What we are reading

Mackenzie has two books we have been reading. The first is book one of Fairy Realm-The charm bracelet by Emily Bodda. This is a chapter book we got at the library last week and have really enjoyed. I read to Kenzie in the afternoon's after she gets home from Kindergarten and Becca reads to her at night before bed. The other book is Return to Fairyopolis which we got at the bookstore over the weekend. This is a beautiful book that is written like a scrapbook with handwritten pages and little envelopes with notes inside. There is a definite fairy theme and it will come as no suprise that she wants to be Tinkerbell for Halloween!

Becca is reading Eragon by Christopher Paolini. She tested at a seventh grade reading level at the end of second grade and cruises through small chapter books in days. It can be a little tricky finding her something to challenge her reading ability but is still age appropriate. She is really into dragons lately and when we came across How to Raise and Keep a Dragon by John Topsell she was all over that. I love finding books that feed thier imaginations! Another theme going on here, but she doesn't want to be a dragon for Halloween, she wants to be Elizabeth Swann in her pirates outfit from Pirates of the Caribbean!

Dom isn't much of a reader unless it is magazines or it is to learn something which for me, as a bookworm, is a little hard to accept. I am always saying you should read this or that and his response is always the same,'I'll just wait for the movie to come out.' So I don't bug him anymore but he did pick up few books a little while ago and has been reading Patriotic Battles- How the War of Independence was Fought by Michael Stephenson.

I am reading Life Artist- Scrapbooking Life's Journey by Ali Edwards. I am trying desperately to get back into scrapbooking on a regular basis and this book seems to be the inspiration I needed. It really stresses the simplicity and the importance of scrapbooking the little things in life not just the big events. It also stresses embracing imperfection. The picture doesn't have to be perfect, the page doesn't have to be perfect-life is not perfect, just roll with it. This was very helpful to me. In the back of the book are challenges and one is a week-in-the-life album. I have decided to take on this challenge for this week and so far it has been kinda fun.

Ali currently has this challenge going on on her blog in case anyone is interested in checking it out. http://www.aliedwards.typepad.com/
Her blog is helping to keep me motivated for the project.

I think this will be a fun album to look back on years from now and see what has changed and what has stayed the same, if anything.

This is what one of the pages in Mackenzie's Return to Fairyopolis book looks like. This is helping to inspire my scrapbook too!

I Can't Knit!

No, I can't knit but I made this really cute hat in an afternoon!

While looking for crafts to keep the kids busy over the weekend I bought myself a set of knifty knitters. Knifty Knitters are round or rectangular looms that come in different sizes. Instead of knitting with needles you knit on the loom. They are pretty easy to learn how to use, though the directions that came with them were not real helpful. I also bought a book too that was really easy to understand and the book includes several patterns. You can also find directions, patterns and videos online. The set I bought has four different size looms in it.

Basically you wrap the yarn around the pegs and use a little hook to pull the yarn over the pegs to make your stitches. Easy.

I have tried to learn to knit in the past. My mom tried to teach me several times when I was younger and I just couldn't get it. I can crochet a little bit but I have trouble keeping my stitches even throughout a whole piece but with this I had no trouble and I was pretty proud of myself. The round looms make it really easy to make a hat and I am hoping to try my hand at socks. You can make flat items too on the round loom you just knit in a "C" shape instead of going all the way around the loom.

Now the girls want me to make hats for all their webkins and their Amercan Girl Dolls!

So if you are looking for something to keep you busy this winter, check these out!

It's raining again

After having a rainy summer the last thing I want to see is more rain but here we are again, our third day in a row of rain. I am more lenient with TV and computer time for the girls when it is rainy but when it rains for several days in a row there has to be a limit. So I took a quick trip to the craft store to see if I could find something. I grabbed a couple of puzzles and then came across one of those little plastic looms that you use little loops of fabric to weave together to make potholders. I remember doing this as a kid and thought the girls might enjoy it and they did! I even got a little idea book to make other things with the squares. These two things kept the girls busy for a good part of the weekend.

