Two Little Pumpkins

See these two cute, perfectly round, perfectly orange little pumpkins? They came from our garden. Only we didn't plant them. At least not on purpose. Last fall the girls got two little pumpkins and painted them. When they got squishy Dom put them in the raised beds for compost not really thinking about the fact that unlike the Jack o'lanterns we carved the painted pumpkins were still full of seeds. Then in the spring the unmistakably large leaves sprouted and started to grow. I admit I had my doubts that they would actually produce fruit because of the abundance of hybrid seeds everywhere but I was pleasantly suprised.

Now I won't go into detail about the fact that I am a wee bit miffed that these two beautiful but unintentional pumpkins grew, while some other things I intentionally planted did not fare so well...

Poor Dog

Boomer loves to lay in the sun or in front of the fireplace or on anything that is soft and cozy. Actually it doesn't have to be soft and cozy, a magazine or a single piece of paper will do as long as it means he doesn't have to be fully touching the floor.

Because the floor is hard and cold and uncomfortable.

Poor Dog.

So despite the fact that Boomer is 85% black and absorbs the heat, he still enjoys finding a sunny spot to lay in. I also need to add that he will only lay in the sunny spot if there is a person, preferable me, is within 2 feet of him. I was sitting at the bar and normally he would be under my feet and/or resting his head on my feet. Cause he might get lonely.

Poor Dog.

And see how he rests his head on the door jam so it doesn't actually have to touch the floor. And if he turns his head just right he can catch the breeze coming in through the screen.

Ahh...nice..

But uh-oh, here comes trouble. Misty comes along to find the dog lying in the only sunny spot.

Now there is plenty of room for her to curl up next to the dog but there is no way she is about to share the sun with the dog. This is a cat that would rather drink out of the toilet than share a water bowl with the dog. She doesn't think very highly of the him.

Poor dog.

So Misty meowed at me to let her out cause there is plenty of sun to sleep in out on the deck.

But two minutes later I turn around to see this....

Misty is sitting at the screen and Boomer is trying to poke her. This is the 'I didn't really want to go outside I just wanted the dog to move out of the sunny spot in the kitchen, now please let me and move the dog so I can take a nap in the sun' look.

It's amazing how I get all that from just a simple look isn't it? Now Boomer's look says 'open the screen cause I had a little nap and now I wanna chase the cat'.

(I am just an amazing interpreter of canine and feline expression, aren't I?)

Unfortunately for Boomer, Misty rarely runs away from him anymore. She prefers to rub up against him and use him as a rubbing post.

Poor dog.

Fourteen Years

"Two souls with but a single thought, Two hearts that beat as one."

-John Keats

Pudgy Pies!

When we were out in Colorado, uncle Chuck introduced us to pudgy pies. Pudgy pies are a wonderful concoction enjoyed around an open campfire. There is one piece of equipment that you must have to make a pudgy pie, and that is a campfire cooker/sandwich maker. I imagine you can find them in any camping supply store but we were lucky enough to have two sent to us by Auntie Lisa after we had returned home from visiting them.

You also need a bunch of goodies to fill your pudgy pie. The possibilites are endless and this is what is the most fun about making pudgy pies. Some ingredients we have tried are: chocolate and peanut butter, chocolate and marshmallow, apple pie filling, and Nutella.

The basic procedure is this, Take two pieces of bread and cut off the crusts. Place one slice in on half of the cooker. Place whatever fillings you want on the bread and then cover with the second slice.

Place the top half of the cooker in place and then set the cooker into the campfire. You want the bread to get all nice and toasty and the fillings to get all warm and gooey. Don't forget to turn it over so both sides get nice and golden brown.

Mackenzie chose marshmallows and chocolate for hers and called it the candyland fantasy pudgy pie. See all the gooey goodness inside? MMMM...
It was a little over done but still good.


The next pudgy pie had apple pie filling inside.

MMMM...Good!!

Heat Waves and Hurricanes

I did such a good job on my raindance to help relieve my allergies that I conjured up a hurricane!! I am kidding of course. I didn't actually do a raindance but hurricane Earl was right on course for the northeast. But it fizzled, which I am actually grateful for. It is always amusing though to see the media go crazy with all the hype and then have the storm fizzle out.

It was a high pressure front that actually pushed Earl farther east and brought us some cooler, drier air in the process. The temps have been in the mid to upper 90's all week and the humidity moved in midweek. Though us New Englanders are used to the crazy extremes in weather I think we probably handle the cold better than the heat. I know I do.

