On a long hot summer day

It feels like summer, hot and humid, and my northern European genetics want me to stay in the air conditioning.  So of course we pick the days with the highest heat indexes to do things like burn the brush pile.  We used the hose to keep Bob cool almost as much as we used it to keep the fire under control. 

 I find myself gravitating towards projects that have to be done in the nice cool basement.  Also, I miss the wood shop at the farm. 

 We are still fighting the good fight against the evil that lurks in the garden.  *sigh*  The voles have discovered the carrots, which stinks because for once we actually have decent carrots growing!  Bob hates carrots so he really is only defending them so that they don't move on to his precious potatoes or peppers.  :P  Current vole extermination count is 16 of the vile creatures and we're still finding gnawed on carrots.  

I made myself a folding cutting/sewing table!  Once again it has a lot of minor issues, starting with me buying the cheap plywood. 

 Buuuuttttt... I'm hoping a coat of dark paint will help mask the imperfections in the aesthetics because it functions beautifully! (the girls were duly impressed.)

This one is suddenly such a little girl and not so much a baby...  cue all the tears. 

 And she's just so pleased with herself when she figures out how to do something new.  :)

 Meg and I were discussing teaching our girls to sew and how it's hard to come up with useful beginner projects; she was bemoaning the fact that we really don't need to sew household goods anymore (like towels and handkerchiefs) so what do you start kids on?  Anyway, I was inspired to have them help make american girl doll bedding with me. We started with foam mattress covers- straight seams and almost instant gratification.  Cecily did a lot of the sewing by herself! 

 Miri and Cadence played McDonalds... :P  

 It was raining the day after we pulled the onions.  Well, Bob and the girls pulled the onions to save the from rot and rodents.  (I'm not sure they were in that great of danger, but whatever.)

 So we peeled them in the basement with lots of little helpers.

 So very helpful helpers. Then they got chopped and frozen.  

 Hobby lobby had some cute patchwork fabric that we backed and tied to make doll "quilts."  Cadence surprised me with her comforter knotting ability!

 They'll be all ready for Harvestcall... hehe.

 Bob has been picking lots of banana peppers, and littlest miss thinks that they are just for her to chew on.  

 I maybe laughed out loud at the breakfast table... 

 I had my choice of fresh garden veggies or chicken salad from their restaurant.  

One hot afternoon the girls and I went to 'Rachel's pool' which they thoroughly enjoyed.  They kept asking when Rachel was going to come out and swim with them.  :D  They liked the goats too.

 I was going to quick run out and pick the beans one morning before the girls were dressed and before it got hot.... I looked up from my row to see this little stinker with no clothes on and her sister still in her nightgown out looking for me.  

 What!? I would never do anything like pull the toilet paper off the roll!  

 I've been snotty and sneezy so I stayed home from church on Sunday with Cadence and Miriel who have runny noses too.  Somebody was very disappointed so she got to wear a church dress and put as many clips in her hair as her little heart desired.    

 I primed my cutting table, but I couldn't wait for paint to try it out.  I kind of like it.

 Emmy demanded to sew a handkerchief, which turned into a coaster, that she sewed all by herself (including pinked edges!  She's so domestic... hehe).  Cecily refused to be left out and had to make one too.  All is not lost, they may yet become proficient sewists!  Also, just look at that yardage all neat and spread out and not on the floor or my kitchen table!  :D   

 We dubbed this 'homegrown hash' and it was delicious. (Wyss beef with some Lowery's, onions, peppers, zucchini, and new potatoes from the garden.) 

 Emmy wanted to learn how to cartwheel, and I'm not a good teacher.  Also, attempting to demonstrate a cartwheel at my age is inadvisable... I'm still sore.   

 I'm partial to spring flowers, but summer bouquets are pretty nice too. 

 She has a clip in her hair and she's quite pleased.

 The neighbor handed down a quantity of shapeless knit garments in garish patterns from that one popular MLM company... woot.  (Don't get me started on how loose flowy knit garments with no structure over tight legged coverings will do nothing to hide any perceived figure flaws, they will in fact enhance them.  Woven fabrics with proper foundation garments all the way!  Haha.  I have been watching too many historic clothing videos on youtube since someone thinks they don't need to sleep at night. Also, I try to avoid MLM companies on principal.  And I think LLR is ugly.  Oops, did I say that out loud?)   The girls think they're great, though, and want to wear them all the time.  
We went to story time at the park today. (In said brightly patterned dress thingies.)  

 Someone was a little unsure of the library program, and a little too sure of herself on the playground afterwards.  

The weeks before school is supposed to start are getting shorter and shorter and I'm not really looking forward to it.  Mur.  I'm trying not to think about that too much though.
Blessings.