Today Dom was a little stir crazy so we headed to the book store to wander around and let the girls each pick out a book. Becca got a book about dragons and Becca got a book about fairies. These are two of the girls favorite things. The rest of the afternooon was pretty laid back. The girls have read their books, both alone and together and now things are settling down for the evening. I am hoping that tomorrow is a drier day so we can get outside again!

Do you ever...?

Do you ever flip through the channels on TV and get sucked into watching one of those infomercials about the newest products you just can't live without? I do. I don't buy anything. At least not for the one easy(or two easy or three..) payment of 19.99 because eventually it will be in stores for about a quarter of the price because that is of course what it is really worth and why they offer to throw in another item at no extra charge!
Most of the time as soon as I change the channel I forget about the product anyway. But sometimes a product keeps popping into my head or more accurately I keep seeing the same damn infomercial and I think, maybe I really do need that product. Such is the case with the Swivel Sweeper.
Now let me start by explaining that I hate to vacuum. It is my most dreaded household chore. I would rather scrub the toilets than vacuum. I am not even sure why I dislike it so much, mostly I guess it is the noise and it's big and heavy and the cord gets wrapped around furniture legs, dog legs, kid legs, my legs... Plus the fact that with two dogs, a cat and two kids you can hardly tell I've vacuumed within minutes. But because of the two dogs, cat and two kids I really need to vacuum everyday and quite honestly I don't. I can't. I won't. You can't make me!(Though my husband has tried.)
But then I saw the infomercial for the swivel sweeper. A battery powered little sweeper for any surface. Cool. No cords, it's light and it only makes a little noise. Surely this would be easier than battling with the vacuum. So when I saw one at target yesterday, I bought it. I was very excited to get it home and try it but I had to wait for the battery to charge for eight hours!
But I couldn't wait for eight hours. I tried it after about three and it worked quite well. I really like it. I tried it again this morning after it was fully charged and so far I am pleased with it. The only down side is that it has a little tray that fills up pretty quickly. I've only been using it for a day so we'll see how it holds up to everyday use as it is made of plastic. I am hoping that a quick run over the carpet daily will keep up with all the pet hair and dirt that gets tracked into the main part of the house on a daily basis and then I'll just have to battle with the big vacuum once a week. I'll let you know how it goes.

Back to Nature

I have been reading an interesting book lately called Last Child in the Woods- Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. It is pretty interesting, though it reads quite like a textbook.

"A single sentence explains why Louv's book is so important:'Our children,' he writes,'are the first generation to be raised without meaningful contact with the natural world." This matters, and Last Child in the Woods makes it patently clear why and lays out a path back."

-The Ecologist

"Important and original....As Louv so eloquently and urgently shows, our mothers were right when they told us, day after day, "Go out and play.'"

-The Christian Science Monitor

I remember being told the exact same thing as a kid and I have many great memories of playing outside with friends and alone. It was expected and these days not so much. Kids are plugged in and tuned out to nature. My own children even would rather play video games than play outside and explore the acres of land we have. I have to drag them out into the woods, but once we are out there it's hard to get them back home. Once they are unplugged and outside it is so fun to watch their imaginations take over. No toys required, simple sticks and rocks are suddenly the best toys ever. Sticks become fairy houses and rocks become dragon eggs. Becca had a stick she used several days in a row and called it her adventure stick and Kenzie had a smaller one that was her adverture twig. So much fun!

The book was a reminder about how important it is to stay connected with nature both as kids and adults. As the book states, it is no coincidence that there has been a rise in obesity, attention deficit and depression as we, as a society become more disconnected with nature.

So get outside. Do it for yourself and your children!

I'll get off my soapbox now and share some pictures of some of our outdoor adventures.

If your gonna play near the water, eventually you've gotta go in right?

Boomer tries to steal Becca's 'adventure stick'.

There are two smaller steams on the way to the river which we have named Kenzie Creek and Becca Brook. Kenzie used to be afraid to cross the logs on her own but after being left to explore on her own she began crossing on her own and went back and forth her confidence growing with each step. Within a 1/2 hour the girls had found a spot that they could jump across on their own and they were so proud of themselves and each other!

