You Don't See That Every Day

Take for instance the peach. An impressive fruit, although a quiet one. It doesn't call attention to itself, like, say the mango - whose name you can say over and over and try and sound exotic. Maaaaaaaaaaangooooooooooooo. The peach has a pleasant color. A reddish and yellowish hue on the outside hiding the beautiful dark peach color inside. It's not yellow, nor red, nor orange, but ... peach. And then the taste. The taste isn't knock-your-socks-off like a mango or a berry (any berry). It is more of a subliminal taste, enticing your taste buds to an enjoyable flavor. This morning for breakfast I had my first peach of the summer off of our very own peach tree in our yard. It was wonderful!

The backyard has become a sports arena this week. Today I am hearing the sounds of a baseball game from the four children out there. "Run! RUN!" yells one sister to another. "I AM!" yells the younger one back at her. And then I hear, "You better go back to third or I'm gonna tackle you." Yes, baseball can quickly turn into football here. Earlier in the week when I had had quite enough of their attitudes I sent the 4 of them out to pull weeds. Out of the house, ahhhh, peace and quiet. Next thing I know, they are done with the weeds (nice job!) and are putting together a kid Olympics for themselves. They had out a measuring tape and stopwatch and all kinds of different sports to complete. And each of them won first in their age division. It takes me back to when I was a kid and we had a game of softball in the back field nearly every night. The neighbor kids would come over and we would split up into teams. We would often play until we couldn't see a...

Ranting today about: Memory. For a moment there I actually almost forgot the topic. My memory is going, or mostly gone, or just comes back in spurts. It's kind of like Swiss cheese. Randomly missing parts.This past week I have had 2 phone messages. I wrote down "Call (name)" so that I would remember to return their call. Thankfully they were not super duper important must return right away life or death phone calls. Because I forgot to call back. And then as I was feeding or changing someone, I would think "Oh, yeah I gotta call them" and then promptly forget. My poor friend must think I don't care anymore. I just keep forgetting to call people back. Last week I went to the store to pick up some chili for the guys to take on their campout. I wrote it on my grocery list. I mentioned it to my children who were with me the entire time. And I forgot to buy the chili. Got everything else though. Ah, memory, come back to me. My rant today: I love l...

We had a bit of a segregated weekend this time around. G took the boy out to the woods for some backpacking/camping. They were gone for about 28 hours, but it was all good. I had the girls, who had birthday parties to go to, so in between those and getting Jamba Juice, we had some good 'girl time' together; the clincher being when we locked my purse, with cell phone, keys, etc. in the truck. I had high hopes of checking out the farmer's market and the downtown basketball tournament. Instead we spent 2 1/2 hours trying to get back into the pickup. I am very thankful for AAA and my sister; plus the shade we 'happened' to park in.

After yesterday's posting I realized how often we use certain movie lines in our everyday speech around here. They just fit so well at certain moments. I have a few members of the family here that have an amazing ability to remember movie lines after hearing them maybe once or twice. My husband can quote the whole movie "National lampoon's Christmas Vacation". Here are a few of them we use most often, see if you can guess which movies they come from: "As you wish" "That there's a rec-re-ational ve-hic-le" "Laugh it up furball"

Severed Heads -- heard around our place frequently, usually from the Man of the house. for example, this conversation was heard again this week: Daughter: Dad, I want to show you something. Dad: It'd better not be a severed head. and this one: Daughter: Daddy, we bought something today. Dad: If it's a severed head, I'm going to be very upset. Do you know which movie that lines comes from?

Expectations. Everyone has them, whether they are good or bad. Last week all 5 children went to the eye doctor. I decided to get the eyes checked on the 4 older kids, since both G and I wear lenses. (I have had glasses since I was 7; G first got glasses in 6th grade.) We were there for nearly 2 hours, since all 4 had to go in and out. The older two had their eyes dilated, and this added some extra time onto the appointment. All in all, the kids did pretty well. None need glasses yet! As we were preparing to pay and leave, the doctor commented on how calm the children were, and how well-behaved they were. He said something to the effect of how rowdy his own 2 are and they would never have been so good for so long. I was a little surprised, b/c I thought they were just acting normal (my kids, that is). Later that evening G and I talked about this and we thought that maybe it has a lot to do with expectations. If you expect your child to obey you and behave in public, then ch...

The weekend wore me out. It was nonstop go-go-go. Or so it seemed by Sunday night. I probably gained 5 pounds instead of losing any. Not that I know for sure since we don't own a scale. But it was an eating weekend. On Saturday the annual family reunion/ small town festival was held. The baking contest this year was decided on appearance not taste. So my kids had a fun time coming up with something to enter. (And yes, mom had to help) Here are their entries: Plus there was plenty to eat at the picnic, as always. And then on Sunday we headed out to another picnic get-together with my husband's side of the family. We went to a special gathering of an archery club. The kids, and even G and I, got to shoot some arrows, and eat some more! Family. It keeps us going.

