august books

what could be better......

a good book, beautiful weather, some quiet time in the hammock

• Run by Ann Patchett......the more I read by Patchett the more I like her writing. She is such a good story teller. I feel like I am right in the middle. I feel like I have known the characters forever rather than just meeting them a few hours ago.
• Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer.....do over. I read this one a while back but decided to re-read it because at the time that I read it, I flew through it so fast I missed a lot. Hazards of a good book!
• Potshot and Back Story by Robert B. Parker.....I listened to both of these. Our library has audiobooks you can download for FREE and I can listen to them on my iPhone while walking on the treadmill or in my car. Besides the slow download time, this ROCKS! I really like the Spenser series and enjoy even more listening to them! They are read by Joe Mantegna and he's perfect.
• The Whole Truth by David Baldacci......Summary of the book included - "An utterly spellbinding story that feels all-too-real, THE WHOLE TRUTH delivers all the twists and turns, emotional drama, unforgettable characters, and can't-put-it-down pacing that Baldacci fans expect-and still goes beyond anything he's written before." Hmmm, not so much.

Growing mold

so glad the 10 day mold growth project is over, I was a little tired of looking at a piece of molded bread on the kitchen counter!

hitting the courts

Yesterday, Carly's friend Miss MM came home with us from school.

We went to the house for them to change clothes and have a snack.

That took an hour...what were they doing?

We went to the park for the girls to play a little tennis.

They had a good time and possibly would have had more

if it hadn't been so HOT!

Carly told her dad that they only played for a little while.

She was surprised when I told her they had played for an hour.

When they were done, they still wanted to go over to the playground.

So much better way to spend the afternoon

than glued to the Disney Channel!

ding-ding ding-ding ding-ding

.

The weather was absolutly fabulous- really amazing for the middle of august! After church and lunch, we went to the park to play a little tennis. When we got there, the ice cream man was pulling in. Carly has commented several times that we haven't seen him all summer.

In previous summers he has looped through our neighborhood

but not this year. What an added treat on a wonderful Sunday!

Wishing

.

The weather is unseasonably cool

and we just couldn't stand it.

We fired up the fire pit.

Still dreaming

.

Since Carly started toddling around, she has loved to go to the pet store. There was a little step stool by the rodents that was used by the employees to reach the upper containers. I can see my sweet 2 year old pull that stool over, sit down, and make herself at home. When she was sitting, the lower row of glass terrariums was right at eye level. It was years before she realized that those rodents were for sale and people actually took them home. To her it must have been like the zoo. In fact, I think she took MamMam and Grandaddy to visit once. We still go occasionally, by her request.

.

Today we were out running errands and Kenny wanted to run in to look for something for gabby. Carly thought it was the best errand we ran all morning! They had done some remodeling and there are new rodent displays. Now they are up at eye level which makes more sense for adults (it would not have been the same for my toddler). Carly is fully aware now that those rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs go home with people. And, although she still asks she knows they are NOT coming to this home. That doesn't stop her from thinking that watching them is some of the most fun you can have!

blogging from the hammock

In keeping with our weekend goal of "doing as little of nothing" as we could, Carly and I were in the hammock reading (maybe napping) when she spotted the goldfish. Ahhh, she might get the hang of doing nothing yet!

wordless wednesday

back-to-school party

After the 1/2 day of school, the girls came over for a little back-to-school party. It gave them all something else to look forward to as we kicked off another year. We decorated with their school colors and school supplies. Carly picked the menu....pizza, fruit, & cheese puffs {because what's a party without cheese puffs?} and she decided on ice cream sandwich dessert. I made pasta salad and broccoli cornbread for the moms.

The girls get along so well together even with the age range. We have a brand new 1st grader, 2 3rd graders, 2 4th graders, and 2 6th graders. Now if there was another food that they would all eat besides cheese puffs!

Here's to more memories with friends!

"I love being a 4th grader"

We had a good back-to-school morning - no grumpiness, no whining, no tears, all excitement and smiles! There were pigs-in-a-blanket for breakfast and Carly got this super cute watch for a back-to-school happie. She was saying thank you and she said "hey mom, you know why I like it so much? because it is my 2 favorite colors." No, like that just happened?

She gave her goodies to her teacher but declined my request to take a picture of her with her new teacher. She said "no thank you". I barely got this quick shot. I think she reflexively smiled before she realized I was actually taking pictures {horrors!}.

There was no shyness when she wanted to show off her LOCKER! She thought her morning was good, she loved her teacher, but her locker is AWESOME! When I dropped her off, I couldn't leave fast enough for her but when I came to pick her up she couldn't wait for me to come see her locker. This year Carly also went "upstairs". For the last 3 years she has been on the same hall. So over the years, we have gotten to know everyone and it feels very comfortable. But 4th grade is upstairs. Exciting stuff!!

All this added up to "I love being a 4th grader".

We'll see how long that last.....

Doodlebugs Delivered!

Mrs. B's goodies all cute and ready to be delivered. Besides those fabulous Doodlebugs "chubby apple" stickers, we also added red pens, red sharpies, lime green post-its, red & green gum, red & green jelly beans, lime striped napkins, snacks, and Carly's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Think it turned out super!