Awesome Apples

Today is the first day of fall which is my favorite season of the year. Summer is a close second, but I really love fall. The sights, the sounds, the smells... everything. Another reason I love living in New England is no one has fall like we have fall. The weather has been fall like for about a week and the leaves are beginning to change. I'm hoping because of the rain we will have some great color this year.

One of our fall traditions is of course apple picking. The past couple of years we have done all our apple picking at our favorite orchard-Grammy and Grampy's house! We picked Macs, cortlands, and golden delicious. We even scored a few peaches and pears too! We came home with two huge baskets and I am not sure we will be able to eat them all. I'll be doing a lot of baking these next couple of weeks so feel free to share your favorite apple recipes!

Got Milk Bone??

I found a dog biscuit in our bed when I went to make it this morning. We do have two dogs so I guess it may not seem that unusual. Except of course that my two dogs aren't the type to bury things and save them for later. In fact my two dogs treat every piece of food as if they haven't eaten for days and may never eat again. Especially Boomer. If it looks like food, smells like food, was once near a piece of food or was food in a former life he's going to eat it. Or at least attempt to. So to find an uneaten biscuit in bed is a little odd to say the least.

Maybe it's a message from the universe. (Probably not.)

Maybe my husband accidentally dropped it when he gave the dogs a biscuit before bed last night. (Probably.)

Maybe I need to get a life and not take pictures of odd things and blog about them.(Probably not.)

Now That both children are in school and I can actually hear myself think several hours a day, without someone going,

"Mom, can you......"

"Mom, where's my..."

"Mom, I'm hungry..."

"Mom? Mom?Mom?"

You get the picture.

Now I want to blog more and share all these cool things happening in our lives on a regular basis and well, the best thing I could come up with was finding a dog biscuit in bed this morning.

Okay it wasn't the best thing I could come up with. I actually have probably hundreds of pictures of the girls I could have shared but I didn't and I actually get several ideas a week, (a day even) for blog posts. But I don't write them down and get distracted ("Mom can..."), and I forget. So today I chose to babble on about the dog biscuit I found in my bed, cause I am in a random, nonsense kinda mood and I may have had one too many cups of coffee this morning, and because I know my nearest and dearest friends and family will continue to read this post til the end because they love me and because hopefully it made you at least crack a smile.

Nascar 08

This past Sunday Dom and I were at the race in Loudon and thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law, Ellen (Thanks again!) we were able to get passes to go down to the garage area and pits before the race.

We were a little worried that the race would get rained out because it poured all morning. Luckily it let up just before noon so that there was time to dry the track before race time.

I enjoy going to the races but it was really fun to wander around and get to see some of the behind the scenes stuff as well as see the cars up close and you never know who may walk by .

Like "The King" himself, Richard Petty....

Or Presidential candidate John McCain....

It took us awhile to find the 99 car (My favorite) as most of the cars were being inspected and we weren't in the right place at the right time. When we did find it it was jacked up outside the garage being worked on and I knew that couldn't be a good sign with race time fast approaching. It did give us a good chance to check out the car and take pics. I wish we had more time to take pictures, the rain unfortunately shortened our time down there. I am trying to take my photography to the next level and get more than just the usual snapshots when we go somewhere. In fact we almost missed driver introductions we spent so much time looking at the car! Whatever they did to the car worked because they ran well all day and even though they didn't win they came in third! Now Carl is leading in points. Go Carl!

Kitchen help

The girls really like to help out in the kitchen and I am trying to let them help out more and more so when they leave home will know their way around a kitchen . Though Becca recently declared that she doesn't want to go to college, get a job, or ever leave home. I'm glad that she is happy here but well... you know.

So anyway, I have had them prepare their own lunches and snacks for school and help to make dinner in the evenings.

Thursday evening we made sauce with tomatoes fresh from our own garden and while they were cooking on the stove Kenzie peered into the pot and said "Mom the tomatoes are melting!"

I thought this was pretty cute.

12+ Years

This past weekend Dom and I celebrated our 12th anniversary. Not only have we been married for twelve years but have actually been together for 18 years!! Boy time flies when you are having fun.

