Aunt Anna May has a blog!! Yipee!!

Yesterday we celebrated Franja by having a shower for Annie. Despite the fact the I had to wrong address on the invites, everyone came and I think had a grand old time. The food was yummy, and Annie got a load of happy baby loot.

The baby shower was also alive with little people. Christopher had a blast with chatting with his little friends and thinking he was a big boy.

Check out this site. I kid you not, Zita is a more popular name that Anja (in the US). Way to go on originality, Annie!! Although, I don't know how trustworthy it is . . . it says there are zero PeterXavier's!!

For Christopher's birthday, his loving aunt and uncle got him a pet frog. I think they underestimated the effect that this little pet would have on our entire household. The kids love him -- I think PeterXavier would sleep with him at night if I let him. But this little frog has led this little family on quite the adventure. For starters, we are already on frog number 2. Don't ask me what happened to the first one, because no one know. He's just gone. vanished.

The other thing about our frog friend is that he his a very finicky eater. Worse than my kids. He'll only eat moving food. So the meal worms that you purchase by the 50 count and then die, he won't eat. This means that my husband is running out to the pet store for live crickets every other day. So this morning, tired of going cricket hunting every night, (did I mention that the kids like to catch frog food?) he has now decided to breed beetles for the frog.

I can't wait until little Franja is old enough for pets. I'm going to drop a doozy of a creature on old Nana and Martin.

I think I believe in global warming now. This is crazy weather. Thank goodness for uncles with swimming pools!! Annie, my mom, and I took the kidders over to swim today. The water was the temperature of an average August day, but today, that was refreshing.

Andrew is going to take the kids to dulcimers at the fountain tonight and let them get nice and soggy. I think these "dog days" of summer should be renamed the "water days" because that is the only way to survive.

Don't melt!

I can't believe it has been over a week since I last posted. I apologize to all of my readers!! I hope you haven't abandon me.

We had a wonderfully successful garage sale at my mom's today. Hooray for people who paid me money for my junk. I love you all.

Tomorrow, Andrew is in the chili cookoff at Sportsman's Warehouse. Come vote for his awesome chili!!

And that is all I have to say for today, because I am tired. Soon, I will post pictures of my silly monkeys on their new bikes. Good night!

Here are two of the cutest little girls, all gussied up and being oh-so-girly. We went to a little birthday tea for Grace's friend Sarah. Complete with big hats, tiny cups, and yummy chocolates, these little girls both born smack in the middle of a family of boys, had such a wonderful time!

Kathy, from Kathy's Kandies on Main Street, hosted our tea. She also provided the fabulous hats (decorated by Jan at First Class Clutter!!), beads, and tiny tea cups!

Gracie loves to be cute!!

Kathy also served us the cutest tea. The leaves are sewn together so that when they are put into a (clear) tea pot with the hot water, they open up like a flower! Too cute!

Today's Funny:

Grace: PeterXavier's hair is yellow!
Christopher: It's blond. I'm sure glad I'm not blond.
Me: Why's that?
Christopher: Because then I would bump into things.
Me: Excuse me?
Christopher: Yeah. When you're blond you can't see anything.

Yesterday was Andrew's birhday, so he took. the. day. off. Which is something he hasn't done since . . . maybe ever. And even then, he still did a bunch of work in the morning. But the afternoon was free. We took the kids to the park, ate at Chipotle (!!), and went swimming at my hilarious Uncle Johnny's. Then Andrew and I went to dinner and this major dive in Battleground. It as dark and dingy, but the food was great. I mean, anytime you order something called the "Bear Special" it has to be good!

Dancing in the Streets was fantastic last night. Thanks to a few hard working friends, paid in beer, everything came off without a hitch. Well, except for the fact that we ran out of hot dogs. But that wasn't as big of a deal as it might have been. The crowd was HUGE!! All of the vendors were running out of stuff. It was a mad house, but tons of fun!

