What I Loved About Last Week 16th Ed.

Did you know this is my 200th post?!  Not bad for 4.5 3.5 years I guess...

Here's what I loved about July 2-8:

1. Made some zucchini bread.  That is a great way to use up a lot of zucchini (especially if you're gifting friends with the loaves.)  Does anyone have a healthy zucchini bread/muffin recipe that you'd be willing to share.  The recipe I have is delicious, but it calls for a CUP of oil.  I subbed a cup of unsweetened applesauce this time, but I wasn't super pleased with the results.  

2. 4th of July.  I have always held this date dear to my heart because it was always a big day for my family when I was growing up.  This year was especially poignant as it was the day we were due with our baby that we lost in November.  I hadn't given it a ton of thought during the day, and didn't say anything to anyone about it, but my sweet, loving daddy gave me a big hug at the end of the day and said that he'd been thinking about me all day.  It meant the world to me and still brings tears to my eyes that he remembered.  Although my arms are empty and my heart breaks, I am trying let my heart rest in God's plan for my life.  I heard this song this week and it took on a new meaning for me.

3. Independence Day Celebrations.  There are lots of traditions surrounding the 4th of July in my family.  Painting patriotic finger/toenails, parades, ice cream cones, cookouts, fireworks... And this 4th of July was no different.  We had a wonderful day!  I got to see all 3 of my best friends (although I didn't get a picture with Jolene), we spent time with my family and some more great friends, we played games, we shot firecrackers and lit dozens of smoke bombs, ate lots of ice cream cones, got candy at a parade, seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better day.  We had oh so much fun!

Ira doing a little dancing before the parade started.

Me and best friend from college, Brianna

Me and my best friend from high school, Laura

Ice cream face

4. Watched (finally) Toy Story 3 with Ira.  Ira absolutely loves the first 2 Toy Stories, but when Andy and I "pre-viewed" the 3rd one, we were worried that it might be a little too dramatic for him (when he got it a year or so ago.)  We finally decided to watch it with him one day while Ruby was taking her nap.  Wow.  He loved it, and it was so surreal to watch it with him.  I won't ruin any of the movie for those who still haven't seen it, but it's about the main character, Andy, growing up and going off to college.  I was literally bawling at the end (just like I did the first time we watched it, but probably even more so because I was watching it with my little boy.)  

5. Chronicles of Narnia.  I decided to start reading these aloud to Ira.  We started with "The Magician's Nephew" and I can't decide who is more into them, Ira, or me.  We've been reading a chapter or two a day and are on the 10th chapter right now.  It's been about 4 years since I read these, so I'm looking forward to reading them all again and sharing them with Ira in the process.

6. Charlie.  We finally (after about 8 months) brought our Charlie Brown (our chocolate lab) home.  8 months ago, he was digging/jumping out of his cage all. the. time. One of our kind neighbors (the one who died of a heart attack last December) brought him home more times than I know and I bailed him out of the pound once.  Not knowing what exactly to do, we took him to Andy's parent's house (the farm) until we could figure out a way to secure his kennel.   Andy had been saving leftover rebar from his jobsites and cutting them into 16-18" pieces to hammer in around the cage so that even if Charlie dug, he couldn't get out.  But we were still concerned about him staying in his small (10x10ft) kennel.  We priced fencing our yard with chain link, but it was ri.diculous.  Finally, Andy's parent's had the idea to buy more panels for his kennel.  It's more than double it's original size now and we are thrilled to have him back home.  Andy's parents nearly cried when we brought him home because he is such a good dog.  Ira and Charlie have become very good friends and play together every morning now after we feed him and fill up his water bowl and swimming pool (he's so spoiled.)  

Well, I think that about sums it up!  Have a great rest of the week!

What I Loved About Last Week - 15th Ed.

Sheesh, I didn't really take many pictures or write down much about last week (usually I write down keywords on a notepad by the computer) So this one's going to be from the 'ole noggin alone... results may vary...

Here's what I loved about last week - June 25 - July 1st.

1. Met with my Napro doctor again.  No, I am not pregnant. Keep praying on that one.  We have decided to pursue post-peak Progesterone shots to see if they make more of a difference than the Progesterone capsules were.  I am both excited and scared.  Excited because this is THE protocol that Pope Paul VI Institute in Nebraska would follow -  Scared because first off, it seems much more serious than just using progesterone capsules and secondly, because I have heard that the shots are painful.  The progesterone is compounded in sesame oil, which means that it is a thick shot – think cortisone shot.  It is administered in the rump (I know, laugh away) and has to be administered slowly because of how thick it is.  Andy gets to learn how to give them to me.  Fortunately, the progesterone is longer lasting than the capsules, meaning I only have to have the shots every 3 days.  Prayers for bravery (for me) and a steady hand (for Andy) would be appreciated!