There wasn't any big celebrating going on this weekend though the girls seemed a little disappointed there would be no big party like the one they remembered a few years ago for Grammy and Grampy's 50th. I explained that big parties were usually saved for "big" anniversaries like 25 or 50. Then they wanted to know why weren't having a "little" party then since it was a little number and I had no answer for that. So maybe next year we will have a "little" party!

We did enjoy some nice thick steaks on the grill and a black raspberry cream pie for dessert. Also as a gift to each other we gave our bedroom a much needed makeover. Our bedroom has been the most neglected room in the house when it comes to decor. The furniture is fine and all matchy-matchy but the rest of the room just kinda of ended up with the leftover pictures and knicks that didn't go anywhere else in the house and had nothing to pull it all together. The walls were an ivory color and the carpet a blue. Why I chose blue carpet I have no idea, it's a nice blue but I found it to be limiting when I thought about decorating. I have watched numerous decorating shows and still couldn't come up with what to do with the room until this summer.

When we got back from our trip to Maryland and decided I wanted to do the bedroom over (and really liked the color that Jen had on her guestroom wall. Yes Jen, you inspired me!)I started out with finding some bedding I liked , took a color from the comforter for the wall-Mississippi Mud- a bit darker than Jens room I think. I then matched to sheets to the carpet and then just added a few other knickknacks to finish it all off. We also moved my dresser which really made a suprising difference in the overall look of the room. I still need some new lamps and couple more pics for the walls but now I absolutely love it! The room feels nice and cozy just like a bedroom should!

I forgot to take a before pic but here is the after:

First Day of School 2008

Today is my baby's first day of Kindergarten. Mackenzie is so excited to finally be going to school like her big sister. She is so proud to have her own backpack, her own folder and her own classroom. I am excited for her and excited to have some time to myself, if only for a few hours.

But I am also a little sad because she is of course my baby.

Maryland trip part 3

Okay here is the final installment of our Maryland trip. I 've been a little distracted this week because Becca started third grade on Tuesday and Kenzie starts Kindergarten next Tuesday! But that is a whole 'nother post, so on with the last day of our visit to Maryland...

Monday morning we headed back into Baltmore to visit the National Aquarium. They had lots of neat tanks and a really fun dolphin show. They even have several baby dolphins, the youngest being just four weeks old!

After the Aquarium we went back to Jen's house to rest up and wait for Jen to get home from work. After Jen got home we were off to Camden Yards to see the Red Sox play the Orioles!

Yes, it's true, we had to go all the way to Baltimore to get Red Sox tickets. Camden Yards is actually often referred to as Fenway South and it was easy to see why after spending the day in Baltimore the day of the game it was like being in Boston with every other person wearing Red Sox gear! Now we were sitting in the very last row, which was no big deal and it actually ended up being a blessing in disguise because it was 90 degrees and humid when the game started and there was a nice breeze coming through the fence up where we were.

We all had a good time except Kenzie who thought the game was boring until Dom took her to the gift shop. Twice. We actually left during the 8th inning and the Sox won 6-3.

Maryland trip part 2

Baltimore

Saturday morning we were on the road again. This time we were headed into Baltimore to go to the zoo and the children's museum. The girls love animals so they voted for the zoo first. Jen was able to join us and she told us that there was a new addition to the zoo, a baby elephant named Samson. Since Samson was only on display to the public for a few hours a day we made visiting him one of our first priorities. Becca was also on a mission to see an Okapi. An Okapi can best be described as a leftover parts animal-(I unfortunately don't have a picture to share but you can google it if you want.) It has an upper body that looks a bit like a moose (without the big antlers) and the legs are stripped like a zebra. Kinda weird lookin'.

Anyway, Samson the baby elephant was really cute. He splashed around in the water and got stuck in a big tire! Very entertaining. The girls got to feed a giraffe too, but I didn't get a picture because there were other kids in the way but Dom did get it on video.

After the zoo we headed to the children's museum. This had lots of cool things for the kids to explore spread over three floors with a giant climbing structure in middle that included tunnels, slides and a zip line. One of the girls favorite areas was a pretend diner complete with booths and a working jukebox. So Jen, Dom and I sat in a booth so the girls could take our orders and 'cook' for us.