Tonight is Celtic Spring and the ice cream social at St. B. Ice cream provided by us. Good thing tomorrow is Andrew's birthday and he is taking the day off. He needs it! I think he worked 18 hours yesterday, running at full speed!

Someone got to my blog today by googling "Lady Comp Blog"!!! How great is that?!?!

I apologize for that rather obnoxious last post. Despite what some people may think, I did not do it on purpose. For those who have been sitting on the edge of their seats for the last week, it has finally been updated.

This weekend is going to be mad packed. We have Market and Dancing in the Streets tomorrow. If you want to attend Dancing, but have no ready cash (or just because you love me!), call me. If you work a "shift" for us, I'll pay your entrance fee and throw in a beer to boot! I am serious -- just give me a ring!

Some people are geniuses of the imagination. I am not one of them, but I have a grand old time imitating those who are. I found a pattern online and by some magic of the pattern, not the seamstress, this:

not so attractive man's shirt became this:

What's wrong with blogger all of a sudden?? It won't let me post pictures! I JUST DID IT AND NOW IT WON'T LET ME!! Well, you'll just have to guess what this shirt became and hope that blogger is nicer to me tomorrow!

**UPDATED**

And there you have it. The not-so-cute mans shirt becomes the super cute girls dress. Not bad, huh? I can take no credit though, all the difficult work was done by the pattern maker and the company who made the shirt in the first place!

Needless to say, this is my new project line. I am working on another one right now, complete with a headband which lived a previous life as a shirt collar!

There is a whole community outside of town that is truly hidden from us "city folk". And what a beautiful community it is! My mom, Annie, the kidders, and I went out to Flora today and visited all of the "horse and buggy" shops. (that is the term they use, not a derogative one). They're little markets are really cute and the people that run them are so sweet. The prices were pretty nice too! We got a lot of natural and homemade items but didn't have to pay the premium prices. I got "sorghum" which I have been wanting to try for a while now, but never wanted to pay the price for it. I didn't really even know what it was . . . but I have now learned all about it! This is the nutritional break down :

Potassium 200mg per tablespoon
Protein 300mg per tbsp.
Calcium 30mg per tbsp.
Magnesium 20mg per tbsp

Not to bad for sweetener! It is also high in iron. It is actually the "juice" from the sorghum grain, which is cooked down just like one would do to make maple syrup. It is the "poor man's syrup" which is perfect for us!

I also got an old feed sack to cut up and sew into dish towels. I think it's great, but I did wonder this evening just what my Grandma would say if she knew we had paid. money. for feed sacks to turn into towels when we could buy them at the store. I find it interesting that what we think is fun -- simply because we don't have to do it -- was a chore just a generation ago. (It's like when Annie got an antique coffee pot for a shower gift and Aunt Betty thought it was junk that belonged in the trash!!) We certainly take for granted just how easy life can be with all of the modern conveniences!

Everyone who read the last post and ignored it, you missed out! Riverfest, once again, was a wonderful little festival jam-packed with fun! I paddled in two races, won one and lost one. Smoked my hubbys team. Then lost the other race because we almost capsized -- paddling takes second seat to trying to stay above water! Either way, it was super fun and I highly recommend everyone participate next year!

Sunday we went to the river and canoed down to the Schafer's for a little welcome home party for Gwen. There was lots of swimming, chatting, plenty of beer, and lots of little monkeys on the trampoline. We had a really nice time and the hopped in our canoe to paddle home. That's when the adventure began. The river was as smooth as glass. It should not have been a problem at all. As we neared the island, we smacked into a rock and got lodged on top of it. Andrew finally had to jump out and get us moving again. Then, one stroke in and Andrew snapped his paddle in half. In the rapids, with only one paddle, Andrew jumps out to pull the canoe and breaks his sandle. He finally got us the short way through the fast water, hopped back, and paddled us on up the river. I sat back and pretended I was riding in a gondula. Lucky for us, my parents had dinner for us when we got back.

