Snap, Crackle, Pop...

Ah yes...the 4th of July is fast approaching. Fireworks have officially made it to the Why household this summer.  Now that it is legal to purchase and light fireworks in the Big O!, there are many stands to choose from around town.  Apparently without consulting the boss, {ME}, Kris thought he should buy mini-bombs, aka fireworks, so our currently ten-fingered and toed daughters could light them!?!

They started off with some parachutes, but there was a slight breeze so all but two landed on our wood roof.  One of the parachutes looked like a flaming torpedo as it shot through the sky before landing on the (neighbor's) roof.  Yikes!



Even though I don't like my children lighting fireworks,
this one makes me smile.



One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

We thought we'd try our luck again at fishing this afternoon since it was kind of a gray day.  I thought it was supposed to be hot and sunny and hoped to swim the day away at the pool.  As it turned out we had a pretty successful day on the lake.  The Why cousins joined us this afternoon too.

At first it didn't look so good and it started to rain.  It wasn't a "let's start bailing water out of the boat" kind of rain, but a decent rain nonetheless.  We decided to stick it out for awhile longer.  The rain stopped and the fish came biting.  They were practically leaping onto our laps in the boat.  Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but we caught five fish in about 45 minutes.  I'm not sure if that's a good ratio, but it seemed pretty good to us and kept the kids' attention.  We did end up releasing the fish back into the water. I like seafood almost as much as I like beef, but you don't see me butchering a cow by myself, plus we didn't snag these little gems from the sea--only from a little lake nearby.  When it comes to meat, fish, milk, eggs, etc...I definitely like having a middle-man (i.e. butcher, grocer, farmer's marketeer, etc).  It's going to be awhile before we bring our catch home.  After all, I wouldn't let Kris purchase the gigantic fish knife that he coveted on an earlier trip to Walmart.

Here's a recap of our day on the lake...and also a reference point for future fish-telling stories about just how big those fish really were. 

Cameron caught the first fish of the day.  The whole "crew" was excited.

Peyton was next catching her first fish EVER!!!

Kaitlin snagged one too.

I think Kim caught the smallest one!

Peyton hooked another one before we called it a day.

Love Notes

We are a "post-it note" family.  If someone needs a reminder to bring their river diorama to school or bring a sack lunch for a field trip, there will be a post-it note on the door leading to the garage. 

The other day I bought some new clothes for Kris because his circa 1995 threads weren't making the cut anymore.  The girls displayed his new clothes on the kitchen table so he'd see them right away when he came home.  Cameron thought he might not realize the clothes were his so she felt she should write a note--a really nice one.  She quickly decided that since I had bought the clothes, I should probably take credit for the good deed so she crossed out her name and added mine instead.



You Say Tomato, I Say To-mah-to

First tomato of the season
(next to a Pez dispenser for scale)

Growing up on a farm, I felt that if farmers could grow acres and acres of crops from a few seeds, some decent ground, and water; gardeners could certainly produce a few tomatoes and green beans fairly easily because the operation was so much smaller.  I was up for the challenge.  How cool would it be to be the person in your neighborhood that supplied everyone with fresh produce because your green thumbs were producing more than you could handle?  I had dreams of selling my goods at the farmer's market.  People would come from miles around and comment how colorful and fresh my vegetables were.  I'd learn to can and make jams and I'd turn into the Midwest's version of Martha Stewart (minus the SEC situation and hard time in a minimum security facility).  It would all be fantastic...

The past couple of years I've been trying to develop some "mad skillz" at gardening.  My first year produced a few ping pong ball-sized onions and bell peppers.  Last year I couldn't get anything to grow but a jalapeno plant.  I started out diligently watering the plant, but then stopped sometime in June because we had so much rain...it was too hot...I didn't like winding the hose back up everyday after watering the plants...you get the drift.  Apparently, my self-imposed drought caused my single jalapeno plant (I had planted on a whim) to produce and produce and produce.  I probably picked 50 jalapenos from that single plant through the end of October.  

This year I thought I'd try tomatoes.  Again.

I planted three tomato plants Easter weekend.  The conditions have been great because these plants are waist high and huge with flowers and small tomatoes growing every day.  Tonight I picked the first one of the season.  Although the tomato was only golf ball-size, I was still excited about it and all of the future tomatoes I would harvest this summer, chop up into homemade salsa and give away to the neighbors.  Unfortunately, I noticed the bottom of the tomato was rotten as soon as I plucked it from the vine.  Ughhh...   

Icky--a rotten tomato



Only On Father's Day

Father's Day was celebrated in style this year.  We went all out for the man of our household including breakfast in bed, a movie, and dinner out at a restaurant of his choice--Hooter's.  Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined.  The joint was hopping tonight.  The girls were flying all around taking care of their tables, getting drinks, and bussing tables.  Nobody can argue the fact that the girls really earned their tips.  It was also kind of fun to see how many fathers were treated to this fine dining establishment on their day.  Family after family came through the door to celebrate their dad.  I'm glad I have a whole year to think about how I'll spend Mother's Day. This much I know...it won't include boobies and wings.

Bats, Tats & Rats

Last night we headed downtown to check out the College World Series scene and the Missouri River flooding.  Random, I know, but interesting nonetheless (to me).  I think our experience can be summed up pretty handily in three words--Bats, Tats, and Rats.

