Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

The girls were soooo excited when I asked them to help me stain our deck earlier today. We went and got the stain and two, top of the line $1.70 paint brushes at Lowes. They couldn't wait to get home! Look at those happy faces!!! They just can't get enough of it.


So how does this turn into....


















..... this so quickly?!!!

I think her exact words were, "I hate this, I hate this. Painting is boring!"

A Few Summer Goings On

My dad drove Oliver to his FIRST Youth Conference last weekend! Here they are right before leaving.
(ps. I bought him that shirt and guess what.... he actually liked it!)

This is our unfinished playgym. "Will it ever stop, yo, I hope so?" Ugh.

Sophia has started jumping into the pool by herself. What a brave little cookie!

Hmmm, this reminds me of a classic DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince song, "Summer, summer, summertime... summertime... sum sum summertime! Time to sit back and unwind!" I love The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

2 Recommendations for "sitting on your butt" Summertime Fun

I love that some bloggers are periodically doing book reviews lately! I'm always in search of a good book and usually 1 out of 4 I pick up at the library end up being enjoyable. Here's one I read about a month ago, and still have yet to beat it.

"In the Castle of the Flynns",
by Michael Raleigh.

"In the Castle of the Flynns is about a young boy growing up Irish in a vibrant 1950s Chicago neighborhood. Now grown and looking back on those years, Daniel recalls his bouts with grief and fear of abandonment as he learns to adjust to his new surroundings amidst his oddball family. It is a time of wakes and weddings, conflicts and romance. Above all, it is a time when Daniel comes to understand both his own loss and the dark places in the lives of his loved ones."

I also love a good movie! Here's one that is hilarious and a little weird, "Be Kind, Rewind".

"Jack Black stars in Be Kind Rewind, a one-of-a-kind comedy from the mind of writer/director Michel Gondry (Dave Chappelle's Block Party, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Black stars as a lovable loser stuck in a life that's too small for his big dreams. But when he unintentionally erases all the tapes in a video store where his best friend works, he devises a plan to satisfy the store's few loyal customers by re-creating and re-filming every movie they decide to rent. Be Kind Rewind features a cast that includes Mos Def, Danny Glover, and Mia Farrow." http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809761737/video/3631941/standardformat/

Happy Father's Day

Things that make you go Hmmmm....

Has anyone heard of or seen this movie, "Food Inc."? I saw the trailer today on Martha's blog and I can't wait to see it.I've been moaning a lot lately about the cost of healthy, organic foods.

For those of you who don't know, I'm a member of a top secret co op, where we have to drive to the middle of no where, to get chemical and hormone free milk and egg products. On top of that, trying to find freezer space for 1/2 a grass fed cow, is trying. Why do we do it? Well, because it's half the price of the organic products in the grocery..... and I don't want my girls starting their periods at age 9!

While I certainly don't claim to be granola OR a t-totaller, (hello, frozen burritos) I would like to have a better selection of affordable healthy foods at my local grocery. I love what the guy says in this trailer. "When we run a product across the scanner in the supermarket, we're voting." This is how we, as consumers, can change things, rather than trying to lobby for more federal government intervention. I DON'T NEED MORE GOVERNMENT CONTROLLING MY LIFE!!!! I also don't believe any particular political party or farmer are to blame, and having

not seen the movie, I don't know what their angle is.... but still, knowing what we're putting into our bodies is important- and as members of the LDS church, we're probably even more concerned than the average Joe, or we should be! You know, our bodies are temples and all that, right? .... Hmmm... as I write that, I think to myself, "Self, do you live that way?" and I'm reminded of the absolutely delicious ham, cheese, and egg Burger King "Croissan Wich" I had last week..... Geez Louise, it was good!!!... Especially when you pair it with those crunchy tater tots that are really greasy!

OK, no more of that!!! Moderation in all things, moderation in all things!!!

http://www.foodincmovie.com/

Thankful Thursday

What am I thankful for?

1. I am thankful my talented son made the high school drum line his first year. So happy for him!

2. I am thankful for good health and the ability to dig up the hard, inhospitable Tennessee clay. I have been quite a Debbie Downer lately (see previous post), but only because I'm physically exhausted and maybe a little psychotic from the heat. Taking two days off from the rigors of gardening will be a good thing!

3. I am thankful for pantyliners. WHAT?! ....Hey, when a child gets a nasty cut and you don't have gauze or band aids within reach, these babies do the trick! Very "sanitary", no pun intended, and very absorbent.

4. I am thankful for frozen burritos, pizza, egg rolls, etc. Gross, I know, but it's been a busy summer.

and 5. I am thankful for big time retail sales. I'm off to get my son clothes for Youth Conference (dress code: collard shirts and long pants without holes... we have neither right now) and I'm on a budget!

