A hiatus.

We're back....we've spent the past twelve days in St. Louis visiting Brian's side of the family. We had a great time and I'll post some more pictures when I'm not entirely brain-dead.

I say that because I am on St. Louis time and even though I didn't get to bed until after 1:30 am, I was wide awake and planning my shopping list in my head by 5:30 am. I got up and went to the store. I was that annoying person in front of you at the check out stand, doing a week's worth of shopping when you only needed a gallon of milk and a dozen do-nuts.

HOT.

Man it is hot outside.....and it's causing me to loose my patience. Yesterday I wanted to go on an outing with the kids. I had been out of town and had really missed them. I had it in my mind that we should go on an adventure to a beach where we hadn't been....have some quality mom-sibling time.

I think we fought/made up/fought again/discussed our feelings/fought/did the silent treatment/made up the entire hour drive it took to get to the beach.

Once we arrived though, we immediately forgot our problems and relished in the cool water and nice breezes. There were a bunch of little jellyfish (at least that's what I think they were) in the water. They were beautiful and so graceful to watch swim. The kids had fun catching them and I was even brave enough to hold one.

The day was capped off with a swirl-soft serve ice cream at the little shack by the beach. A perfect ending to our beach trip. Luckily, the drive home was uneventful and we rocked out to the radio and sang all the way home.

Today was even hotter than yesterday. This hot weather makes me feel all out of sorts and restless. I'm ready for us to get back to highs in the 80's, not the 100's.

A Happy Day.

A day with no iPods, video games, TV, fighting or begging me for a play-date. A day with just your sibling, enjoying each other's company and catching frogs. Being kids. Running with a spring in your step when you see a frog hop in the brush. Admiring the frog's beauty. Sharing an experience. This is the type of summer day that I hope my kids will remember.

I don't remember how old I was when I began to see my brothers as not annoying pests, but as wonderful friends. I think I was pretty old before I figured that one out. My wish for my children is that they begin to treasure each other NOW. Stop the bickering and competitiveness. Realize how much you care for each other....because if you wait too long, you may be miles apart before you figure it out.

A taste of summer.

Ahh.....fresh strawberries, picked only this morning. Juicy, red and sweet. Best straight out of the box, while still warm from the sun. They are only available for about two weeks a year. We bought them at the farmstand and came home and made a pie. I saw a recipe in the newspaper that I wanted to try. It was easy an delicious! Here's the recipe:

Strawberry Icebox Pie

10 graham crackers (2 1/2-by-5 inches)

1 cup sugar, divided

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup unsweetened cranberry juice

2 quarts strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced (a few whole berries reserved for garnish)

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, blend graham crackers with 2 tablespoons sugar until finely ground; add butter and pulse until crumbs are moistened. Press mixture into the bottom and up the side of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake until crust is lightly browned, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine 3/4 cup sugar, cranberry juice, 2 cups strawberries, cornstarch and salt. Using a potato masher, gently mash strawberries. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until very thick, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Stir in remaining strawberries. Pour into cooled pie crust. Refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours (or up to 1 day).

3. In a large bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over cream and continue to beat until soft peaks return (do not overbeat). Spread whipped cream over pie, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border around edge. Garnish with whole berries.

School's Out for Summer

All day long I've had that song running through my head. I don't particularly like the song, nor do I know any other words than the title.....but it's summer!

Kate and I have lovely tradition of blowing each other kisses once she boards the bus. I don't know how much longer she will partake in it, but it warms my heart every day. Right now she's not embarrassed or ashamed of me and she will blow and catch kisses all the way until I'm out of sight.

I promised Brock and his friends that I would treat them to ice cream. As I was backing the car out of the driveway, we heard the most terrible, gut wrenching sound. I had backed over Tupelo, our six month old puppy. I don't think I actually ran over him, at least I didn't feel anything.....and he's acting okay. His screech is still ringing in my ears. He's walking fine....but he's definitely more mellow than earlier. Maybe I scared the crap out of him, like he did me! I plan on spoiling him tonight with lots of good tummy rubs and as a special treat, he can cuddle on the couch.

An open letter to the person(s) using my toilet

Dear Toilet User,

I don't know who you are because I have asked each member of my family and they claim: "It's not me!" My guess is that you wait until we are all asleep and then come inside and use our guest bathroom. That's clearly the only explanation to my dilemma.

So who ever you are, please make note that the toilet brush is NOT a plunger. I repeat, IT IS NOT A PLUNGER. I can't tell you how disgusting it is to go and clean the bathroom, only to find left over waste on the toilet brush. I shouldn't need to clean the brush before I clean the toilet. Gag!

If this problem doesn't soon get remedied, I will have no choice but to issue bathroom passes with inspections following each use.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Erin

Summer time, and the livings easy

An undisclosed amount of cash later, and the 1976 Jeep is back on the road....here's a shot from a ride. The weather has been picture perfect for days, which is rare for here in early summer.

The kids still have a bit of school left. I'm ready to put this school year to bed and enjoy the summer with the kids. Kate has a paper chain ring counting down the days left of school. I have a paper chain ring counting down how many more school lunches I have to pack. Have I mentioned that my kids NEVER EVER want to purchase lunch? They prefer for their mom to wake at the crack of dawn to prepare their wholesome meal....and of course they each want different things for their lunch which makes preparing them that much more difficult.

He did it!

Hallelujah! He made the "A" team. I was on pins and needles and obsessively checked the website every fifteen minutes for updates. Once I saw that his number was posted, I started to shake. WHAT? Shake? I think I was one hundred times more nervous about this than Brock was. I had no idea that as a parent I would take on the kid's nerves. And this is just the tip of the iceberg....what happens when we are waiting for SAT scores, college acceptance letters, marriage proposals and birth announcements? I think I will need to be heavily medicated.

Thanks for all the well wishes!

Eyes on Goal.

My son spent the weekend trying out for select soccer.  I know, I know, why put an 11 year old through such stress?  Well, because soccer has become his life.  It's all he wants to do.  If we would let him, he would like to join a professional soccer team tomorrow.  He practically has a soccer ball with him at all times, he would like to use one as a pillow.

The "soccer bug" has definitely caught him. He played on the "B" team last year and has been training for months in hopes of making the "A" team.  His try outs went well....however every time he would make a good play, I would look over at the evaluators, and their backs would be to my son.  I don't know how accurate of a look they got of him.

Tonight, my daughter said, "Mom, I really hope he makes the Blue Team.  He is such a good player that if there was a team even higher than the Blue Team, like a Green Team, he would make that one."   What a loving sister.

Here's a video that Brian put together of the soccer stud's moves.

For once, I would like the cards to fall in his favor.

Everything old is new again.

We are down to one working hand set for our home telephone.....and now it's on its last leg.  This morning Brian and I were discussing purchasing new phones.  My son over heard the conversation and chimed in:

"You know what would be really cool?" he said as he crossed the kitchen floor to the wall, "If we got one of those phones that hangs on the wall and has a really long cord."  

Yes.  Please bring me back to my childhood when I would be tethered to the wall.  I so miss wrapping the cord around my fingers, over-stretching the cord and having it knot.  

That kind of phone would dramatically cut down on my phone calls.  

As long as we are going retro, we could go back to TVs that you have to PHYSICALLY get up and turn the dial.....and if you missed the station you were looking for, you would have to patiently turn the knob again.  

Oh the good ol' days.  Maybe my son is onto something.  Maybe we need old technology to make a come back in order to make us slow down.