Swimming Lessons

On Friday, we wrapped up two weeks of swim lessons.  I felt really sorry for those kids.  We had crazy cool day time temperatures with cloudy skies (very little rain though) and even cooler night time temperatures.  A few nights in the low 50s can change pool water from refreshing to freezing cold.  They had maybe 3 days of okay water and 7 days of cold, cold, cold.

Even with the cold water, my kids still put in their best efforts and really excelled.  Here's Caden's freestyle...I am so impressed with his rotary breathing and his arm positions.

Jaelyn's class was on the other side of the pool the day I had my camera so no pictures of her swimming.  She is also doing so much better at her freestyle.  Her favorite stroke is the breaststroke.

Like my pedicure?  Jaelyn picked out her 10 favorite colors and painted my toes for me :).

Allie friend Gabe took lessons at the same time as her.  He started out in her group and she loved racing him. It really motivated her. 

Allie's favorite stroke the butterfly.  She worked really hard to get her hands coordinated with her legs.

I talked to the life guard about winter lessons so we can keep going with their progress.  We'll see.  The closest swim team is in Rolla.  That's too much driving for our already packed schedule.

Rest Time

A Day Out Hiking

The weather has been so pretty that we wanted to get out on Saturday.  We chose Lake of the Ozarks State Park to do a little 3 mile hike.  Gracie was definitely more excited than any of the other kids.

Here we are, ready to go.  We encountered "ticky woods" about this time last year so I sprayed us down with bug spray before we started.

And off we go...

Gracie was so well behaved on our hike.  Her gentle leader is the best thing ever (well, close second to her shock collar).

Our monkey had to climb up trees...beware Jaelyn, seed ticks aren't scared of heights either.

Allie and Caden spent half the hike looking for the perfect hiking stick.

We should not have stopped to take this picture because it gave everyone a chance to stop and look down.  Unfortunately, when we did, we discovered teeny, tiny seed ticks crawling all over our shoes, socks, and lower legs.  Stupid bug spray...didn't work at all.  At one point, Jaelyn had a colony, as she called it, hiking up her leg in a V formation.  Seriously, Dan said it was a perfect V.  Talk about freaking out...thankfully Dan was behind her to get them off.  We high tailed it the last mile with Caden crying and me threatening Jaelyn if she repeated the word "tick" again, which was only making him cry more.

As soon as we got back to the car, we tied our shoes and socks up in a trash bag and used hand sanitizer and bug spray on our legs to get the ticks off.  Several days later, Caden, Allie and I still have bites all over our legs and they itch soooo bad.  Have I mentioned I hate Missouri lately?  I don't hate our house or our school or our friends, but I hate the state of Missouri!

We had our picnic lunch after the cleansing and then drove through the park (but we didn't get out because everyone was barefoot!).  We saw several skinny dear and a couple cute chipmunks.

And that was about all the nature we could take.  We are talking about camping this weekend at Johnson's Shut-ins.  It'll be a great place to ride bikes and play in the shut-ins...but no hiking or traipsing through the woods!  AND I'm buying a new can of bug spray!

Friends

The kids have made some really good friends here.  Seven year old Carlee lives next door.  Her Dad moved in right after us, but Mom and the kids stayed in California to go to school last year.  The girls played with Carlee while she was here visiting.  Carlee is very advanced for her age, and Jaelyn plays so well with her.  I can't tell you the hours that Jae has spent on the phone with Carlee while playing Moshi Monsters on the computer together.  The rest of the family joined Dad permanently in June and we have had a ball playing with Carlee almost every day.  Lately, they've been taking our craft box outside for "crafting afternoons."

Caden and his best friend, Sam, were in the same class last year.  Sam lives just a block away.  Not a day goes by that Sam isn't at our house or Caden isn't at his house.  They are inseparable.  I love that God has blessed my kids with such good friends!

Just because...Caden was practicing his faces for the camera.

Can you believe school starts soon?  We have a week and a half.  Sam came down one day and made back to school signs with us. You'll have to wait till the first day of school to see how they turned out.

Yummm...New Recipes

Have I mentioned I have a new love of the Taste of Home magazine?  I have found some fabulous recipes in it lately.  These two were on the same page as the Huli Huli Chicken I shared a few months ago.