The Constant Gardener

Tennessee is a beautiful state full of picturesque rolling hills and southern hospitality. I really do love it here, but right now, I have two complaints: 1. I'd rather eat my weight in cheese than try to level/plant anything else in this horribly hard, infertile clay soil... and 2. The mutant, ever present tropical bugs that seem to find pleasure in torturing half Asian girls named Renee. You would think the garlic kimche breath would turn them off, but no, they like it.

Nearly every work day for the past 4 plus weeks, I've been out in the yard doing some kind of crazy landscaping project. The funny thing is, it doesn't look that different! What the heck?!!!

I'll post pictures soon, in hopes of receiving lots of encouraging and flattering comments, that will motivate me to get over the fact my hands now look very similar to Frodo Baggins' feet, and once again find my inner Martha.

But for now, I'm off to get my hostas planted and dig up another garden bed since I can't afford 110 lbs of cheese.

Help me.

Thankful Thursday

I can't believe it's Thursday already and I can't believe I remembered in time to post. Could I be getting my groove back?

I am thankful to be 1 house away from the pool AND for a new pool service that actually keeps it clean!

I am thankful for the talents and gifts my kids have been blessed with and enjoy. My kids won numerous awards at the end of the school year and 3 out of 4 hit some major milestones. Sophie graduated from preschool, Oliver graduated from middle and Spencer graduated from grade school. Next year should be interesting!

I am thankful for gimpy peach trees and bushes. After searching for a month, we finally found two peach trees and a couple of raspberry and blueberry bushes. They are definitely the "runts" of the litter, but we'll do our darnedest to keep them alive!

I am thankful for the little spiritual gifts our Savior leaves for us here and there. Messages, meant for only us, and testify of his love and concern. Knowing that he lives and loves us, I'm thankful for this especially.

One Step Away from a Nervous Breakdown

What is this, week 2 of summer break? Holy cow, only 17,000 weeks to go! If you're like me, still trying to get your "groove back" after the shock of another school year ending, you may need a pick me up. Here's something I got from a good friend via email. It's a funny story that may or may not be true.... I hope it is though.

My little guy, Cade (3 years), is quite a talker. He loves to communicate and does it quite well. You never have to ask him to turn up the volume. It's always fully cranked. There have been several embarrassing times that I've wished the meaning of his words would have been masked by a not-so-audible voice, but never have I wished this more than last week at Costco.

Halfway, through our shopping trip, nature called, so I took Cade with me into the restroom. If you'd been one of the ladies in the restroom that evening, this is what you would have heard coming from the second to the last stall:

''Mommy, are you gonna go potty? Oh! Why are you putting toiwet paper on the potty, Mommy? Oh! You gonna sit down on da toiwet paper now? Mommy, what are you doing? Mommy, are you gonna go stinkies on the potty?''

At this point I started mentally counting how many women had been in the bathroom when I walked in. Several stalls were full ... 4? 5? Maybe we could wait until they all left before I had to make my debut out of this stall and reveal my identity. Cade continued:

''Mommy, you ARE going stinkies aren't you? Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy! Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty? Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy! Oh ...... Mommy! I'm trying to see In dere. Oh! I see dem. Dat is a very good girl, Mommy. You are gonna get some candy!''

I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on either side of me. Where is a screaming new born when you need her? Good grief. This was really getting embarrassing. I was definitely waiting a long time before exiting. Trying to divert him, I said, ''Why don't you look in Mommy's purse and see if you can find some candy. We'll both have some!''

''No, I'm trying to see doze more stinkies.... Oh! Mommy!''

He started to gag at this point.

''Uh - oh, Mommy. I fink I'm gonna frow up. Mommy, doze stinkies are making me frow up!! Dat is so gross!!''

As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall.. I quickly flushed the toilet in hopes of changing the subject. I began to reason with myself: OK. There are four other toilets. If I count four flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this embarrassing monologue will be long gone.

''Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now? I want you to be done going stinkies! Get up! Get up!''

He grunted as he tried to pull me off Now I could hear full-blown laughter. I bent down to count the feet outside my door. ''Oh, are you wooking under dere, Mommy? You wooking under da door? What were you wooking at? Mommy? You wooking at the wady's feet?''

More laughter. I stood inside the locked door and tried to assess the situation.

''Mommy, it's time to wash our hands, now. We have to go out now, Mommy.'' He started pounding on the door. ''Mommy, don't you want to wash your hands? I want to go out!!''

I saw that my wait 'em out' plan was unraveling. I sheepishly opened the door, and found standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies crowded around the stall, all smiling and starting to applaud.

My first thought was complete embarrassment, then I thought, where's the fine print on the 'motherhood contract' where I signed away every bit of my dignity and privacy? But as my little boy gave me a big, cheeky grin while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little hands, I thought, I'd sign it all away again, just to be known as Mommy to this little fellow.

(Shannon Popkin is a freelance writer and mother of three She lives with her family in Grand Rapids , Michigan , where she no longer uses public restrooms)