Summer

Then followed that beautiful season... Summer....
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow





Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.
~John Lubbock

Wacky Wednesday

Sometimes my kids totally crack me up. Yesterday Mel was playing with this

She ran over to me "Mommy, my frog is choking. I need to help him."
Me "Really, how can you tell?"
Mel "He's blue! Stop laughing, this is sewious I will heimwick him"
Just where did she learn about turning blue and the Heimlich maneuver?

Menu Monday and Camp

Here's where I was going to post the adorable pictures of leaving my kids at church camp. Except I couldn't catch their speeding figures whizzing by me to the field to have fun. I did get a wave. I'm obviously going to miss them much more than they miss me.

I've got the three gone at church camp and S works during dinner so it seems I have no one to feed this week. Just 5 of us for dinner. If I end up with alot of leftovers the menu might change but they usually get eaten by the boys during the next day.

Sun-bean tostados, corn on the cob, cantaloupe
Mon-chili, cornbread, cantaloupe&blueberries
Tue-chicken stir fry, mandarin oranges
Wed-spaghetti&tomato sauce, zucchini, grapes
Thu-tater tot casserole, green beans, fruit salad
Fri-ramen noodle soup, leftover fruit salad (13yo is in charge of dinner, I have to go pick up those kids at camp)
Sat-pizza, whatever leftovers are around
Sun-pork roast, corn, strawberries

Books

Those who know me know I read alot. Not as much now as I'd like, but still a good bit. I've been on a non-fiction binge lately and can recommend all these books.

David Plotz reads the bible and reacts in Good Book. Amusingly written and as close as I'll come to reading the entire thing. (Well the OT anyway). I get lost in all the begats. I guess it's a cliff notes of the Old Testament.


The Outliers and Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. It's pop science but it's interesting pop science.


Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
This book was so weirdly interesting I read it in one afternoon and evening. Ok, more like I stayed up half the night but it was a fascinating look at two anthropologically interesting groups ~ the Tarahumara and Ultra-Distance runners. Honestly, pick this one up, you don't need to be a runner to find this interesting. Really.

Submitted Without Comment

National Debt Clock

Tightwad Tuesday~The Vacation Edition

I'm sure there are tons of articles out right now about having an inexpensive vacation. I haven't looked because we've never not had an inexpensive vacation. Most years we don't have a vacation at all. We did take the kids for a trip to Holiday World last year (don on the cheap) but this year with L's appendectomy to pay for and orthodontia for S rearing it's ugly head even that was out of bounds. We could have done absolutely nothing, but that would have left dh feeling like he might as well have worked so here's what we did last week.

Mon-Indy Children's Museum $67 for 2 adults/4 kids/free 1yo
fun and educational, everyone had fun, we brought our own picnic lunch and snacks

Tue-buffet at Pizza Hut $30
we don't go out to eat or buy pizza usually so this was a treat for the kids, dh stayed home, we played games that afternoon,
I don't usually have time to do that so it seemed special. I had planned on taking advantage of dollar day at the pool but
weirdly for July it was chilly

Wed-Harry Potter $28 for me and 5 kids, no concessions but (bad me) I snuck in twizzlers in my purse

Thu-Tincaps game $45 We like baseball games. I did spend $25 on concessions.
We took the two littlest ones to the free splash park that afternoon to make up for no game. Dh and ds opted to stay
home so no sitter needed.

Fri-Fort Wayne Children's Zoo $67 for pass. I bought a zoo pass last year so cost
was already payed. We hadn't been to see their new African Exhibit, which was very good, so it seemed new. We again
brought a picnic lunch and played at the park.

Sat-Fired up the barbie and cooked out. We don't do that too much so it seemed like a treat. Hot dogs, burger,chicken. Yum
I had all the food in the freezer so no extra $$ spent over normal groceries. Dh and I hung out with the little kids and
took them to the park.

Sun-The kids and I went to church except for dh and 15yo who went browsing at sporting goods stores. Different stroke, etc.
We took the kids who were interested swimming -$6

So $268 for vacation counting the zoo pass. I probably spent some gas money so call it $300. Not free but not bad for 9 people to have a good week.

Menu and Fun Extra

I'm back from a week on 'vacation' which mostly involved a couple day trips and trying to figure out how to have fun for nothing. More on that tomorrow. For today

Menu
Mon: spaghetti & veggie tomato sauce, 1 hr french bread garlic toast, salad
Tue: chicken breasts w/soupy rice, broccoli, applesauce
Wed: tacos/enchiladas, corn, mandarin oranges
Thu: grilled cheese, soup, fruit cocktail
Fri: hamburger stroganoff, green beans, pears
Sat: hot dog spaghetti squiggles (see below), carrots, peaches
Sun: shepherd's pie, peas, cake

Here's the link to how to make this

Argh

Flying By

So the 4th is over, summer's half gone. Shoot! The weekend was filled Thu-Sun with holiday/festival fun. Monday I had a migraine and yesterday I made applesauce from free apples the neighbors let us have off their tree. I'm thankful for that but criminy I was sick of apples by the time I was done. I couldn't seem to remember to take my camera anywhere this weekend. I did take almost the same shot of three kids while they were doing the 'olympics'. Notice none of them are wearing shoes. They took this as seriously as if it had been an actual competition.

What A Difference

So after miserable heat, it is now unseasonably cool. Not that I'm complaining. I just find the 30 degree drop weird. A semi quiet week here. Baseball and softball tourney have started but then they have to stop for our town's Fourth of July Festival which runs from the 2nd through the 5th. They use the ball park for events. At least it should provide entertainment for the kids all weekend. It's so wholesome it makes your teeth ache but the kids love it. S started work yesterday so now two of them are earning $$. The 13 yo is dejected he can't work yet. I've been doing some 'creating' from a cool old bed sheet I bought for a dollar. Here's the little girls in their dresses. E got a halter top and L a skirt from the same sheet. Imagine if I used a pattern how much better this would be. I really need to quit just cutting and seaming, but they're happy with them so what the hey.