2. Rubyisms.  Luckily, my light-of-my-life’s (Ira & Ruby) keep me from stressing too much over the shots.  Ruby has been obsessed with going out and playing in the snow lately.  I would think the hours that we spend outside each day would be enough to convince her that it is most certainly summer.  Nope. Pretty much every day this week, she’d ask, “Should we put on our pink mittens and go out and throw snow?!?!” And she was genuinely disappointed each time when I told her “There’s no snow, Ruby, it’s summer!”  So silly.

3. Garden dinners.  We are still battling the squash bugs (removing 100-200 eggs from the plants every few days) but luckily, it seems as though we’re at least keeping up with them, because we are still getting zucchini from the garden.  Seeing as how it was the end of the month, I had to get really creative with dinner one night last week.  We had like nothing left in the cupboards (or at least not enough to make a meal out of really… cheerios with black beans and green chilis anyone??) So, Andy smoked some zucchini slices and we topped them with couscous that I had made with tomatoes (canned from last year) basil, green onions (both from the garden), and balsamic vinegar.  It ended up being really delicious.  Even the kids loved it. (Ira has decided that his two-year-running dislike for zucchini is a thing of the past – HOORAY!)

4. Shopping with my mother-in-law.  I am seriously SO blessed by my mother and father in law.  They are about the nicest, most generous people you could ever know.  Last Thursday when we were talking during swimming lessons, she mentioned about going shopping to get the 4 grandkids clothes for having their picture taken together later in July.  Later that day, she picked us up and we went into town and got the kids some adorable coordinating outfits for pictures.  She also let Ira get some Angry Birds underwear, an Angry Birds shirt, some cool (size 2 big kids!) leather flip flops, and a Toy Story Book.  She got Ruby a purple tank top, Nike flip-flops, and a “You are my Sunshine” book.  No, my kids aren’t spoiled at all…  After shopping, we went and got drinks at Sonic (strawberry vanilla limeades – SO GOOD!)  Although the kids got a little antsy while shopping, we had so much fun and enjoyed the diversion from being at home all day.

5. 3-2-1 Cake.  My parents (also kind and generous) surprised us with six, yes 6! boxes of angel food cake.  On vacation, we learned how to make this awesome treat called 3-2-1 cake.  You use one box of angel food cake mix and mix it with a box of any other kind of cake mix (confetti, strawberry, yellow are some of our favorites) in a ziplock bag.  Then, when you’re ready for a sweet treat, you mix 3 Tablespoons of cake mix & 2 Tablespoons of water in a microwaveable mug.  Heat for 1 minute in the microwave and voila!  Delicious, easy, one serving of your favorite cake.  Try it, you won’t be disappointed!

6. Swimming lessons are over!  Ira didn’t pass, but he really improved his swimming a lot over the course of lessons.  I am sure that with some more time and practice, he will be able to pass next year.

7. Family day. Last Saturday, for once, we didn’t have anything at all planned.  We had a nice lazy morning and went swimming as a family in the afternoon.  Ruby, who is just about too big for her britches, decided that she likes to jump off the side of the pool all by herself. She jumps in and bobs to the top at which point we grab her and help her to the ladder (in 5 foot water no less.)  She and Ira spent the better part of an hour jumping in. I’m glad that she’s not afraid of the water, but I wish she feared it just a little bit more.  We’ve talked to her about never jumping into a pool when mommy or daddy aren’t in, but I’m just not sure how much of that she “gets.” Pretty glad at this point that nobody we know owns a pool.

8. Pickles.  For the first time, I canned some dill pickles on Sunday.  We had fresh dill from our garden and 8 pounds of pickling cukes that needed something done with them, so I pickled them with a recipe from my Ball Canning Book (Grandma’s Dill Pickles for those who also have the book.)  They are absolutely, positively delicious!  And the pickling cukes really are more crisp and crunchy.  We don’t normally eat a lot of dill pickles around here, so I had thought the 7 pints would last us all year.  However, with as tasty as these are, I’m guessing I’m going to have to make a lot more to last us through the whole year.

9. Early Independence Day.  We celebrated 4^th of July a few days early with Andy’s family.  On Sunday, we went out to their house and had brats (with our yummy dill pickles on top) and shot off fireworks.  Ira is still pretty leary of lighting anything (although he did let grandma pay him a dollar to light a smoke bomb.)  Ruby loved helping light things (again with the no healthy fear thing…) and doing sparklers.  Andy and I had fun throwing firecrackers in the lagoon and watching (and listening) to them explode.  While we were shooting fireworks, a kitten showed up and the kids had lots of fun petting it and holding it.  I tried my hand at some long-exposure photography (despite the fact that I didn’t have my tripod) with the fireworks.  I got a few good ones I think!  It was a great end to a great week!