We also packaged up a basket full of

oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to be delivered to

everyone else on Carly's list!

Isn't that backpack girl cute and perfect for back-to-school!

Thanks Aunt Kacey!!!!!

wanna take a bike ride?

{Carly and I have gone on a bike ride the last several mornings but by mid-afternoon, she still asks "can we take a bike ride?"}

check that off

{back-to-school cookies made}

When the first batch came out of the oven, Carly was eating one all warm and gooey. She said "this is why I always get the teacher I want, because they know they are going to get awesome treats!"

We take Carly's teacher goodies on the first day but she also thinks [and she's probably right] that lots of other people need back-to-school happies. So I make treats for her to give out to every teacher she has had since K3, the librarian, the school secretary, the principal, and frequently other people we run into in the hall. We are eagerly awaiting our stickers from Aunt Kacey {Doodlebugs} so we can package them up all cute.

is that a guinea pig on your head?

Carly and I got out this morning to run a couple of errands including finding a container to put her teacher's back-to-school happies in. We stopped at a gift shop and Carly ended up with a new webkin {with her own money}. After lots of name consideration, she named her Juarez {after the girl guinea pig in G-force}.

We picked up Carly's friend Miss K for some friend time. They talked non stop in the backseat of the car about the class lists. Carly had brought her yearbook so they could look everyone up.

We got some lunch and then headed to the movie. The night before Carly and Miss K had talked on the phone and decided on the movie. With some compromising, they chose G-force. When we got to the theater at 12:00, we discovered the non-3D version was playing at 1:05, not 12:15 like the paper said. {Carly doesn't really enjoy 3D movies} The girls had no trouble entertaining themselves. There is a small arcade in the movie. I told them I would give them money for 1 game so choose wisely {when did arcade games start costing $1}. They decided on this horse racing game. It was kind of amusing.

back-to-school week

Carly and I started our Back-to-School week today {we like to make it a week long holiday}. No work for me and lots of time together! Today started with one of our usual back-to-school errands - a hair cut. She looks mad but she was actually excited about getting it cut. She talked me into another inch. All she wanted was to still be able to pull it into a ponytail...that's my girl!

Next stop was a new errand on our list - eye brow wax! Carly has been seriously concerned about her eye brows since the end of school last year. I think one particularly mean little girl in her room made a comment about it. I told her we would talk about it before school started this year. She still felt strongly. So, here she is {in a really cute shirt her Nonna bought her yesterday} having her first eyebrow wax.

We stopped by the post office to drop off some back-to-school good mail. When we made it home, Carly found she had her own good mail. There was a box full of goodies from MamMam and Grandaddy. There was a little cork board for her locker, super cute flower magnets also for the locker, "4th graders are #1" pencils, and some really cute erasers. The girl seriously loves getting good mail!

We rented a movie- Hotel for Dogs {seriously starting to like that little video vending machine with movies for $1}. We compromised on games. Carly's choices were Life and Monopoly. I just wasn't in the mood for those. I chose Skip-Bo, Sorry, or Yatzee. We played several rounds of Sorry.

We climbed into bed and read a little, and then we made a list for tomorrow!

what a summer!

School starts in one week. Carly found out who her teacher is today and the other kids in her room. It's not a surprise, but she got the teacher she was wishing for. One year, she is going to be real disappointed that she doesn't get the teacher she wants...so far she's batting a 100%.

Right now she is with Nonna having her last hoorah. Next Wednesday, she will be going to school for her first full day of 4th grade! If you ask Carly about 4th grade, she will tell you that 4th graders are upstairs and she gets a locker! {priorities!}

visitors

{We hung this hummingbird feeder up a couple of weeks ago and we are starting to have a visitor or two. It doesn't take much to entertain us!}

july reads

{I scored at Book Traders - my favorite used book store.

I took some books and I left with these for $21.00.

Now the question is what to read next!}

• Bourne Deception by Eric Van Lustbader....another book in the Bourne series that was originally created by Robert Ludlum. I read the original 3 that the movies were based on but had not read the others written by Lustbader. I didn't enjoy it as much as the original ones. Unsure if that was because I missed 3 in the series, or because the author has changed, or if it was just the plot? Although I think most of it was because of the gaps I was missing because I missed 4,5 &6?

• Water for Elephants by Sara Grueur.....Beautifully written love story mixed in with wonderful tales of a depression era circus. It flips back & forth between present day with Jacob in a nursing home and his dreams of his life and love.

• Split Second by David Baldacci....Early story about Sean King, former Secret Service agent, as he gets dragged back into trying to solve the case that brought an end to his Secret Service days.

• The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron.....I read some book review/discussions about this children's book and wanted to read it first hand. I really liked the book. It is a story about a little girl, Lucky, whose mother dies and is abandoned by her father. He now lives with her guardian in a small {population 43} desert town. It is a story about Lucky - her friendships, her love, her fears. The controversy is that the author uses the word "scrotum" when telling about a man being bit by a rattlesnake. Why? I'm thinking nothing would have been lost in the story if he had gotten bitten on his elbow.

• Finger Lickin Fifteen by Janet Evanovich....I need to find more authors who make me laugh out loud when I am reading them or maybe this series is enough brain numbing trash for one person!