Bats - We headed over to the new stadium where the College World Series will be played over the next two weeks.  I don't think many fans had arrived yet as I didn't hear too many Southern accents filtering through the air.  To me, CWS = Southern accents.  Does anyone else think a Cajun accent sounds foreign?  Out of all the American English accents out there, I'm convinced these people are NOT from the US.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they are some of the nicest, loveliest people around.  I just can't understand a word they are saying.  The "language" they are speaking is unlike any I've ever heard.  Maybe there's a Cajun Rosetta Stone I should check out before I head back to the stadium to catch a game next week.

{P} posing by a tattoo parlor

Tats - My, oh my, ladies.  What is it going to take for you to cover up your tats???  I'm not here to call out people who choose to get a tattoo, but Good Lord, I saw tats on ladies (in public no less) that only their husbands or doctors should know about.  We saw ankle tats, arm tats, booby tats, neck tats, tramp stamp tats--tats of all shapes and colors.  You might ask where we encountered this impromptu tat festival.  We were on the beautiful Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge spanning the Missouri--adjacent to the CWS stadium.  I hardly remember anything about the river because I was so distracted by the tats!  In case you're wondering, the lady tats seemed to out number the gentlemen tats by 5:1--easily.

Rats - Our main reason for heading downtown was to check out the river and flooding that is occurring nearby.  My heart goes out to those who are suffering through this horrible disaster.  While we were checking out the river, I spied with my little eye...a big healthy RAT!  It was marooned on this 10x10 "island" it shared with two bunnies and a beaver/otter/badger animal that was swimming nearby.  We definitely saw a lot of wildlife we probably wouldn't have normally seen because those poor little animals are also being displaced too.

What A Line-Up



P&C taking a timeout.

 It was another beautiful night of "Driveway Volleyball" at the Young house.  Even the neighbor kids are starting to get into it.  The rules are simple.  Our boundaries are three driveway blocks long by four driveway blocks deep--each side has six blocks on their side of the court.  A fair ball is one that goes over the "net" at least knee high and you can only spike on the third hit on your side of the net.  The first team to 25 (rally scoring) wins.  So far nobody has made a diving save and skinned any knees.

Fishing, Family & Fireworks

It was absolutely gorgeous on Saturday--sunny and in the mid-70's. Since it seems like we kind of missed spring this year, we decided to head out and try our luck at fishing. Unfortunately, the fish weren't biting, but we were able to spend a few hours on the water together enjoying a wonderful day. We invited our neighbor girl {J} and had a fun time.

On a pre-fishing trip to Walmart, {KY} picked up a large fish-filleting, knife/weapon that looked like with one quick slice one might easily lose a finger or two!!! He said we should get it so we could clean the fish we were going to catch. I was tempted by the bargain price of $4.97, but quickly informed him that IF we caught any fish, WE certainly were not going to keep them, let alone try to clean them once we got back to shore. {KY} relented and put the knife back. Sometimes you have to pick your battles.

Later that afternoon we were able to join my mom and dad for dinner. They were in town babysitting Cheeky Monkey for a couple of days. I wish we could have spent more time together, but I found out they were coming to town only the day before. Summertime is so busy that it can be hard to rearrange some plans at the last minute. Whatever happened to the lazy days of summer?

Our neighborhood also held its annual summer celebration on Saturday night. We enjoyed some fireworks lighting up the clear, summer sky. Walking the few blocks to the park while the sky was illuminated with sparkling colors overhead was pretty cool. I love summer.

Dinner Anyone?

Lately we've been *trying* to eat healthier by eating more fruits and vegetables in their natural state. It is truly amazing how many processed foods there are on the market. I'm all about convenience, but there is so much junk out there.

Tonight I ended up roasting a chicken. I was going to grill it, but couldn't get the grill started. {Don't get me started on that one.}

While the chicken was roasting in the oven, I had P&C cut some vegetables to roast too. We enjoyed some new potatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, and red onions mixed together with a little parmesan cheese, garlic salt and pepper. As Rachel Ray would say, "YUM-O!"

Seventeen Magazine & Makeup

I have always loved reading magazines from early on--everything from The Weekly Reader (anyone?, anyone?) to Seventeen to Glamour to Better Homes & Gardens. If I go to the salon, I'm all about catching up on US Weekly. In the waiting room at the doctor's office, I'm all over Healthy Living. Getting my oil changed at Jiffy Lube, I check out Popular Mechanics. Bottom line...if it's in print, I'll read it.

I thought it might be time to get Peyton a subscription to Seventeen and secretly hoped she would also catch the bug. We picked up a copy for her the other day. I think she's hooked. For the past two hours Peyton and Cameron have been trying out some of the makeup tips. I told them they could practice to their heart's content...only if they stay inside. I'm not ready to have them unleash this on the world.

Pretty Smiles and 4th Grade Wonders

Going to a new school has been an experience for Peyton and Cameron. It's been fun to learn about the unique traditions of the new school. Peyton was voted "Prettiest Smile" by her 5th grade peers. I think she was really touched by this gesture because she was very excited when she told me about it.
On the last day of school I asked Cameron if she was now officially in 4th grade since she didn't come home with a report card. She was pretty sure she had passed, but sounded kind of hesitant. Cameron is a good student who does well in school so I knew she had passed, but I kept asking if she was sure about it or if I should call her teacher just to make sure or if it would be a better idea to call the principal. I think I made her a little nervous so I told her I was only kidding. She was relieved and said, "You were really starting to freak me out!"
A not so pretty smile after eating chocolate...