We had a death in our family and we are driving to Oregon for the funeral. We are so saddened by this unexpected loss, but I am buoyed up by the knowledge that families can be together forever. I'll be back next week. Enjoy your weekend and hold your love ones tight.
When I was 6 I had "My Book About Me". I loved to fill in all the pages about my favorite color and how many steps it was to my mailbox. I got Lydia one for her birthday and she got right to work.
She came to me a few days ago to help her with the "when I grow up" page.
"What do I put here?"
"Well, you write down what you want to be when you grow up."
She looked at the jobs on the page for a while.
"I can't find "mommy" on the list."
I showed her where to find the word "mother".
"Can I write two things?"
"Sure."
She carefully wrote down "Mother" and "Princess".
I gave her a hug and told her I wanted to show her something.
"Look Lydia. Here is my book from when I was your age."
"They look a lot the same don't they?"
I hope she gets to grow up to be a mommy to a beautiful little girl too.
She's already a princess.
I'm so glad I decided long ago to be a mother.
*****
I also discovered a little story she wrote. It's pretty great.:
"One day a little princess was happy, then sad, then shy, then she realized she had lots of feelings.
Happy Summer Saturday afternoon. I'm in a baking mood.
Oh peaches. My favorite fruit ever. Living in the south taught me the joy of perfectly fresh and ripe peaches. We lived on the boarder of Georgia for 7 years. We got some good peaches.
Peach crostatas are my favorite way to bake with them.
Way easier than pie, but just as good with ice cream.
Roll out your dough, add in your peaches macerated in sugar. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Fold crust up, sprinkle with sugar, pop in the oven.
YUM YUM YUM. Summer baked in a crust.
Ina Garten's recipe is (of course) a great one to follow if you need a little more specific directions :)
Other week of summer has past. Its been a hectic one for us.
If by hectic you mean lazing around not doing much of anything.
It's been utterly fantastic.
Kids finished up swim lessons.
Collin is the one in the flag shorts. :)
I finished "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Really enjoyed it, but needing to move on to something a little lighter before I start the next in the series. Edenbrooke has been highly recommended and has great reviews so I'm starting it today. Anyone read it?
"Mom, why is there a pineapple stuck on my smoothie glass?"
Apparently my creative touches are lost on my daughter.
Speaking of Lydia, she is really into asking inane questions lately. Often ad nauseam.
Yesterday we were in the car and she was asking Shane who and what celebrate birthdays.
"Do bugs have birthdays?"
"No"
"Do fish have birthdays?"
"No"
"Do rabbits have birthdays"
"No"
"Do chairs have birthdays?"
"Yes Lydia. Chairs have birthdays. And they sit around playing musical humans."
I shot soda out of my nose I laughed so hard. Shane is awesome. Have I mentioned that?
Here he is being heaps of awesome with the kids.
He is dressed like this as he was heading into the crawl space to find a possible leak.
He had to go really far into the house. He got lost for a bit and we had to stomp around to lead him to the right spot. I would have freaked out if it was me.
Collin's outfit will be explained below.
Oh dear. I knew it was too quiet. Lydia and her friend like to turn Collin into "little colleen".
He is really good at playing the part. Says "Darling" a lot.
They wanted a tea party. Heaven help me.
Quite a classy affair with muffins baked in ketchup cups stolen from Burger King.
I'm was very impressed with the 9 year olds down the street who decided that instead of a lemonade stand, they would sell balloon animals. I may have been a little enthusiastic. I bought every kind they knew how to make. Collin was pleased.
Our Independence day was so much fun.
We relaxed in the backyard and then headed over to our friends home for dinner.
Collin nursed that bottle of Sprite for most of the night.
My kids are great to indulge my photography requests.
Lydia has been wearing this 4th of July dress since she was two.
See? So sweet.
Counting this as my flashback friday pic :)
What do you get when you combine white cake, strawberry sauce, berries, whipped cream and pudding dyed blue? The ugliest trifle ever. But still tasty!
If there ever is a time to wear a straw cowboy hat, it's Independence day.
Lydia and I met some friends for firework watching.
I was so happy when reader, Janet Wilkins, sent me this photo and note:
Dear Natalie,
You did know that you start family traditions, right? Last year I made your 4th of July Key Lime Pie on a whim. (I think I just happened to have all the ingredients on hand.) I’m not always as festive as I wish I was, so it was a fun and yummy treat .Fast forward to this year when my 10 year old daughter Samantha starts asking and asking me to make it again. So yesterday, even though I knew my mom had probably made all the desserts our little family bbq would need, Samantha and I went to the store and then came home and worked on our patriotic goody together. It was enjoyable bonding time and great memory making for us both. Thank you so much for sharing!
