Our Little Corner: Mid-Summer Randoms

It's been such a fun and busy summer. Here are a few random things that really don't have a place to be otherwise.

In the middle of June we had an Activity Days activity where we played Water Kickball. The girls had a blast getting wet (and sometimes muddy). They all loved the slip and slide part the very best!

Something from my funny organizer. One day I went in after Natalee had been in the tub. She'd lined up all the toys at one end and put her water baby in a bucket at the other. It looks like the toys are about to launch a military attack on Big Baby.

We grew Strawberries this year. My dad gave us the starts a few years ago and it's taken a while to find a place to put them and get the beds ready to transplant them over. We finally got it done and didn't know if we'd get anything, but we ended up with hundreds of sweet, juicy berries! We had a problem with the birds eating them, but thanks to an idea from my sister, we painted some rocks and the birds kind of quit eating them as much. I was able to make several jars of freezer jam, which we've been enjoying over the past few weeks.

Our neighbor got a puppy. He's a Yorkshire Terrier and his name is (at the moment) Wilson. Natalee's picked up a little part time job watching him for a few hours every afternoon. Terri pays her a quarter per day and she's saving happily for our vacation. Wilson loves our Strawberry patch and our flower bed. He loves Natalee so much that when his owner takes him out to potty in the middle of the night, he usually darts across the street to sit on our porch. He's a cute little thing, and only slightly naughty!

One night Nathan and I were cleaning out a box and found this sticker. Since I'm an awesome mom I put it on Nat's forehead and took a picture. When she saw the picture she said, "Now how in the heck did I do that?"

Some creature laid eggs in our Maple tree. As close as I can see (via Google) they appear to be baby lady bugs. After 24 hours, they were all gone.

I went to a class and learned how to make California Rolls. They were actually quite easy, so I might try to make them on my own someday. The Japanese instructor said they were "Boo-tee-fo" and couldn't believe it was the first time I'd made them. I was pretty proud of myself!

Earlier this month we had Activity Days again. We had a really fun activity planned, where we'd give the girls cameras and let them walk around the neighborhood doing a photo scavenger hunt. It seemed like a good idea when we planned it in May, but it ended up being the hottest day of the year. Also, our Activity Days time is 4:00 p.m. - the hottest part of the hottest day of the year. We had sweaty little girls trying to stay positive as we walked around in the 104 degree heat. We might try to do this one again, but not in July!