Stomping snap-n-pops.

First shot

 

Last shot

What I Loved About Last Week 14th Ed.

Here's what I loved about June 18-24:

1. Swimming Lessons: Ira is taking swimming lessons for 2 weeks.  I don't love the time, as it's kinda smack in the middle of the morning, but I do love the skills he's learning.  It's so amazing to see him grow and develop as a swimmer.  (He's going to pass his mama before long!  Although I'm plenty comfortable in the water, I never took lessons past level 2 or 3 - so I never learned any strokes or anything.  I can tread water and do a mean dog paddle though!)  Ruby has lots of fun playing in the baby pool while Ira has "blessins" each day too.

Wearing the swimsuit that I wore when I was her age.

Ira jumping in at 5 foot.

2. You probably didn't notice in that photo of Ruby in the baby pool that she didn't have a swim diaper on.  That is because little Miss Ruby potty trained herself last week.  I can take absolutely no credit because it wasn't even really on my radar for her.  On Saturday the 16th, while at our nephew's swimming party, she said she needed to go potty (which she's said before, but never does.)  Regardless, I took her inside and sure enough, she went potty on the toilet.  On Sunday, during dinner, she again said she needed to go potty.  So I took her and again she went.  So Monday morning, I asked her if she wanted to wear underpants.  She answered with an enthusiastic YES! and has been wearing them ever since (except for naps and night time.)  I didn't want to "jinx" it last week, but since it's been over a week now, I think we really are done with diapers!  She's stayed dry at naps since last Monday and has even woken up a couple times during the night to go potty.  Absolutely blows my mind!  I am so thrilled!

Riding the Plasma car with her cousin on a nice evening last week.

3. Weeded the garden.  It looks so nice now and I am so impressed with how easy it is to pull weeds.  We are also very impressed with the results.  We have about half of the potatoes dug and have been pulling beets as well.  The lettuce is on it's way out with the heat, but we picked 2 cucumbers on Saturday, so I'm sure they'll be in full swing soon.  We also started picking jalapenos and green peppers this week - hooray!!  There are lots of green tomatoes on the vines right now, I'm sure they'll be ripening up over the couple weeks.  Let's see, what else?  The green beans are tiny, but coming soon I'm sure, as are the watermelons.  I LOVE the garden, that's for sure!

4. Beds.  With the addition of bunk beds, we needed to do the "bed shuffle" at our house.  So last week, here's how it went down: queen bed moved downstairs and set up in the "spare bedroom", crib moved downstairs and set up in the "spare bedroom", twin bed taken down in spare room and moved box spring to the storage room.  Mind you, I did all this while Andy was at work.  He never seems that surprised though when he gets home and the furniture isn't where it used to be.  Does anyone else hate bed frames as much as I do?  Good lord I can't stand those dumb metal things.  They are such a pain to get set up just right and then they fall apart after you get the bed on them, and then you pinch your finger trying to get them back together... maybe it's just me?

5. Pictures framed and up.  I had prints made of the Old Time photos we had taken in Galveston and hung them up in a collage in our living room.  I also had updated photos printed for our dining room wall photo collage.  It was a project that was long overdue and I'm thrilled to be done with it.

This one's for you, Karen.  You asked to see a picture of this grouping like a bajillion years ago.

6. Rubyisms: "I need a dam-baid" (bandaid).  And in response to one of the lines in the Litany for Liberty (join us in prayer!!)- "Give us your flowers."

7. Family Reunion.  We hosted my dad's side of the family who live nearby, but who we never manage to see throughout the year, at our house on Saturday for a reunion.  It was wonderful to see everyone and amazing to see how much the kids had grown/matured/changed since last year.  We had to play our traditional game of "Annie, Annie Over" which was lots of fun.  It seems as though there is always a twist in the game (like the year a plastic yard duck got thrown over my Grandma's house.)  This year, our team sent two balls around the block in a car to get "points."  Never a dull moment 'round here.

Waiting for another ball to come over the roof.

Look here comes another one!

8. Devil pepper.  Picked this pepper Sunday night and just thought it was too funny not to share.

Look at the horns on that thing!

What I Loved About Last Week 12th & 13th Ed.

So I realize, I'm still a week behind, but no more!  I'll catch you up on the last two weeks around here. (Don't mind the highlighting, blogger is being dumb...)