Another favorite for Becca especially, was looking for clues to solve an Egyptian mystery. It was very Indiana Jones.

"It's the milk, it's the milk chocolate..."

Sunday we drove to Chocolate World in Hershey, PA. This seems to be the biggest hit of the trip which probably won't come as a surprise to anyone since the girls, as well as myself are huge lovers of chocolate. Becca loved the tour with the singing cows and Kenzie really enjoyed the 3D movie we saw. We also took a trolley ride through downtown Hershey and learned all about Milton Hershey who was a very cool dude. The Milton Hershey school provides schooling, boarding, clothing, computers and scholarships to underprivileged children all payed for by profits from Hershey chocolate and entertainment. So every time you buy Hershey products you are helping underprivileged children!

Maryland trip part 1

Tuesday we got back from our trip to Maryland to visit my niece Jen. We packed a lot of fun activities into five days and I am still struggling to get back into the groove here at home. Because we packed so much stuff in and I have lots of pictures to share I will break the trip up into several different posts over the next few days.

We arrived in Baltimore on Thursday afternoon where Jen picked us up at the airport. This was the first plane ride for the girls and Kenzie got a little nervous after we first boarded the plane. Actually she got a lot nervous. She got 'mom I feel like I'm gonna be sick' nervous. Which made me think we might be in for a long and potential messy ride as the rest of the passengers hadn't even boarded the plane yet. Luckily she didn't get sick and once we were in the air she was just fine. Crisis averted. We arrived at Jen's house and got settled, met her very friendly dog, Reese and spent the evening talking and watching the Olympics which Jen's husband Micah is covering in Bejing, very cool!

Friday Jen had to work but she let us borrow Micah's car and we headed down to D.C. to check things out. Our first stop after finding a place to park was to find a map so we could find our way around. We entered a building that was marked information and had to show picture ID and have our bags checked before we could go in. We quickly learned that having our bags checked was normal procedure for every building we entered in D.C.

The girls decided that they wanted to see the national aquarium which was close by. We saw lots of cool fish from all over the US including a really cute baby sea turtle.

After the aquarium we took a short walk down Pennsylvania Ave. to see the white house from the outside. Then we saw the Washington monument on our way to the Museum of Natural History where Kenzie really liked the dinosaur exhibit and Becca enjoyed the animal exhibits.

We finally ended the day at the Air and Space museum. There was lots more we would have liked to have seen in D.C. but we'll just have to save that for another visit!

You might be a redneck if...

You spend a free afternoon down by the river drinking and using the empty cans for target practice with a pellet gun.

Yes, Dom and I gave onto the rural atmosphere and while the kids were away at Nonna's we spent quite a bit of time down by the river just hanging out. For anyone who doesn't know we have a river that runs through the back of our property and is about a ten minute hike from the house.

Dom did some fishing. I took some pictures and we did some drinking and had a little shooting competition with a pellet gun. Good, cheap fun. Plus, the weather has been pretty crappy with thunderstorms and rain pretty much everyday we didn't really want to take a chance out on the boat or heading up to the mountains to go hiking. The good thing about all the rain was the river which is usually not much more than a trickle this time of year is rushing pretty good making it a nice place to hang out.

I realize the picture above looks crooked but it is actually the top of the stump that is crooked making the cans lean to the right not because I was intoxicated while taking the picture. I am just too lazy to correct it in photoshop right now.

Boating with Boomer

A week or so ago we took Boomer out on the boat with us to see how he would do since he loves to go swimming. I admit I was the most reluctant to bring him for two reasons. 1-he has a tendency to get car sick which of course just driving to the lake could mean a mess to clean up. Also if he gets sick in the car there's a pretty good chance he'd get sick in the boat. 2-He is just two years old pretty much still a puppy and pretty much like having another kid, not a huge deal but I like my time on the boat to be relaxing and peaceful and there was a good chance with the dog along it could be loud(barking and whining) and chaotic(pacing and stepping all over everyone) But I finally agreed. We purchased a doggy lifejacket for him mostly so we would have a handle to pull him up out of the water into the boat.

