Becoming my Mother

   I always enjoyed unpacking and putting the groceries away when ever Mom went shopping. I would never know what new or unexpected thing I might find. Especially because she was afflicted with a certain shopping blindness that we all found amusing.
    Hardly a shopping trip passed without her coming home and discovering to her dismay, and our amusement that she had once again bought something she did not want. For example, a bag of regular all purpose flour mysteriously changed to self rising flour somewhere along the way home, because she was certain she had bought the right thing in the store. The pineapple chunks she had put in her cart were decidedly crushed when I removed them from the grocery bag. The dog food turned into kitty kibble. The list could go on for days, but you get the picture.
    Somehow I have mysteriously picked up this weird shopping blindness as well.
    Imagine my surprise to see this in the kitchen.

    I distinctly recall grabbing a pack of plain white paper towels at the store. How did they change to these ugly things on the way home?

Picture my Week

Sharon and Steven spent a lot of time playing with kittens. Steven will spend a lot of time holding the one he claimed as his own, he sings it to sleep and then sits there holding it quietly until it wakes up again.

 

The end of a rainbow was nearby. If I wouldn't have minded getting wet I would have been tempted to run up to the field and get someone to take a picture with me standing at the end of a rainbow.

 

Sharon and Steven had been practicing for several weeks, and finally invited us all outside to see the little show they put together. I'm usually not a fan of clowns, but Steven managed to change my mind on that.

 

They served popcorn, strawberry bars, and fruit punch to us to enjoy while we watched their show.

 

The parts for Kenneth's four wheeler arrived. He fixed it and then grabbed his camera and went on a quick trial run to see if everything works fine.

 

 The girls, Steven, and I did some berrying and hiking. It's the end of the wild strawberry season, but we managed to find a handful. The girls and I each enjoyed one and allowed Steven to have the rest. They're tiny, but packed with lots of flavor.

 

 The girls and I took the few old oversized calendars we had and after taking them apart we glued the pictures back to back and then covered them in clear contact paper. They make excellent writing mats, and we're looking forward to having new ones to use this school year.

 

One of the little papers in our 365 Day Fun Challenge directed us to blow up a balloon until it pops. It was a mixture of terror and fun. The terror part came with the anticipation of the pop that was sure to come once the balloon got this size, and then the actual screams that followed the gunshot like pop. The fun part was watching each other blow up a balloon and the laughter after the initial screams when it popped.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. The first day of summer rolls in today. What are ten things you'd put on your list of  quintessential summer activities? Will you try to manage all ten this summer?

Eat an ice cream cone, go berrying, take long walks in the woods, have watermelon, go on picnics, read, spend time on the porch while it rains, playing in the creek, listen to the wind chimes, watch fire works, and for me ... plan next year's school.

2. Do you collect seashells when you're at the beach? What do you do with them once you get them home? What's your favorite place to comb for seashells? How many of these 'best beaches for hunting seashells' have you visited? Which one would you most like to visit?

Calvert Cliffs State Park (Maryland), Jeffrey's Bay (South Africa), Sanibel Island (Florida), Shipwreck Beach (Lanai Hawaii), Ocracoke Island (North Carolina), Galveston Island (Texas) and The Bahamas

We have picked up seashells when we visited the beach. Once we get them home they get cleaned, and then the girls squirrel them away for craft projects and decorations for a later day.

I haven't been to any of those beaches.

3. At a snail's pace, shell out money, come out of your shell, go back into your shell, drop a bombshell, happy as a clam, clam up...which 'shell' phrase could most recently be applied to some event or circumstance in your life? Explain.

At a snails pace.

We're in the middle of red tape. Applying for permits, and other legal stuff and then waiting for all the important people to get their part done takes sooooo loooonnngg.

4. What summer activity do you dislike? Why?

Sitting around a campfire in the evening is something I don't enjoy at all. Bugs all seem to feast on me. Maybe if I were more selfless I wouldn't mind it so much, but I'm not there yet.

5. What's something you see as quickly becoming obsolete? Does that bother you?

Letter writing/pen pals. Technology seems to have taken over. While I do enjoy the convenience of email and texting, I do miss all the letters I used to receive. Mail time is much more fun when it includes letters from friends.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

The girls, Steven, and I have been enjoying hikes, and berrying lately. The wild strawberry season is basically over. We found only a handful yesterday. It will still be a while before the blueberries and blackberries are ripe.

Yesterday, this was part of our day.

365 Day Fun Challenge

  

 

      We've started a different challenge for our family, well I guess mostly just the girls, Steven, and I will be doing it.

      I started by cutting 365 strips of paper and then writing a different fun little activity on each one. Every morning we choose one and do what ever it says sometime during the day.

      I think the biggest challenge for me was thinking of 365 different things to do, but somehow I managed, and we've been enjoying incorporating it into our days.

      Today's challenge was writing our favorite book quote on cardstock, adding what ever decorations we choose and tack it inside one of the doors of the kitchen cupboards.

      I chose my favorite Anne of Green Gables quote, (Surprise, surprise) I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.”

     We've done these challenges.

• Play a hand clapping game
• Write a poem
• Sing in the shower
• Fill an entire coloring book
• Take a family photo
• Talk only "Amish" for half an hour.

    We still have a long way to go to get through all 365, but so far we've been enjoying it.

Picture my Week

Back to back Picture my Week posts? How did that happen? Sorry I was MIA for the week.

We were so busy living that I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, but at least I have a few to share.

 

Sharon donated her hair, and ever since then I have to keep looking at her and her cute new look. She still has enough left for a jaunty little pony tail.

 

Steven enjoys watching his Papa work on trucks. I'm pretty sure he already understands mechanic talk better than I do.

 

Sharon and Steven enjoyed their elephant ride when the circus came to town. This isn't the best of pictures, but their was someone else's little girl sitting in front of them, and I don't show other people's children on my blog without permission from their parents.

 

Temperatures were lovely this week, perfect for moving your "office" outside.