Don't you want to be them?? If you want to participate in the COOLEST festival of the summer, come to Tapawingo Park on Saturday and paddle in the Riverfest races! Here is a little historic info.

The part of North America in which we live was once a vast wilderness of mostly forest, almost impenetrable by anyone other than the Native Americans who had lived here for centuries.

The demand for quality furs, however, brought European trappers in search of the abundant beaver and other fur bearing animals that were so plentiful in this area. These trappers were dependent on the services of a hale and hardy breed of wilderness pioneer, the voyageur, to provide transport of supplies in and pelts out from this densely wooded land. Those pelts were taken along our waterways to Canada and out the St. Lawrence en route to markets throughout Europe.

The Voyageurs worked hard and they played hard. They ate, they drank, they sang songs, they played competitive games, and they raced their canoes.

Today you can see replicas of those canoes being raced on the Wabash once again, not by trappers and traders, but by bankers, firefighters, city workers, and many others who love to compete and who love the river.

This is your chance to become a "Voyageur for a day" and recreate an activity that was part of those events that resulted in our living today on the banks of the beautiful and mighty Wabash River.

The requirement for the boat is that we have 9 people paddling and at least 3 of each gender.

Come join the fun! We need plenty of "fill in" paddlers, so show up anytime Saturday, midmorning to early afternoon, talk to my dad, and have a good old fashioned good time!

Our three little monkeys have been upgraded to five this week. My brother and his ladies are here visiting for the week. All five little monkeys are having a grand old time playing in the mud, befriending bugs and frogs, and eating lots of food. Christopher and Angelica are inseperable little buddies.

The plan was to go to the Fiddler's this weekend, but the rain kept the weak and pregnant (Anna's prego, I'm weak!) away, so we went to the Bistro instead. We were warm and dry and had some great conversation. We missed the music, but sometimes warm is better!

On Sunday the Hatke's went off with the Hatke Majors while we Antonio's headed out to the Thistle Byre Farm to visit with the lovely Rider family. What a great time! Their farm is beautiful!! The kids had a really nice time running around outside and playing with the other young children. The grown ups had a wonderful visit and ate lots of yummy food fresh off the land.

Normal mothers would rejoice and enjoy the peace when their yound child took a nap on her own. Not me . . . I freak out and call 911. Gracie entirely covered herself with the pillow shams and fell sound asleep on her bed. In the shams, she was completely out of sight, save one timy lock of hair. Christopher and I called and called through the house for her, checking every nook and cranny. We searched outside, employing the help of some kindly strangers, I called my dad, got the neighbor . . . I was in full flip-out mode by the time Rita found her sleeping peacefully. I feel like a dope, especially since the police man had to come in a check on her, but adventures such as this make you realize just how much you children mean to you, and that is a good thing.

Speaking of peacfully sleeping children, little Zita, stark naked, is snoring at me feet!

I spent the day at odds with my sewing machine. Seems the darn thing has decided that it is angry with me. Probably mad because I have neglected him for so long. I can't blame him, but really, does he have to be so mean?

What a busy wonderful weekend!! Saturday was Father David's ordination, which was fabulous. It was such an amazing ceremony. It was not the first time that I had attended an ordination, but I don't remember the other one being so ceremonial. The reception afterwards was great too. I got all the kids clean and dressed well, and of course we were late. Grace fell asleep in the car, so I scooped her up to go inside, only to discover that she was not wearing underwear. I about died. Thanks be to goodness, for some reason completely unknown to me, there was a clean pair in the car. (See, it pays to have a car that looks like you live in it!!).

Father's Day was a wonderful day at the river. The Weeks family came up to join the fun. The kids had a great time -- the river level was perfect! The girls got a bunch of muscles and cooked them on the fire. Then tried to eat them. In all the many years that our family has been going to the river, never once have we tried to eat the muscles. (Although Ben and Denver did eat crawdads once). I think the girls prefered the s'mores.