Sunday's News

This morning we went to church and said goodbye to those leaving for the Mission Trip to rural North Carolina to help low income families with home repairs and food delivery. I myself went on this trip 3 summers ago and remember it being a fantastic trip. I know that all who are there now will be glad they went and gave a hand.

After lunch, back at home, I started my 4th summer read:

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.

This book is unlike any book I have ever read before I believe. The book is a mental conversation between a gorilla and a man. The two are talking about our society and how "we got the way we are" and where we may be headed according to human's disobedience to Mother Culture's laws. I wasn't "hooked" by the first twenty pages but stuck with it and now 130 pages in I am glad I didn't give up. Coming off of the heels of reading Into the Wild I am glad to be reading something not so emotional and a little lighter (?). After finishing ITW Nick and I watched the film. I had seen it two or three times before but having just read the book it was different this time to be able to connect to the little details such as names of places visited, odd jobs, and journal entries narrated by the actor who played Chris. Let me make one revision. Ishmael is not "light topic" reading. In fact, if you really think about what the gorilla is saying it is actually quite convicting to consider how we treat the Earth and other species of life. What I meant by comparing the two books was that reading ITW was hard for me because it was so personal: getting to know Chris through his journal entries and by way of interviews with the people who knew him and then to read about the way he died and such. Ishmael is more... deep and intellectual type novel that I'm sure will provoke as much emotion as it will thought. That's all.

Now, I sit at the kitchen table, waiting on my sister to come over so that we can go and do some serious shopping for groceries. I had made it a point to try and be out of everything before going to stock up again. I have tried to plan my meals around BOGO sales, upcoming Farmer's Market trips, and on a beef, chicken, seafood rotation. On the menu for the next four night's suppers:

chicken thighs, white rice, Farmer's Market veggie

hamburger helper boxed dinner with frozen vegetable

tombstone pizza

tuna salad on whole wheat bread

lunch will be:

leftovers

soup and homemade cornbread

sandwhiches

That is about it for now. Happy Sunday and Father's Day!

Some Summer Favorites

A few of my favorite things this summer have been:

White Mossimo tank top from Target, clearance sale price $4.99, also purchased in pink and kelly green:

These shorts in black and khaki:

Trips to Lake Martin with our friends:

Morning walks:

Gorgonzola cheese on salads:

Ginger Dressing on everything:

Reading:

Almost finished with this one,

Loved this one:

Really loved this one: (finished it in 24 hours)

And, THIS guy:

You know him as this season's The Bachelorette Kasey:

"I want to guard and protect her heart/Here's my heart, come on in and stay a while..."

Conversations Lately

Lately, I have been having real conversation with H & L. In order to give you an accurate picture I am going to type phonetically when giving the words of my growing girls.

(Harper pulls up t-shirt, points to her "outie")

H: Beh-e-bud-dah???

Mommy: Yes, that is your belly button! You have an outie!

H: YuK!

Mommy: No, Harper, not yuk! You are beautiful! Your belly button is beautiful because it is a part of you!

(Lily, helping me throw "crash" away in the "crash can")

L: drow da crash?

Mommy: Yes, let's throw away the trash.

(Lily peeks inside the can and sees a cheap electronic butterfly shaped toy that is way to loud and whose letter are so tiny and cluttered - this toy is not a good teaching tool and it takes up a lot of space in the toy box and I don't believe any baby can learn from it so it does not need to be donated so I threw it away)

L: Bud-fwi in da crash!?!?

Mommy: Yes, baby Mommy threw the butterfly away because it is annoying

L: Die Die Bud-fwi! (byebye)

(Mommy changing Lily's diaper one night and her hands start exploring, down there)

L: (touching her self) "No! No!"

Mommy: That is not a no no. You can touch in private.

L: (continuing) No! No! Don' touch!!!

Mommy: It is ok to touch in private Lily. Mommy, Dr. and Lily can touch in private.

(Yesterday the dr. says ok Lily let's check your tu-tu, and takes off her diaper)

L: "in pie-vet! in pie-vet!

Mommy: Yes Lily, it is ok if the dr. looks at you in private.

(Daddy and Mommy "rock rocking" before bed time)

Daddy: Night night Mommy

Mommy: Night night Daddy

Lily: night night Ali

Harper: night night Moomps & Pa ( their grandparents, my mom and dad)

Lily: night night put-tay-tuh het! (potato head)

Harper: night night Eh-mo (Elmo)

Lily: night night cup

Harper: night night bocks (blocks)

Lily: night night Gackie (Jackie - nanny and friend ;)

Harper: night night Mo-money (Jackie's baby)

***saying night night to Gackie and Mo-money makes them think of things they do during the day which leads them to say...

Harper: night night potty

Lily: night night Poo Poo

Daddy: night night Harper

Mommy: night night Lily

True Stories.

There have been many blogs on my list lately whose titles are something like "Summer is Here" or "Days of Summer." It is summer time for me. 8 weeks of being home, work/worry free. And yes, it feels amazing.

Anyone that knows me well enough knows that I have shared more than a fair amount of complaints about what I do but this school year but now I have arrived to a place where I am at peace with the job that fell into my lap almost 6 years ago. This was a "split year" for me. I started out the school year based and full time at one school and half way through was transferred and serving 6 schools. Talk about a culture shock. None of it was easy and looking back at the past few months I can say confidently that I did the best that I could and got the job done. I do not believe that my work schedule will be the same next Fall - don't know yet my new assignment but I have a feeling that it will be rewarding... an assignment I have worked hard for and had to step up and speak out for. I am at a point that I am able to see a "bigger picture" and anticipate new opportunities that will take me from "yes I like my job most of the time" to "this is it, I can see doing this for another 15-20 years." But summer break is here now and this is a time to rest.

For me, summer IS "simplicity." My typical day will follow the same schedule. During summer I focus a lot on food (nutritious food), exercise, and cleaning out the house. Being a mother and the duties required are also the bulk of that schedule. By the way, this is my third summer being a mother...wow.

A few things I look forward to now that summer is here:

-fresh fruit smoothies for breakfast

-a clean kitchen and scented candles

-reading books

-journaling

-painting

-taking walks

-swimming

-taking naps

-play dates in parks, who cares if it is 100 + degrees outside? this won't actually kill me

-church/youth small groups

-To Kill a Mockingbird

-the Farmer's Market

-matting and framing family pictures over the fireplace

-a trip to Nashville

-overnight guests

-dinners with friends

That is about it. Sound plain? Yes. Just the way I like it.

Pictures from Spring/Summers past:

March '08 Biscuits Game

April '08

May '08 Harper is born

May '08 Lily is born also :)

May '08 I hold Lily for the first time

June '08 Harper, meet Lily, Lily, meet Harper

July '08, Uncle Jay-c

May '09

July '09

August '09

April '10, Lily and Harper