Triple Bean Bake with Bacon

1/2 lb  bacon strips, cut in 1/2 in pieces
2/3 cup chopped onion
1 can great northern beans, undrained
1 can butter beans, drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp prepared horseradish
1 tbsp yellow mustard

* I substituted pinto beans, yum, for butter beans, yuck and I added a little ketchup just because :)

1.  In a dutch over, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp.  Remove to paper towels with a slotted spoon; drain, reserving 1 tbsp drippings.  Add onion to drippings; cook over medium heat until tender.

2.  Stir in the remaining ingredients; return bacon to pan.  Transfer to a greased 2 qt- baking dish.  Cover and bake at 325 for 30-35 minutes or until heated through.  Uncover and bake until desired consistency.

These beans were really good.  I loved the zing the horseradish gave it.  Allie gave this two thumbs up.  Caden and Jaelyn actually manged to swallow five or six beans (yes, I said beans, not bites).

Saucy Grilled Pork Chops

1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
8 bone in pork loin chops

1.  In a microwave-safe dish, microwave butter, covered, until melted; add brown sugar and lemon juice, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Reserve 2/3 cup for drizzling.

2.  Oil grill.  Brush pork chops with remaining sauce.  Grill, covered, over medium heat or broil 4 inches from the heat for 4-5 minutes on each side until done.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

3.  Stir sauce to combine or gently rewarm if necessary; drizzle over the pork chops.  If desired, top with lemon slices.

Dan's not always too keen on new recipes.  At best, I usually get "it's okay."  He liked these pork chops and told me so.  That's big, folks!  Let me know if you make them.

The Collar of Obediance

"Make no mistake, it's not a training collar, it's an obediance collar!" says one of Dan's co-workers.  And he's RIGHT. 

Gracie is a sweet puppy, but she's a puppy.  She loves to steal things like socks, shoes, toys and toilet paper.  We have diligently been working at teaching her "drop" using treats as rewards.  The problem is that it hasn't stopped her from stealing the items in the first place.  She would still grab and dash away until we came after her with a treat in hand.   The other big problem is Zac.  Gracie LOVES Zac.  She wants to snuggle and cuddle and munch on him whenever possible.  No amount of telling her no or treats has worked to stop the problem.

A friend mentioned he had to buy a shock collar for his dog who was running into the street.  Just a few zaps, the dog no longer goes anywhere near the road.  I went right out and bought one.  Of course, then I started reading all the horror, bad dog owner stories on-line about using them and felt horrible.  It took me a week to put it on her and only after I'd used it on myself many times to make sure I wouldn't electrocute her.

The shock collar is maybe the single best thing (after obedience classes) that we'd bought for our dog.  She still loves Zac, but she approaches him with caution and plays easily with him.  For some odd reason, she gets this weird tingling feeling when she tries to tackle him :).  A month ago, there's no way Gracie could have sacked out on the floor twelve inches from the cat without being all over him.  Amazing!  Zac is thankful he can enjoy his sunshine in peace.

Now that we've gotten Zac protected, we are tackling the snatch and run Gracie likes to do.  She still gets things, but it's on a limited basis now instead of the every five minutes it was.  She will actually walk past toys in the floor.  She still can't resist an odd sock, but she drops it with a verbal warning or a beep from her collar (the beep precedes the shock). 

I even got Jaelyn to sit with me yesterday while I tried to brush a matte out of Gracie's ear.  She hates to be brushed and nips constantly at me and the brush.  Everytime she did it, I said no and Jaelyn shocked her.  It took three "nip-no-shock's" before she decided to obey.  She even let me brush out her muzzle.  She obviously didn't like it, but she tolerated it.  There's hope!

Out and About in Pulaski County

Last week was a good week.  The kids had swim lessons and reconnected with several friends they haven't seen all summer.  We went bowling a couple of times (yea for free bowling summers) and of course, hung out at the swimming pool.  We have one more week of swim lessons and then two free weeks before s-c-h-o-o-l starts!

On Saturday we wanted to get out, but we are paying more attention to our budget.  We went in hunt of free things.

We've driven past the Pulaski County Museum dozens of times, but it's always closed.  Apparently, we don't drive past on Saturdays.  The kids were quite impressed by the WWI era cannon sitting out front.  There was a civil war army soldier complete with musket wandering around who was able to tell the kids all about it.

The top floor of the museum was the old courthouse.  My kids were drawn to the power of the gavel!

