Flea Dip (June 29)

Okay, so it really isn't flea dip, but that's what Natalie and I called it. We had to give her one last treatment for the creepy crawlies tonight to make sure they stay far, far away. We never want to go through that again. I'm so thankful that Natalie was such a good sport about it and didn't put up too much of a fuss. Poor kid. Not the best way to spend your summer vacation.

Dusk (June 28)

After we got home from our last softball game of the season, we ate a quick dinner and rushed around trying to get the last few things done for the day before baths and bedtime for the kiddos. I realized I hadn't retrieved the mail yet and came outside to this sight. Wow. It took my breath away and I hustled back inside for the camera. I am reminded when I see a sky like this that sometimes it just doesn't matter if the dishes are done or the clothes are folded and put away or the kids in bed exactly on time when you can stop and share a moment just looking at something so lovely.

These Boots Are Made for Walkin' (June 27)

I love these boots. My mom gave them to Natalie when she was a little, little girl and now they belong to Ella Grace - who LOVES them. She would wear them to bed if I let her. Sometimes she wears just her pink boots and nothing else. She complains when she has to take them off to take a bath. She wears them with dresses, shorts, pants and skirts. I will be so very sad when they don't fit her anymore which will probably happen this summer at the rate she's growing. I have a feeling that these are going to have to be kept for future generations - just because they are so much fun and we've gotten such joy out of them. Maybe I'll have granddaughters who will love to wear them as much as my girls have.

FIrst Harvest (June 26)

The jalapenos are arriving! Marty planted some of these in the front yard in a newly created herb and pepper garden area. The plants seemed to love the new spot and went nuts, already producing these three beauties with many more on the way. These were quickly eaten in a great recipe from the Foodnetwork magazine Jalapeno Cornmeal Pancakes.

Happy Hour (June 25)

25 ounces of Schlafly summer seasonal on a Friday evening outside on the patio with good friends. Nuff said!

Backyard Beauty (June 24)

After a brutal day during a brutal week, I needed some respite and retired to the backyard with a cold beer in hand for a stroll. I usually end up back in Marty's shade garden checking out the latest floral arrivals. The hydrangea that Marty planted roughly 3 years ago finally bloomed and it was so beautiful! I think we had even forgotten what color it was until it made its appearance. Unfortunately, I didn't have my big camera on me and I was too lazy (and tired) to run inside for it, so I snapped this with the phone. Still beautiful, even at 2.5 megapixels!

Loads of Laundry (June 23)

My dear, loving husband spent his entire day today delousing our house and oldest child. I had a lot going on at work and he was able to stay at home and shampoo the girl and spend two hours picking bugs out of her hair AND do the endless loads of laundry necessary to keep this horror from coming back on us. This shot only captures a fraction of what he has been working on all day long. I think I need to buy this man a beer, or two.

Game Face (June 22)

Natalie is getting herself psyched up for the game tonight. She actually was being calm and quiet and I tried to take several pictures of her while she was deep in thought (and when she wasn't looking at me). Suddenly, she looked up and popped out "the big eyes" and I snapped this winner. What a goofball! I don't know where she gets that...

Get that foot out of my face

Feet are gross. That's all there is to it. Marty knows that I'm not a foot fan, so he will put his feet on me all the time. Tonight I was curled up on the couch, minding my own business, and this is what I had to look at! What the?!?

Father's Day (June 20)

 Natalie got up before Marty this morning to craft him a Father's Day card. She spent quite a bit of time getting it just right. I think her Daddy was pretty impressed. The outside of the card says "Best Father in the ..." and then on the inside, it says "Galaxy."

Farmers Market Haul (June 19)

One of my favorite things to do on a Saturday morning in Columbia is to roll out of bed and head to the Farmers Market. This lucky morning, we were actually able to get a coveted breakfast burrito - they are usually sold out by the time we arrive. The girls made their usual beeline to the Uprise Bakery stand where Natalie always gets her croissant and Ella, this time, picked a cinnamon roll. We shopped for fresh tomatoes (YUM!), basil, pasta and bread for Marty's Father's Day dinner. We stopped to see the honey bees at the Walk About Acres stand and even listened to a song or two from the folk singers performing. I love all the colors, smells and "community" happening at our Farmers Market. It's just one more thing that makes Columbia such a great place to live.

Mugs Up (June 18)

After Natalie's softball game tonight, she came up with the fabulous idea of heading to Mugs Up for din-din. Mugs Up has the best chili cheese dog in town and homemade root beer. It was a great treat and one of our favorite summertime things to do.

Pineapple Girl (June 17)

Ella informed we needed to buy a pineapple the other day at Hy-Vee. My kids love fresh fruit, so I'm not going to deny them the satisfaction of picking out their favorites at the grocery store. It took her about 5 minutes to decide this was the right one for her. Then she wanted it to sit on the counter at home for a few days to make sure it was ripe enough. (I don't know where she picked that up!) and today we were finally allowed to cut it up for her lunch. It was delish and Ella ate about 1/4 of the pineapple! Like I said, not going to tell the kids they can't eat so much fresh fruit!

