Old CDs

Back to School Shopping Well Underway

Relaxing By the Pool

This picture was inspired by Dawn's :).

My New Favorite Flower

Shasta daisies used to be my favorite flower...well before Meg Ryan's quote about them in You've Got Mail. I've grown black eyed susans for the last 3 summers and this year they have been so beautiful. I think shasta daisies just got bumped down my list.

Sweet Potato Rolls

I made sweet potato rolls today and they were so good. The best part, the kids ate them AND LIKED THEM. Jaelyn's the only one who knows she was eating sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potato Rolls (courtesy of Aubrey S. from the Immanuel Baptist Church's Cookbook - and special thanks to Kelley for getting me the cookbook)

1 .25 oz pkg active dry yeast

4 tbsp white sugar

1 1/2 c. canned sweet potato puree

1/2 c. warm water

3 tbsp butter, softened

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

3 c. flour

Dissolve yeast, warm water and 1 tbsp sugar in a mixing bowl. Let stand 5 minutes. Add remaining sugar, sweet potato, butter, salt and slightly beaten eggs. Stir to mix well. Stir in 3 cups of flour. turn out on a lightly floured surface; Knead 2 to 3 minutes, adding just enough remaining flour to prevent sticking. Do not knead too heavily. When smooth, shape into a ball. Place in an oiled bowl and turn to coat the surface. Cover and let rise about 1 hour or longer.

Punch down and allow dough to rest for 2 minutes. Divide into 16-20 balls and place on a greased cookie sheet or in a 9x13 pan. Allow to rise until doubled. Bake at 375 for 12-20 minutes. Serve Warm.

The recipe was really simple, just a little time consuming with the rising. The rolls were so yummy with a little butter melted in them. I can't wait to have one warmed up with jelly for breakfast.

Explosion...Toy Meets Wall

Not the clearest picture, but it's a 2" gash in the wall where a baby doll crib landed. This definitely shows the essence of my day today!

Kitty Taco

Fun with the Life Guards

This post is going to make me sound so old. There's a group of about 6 life guards that rotate through the base swimming pool. We've gotten to know them pretty well through lessons. They are all in college and just seem like good kids (That's the sounding old part. I'm calling young adults "kids" but that's what they are to me. They seem so young.). Two of the girls, Caroline and Josie, are cheerleaders and one day they got in the pool and used Allie as the top to the pyramid. They lifted her up and threw her around. She had the best time. Today, one of the guys, Mr. Lee, got in the pool during his break and played tag with the kids. They had so much fun jumping and splashing him and he was good natured enough to let them. And what was I doing while my kids were being entertained? I was enjoying sunning in a lounge chair with a good book. I heart our life guards!

Tackling Mt. Neverest

No matter how often I do laundry, the mountain just keeps growing and growing and growing.

Caden's Funny of the Day

While riding in the car to take Anna our babysitter home in a torrential thunderstorm today, Caden says "The cloud pee is doing a great job of getting our car clean!" Priceless...I will admit I've teased them about the clouds peeing on them on a few occassions to get them to laugh about getting wet rather than cry when running into the house from the car in the rain.

I Think He's Laughing At Me

The Funny Things Kids Say

It's been a long time since I could share something funny that the kids say. They are old enough that they speak very clearly and get most things right.

There's a place here called Rita's that serves Italian Ice. Everyone raves about it, but I've never been there. Last week, it was hot so we went as a treat and let me tell you, it was good! After a fun playdate of riding bikes around a park for 2 hours today, we stopped by again. Caden was so excited that we were going to "Dorito's." The funny thing is that I don't buy Doritos so I have no idea where he got the name.

Allie's in Hog Heaven

Or maybe I should say Kitty Cat Heaven. She loves the cats so much, but they aren't as loving in return. She is much nicer and calmer than she used to be. Well, while I was rubbing Allie's back tonight, Zac came into her room. He wanted me to love him so he climbed into Allie's bed and nosed around where my hand was. For some reason, the cats don't like Allie's bottom bunk. Zac ended up checking out her whole bed and then he curled up on her legs and proceeded to give himself a bath. I whispered to her that is she were really still and really quiet, he would probably sleep with her all night. I'm not sure if she can stand to not mess with him, but he hasn't come bounding down the stairs to me like he does most nights.

Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay

Today's Promise - Rain

Prayer Request - 2 Surgeries Tomorrow

This has just been a bad Grandparent month. It started with my Grandfather being diagnosed with bladder cancer. Then his wife, Doris, fell. Dan's grandfather, Daddy Doe, has been in the hospital and had surgery last week to have a mass in his prostrate removed. Tomorrow, Doris will be having surgery on her foot. She hurt her toe when she fell and they think it's dislocated. My Grandma Molly will be having surgery in the afternoon to remove her gallbladder. So far, Dan's grandmother, Nana is well and we are praying she stays that way!

The Finished Pretzels

We love to bake home-made pretzels.

Creepy Crawly

We are taking care of a new "pet" at our house. Well, actually, it's in our backyard. There was a little scare today when I couldn't find the bug box and was afraid it had been taken in. Thankfully, it was tucked away in the corner of the kids' fort. We found "Creepy Crawly" (very well named I think) yesterday while we were dividing some black eyed susans. I've never seen such a big Japanese Beetle. He's at least an inch long. I really wanted to kill him, but the kids would let me. For now, he'll live in the bug box. He comes out for "walks" across hands and he loves to eat Althea leaves. I just hope none of his cousins come to visit because a few beetles this size in our yard would eat all of my plants in a few days.

Jaelyn's 365

Jaelyn is using my old digital camera to take pictures. She's enjoying taking the photos and editing them on the computer. I set up a blog for Jaelyn to share her pictures with you.

Jaelyn's 365

Tomorrow's Promise