An update......unedited and uncut

Joolee.........

• is on day 2 of her Atkins induction. Gotta lose 10 pounds by the 21st in order to win a cash prize from a friendly competition.
• is officially the proud owner of a monarch chrysalis. And lots of caterpillar poo. Who knew?
• is too hot to handle. Uugh. This weather!
• is scrambling to find a box big enough to mail the Land of Nod quilt she bought for $10 (at a garage sale) and sold for $75 (on eBay)!
• is looking forward to some delish streaks on the grill tonight. Mmmmmm.
• wonders where all her clothespins went?
• just killed a HUGE bug in the bottom of a laundry basket downstairs:( And is wondering where they could squeeze in a main floor laundry.
• is gonna wash that stinky vinyl shower curtain.
• has been getting lots of great deals at Cub and Walgreens:)
• is sending out invites to a teeny tiny tea party.
• is wondering about Josie's wardrobe choice for the day. Jeans and no shirt!?!
• is surprised how little the family misses their TV. Going on 3 weeks now.
• saw Julie & Julia Sunday night and was inspired to blog and cook, though not necessarily inspired to blog about cooking.
• is gathering her fall curriculum.
• is limping around after getting back on the P90X legs wagon yesterday.
• is thrilled to be welcoming a new niece and nephew into the family soon......Jason and Becca are now able to adopt their 2 lil cuties!:)
• is dreading the start of fantasy football season.
• had a wonderful time with her family who came up to visit last weekend.
• fears she will be disappointed by every future agate hunt after finding the agate of a lifetime.
• is loving the blog 100 layer cake.......and wanting to plan a wedding or formal party of some kind.
• is savoring a cup of sugar free jello with whip cream as she types this with 2 fingers.
• feeling like a selfish jerk as she eats said jello while Gwen stares at it longingly. Aspartame is not for kids, people!
• is gonna end here.

Our Favorite Beach

Last night we met up with some good friends at our favorite beach to grill out and enjoy a perfect summer evening.

Josie and Michael feeding the gulls

Josie.......what a ham!

Steve and his girls

Josie fell in the water trying to wade out to this rock.......brrrrrr!

Ella with her feather mustache

Dirty girl

And of course........the most relaxing of all past times.......rock throwing.

I love summer in the Northland:)

Giveaways

Here's me......making time for my blog again solely to increase my chances of winning these fabulous giveaways.......

The Farm Chicks

(whose book I just got from the library:)

AND

A Bushel and a Peck

I'm too busy getting ready for company to post pretty pics from their blogs, but rest assured that these two top my list of faves! Can't wait to announce that I've been randomly chosen:)

The day Joolee picked the olives off her frozen pizza.....

........and nothing more.

OK. I suppose I DID empty out our vintage pop-up camper that lost it's pop-up (cable broke).

Here the kids are using the old cushions for their "bunk beds."

And I suppose I DID read and attempt to decipher the instruction manual of my not so new camera.

But I did NOT get my 3 year old dressed.

Or fix her hair.

I suppose I DID put on my running shoes.......

but only to baby my feet after wearing heels for 7 plus hours yesterday.

I did NOT wash the pizza off the girls' faces before taking their pictures.

So that's about it folks.

A perfectly beautiful summer day.......

and me enjoying my perfectly lazy life:)

I think I'll win......I think I'll win.......I think I'll win......

If I win this bike, I promise never to hop in the car for a quick trip to the Piggly Wiggly.

Cross my heart. (oh wait......unless it happens to be one of the 300 days of a Northland winter)

Happy Birthday America!

May your holiday weekend be filled with

homemade ice cream, homemade ice cream,

and more homemade ice cream.

Especially if you will be weighing in tomorrow;)

My Flag

By Addie (written at age 7)

My flag is so beautiful,

my flag is so fun.

How many flags like this are there?

There is only one.

It blows in the wind,

what a beautiful sight.

It blows in the wind

all day and all night.

It blows in the wind like a beautiful kite.

