Things I Learned from My Dad

I gave a talk in church the other day and as I was preparing for it I began a small list of things that I learned from my dad as I grew up. Not that I have put them all into practice yet. They are as follows:

1. If you think you can do it yourself, then do it yourself.
2. Bend with your knees
3. A good garden will produce ripe tomatoes by the fourth of July
4. Patience and logic breed better understanding and better resolution
5. Rube Goldberg isn't just a man; he is a way of life
6. The harder you work the better off you will be.

I am sure that many of you can think of more, but these are the ones first came to mind.

Summer Fun

Wow, summer is flying by without much posting going on. Here is a little of what we have been up to. I will post more on that subject soon.

The girls have had a great time at swim class this year. They love their teachers and i love that it is outside. It's my way of adding a little piece of California to their childhood. Look, there is even a diving board!

With their swim caps, swim shirts and goggles on the girls look like twins. So funny. But it helps them to stay warm on those chilly mornings.

SHAKE YA BOOTY

I was walking by Spencer's room the other day and heard him singing to himself. I was thinking how cute he was when all of a sudden i caught the lyrics. "Shake ya booty, shake ya booty", is what i heard. Hmmm where did he pick that up from, it couldn't possibly have been from moi?!!! As a mother of three i have been making a concerted effort to eliminate words such as "booty" from my everyday vocabulary. But apparently it had slipped out at some point and as a result i have a 2 and-a-half-year old who can be heard singing those very words to himself once in a while. He's too funny. He has developed quite a talent for speaking (or singing in this case) with his binki in his mouth. Here he is with two binkis! What am i going to do with him?

Birthday Update

Our technological woes are over (for now) which means that i finally have the pics from Dan's B-day to show you.

Good Morning sleepy head!

Yummy, breakfast in bed.

We had a very quiet and relaxing day. Dan got what Chicagoans call "Bags" for his Birthday. We had friends over- the Woods and our great friend Zeke(Megs was out of town) - to play that, have ice cream sundays, sugar-free of corse (who new there were so many sugar free ice cream novelties out there, WOW), and play Settlers of Catan until all hours of the night. I think Dan had a good time.

Cweam Cheese Cwackews

Have you ever tried Julia's Famous Cweam Chees Cwachews? They are totally yummy! All you need are some crackers, some cream cheese, and a butter knife, oh yeah and an adorable 4 year old to spread it on and make it delicious. Here is my little mini-me, being the mother and making everyone her specialty. If this child was ever left home alone there is no way she would starve. All she needs is a stool and she can make anything and find anything.

Anti-Blog - For those of you who are new at this...

OK... second try.

Step 1 - make sure to push "publish post" when you are done so that you don't lose your entry.

Step 2 - If you are going to make fun of your siblings blogs there are 2 things that you need to do. Read there blogs and write about them. Pretty simple.

Step 3 - Don't forget the password (or the website) to edit your blog.

Step 4 thru 7 - I'm still working on these. I figure you need atleast 7 steps to write and publish a book on the subject. If you have any suggestions please let me know.

What is that smell?

So, i was walking by the kids bathroom the other day and i just about fainted. "What the heck is that smell? " i thought to myself as i lamented having 2 girls who forget to flush sometimes, and i proceeded to quickly clean the toilet. A little later i walked by again and it was back! So i scrubbed from top to bottom this time, sink, floor, shower, mirror, the works. And a little later it was BACK! So i brought in a second opinion and Dan and i walked around literally sniffing the walls. Then all of a sudden it all came together. That scratching sound i have been hearing has been birds making a nest in one of the vents. I don't know how all of that works all i know is that the stench was seeping through to my kids bathroom! So Dan will have to get a ladder and see what is going on in there. It is all very disturbing. And i thought that living in a new house would eliminate this sort of thing. I guess it could be worse. In our old house i once woke up with a bat flying above my head (i'm getting shivers just thinking about it).