Summer's Over.

It seems like we just got started on summer and all of a sudden we are starting school. I had every intention of being really good at this blogging thing over the summer, of taking pictures of the fun things that I did with the kids and sharing the books I was reading with you. And I did NOTHING, nothing at all. I think it has been 2 months without a blog at all. So here is a quick rundown of what we did and didn't do. And by quick, I'm not kidding.

Reading - I read a lot. 7 books on the American Revolution, 3 on the Declaration of Independence, 5 on the Navajo Code Talkers, 3 on the Great Depression, 3 books by Louisa May Alcott, The Scarlet Pimpernell, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensability, as well as umpteen quick reading chick lit books. They were fun, I enjoyed it.

Summer "school" ~ DH totally got into the science thing. He had a blast going through the books with AJ and picking out experaments. The favorite was using baking soda and vinegar to blow up a balloon, and pickling an egg.

Family ~ DH had surgery on both hands/wrists within 3 weeks of eachother, so a lot of time was spent taking care of him and entertaining him when he got bored.

Trips ~ We took a couple of trips to see family and they were a ton of fun. The sad part was that we had to cancel our family trip to the CA beach because DH wasn't healed enough yet.

So that's about it, it was fun, I enjoyed it, but I am ready to get back into the swing of things.

Summery Hodgpodgyness

1. Summer's here-whoohoo! What's your favorite sight, sound, AND smell associated with summer? I am not a summer person, and living here in the land of heat and tourists I have come to dislike it even more. I know that I am totally not in the majority opinion here so I will try to find things I like about it, just for you all. I will say that I love seeing happy children playing, and laughing. My favorite summer smell would be the grill.

2. Fireflies or lightning bugs...what are they called in your neck of the woods? They are called non-existent. There were no fireflies in my hometown and there are none where we live now.

3. What is something from the past week that reminded you of your childhood? Watching my girls stage an original performance with all of their dolls.

4. Define 'the good life'.  Living full of hope and love, surrounded by people who love you and knowing that God loves you.

5. Tell us what we'd see if you took a snapshot of your desk/work space? Right now. A camera, my husbands History book for the class he is taking, an issue of Real Simple, water and fat free refried beans with salsa.

6. Peaches or watermelon...yes, you have to choose. When we lived in the South, peaches without question. Here in this oasis of sin and debauchery, watermelon.


7. Ever been skinny dippin'? Is that too much for the Wednesday Hodgepodge? Rest assured we won't need details...unless of course you feel you must but remember, this is a family friendly blog so keep it G rated. Nope, I never had the opportunity, I never lived near water.


8. Insert your own random thought here. I realize I sound very much so like a Debbie Downer in this Hodgepodge, I really am just not a summer person, and I am not a Las Vegas person, and summer in Las Vegas, well it brings out the grump in me. Sorry.

Summer Classics

I am a reader. I really absolutely love to read. I could go without tv, movies, internet and phone, but I would go absolutely crazy without my books. I read constantly and quickly so as a result of that my reading tastes are eclectic to say the least. I read mystery, romance ( although I am not a fan of too much smut), comedy, classics, history both fictional and non fictional, just about everything but sci-fi. I also tend to read each of my books multiple times to save money.

This summer I have decided to read classics. I have been neglecting them for a while in favor of Sookie (the Vampire series by C. Harris) so I feel like it is time to get back to them. Another reason I choose to go back to classics is that they are free or close to it through my Nook. I have been perusing the free and discounted titles and stocking up. As of right now I have more than 50 titles stocked up.

I have started with a book that I haven't read for more than 15 years. Little Women. I am loving it actually. It is amazing how much more enjoyable these books are now that I am reading them for fun. I'll keep you updated on my progress through the summer.

Something to talk about: What's your favorite classic? Why should I add it to my list?