It was very successful. Boomer loved the water and the kids love having him along. He did do some pacing and whining but not too much. As long as the whole family was in one spot, either on the boat or in the water he was fine. But when some of us were in the water and some of us were on the boat he didn't know where to be and got a little anxious. Mostly we stayed on the sandbar and swam and then we took a little cruise around and Boomer lay right down and enjoyed the ride. He didn't get sick on the boat or in the car and that in itself was a relief. I expect we will have many more adventures with Boomer on the boat!

Amazing

Anyone who knows me really well knows that as a teenager I was a huge Wham!/George Michael fan. Now, at 37, I still am. Even though he hasn't released an album in the US in many many years . Even though he hasn't toured the US in 20 years. Even though he's been arrested. More than once. I'm still a fan. It's the music and the voice. It's amazing.
So when I found out he was touring the US and coming to Boston I was psyched. Until I realized no one would want to go with me. The day the tickets went on sale I was talking to my husband on the phone and casually asked him if he would go. I was expecting him to reply with a very firm, "Not in this lifetime!" and was suprised to hear him say "Okay." I almost dropped the phone in shock. I must of heard wrong. My classic rock loving pop hating husband just agreed to go to a George Michael concert with me?? Had aliens invaded the earth and taken over his body? Surely I had entered an alternate universe "Did you just say yes?" I asked

"Yeah, just don't tell anyone." he replied

So Sunday afternoon we headed to Boston after dropping the kids at a friends house for the night and the dogs at the kennel we were off to spend the night in the big city! We left in the middle of a huge thunderstorm that we followed all the way to Boston. The traffic was horrible and we tried to check into the wrong hotel. After checking into the correct hotel it was just a short walk to the Garden just in time for the 8:00 show.

Not.

It turns out the crappy weather had delayed George's plane and he hadn't even arrived yet.

so the show started an hour late. So I got to people watch which was interesting cause I'm a small town girl and well George is gay and has quite a gay and lesbian fan base as well as a large female fan base that just made for a fascinating mix of people.

But none of that mattered. I was just happy to get a night with my husband and to get to see George in concert. It was lots of fun and after several beers my husband even enjoyed the show.

So thanks George for finally returning to the US and thanks Dom for going with me to the show-I think you're amazing!

Going Batty??

So I was just sitting in the living room by myself last night after putting the kids to bed, surfing the internet and half listening to the TV, when I catch a slight movement out of the corner of my eye. I thought it was maybe a moth since sometimes they get in the house when we let the dogs in at night. I glance up at the TV and this black thing swoops by and disappears up the stairs.

Not a moth.

A bat.

So I want to go upstairs and tell Dom who is in his office, But that means getting past the bat which is flying back and forth in the hallway. I make a run for it ducking as the bat swoops by.
Now let me clarify I am not afraid of bats. Anything that eats mosquitoes is cool in my book, it's just a natural reaction to duck for cover when something comes flying at your head.So I told Dom there was a bat in the house and he walks out into the hall turns the corner and gets buzzed by the bat and turns around and comes back into his office and closes the door.

"Okay we need a plan." he says.

"yeah we need to catch it." I have a keen sense of the obvious.

Luckily my husband is a fisherman and we have a net so he goes to get the net and tells me to try to corner it in the bathroom.
Yeah, right.
Eventually we corner it in the upstairs hallway and attempt to get it in the net. When I say 'we' I mean Dom because really all I can do is stand back and try not to get hit by the flailing net and swooping bat and yell ,"there it is, get it!"
Very helpful.
Suddenly, I hear Becca's bedroom door open and both Dom and I yell "Close the door!"
She closes the door. Dom catches the bat, who is really pissed off at this point and is chattering away. He was successfully realeased outside to continue to eat up mosquitioes and hopefully remain outside!
Afterwards I went up to explaing to Becca what was going on. She thought it was kinda funny and so did Dom and I!

Lovely Lupines

On Saturday we took a trip up to Sugar Hill to see the lupines. There are several fields of these tall beautiful flowers in Purples, pinks and white. We took a wagon ride around two fields and poked around the Sugar Hill Sampler which is gift shop full of crafty stuff and yummy treats. They also have a little museum in the back of heirlooms, farm equipment, pictures and newspaper articles of the generations of family that owned the farm.