Here's one that has the kids laughing this week: Why should you knock before opening the refrigerator? Because you might see the salad dressing. hahahahahaha

The time of year has come to canning. Not that I am going to do much this year, I think. I have already put up some jars of jam; but with our new stove top I don't think I will be using the pressure cooker anytime soon. Which leads me to another question, Why do so many people assume the pressure cooker is scary or difficult to use? It must be that age-old experience thing -- being afraid of something one has never experienced or tried before. I suppose I was a little nervous the first time I ever used the p.c. on my own. But after years of helping my mom can green beans in the p.c. and after numerous phone calls that first time of canning, I feel like a pro now. No fear. However, no fear did come with certain, um, interesting experiences. Yes, I have a blowing-up story to tell: So my kids are young at the time ... I think there were 3 of them then. And they were waiting in the van to go to my sister's house. I was finishing up a batch of green beans. I didn't want to keep...

I know it is over a week later, but I finally have gotten around to thinking and writing about our Independence Day holiday. We usually go camping with my family over the 4th - a tradition that extends way back to my childhood, when my 9 siblings and parents would join up with my aunt and uncle and their 10 children to go camping. but this year was not feasible for us for various reasons .. one of them being baby K, the other being a wedding (more on that later). So we had a backyard barbecue instead, with my in-laws and one of my brothers and his family. It was actually very nice to just have a small number of people around. Not that we wouldn't welcome more. So after filling our tummies full of good eats ((side not .. why do holidays center around food so much? Is it just American? Or do other countries center around food? Ah .. thoughts for another day's post.) So we lit some minor fireworks while it was still pretty light out. Miss M was prepared, as you can see in the p...

The rant this week: crazy drivers. You've got the one who never uses their turn indicator. Argh. Drives me crazy! How was I suppose to know they wanted me to let them in front? If they had used their blinker I would have gladly made room ... but no, they just decide to cut over and cause my heart to palpitate faster than it should. Then there are the drivers who weave. In and out and in and out. Like that will get them to their destination any quicker? Usually not. There was one trip last year where G and I were driving down a freeway, and a 'weaver' came up on us really fast. He was not driving safely and we were not happy. We just wished there was a cop around. Well, a few miles later we saw flashing lights ... and, lo and behold, this time our wishes came true! The crazy driver had been pulled over by a police officer. One thing my sister said a long time ago, not to get mad at the stupid or crazy drivers, but to pray that no one gets hurt by them. So I try to do that. D...

We took a little trip this weekend. It was time for Miss M to show off her flower-girl skills. And she did a Fine job! We curled up her hair and she wore the tiara here cousin presented to her at the rehearsal dinner. M was thrilled with it! When she was all fancied up, I sent her out of the hotel bathroom to show her dad. I think he could have cried at the sight of his little girl looking quite grown up in her heeled sandals and done-up hair. Most of the time lately, M looks more like a tomboy than a princess. On this day she looked quite like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Beside how beautiful she looked, I was so proud of how well she carried herself throughout the weekend. The rehearsal and dinner were hot, and we were all sweaty and thirsty. But she met the ring bearer Nick for the first time ever, and became instant friends with him. He is also a very nice boy, one I don't mind my daughter getting to know! And M did so well with all the pictures and waiting around, no compl...

On a very hot day this summer, as I was in the kitchen, my 9 year old says to me, "It's too hot to wear clothes. So I changed." I turned around quickly to look at her. She was wearing a swimsuit. Conversation between G and me, as he is teasing me mercilessly: "I'm going to throw this bread at you." "Would you? I'm hungry!"

Baby K is 2 months old plus 2 weeks. We went in for her checkup today and she was deemed Healthy. She is in the upper percentiles for the 3 checkpoints -- weight: 12 lbs 6 oz; length: about 23 inches (depending on if her neck stretches out); head circumference: 40.5. So that's 75%, 60% and 80% accordingly. I think she might be taking after her dad's side of the family. She is cooing and smiling at us more and more. Her big sisters are good at talking to her and getting her to respond. And big brother even picks her up and walks with her when she needs it. I don't know how I would do this all without their help!

OK, so I don't really have a rant today. Nothing that chaps my hide so far this week. Instead I came up with 2 raves. First, Farm Fresh Produce. Don't you just love summer and all the fresh food?! I never appreciated it as a kid. We had so much fresh food back then; (the only way my parents could afford to feed all of us I guess!) There were peaches, cherries, apples and berries, pears, and all that the garden could produce. Now up at my dad's farm there are peaches, pears, apples, cherries, berries, and all that a garden can produce. I have very vivid memories of getting up early on hot summer days and helping my mom either prepare for canning, or pick the berries to make jam. And earlier this week I had my own daughters help me make jam from our raspberries. Today we went and picked peas, carrots and cherries at the farm. Yum! Eating them straight out of the ground, or off the bush just can't be beat! I heard some grumbling from the kids about the heat and the work, b...