Swimming and VBS and Waterfighting

Once upon a time, long long ago, Esther gave me the well worn vintage Barbie clothes pattern on the right.  (Dear Esther.  I miss her.)  Simplicity just re-released it and I bought it so I could have a not sentimental copy to play with, and maybe let the girls use eventually.  

I had to try it out, of course. It's all still the same. I thought the girls' doll looked cute, they declared this new outfit "Gross!"  So.  So much for that.  Maybe I should have made the floofy formal... 

 Week two of swimming lessons was HOT.  I don't enjoy being hot, but I can handle sweating if I'm working or dressed to sweat.  Sitting next to a pool in the sun with no breeze and dressed too nicely to be comfortable is not my idea of a good time.  We brought along a dish pan so Miri could splash and cool off a little bit.

 Cecily was just as enthusiastic about week 2 as she was about week 1.  

 We brought home some wheat berries from the farm and Emmy was really sure we needed to try and grind it into flour.  Haha.  I dug out my mortar and pestle (as one does- haha Bob's cousin teases me about my seemingly endless science supplies...) and they all took a turn.  We ended up with a tablespoon-ish of flour, but, you know, yay learning!

 Also, I am insane.  The girls were bemoaning the lack of Bible school and not getting to do the craft so we did it at home.  Initially it didn't sound too bad; read a Bible Story, color a picture, do a little bit of the craft each night- simple enough, right?  I even found a free VBS outline online for the parables of Jesus that had a coloring page for each night and an activity so I didn't even have to come up with anything.  Their excitement levels made it much harder than it sounded. :P  

 Jamie hooked us up with some supplies for crafts.  Emmy made a 'gumball machine' out of flower pots; Cadence painted a step stool.

 Cecily's class usually tie dyes pillowcases.  Yeah.  All three of them wanted to do their craft at once.  And nobody wanted to be patient and let me help somebody else first.  And Miriel wanted to touch everything too.  It was chaos and I maybe did some yelling.  Ha. Also I was regretting not taking them to do VBS with the Koch-Baer clan.  

 The green beans are starting!  Not very many at a time yet, and I'm not sure they'll ever really take off this year.  Oh well.  Miriel likes to chew on them for a little bit and then spit them out. :P

 I'm so glad we heard these girls were teaching lessons this year, because Emmy really improved!

 Every day was hotter than the previous day so more and more waiting siblings discovered our dishpan.  

 Bob and the girls picked the last of the peas and shelled them.  We had probably the best pea crop I've ever grown- all two cups worth. haha.    

 I needed a sheet of plywood for my current project and I can not fit a sheet of plywood in my van.  Sharon graciously bought one for me when she was pulling a trailer- which she didn't want to try and maneuver down our street so we passed it over the cemetery fence.   While the neighbor watched.  hehe.  I'm sure we provide them with much entertainment.  Anyway.  When I finally got around to cutting it down, I was wishing for a table saw, but made do with help from Bob and our circular saw.

 Little sisters just don't understand how to get on a towel without messing it all up.  

 Our little blowup pool is slowing losing rings... which is not a big loss since they're pretty much uninterested in it this late in the summer and just want to go to bigger pools.

We finished up our bible school week!  Woot.  We figured out a better system, and Bob took Miri on a walk in the evening, so the rest of the time went more smoothly.  Behold Cecily's tie dyed travel pillowcase (with carrying strap and pocket for essentials), Emmy's coveted gumball filled gumball machine, and Cadence's step stool.

 The annual Koch water fight happened.  Miri got a squirt gun lesson.

 They rented a big water slide again.

 The water was cold, but they didn't seem to care. Crazy kids.

 This one is less interested in water (especially after her sister pulled her into a cold kiddy pool) and had lots more fun with the rocks.

 And with ice cream.

 Cadence says she got stung by a wasp on her eyelid, but she wasn't crying or acting like it hurt... it did swell up, poor girl. 

Sparklers and fireworks! Good times.

 We've been enjoying a week without plans.  We did lake day, but otherwise we haven't really needed to be anywhere by a certain time and it's so nice.  One afternoon the Queen was placed on her throne to distribute largesse to us poor peasants.  

 Wednesday afternoon a storm came through.  There were tornado warnings pretty close by so we were in the basement, but a neighbor of ours took a picture of the rotating clouds that came over.  We were listening to the weather on my phone and I'm glad I wasn't looking on facebook because people were posting videos of the rotating clouds.  I'm also glad we gave the girls the tablet for the duration because they were completely oblivious.  It is sort of pretty... and terrifying.

Friday afternoon we met Mom and Lena at 'Summer's pool' for a few hours.  

 Someone was grouchy about something and wouldn't get up off the floor.... someone else would not let her pout.  haha.

 That same little someone thought that a 15 minute nap in the van was enough and fell asleep in her highchair during supper. (Then she was awake until midnight. woot.)

 Emmy neeeeded to make cream puffs.  So two days later, we did.  

 Blessings.