We picked up some goodies including some lupine seeds so hopefully we can have some in our own yard next year!

Smoked Salmon Pizza

I love quick, easy recipes especially in the summer so I thought I would share one of our favorite pizza recipes. This makes a really good appetizer if your having a party or we just like to eat it for a meal. I usually only make one pizza and use the leftover topping for bagels the next morning.

Ingredients:

Two 12 inch store bought parial baked pizza crusts

Extra virgin olive oil

Pepper

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 Cup finely chopped shallots

1/4 Cup drained capers

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Juice of 1/2 one lemon

3/4 pounds sliced smoked salmon

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Drizzle the crusts with olive oil, season with pepper and bake for 10 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in a meduim bowl, combine cream cheese, shallots, 2 Tablespoons dill and lemon juice.

Spread cream cheese mixture on the crusts. Top with the smoked salmon, remaining 2 Tablespoons capers and 1 Tablespoon dill. Cut into wedges and enjoy!

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a frog..

A frog????

No, it's Muddy Dog!

Not bird, nor plane, nor even frog.

It's just little ol' me,

Muddy Dog.

Mad Scientists or Destroyers of Worlds?

My children that is. You see at least once a week I come across some concoction that my children have made. Usually when I think that are playing nicely together while I try to get something done I then come across something like this:
I have no idea what that flourescent color came from...

Or this:
Apparently the stuffing of some poor unsuspecting stuffed animal was used for this one...



Or sometimes it involves a whole bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap while I think they are bathing they are actually mixing together whatever they can find in the bathroom cabinet.
Now I am all for my children exploring, creating and experimenting and I try really hard not to squash thier need to mix things together just to see what happens but when it ends up spilt all over the carpet or involves emptying a whole brand new bottle of my favorite Bath and Body works handsoap (which has been recently discontinued) I freak out a bit before reminding myself that, maybe because they were able to do "experiments" they could grow up to become the next scientist to find a cure for disease.

Or it could lead them to blow up the house.

But I have recently found several books to channel their curiosity for good instead of evil and under adult supervision this summer we will do some exploring together.
Outside.
Far away from the carpets and my favorite handsoap.

Some Daily Inspiration

"And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without rain, there would be no rainbow." -G.K. Chesterton

Welcome to the lake

For several years Dom and I have discussed putting the boat in a marina so that we would get more use out of it because quite honestly, trailering a boat is a pain in the butt. Finding a good ramp with adequate parking isn't easy and timing is everything as far a getting a space and waiting to put the boat in and pull it back out. But dock space can be hard to come by and pricey so we put in on the "someday" list. About a month ago we drove by a marina with a sign that said "dock space available" so we stopped by to check it out. We decided on the spot to go for it.

Along with our dock we get a little chunk of land where we put up a screen house, added some patio furniture and a little grill and voila, our own cozy little home away from home. We also have an electric hook-up, cable and water! It is kinda funny because we are part of this whole new little boating community now which is just little screenhouse next to screenhouse and some people really go all out with their set-ups- TV's, bars, grills, refrigerators, etc. There is also a little campground, bathhouse, and gas dock as well as boat maintenance and storage.

So we are going to try it out for the summer and see if it is worth it. Of course the gas prices have put a little damper on our fun. Luckily we filled up the boat at the end of last summer so we are good to go for the first part of the summer. We spent our first official weekend up there this past weekend getting everything set up and finally getting out on the water. It has been hot and humid all weekend and we even went swimming despite the fact that the water temp was still pretty cool, just barely 70 but as hot as it was it felt good!

So this is the view of our little space as I was standing on the back of the boat.

The kids were sitting inside but they scattered like cockroaches when I pulled out the camera.

And here is the view from inside our screenhouse

looking out at the boat. I hope to get more pictures of a wider angle so you can see the rows of screenhouses. It started to rain so this is all I got yesterday.

Maybe someday we'll be able to afford a real house on the lake but until then this will do pretty nicely!

And here is one last picture of the girls playing in the water when we went swimming off the boat. They were having a blast cracking each other up!