, seriously, she looks dangerous.

 The machine actually got stuck on her second ear.  Hattie didn't panic too much, but asked it the lady did it wrong and said it was starting to hurt.

No tears, and beautiful ears. 

A Native American Shelter

This was such a cute home Emogene made in her Social Studies class.  I cannot remember which tribe used them, but Emogene did a fantastic job making it.

Emogene's Fourth Grade Projects

 Emogene had to make a diorama for her English teacher.  She chose a scene from "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler."   I really enjoyed reading the book and so did Emogene.  We also really enjoyed working on her project.  I love that special time I have with her.  Thanks Mrs. Sandifer for chosing such a great book.

 For her Social Studies teacher, we had to make a project about Alaska.  She had to come up with 15 facts about it, write a report, and present it to the class.  She chose a pizza box to hold her information for her display.  It turned out really cute.  Did you know that Alaska residents consume more ice cream annually than any other state?  That was surprising.  Emogene gave out ice cream to her classmates, and helped them make an Alaskan flag using glow in the dark stars.  Her teacher said she was awesome!  Thanks Mrs. Kienzle for the fun project.

This was actually her first project this year.  She had to come up with things we eat for each part of a plant.  She also included recipes.  She did a great job.

Kali's Gift

Hattie made a "Best Friends" book for Kali for her birthday.  I LOVE IT!  Kali did too.

She Has It Easy

Do you know how many mothers have attempted this look for a Pippy Longstocking costume?  Lydda can do it without any wires.  I still don't understand why she wouldn't go to school like that.  It would have been AWESOME!  I had to redo it so she didn't look crazy :(. 

My Waver

I am missing this little screamer everytime I pass by Walmart.  She screams, "ROLL DOWN THE WINDOW!  I HAVE TO WAVE AT WALMART!"  We have all told her that Walmart can see her wave through the window, but it is very hard to convince her she is wrong.  She will be back with me soon.

Quessadilla Omelet and Pancake Maker

I saw a lady post about using a Quessadilla maker to make pancakes and omelets and I was intrigued.  I was on the search for one.  After a month of searching, I found out my mom had one, go figure.  Well, I LOVE it!

I had lots of pictures of the process, but my computer didn't cooperate, so these will have to do and you can visualize it.

First I plugged in the machine and then assembled my ingredients.  You want to make sure you have everything laid out in advance.  We used spinach, tomatoes, and feta cheese in our omelet.  I scrambled THREE EGGS, not four, not five, but THREE EGGS  in a cup.  Salt and pepper them in the cup if you wish.  I sprayed the quessadilla maker with non-stick spray.  I then poured the eggs into the maker.  I QUICKLY (reason to have everything ready) threw the toppings on top.  I closed the lid and waited about 30 seconds.  If they aren't done, recheck in 30 more seconds.

 Then, VOILA!  You have delicious eggs for breakfast, brunch, lunch, lupper, or supper. 

 You can present them in the cute triangles the quessadilla maker makes for you and add some bacon on the side.  They were scrumptious.  Now if you use more than THREE EGGS, you will have a huge mess as the extra eggs will come pouring out the front of the machine onto the floor.  Learn from my mistakes and only use THREE.

I made banana pancakes next.  I like to mash my bananas to smithereens before stirring them into the batter.  I bought the Walmart brand, but after making them at my sister's house with her pricey superior Hungry Jack mix, I will never go back to the Walmart brand.  They are lieing when they say they are extra fluffy.  Shame on you Great Value!  The pancakes do not take long to cook either, so keep your eye on them.  The kids love the little triangle pancakes.  We used blueberry syrup on top.  YUMMO!

Our Vacation

We rarely ever go on a real vacation, but this summer we felt like we had a genuine real family vacation.  We went to see my sister.  We all had such a great time visiting, playing nerts, swimming, and shopping.

 We played nerts for HOURS on the Fourth of July.  Our cousins came over to join in on the fun.  Eric was messing with Kristi by saying he was going to be her nerts partner.  They sometimes butt heads a little, but it is almost always funny when it happens.  If you have never played nerts, you are missing out.  It is soooo much fun.  You'll need lots of different looking decks to play.  Google it!

 The pool was AWESOME!  They have a membership to 13 pools in the area.  I enjoyed the lazy river.  The big kids enjoyed the huge slide.  Lydda loved the walk in pool (beach like).  None of the water is too deep.  Hattie and Emersyn could touch everywhere.  The huge slide was a big disappointment for Hattie.  They had charged us for her being 48 inches tall.  She was only 5 days from being an 8 year old.  I watched her "big girl" self carry/roll the huge floatie all the way to the top of the slide.  I then waited a the bottom to see her joy. but instead I looked up and watched her walk pitifully down the stairs and then to a bench where she told Emogene through her quiet tears that they wouldn't let her slide.  They wouldn't let her go because she was one inch too short.  Aunt Kristi stomped her up to the entry desk, and after all her pleading and declaring her swimming expertise, they still wouldn't let her on the slide.  Aunt Kristi demanded our $2 back that they charged for her extra entry to get to ride the slide.  I love that my Hattie is small and gives me extra cuddle years, but my heart was aching and I was crying for her that day.

 This little water baby was having such a great time.  In the deepest part of the pool, she demanded I put her down.  "I CAN DO IT!"  I was unsuccessful in convincing her that she could not touch.  Showing her was the easiest way.  I had her convinced when I pulled her back up. Hee hee.

 This was one of the three forts the kids built while we were visiting.  It kept Lydda, Hattie, and Emersyn pretty busy while we played nerts.  Entering the house, getting to the kitchen, washing clothes, and going upstairs became a challenge as they kept renovating, but they had fun so it was worth it.

 Eric and Uncle Joel had to throw some torturing into the day.  They took them to the park while Kristi and I went shopping.  They told the kids the last one holding up their arms would get to have ice cream.  Emersyn, Hattie, and Keagan were the first ones out.  Hattie then got wind that they would all get to have the ice cream, so she ran up and knocked down Hudson and Emogene's arms.  She then said, "Now lets go get ice cream." 

 Our shopping trips were a success.  Kristi is collecting items for my sister Brittany's  new house.  I found one thing for me, but we had to bring all of it home with us.  Two chandeliers, two mirrors, and a my awesome hanging organizer were crammed into the van.  We couldn't even find Emogene the whole way home.

These little darlings got extra time together.  We went back home without Lydda. She is still having the best time with Aunt Krist and Miss Joel (heehee).  We love Miss Joel's new name.  I think he has gotten her to call him Uncle Miss Joel for now. 

Our vacation was a blast!  We can't wait to visit again.

Bunny Protection

I think I figured out why Hattie wanted this rabbit at the garage sale, garden security.  It is dutifully keeping watch over her tomato plant.