We saw a couple of old American flags...this one had 48 stars.

It wasn't the most organized museum.  It had bits and pieces donated by locals sitting all around.

This was my favorite find of the day.  I have the same doll that belonged to my Grandma Molly sitting in my curio cabinet.  I asked the curator if she knew anything about it, but unfortunately all she knew was it was donated by a lady that's in her 90s.

After the Pulaski Museum, we headed around the corner to the Stagecoach Stop which is an old building that was just what it sounds like...a stagecoach stop back in the 1800s.  A foundation has worked very hard at restoring and preserving this bit of history.

Another American flag...this one had 36 stars.  The kids weren't too sure about the saws in the Civil War era doctor's kit. Yikes.  Thank God for modern medicine.

The kids learned about having fires in an oven and carrying in blocks of ice for the icebox.

Jaelyn got a kick out of the "pee pot" under the bed.

Last we headed to a natural spring.  Waynesville is sitting on a large hill and there are rivers underneath the hill.  If you look closely to the right of the picture, you can see the entrance to the underground rivers.  You have to get a special certificate to dive.  Those are some crazy people.

Of course, we could not keep the girls out of the water.  It was cold...they didn't wade far.  Our temps went from the high 90s and low hundreds just what seems like a few weeks ago to highs in the 80s and lows in the 50s and 60s at night.  It was 68 and windy at the pool for swim lessons Friday morning.  Everyone had blue lips when they got out. 

Want a Good Laugh?

Gracie does not like to be brushed.  She bites at me.  I've tried positive reinforcement...brush, treat, brush, treat and repeat.  It hasn't worked.  She still bites.  I take her to get brushed out at a groomer, but that gets pricey so I space it out as far apart as I can.  This time, she had mattes everywhere (her neck, her legs, her back and butt, her ears and her tail).  It was bad so I told them to shave her down.  The groomer apologized when I picked her up.  She said she started with the tallest attachment and worked down until she could get through all the tangled clumps. 

Who knew Gracie had such skinny, chicken legs?  I don't feel one bit bad about it, but she should be embarrassed.

And Since We've Been Home

It was nice to come home and sleep in my own bed after two weeks away.  I miss our friends and family though and have been a little blue this week.  We had so many things to look forward to when school got out and we've done them all.  There's a hole in August with nothing in it.  {Tangent Praise... I know I wrote about our plans to visit my friend, Kendra, and her family in Alaska in August and I've written about her stroke and recovery.  I'm thrilled to tell you all that she flew home last week and got to sleep in her very own bed as well!  Thank you God.  She's doing really well; I even got an email from her that totally made my year!  Keep praying for her and her family as she continues to get well.  And Kendra, if you read this, at some point, our families are going to have that vacation!}

This week, we got back to the pool a few days.  It's so hot and that water feels so good.  The girls have gotten to play with their neighbor friend and Caden has been down the street at his best friend's house.  We've been back to gymnastics and karate.  It's been good to be home.

The biggest thing from last week was our first spend the night at our house.  The girls were so excited to invite C over.  She was in Allie's class last year, but is Jaelyn's age.  She makes a good playmate for both of them.

I wasn't sure they were ever going to go to sleep.  :)  Oh to be 10 and giggly again!

Aaahhh...Serenity

A trip to Florida would not be complete without a trip to Destin and Serenity with Jennifer.  We talked about trying out a different spa this time, but their facilities didn't sound as nice.  I'm so glad we didn't.  There's just something about Serenity...I swear they pump pure relaxation into the air.

My favorite spot...the whirlpool. 

Essential Oils...I always pick coconut for my massage

You can't go to the spa without relaxing with cucumbers on your eyes
or maybe Jen just handed them to me for a photo-op ;)

Look at Jen's eyes...you can literally see how relaxed she is!

Our day was really great.  We got to Destin early so we could do some shopping.  I totally scored at the Columbia outlet.  I bought 3 blouses, 1 t-shirt, 1 pair of shorts and 1 pair of capris for $79...less than what Dan recently paid for a pair of shoes.  We had lunch at McAllister's (our usual) and had dinner at PF Changs.  It was the third time we've had dinner there (I think it may have become part of the tradition).  I'm already looking forward to Christmas and another visit to Serenity!

Thanks, friend, for always taking the time to go with me.  You are the bestest!