DMB (June 16)

Enjoyed another fantastic Dave Matthews Band show last night - Summer can now officially begin! Going to these concerts make me feel young and energized and happy to be alive. I'm not sure what I am going to do next summer though - Dave is not going to tour. I've been going to see the band every summer since 1999 and this is only the second summer that they have NOT toured in 11 years! I guess they deserve a break and time to spend with their families, too, but I NEED them! Might have to road trip for some additional shows this summer so I can get my Dave fix for a while...

Texas Treat (June 15)

To celebrate finally catching up with the blog posts after neglecting them for over a month, I cracked open a cold Lone Star Light. My folks bring us an 18-pack whenever they come up to visit. We kinda got hooked on this last summer when we went to visit them. Maybe you can get it around here, I haven't looked. It just tastes better when it is a direct import from Ma and Pa. Finally caught up - what a treat! The other cool thing is that I am almost already half-way through this project. Wow - time flies when you're taking lots of pictures!

Cookie Love (June 14)

I am so lucky to be married to such a loving and talented man - who channels Betty Crocker on a regular basis. Yes, the hubs likes to bake. He was craving some chocolate chip cookies tonight, so he just whipped some up. Thank goodness he takes most of his creations to work with him, but we do get to have some samples. These were delicious in case you were wondering!

Hy-Vee Hottie (June 13)

Ella loves to come with me when I go to the store. Now that our new Hy-Vee store has the kid-sized shopping carts, she begs to go grocery shopping. On this particular outing, she's stylin' with the pink ensemble: pink shades, pink frock and pink cowboy boots. Very stylish. We got lots of comments on our shopping extravaganza. Nevermind that it takes twice as long to get the things we need, she's having fun and so am I!

Target Junkies (June 12)

The girls came with me to Target to get a few things. They were such good shoppers and helped me get everything on the list. It was right around lunch time when we got done, so we stopped for a snack in the Target snack bar. The girls asked me to take this glamor shot of them with their special Target cups. Natalie looks like she's getting a brain freeze from her Icee!

Flash Flood (June 11)

This is the swollen Flatbranch Creek in the middle of a typical Missouri summer downpour. I was on my way to an appointment, running through the rain with my useless umbrella and when I got half way to the car on the bridge over the creek, I just stopped in awe. The water was almost to the bottom of the bridge. If you look off in the background of this shot on the right side, there is Cherry Street and the trail tunnel that runs under it. The water is almost to the roof of the tunnel. I couldn't believe how much water was roaring through here - it was scary! It really was like a flash flood - when I took this picture, it had only been raining for about 20 minutes. Yikes!

Creepy Crawlie (June 10)

When I went out on the back deck to let the hound in, I noticed this big creepy crawlie on the railing. Not sure what kind of bug it is, but it was a weird one. Kind of reminded me of something out of the movies. Bugs usually don't freak me out much, but I try not to invade their space too much. It didn't really mind getting its picture taken, but I did keep my distance and use the zoom just in case!

Watching the Game (June 9)

Here's the gang at the ballpark - our friend and neighbor, Natalie (her big sister is on the softball team with our Natalie), Max and Marty. We were hanging out on this beautiful evening watching the girls play softball. Usually the sibs of team run around and play together. This is one of the rare times when they were actually sitting and watching the game!

Snuggle Bug (June 8)

Another picture taken with the cell phone. I rarely have pictures of me with my kids since I am always the one taking the pictures. Ella Grace still loves to sit on my lap and snuggle with me, so I thought I'd better capture this before she turns 4 in a few weeks and will grow up and not want to hang out with her mama so much.

Storm Coming (June 7)

I took this out of my office window with my cell phone. It came up on us really quickly and I was pretty glad I was inside at the time with no errands to run. Thank goodness it was a relatively quick storm. Gotta love summer in the Midwest!

Ginko Boy (June 6)

Max found this Ginko leaf while we were outside. I told him, "You know that the Ginko tree was around when the dinosaurs were still on Earth. It's one of the oldest kind of trees alive." He says, "Duh, Mom." "Duh? What do you mean, duh? How did you know that?" I asked. "I read it in my dinosaur book, Mom." So glad to have such a good reader, even if he is becoming a bit of a smart alec!

Good Friends (June 5)

Here is Victoria, Liz, the beautiful bride, and Michelle at Liz's wedding in Cedar Rapids. My photo of the whole group of co-workers did not come out very good at all (and not because we all had fun at cocktail hour thank you very much), but I liked this picture just as much. We are pretty lucky to have such a good group of worker bees at the Chamber who also happen to be friends.