Week of June 4-June 10:
1. Picked dozens of cups of snap peas and started digging up potatoes.  This new method of gardening is rocking our socks off so far.  We are digging up red potatoes that are 4 and 5 inches across.  I've never  seen red potatoes that big before.  They are also mighty tasty!

2. Celebrated 7 years of marriage to my wonderful hubby.  He surprised me with flowers and dinner out sans kids.  We ate sushi at our favorite place and took my ruby ring to get it fixed (I lost the ruby on vacation.)  We also browsed through a kitchen store and found lots of cool gizmos and gadgets.  It was a just our style of date.  Love that guy more and more with each passing year!

3. Took the kids out to harvest wheat with Grandpa Bill.  We all got to ride and eat lunch out at the field.  We took lots of pictures at Bill's request because this was apparently the best wheat they'd ever had at that particular field (and probably the best they ever will.)

4. Washed my car.  We borrowed the power washer from the farm to wash the dune buggy (it's for sale by the way, so if you know anyone...) and decided to wash my car as well.  It was a fun family project with everyone scrubbing and spraying.

5. Got new tires on the car.  One of those things that you love to hate spending money on.  I always get a dorky satisfaction from taking care of things like that though...

6. Along the dorky lines.  I got new laundry baskets and I could not be more excited.  They are red and sturdy and so much nicer than the falling apart ones that we were using from when Andy was in college.  It's the little things, really.

7. Probably the biggest news of the week (at least in Ira's books) is that he finally got all of his toys back.  Not sure if I ever shared that story on here, but about 6 weeks ago, Andy and I were so disgusted with how Ira had acted at church the last 2-3 weeks, that we took every single toy he'd ever gotten and put them away until he could behave as we thought he could at Mass.  He improved little by little each week and finally on the 10th, he was good enough to earn them back.  It was like Christmas morning at our house seeing all the long-lost toys.  I must say, I didn't really miss them much, and quite honestly, the kids didn't seem to either.  I foresee a toy-clearing-out-athon in our future (if the hubs and I can agree on what to keep and what to let go of.)

There you have it for that week, now onto this past week - June 11-17:

1. Legos.  One day during Ruby's nap, Ira and I spent some time building with his newly-returned Legos.  It was really, really cool.  I built a fire truck.  I don't think I'd ever really built anything with Legos in my life, so it was a lot of fun to share that experience with Ira.

2. Laundry.  When Ira ran out of shorts (I know, I'm a terrible mother), I finally decided it was time to do the laundry from vacation and the week following.  It was a TON of laundry, and my washer ran pretty much the entire day nonstop, but it sure felt good to get it all done!

3. "Blunk beds."  Well I thought I would just be bragging about the fact that I finally ordered bunk beds for the kids, but the company we ordered them from is awesome and after ordering them on Monday afternoon, they were delivered on Thursday afternoon (for free no less!)  Andy got them set up that same night and both kids were sleeping in them by Friday (when Ruby's mattress came in.)  The kids have done excellent in their new beds.  I think all they really needed was their own spaces, because the circus that is bed time has calmed down significantly and I think everyone is sleeping better!  If you are ever in need of bunk beds, I would highly recommend Bunk Bed King.  The service was excellent, the shipping was free, the prices were great, and the bunk beds are S.O.L.I.D.  No fake wood here.  We could not be more pleased with our purchase. (And no, I am not receiving anything for this review, just a satisfied customer.)

4. Ira has figured out how to snap (for the most part) and it is so cute because he does it whenever his hands are free (like when he's waiting for his turn in a game or when he's in between steps on building legos.)

5. Swimming.  We've been spend a lot of time at the pool lately.  I can't believe how much more confident Ira is in the water.  I also cannot believe how comfortable Ruby is with it.  She'll wear just her floaties and float around the 4-5 ft. range just kicking and splashing and having a jolly good time.  Going to the pool this summer is so much more fun than last summer when all she'd do was stay on the step!

6. Celebrated my nephew's 6th birthday.  He had a swimming party and all the kids had fun swimming and "slip & sliding"  - even Ruby!

7. Climbed a silo.  Now that was pretty awesome.  After the birthday party, Andy's parents watched our kids so that we could climb the silo at the dairy farm.  I picked the tallest one (figured if I was going to do it, I might as well do it right) and up we went.  It was kind of grueling climbing it (but that could be because I'm an out-of-shape-lame-ozoid) but boy was the view at the top worth it all!  Just amazing.  Such a fun mini-date with my hubs!

We climbed the one on the right. About 85 feet tall.

If you look real close (or click on the picture to make it bigger,) you can our town on the horizon. It's about 6 or 6.5 miles away in this picture.