I felt a little bad for all the kids that had to start school this week including my own. Most of the schools around here are not air-conditioned because the hottest months are usually in the summer when there is no school. Some schools in that state even went so far as to cancel school or have early releases at the end of the week. My kiddoes toughed it out and are no worse for the wear. They like their teachers and both have already made new friends. So here's to another succesful school year despite heat waves and hurricanes!

Ragweed is Not my Friend

Ragweed is NOT my friend. It makes my eyes itch and my nose run. It makes my throat scratchy and it makes me sneeze. It makes spending time outside in the yard almost unbearable. And not being able to go outside makes me cranky. I have lots of outdoor projects that need to be finished But after a short amount of time outside I feel like scratching my eyes out and ripping off my nose.

This year the pollen count is really high, which I imagine has something to do with the lack of rain we have been getting.



I am so desperate that I am going to research rain dances.

Or take a blowtorch to the bunches of ragweed growing around the perimeter of the yard.

But first I have to go blow my nose....Again.

Back to School

I can't believe the girls are back in school already. The summer was so fun and I am really not

ready to get back into the school routine. But I am a adult and a mom, so I had to do the responsible thing and send them back to school yesterday. They were both a little nervous about what the new school year would be like, but both came home happy and with lots of things to say about their new classrooms, teachers and friends.

Cape Cod with the Mckays

One of the best things about this summer has been getting to catch up with people we don't get to see all the time. We have continued that this weekend by heading down to the cape to visit the McKay family who we haven't seen in over a year.

Anytime Dom and Scott get together it inevitable rains and this time was no exception. Luckily the rain never stops anyone from having a good time and we had a full day at the beach before the rain rolled in.

I think the most popular activity of the day was catching little creatures in the tide pools, crabs shrimp and periwinkles all made their way into the bucket.

Future NFL quaterback Luke showed us his moves.

Amd Dom being silly by climbing between the rocks.

The tractor factor

My dad brought his tractor over to our house to help us fix the driveway and do some other landscape projects. I've had a little inkling that I wanted to try driving the tractor and finally got the chance. It was so fun now I want one of my own!

Chocolate Pudding

Since it has been so hot, I haven't been doing any baking because the last thing I want to do
is heat up the house. But the other day Kenzie was bored and itching to do something so she decided she wanted to make pudding. Since the instant pudding doesn't require a stove I figured why not? It wasn't long before Becca joined in the fun and I had the two girls make the pudding themselves.
Of couse what fun would it be to make pudding if you can't lick lick the spoon or in this case, the whisk??

Smokin' Summer Fun

It has been smokin' hot here in the northeast for several weeks now. Luckily we have a boat and relatives with a pool and that has made things much more bearable. We had a nice family barbecue with family that we don't get too see too often and it was lots of fun.
Uncle Mark smoked some yummy food in his new smoker.

Yummy!!

Gotta have some yummy smores for desert too!

They are a little sticky but of course that is half the fun!

Abby wishing the crazy camer lady would just go away.
Miss Molly was all smiles!

Fabulous Fourth!

For the fourth of July we had a little get together with close friends of ours the Beikmans. It was extra special because the fourth is also Audrey's birthday! We had hamburgers, hot dogs and sausages all cooked over the fire. The girls even cooked their own hot dogs. We had ice cream cake for dessert and ended the evening withour own little fireworks display!

Rocky Mountain High

I have been off enjoying the summer and hope that all of you have too! Not sure I am ready to get back to regular blogging but thought I would do a check-in if anyone is fact still reading.
We started our summer vacation off with a trip to Colorado to see Dom's sister Lisa and her husband Chuck. We were also able to see some good friends, the Child family, who live near Lisa and Chuck.
I of course took hundreds of pictures because it is just so beautiful out there. Here are a few highlights.

This was sunset, actually past sunset at Red Rocks.


Here is Kenzie checking out a dinosaur at Dinosaur Ridge.

Here Dom getting bit by a dinosaur as the girls look on.

We got to spend a whole day and two evenings with the Child family. They showed us Garden of the Gods and Cave of the Winds. Watching the girls play you would never guess that they only get to see each other a few times a year.

Dom climbing an enourmous tree. It then took him awhile to figure out how to get down...

We took a train ride through the Royal Gorge on Father's day an saw the tallest suspension bridge in the world!

We didn actually go on the bridge. It was too darn hot and the general consensus was that no one actually wanted to cross it.

An Elk in the Rocky Mountain National Forest.

More Elk.

The Continental Divide.