It has 13 stripes,

some are red, some are white.

It blows above hills,

it blows above cars.

It looks like the night

with it's pretty white stars.

.......I think she she wrote more, I just can't track down the finished copy.

Iowa

We just got home from a family reunion in Iowa. Most of my pictures turned out pretty grainy and/or washed out. (I'm going to blame it on the blazing sun and unbearable humidity.) I had to do some creative editing to make them presentable but I just LOVE the way this one of my little brother and Gwen turned out.

Ella with her cousin Lydia

Addie and her Papa

The girls with their cousin Chloe..... absolutely giddy

while trading candy they got at a parade

they went to earlier in the week

with Mimi and Papa.

Catching fireflies......magical.

Josie and Lydia.......dancing to the Blues.

And finally.......look at this action shot!

Father's Day

Hey dad. It's me.....your daughter........the one who rarely never gets anything in the mail in time for major holidays. And I'm sorry I haven't at least called. My voice is totally gone after all that screaming I did at the races this weekend. I hope you don't interpret my lack of planning or phone calls as a lack of love and gratitude for all that you've done.....all that you've taught me.....all that you are. I've thought about you LOTS today (and I DO mean LOTS) as I've spent the last 2 hours trying to make a personalized smilebox card for you....complete with personalized photos and a Lucky Kids soundtrack. But this is me, admitting defeat.....I'm having problems....and where I'd normally run to you with my technological difficulties, it seems wrong to ask you for help in creating your own Father's Day card.

So if it's OK with you, I'd like to publicly (I suppose my 5 readers makes this a "public" forum?) thank you for just a few things on this Father's Day.

• Thank you for building me that adorable dollhouse AND cradle for my babies. It may not have had 3,000 shingles, Amy Lawson, but it had carpet, curtains, a woodstove, AND a little dishwasher with pull out racks. Hear that Amy Lawson? My dad loved me more than your dad loved you!
• Thanks for taking me on a date when I "became a woman" to show me how a guy should treat a girl. As awkward as it was for me (and maybe even you), it was a very sweet gesture.....one I doubt many fathers can say they made.
• Thank you for making me feel beautiful. Even when I wasn't. (Insert photo of redhead with short boy hair and HUGE buck teeth here). Really. My insanely high self esteem is all thanks to you;)
• Thank you for loving and accepting Steve as your own son. I can't tell you how thankful I am that you guys have that kind of relationship.
• Thank you for loving mom the way you did/do. It was because of your example that I knew what to look for in a husband.
• Thank you for working hard so mom could stay home with us. Without that I surely would not be the same person today. Oh, and thanks for having a cool job as a "stripper." I sure loved telling my friends what you did for a living.
• Thank you for having a sense of humor. A dry sense of humor, but humor nonetheless:)
• Thanks for music. Music=happiness.
• Thanks for loving my kids enough to let them play with your iphone:)
• Thanks for watching the kids by yourself (including the diapered one!) so mom could be with me in the hospital for Gwen's delivery. I couldn't have done it without you both.
• Thanks for loving me, in word and deed. "I'm the luckiest girl in the world.......cuz I've got a daddy who loves me......" You are my biggest encourager. Thanks for seeing the best and ignoring the rest.

Happy Father's Day Dad.

I love you!

(now that mom and I finally got a decent picture together, I think it's time for you-n-me.....wouldn't that look nice here?)

"Linky Love" and my Love

This post is pretty funny. I'm just sad I wasn't the one to write it.

And this girl never ceases to amaze and inspire me. Between reading about the mad love she has for her Mr. Nielson and rereading listening to The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands on CD while cleaning the living room moving piles of stuff from one room to another, I am falling in mad love with this man again. 

Not that I was ever "out of love"......maybe I had just started to take him for granted. 

NO MORE.

Anyway, if you've never read Nienie's blog or The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, I strongly recommend them both. 

Oooh, and one more link.......my lil bro is back!!! YAY!