And if you look real close (or click on the picture to make it bigger,) in this picture, you can see the town I grew up in on the horizon.  It's about 13.3 miles away in this picture.

Although the sunset surely would have been beautiful to watch from on top the silo, there was no way I wanted to climb down in the dark!  So this was as close as we got to a "sunset" picture. Ad n by-the-by, you can see Andy's parents' house in this picture (the two silos in the middle of the photo are theirs.)  We were going to climb them, but decided to climb the taller ones at the farm.

8. Father's Day.  The kids and I got Andy a new smoker for Father's Day (along with all the fixins - wood chips, charcoal, a cover, ribs.)  We decided to have both of our dads (and moms too of course!) down for dinner on Sunday night.  Andy smoked ribs and potatoes and we had a delicious meal together.  Ruby thought it was pretty fun having two grandmas and two grandpas in the same place.

9. Rubyism - "Ira give me my stink eye back!" (She was referring to a pirate eye patch.)

10. Iraism - "Mom, I know you want the house clean, but that won't happen until nobody lives here and they demolish it."  Thanks Ira, thanks a lot.

Hope you have a great week!!

What I Loved About Last Week 11th Edition

Blargh!  I'm behind.  I promise you will be rewarded for your patience. 

Here's what I loved about the week of May 28-June 3

VACATION!!  Our family took a wonderful vacation to our favorite place, Galveston, TX from May 27-June 3rd.  My parents and my younger sister and her two kids went with us.  My sister's in-laws generously loaned them their Suburban so that 8 of us could go down together, so our family and their family went in the Suburban while my parents followed us in a rental car.

Let me tell you what, our children are awesome.  They (6, 2, 2, and 9 months) made the 13.5 hour trip (one way) like PROS!  We only stopped 3 times going and 3 times coming back.  They didn't even watch any DVDs (though we did have a portable DVD player at our disposal.)  We just slept and talked and sang and colored and snacked and sight-"see-d" our way there and back.  The only time that things got a little rough were the last 30 minutes to an hour on the way there(traffic was CRAZY in Galveston) and the last couple hours on the way home.  Nothing earth-shattering, just everyone was ready to be done and home.

This was our family's 4th time to go to Galveston, but the first time for my sister's family and my parents.  We tried to show them a good time with some of our favorite things to do, and did some new things as well. I journaled about the whole thing as we were going, so as far as documenting the vacation for myself, I'm done, but I've been putting off blogging about it because I wasn't sure how much I wanted to write... again.  So I've decided on just sharing our favorite pictures and captioning them.

The sun's not up yet, but all the kids are awake and we definitely need our sunglasses.

Ruby is quarantined to the middle seat with Mandy and I (wanted to make darn sure HFM didn't get spread - although, by Monday morning, all of her sores were gone) Since getting the carseats to all fit was no small feat, we just kept everyone in the same place for the whole trip.

The traditional picture of our kids in front of the Texas rock.

First trip to the beach, the night we got there.

Ruby developed an unhealthy addiction to licorice... and "Damien's Cheerios" (Fruit Loops) while on vacation.

On the ferry the second day. (SO fun to have someone to take pictures of all 4 of us!)

At the beach on the second day.  The ocean was a favorite with everyone!  Well, the beach was I guess.  Anna and Ruby didn't love the water, but they did love the sand.

Ruby playing in the "pool" we made on the beach.  She did like that!  So did Luke!

Proof that I did in fact go on vacation with our family.

We took Ira's kite and attached it to a 500 yd. spool of fishing line then let it all the way out.  Never flown a kite that was 1500 feet away.  Pretty cool stuff.

Can you see the kite?  And the string for that matter...  It's there I promise.

Hosted some wonderful friends for dinner at "our" beach house.

Toured Bishop's Palace.

Andy and Ira took a trip to the Bayou and witnessed dozens of fish jumping out of the water.  Pretty sweet to have a camera that could capture it.

Two of my favorite people.

Ain't he sweet!

The awesome ocean on a jetty at night.

The whole group on the point watching the sunset.

Dueling photographers.

Ira showing off a propeller (I guess?) at the ferry yard before our nighttime ferry ride.

At LaKing's getting ice cream and homemade candy.

Went and got some of those "Old Time" photos taken.  It was SO cool!

Look at those two!

Look at us, straight out of the 20s (one of our favorite eras!)

Ummm ADORABLE!

Wouldn't be a trip to Galveston without eating at one of our favorite restaurants - Benno's.

Our family spent the last day at a Sandcastle Competition.  This won the Golden Bucket - top prize. Very cool.  

Last night - other favorite restaurant.  Such a wonderful way to end a wonderful vacation!