Mini-Diva Days of the Week

AJ, my oldest is out of school for the summer, P-nut will be starting pre-school next year. In the interest of both of them doing something productive over the summer I have been researching activities to keep their minds and bodies active and engaged. Go me! This is definitely a Domestic Diva type of activity. I had planned on doing things in a free form sort of fashion and letting the days guide themselves. Well I figured out this week that when we do that the days guide themselves no where. Even AJ asked me today if we could get on a schedule (yup, I have a 5 year old who loves schedules) So we sat down and listed all of the things that we wanted to accomplish and made a calender. It has the Days of the week for the Mini-Diva's in the house as well as a daily schedule of when we will accomplish these things.

So without further ado. The Mini-Diva Days of the Week.

Monday - Cooking/Art.
Tuesday - Handwriting Practice
Wednesday - Library/Reading
Thursday - Piano/Ballet
Friday - Sports/Science

So hopefully we have an great summer with some amazing fun for the girls and I. I can't wait to share some pictures with you!

First Day of Summer

Well here it is at least. Today is the first day that AJ will be out of school for the summer. According to her we have exactly 104 days of summer vacation. This isn't a number she choose because she counted, or someone told her. No it is because that is the number of days that the Phineus and Ferb song uses, so it must be true. If you haven't had the pleasure of watching Phineus and Ferb, here is the song for you.

I am excited for summer vacation this year because I have a lot of fun things planned for the girls including many inside activities. Wait, what's that, inside activities? Yes, you heard right. In case you didn't know we live in a desert. A so hot it will burn your toes through your sneakers if you step on the asphalt kind of desert. In less than a month we will be experiencing temperatures well about 110 and possibly above 120. So summer isn't the time for a lot of outdoor activities. We will however be making full use of any water we have available, for backyard sprinkler running, splash-pad playing and of course swimming. We are stocked up on sun screen and swimsuits.

So as we get ready I have been eagerly perusing the Internet for fun activities for kids to do indoors. I have also been talking with a neighbor that sells Usborne books and I have found a million things that I want to order from her. Ok, well maybe not a million but certainly a thousand. They have these amazing science sets that help you to teach basics science to young children which is great. They also have all sorts of how to books, and history books. My biggest problem will be choosing just a few.

I will be sharing all of my finds and fun with you, and my oopses too.  I hope that you see something that inspires you, even if you don't have kids, to make the most of summer. No matter ho many days it actually is.

~DD

Feeling a bit put out.

Today was apparently not my day. I really hurt myself tonight and I am hoping that it isn't a horrible injury and I won't be out of comission for too long.

I was getting changed for Zumba tonight and as I bent over my right knee cap rolled off to the side and popped out of place. This caused my leg to bed a little bit backwards and a little bit sideways to try and compensate. I will admit I was not a big girl about it I fell down and started screaming for DH to come and rescue me. He came in and it took a while to communicate what was wrong through the pain. Once he understood he popped the knee cap back where it needed to be.

Needless to say I did not go to Zumba tonight. I have been set up in bed first with ice and now with one of the cool water circulation machines. It doesn't hurt too badly anymore but I haven't tried moving. So I am layed up for at least the rest of the night.  I don't do layed up well. So I'm watching the History Channel and trying not to ask DH to go to the store for candy.

~DD

Tasty Thursday

Ahhhhh. Food. My love, my nutrition, my addiction. It is so funny that even though I love healthy food I cannot seem to break my addiction to junk. When I look at a bag of chips verses a plate of veggies I am more attracted to the veggies, I want the veggies, I know that they taste better and that I should be eating them. This isn't the problem. The problem is that I know all of that and then I reach for the chips. Smart huh? Yeah I know, not so much at all. It's sad really. I work so hard to break this habit, and I work so hard at being healthy and then I sabotage myself by eating junk food that I don't even like.

I don't have a recipe to share with you this week. I have been eating horribly the last few days. I don't want to share any of the recipes that I have used because they are so bad for you. It's sad really. I think I already said that, but it's true. It is sad because it is something that I know how to change and have to power to change and yet I still don't change it.

So where do I go from here? I WILL start to make better choices. I will choose to eat the food that is healthy for me. I will choose to eat the food that is more appealing to me. I will choose to stop finding ways to add junk into my diet. I feel better both physically and emotionally when I eat right, so now I just need to do it.

Wish me luck.

~DD