Monsoon season!

Monsoon season is upon us, which means it is cooling of a bit around here (you know, highs in the mid to upper 90's).  During a recent storm some of the kids asked if they could go out to play.

It didn't take long for them to get soaked.  I'm sure they were in need of showers and their clothes were dirty anyways; I should have sent some soap out with them in that shower.

Jump Rope camp

Our friend and piano teacher put on a jump rope camp this week.  Three of my kids jumped at the chance to go right away (Miss E, Mr. M, and Miss J).  At the last minute Mr. S asked if he could join in after jump roping with some friends over the week-end.  Mr. R spent the first hour of the first day watching before he decided it looked like everyone else was having loads of fun; he wanted to join in.  So my five oldest all spent the week learning to jump rope, including tricks!

Every morning we were out the door by at least 7:30, if not sooner (having had breakfast, done Bible reading, cleaned the kitchen and picked up around the house).  Every morning the kids packed up a basket full of jump ropes and water bottles.  Every morning I packed a bag full of snacks, toys, activities etc for little kids.

When they started the kids could barely jump rope (if at all), by the end most of them were doing small tricks and had just generally shown great improvement.  Most of all I was proud of all of them for sticking to it and working hard.  They were all sore the first couple of days, but kept going.  It was quite a work out and exhausting, but they all kept going.  

 

Miss J was one of the youngest there.  She had been warned that it would be hard work and a long morning.  She stuck to it every day determined that she IS a big kid!

The little kids (Miss C and Mr. K) enjoyed playing with many of their friends and watching all of the bigger kids.  They even tried a bit of jump roping themselves.

We had a great week.  It is always great to see the kids learning new skills and pushing themselves to keep going, even when it is tough.  I'm glad the early mornings are over for now, 6:20 Bible reading time in the morning is going to feel like sleeping in for a while!

Happy Birthday to me!

The night before my birthday I was sent to bed early by the kids with the request that I not leave my room until morning.  They were decorating.  It sounded like they were putting on their own little party out there as they went about their secret plans.

This is what I came out to in the morning.  A maze of balloons all down the hallway and in the living room too!

For my birthday I took the kids to the Children's Museum.  We met some friends there and we all had a GREAT time.

 

I was able to have some special time with Miss E doing some shopping later in the day.  The kids set up a restaurant for dinner so that Rob and I could have a date while they waited us (and had their dinner in the other room).

What a wonderful day, filled with special time with my family.

Eat more Chikin

It was dress like a cow day at chick-fil-a yesterday.  If you dressed like a cow you received a free meal.

The kids cut out spots and made ears fro everyone.  Most of us managed a black and white outfit (though we had a couple of brown cows too).  Miss E even "branded" some white spots with our family crest.

Not a bad deal.  The kids spent the afternoon doing a craft and we got a free meal out of it!

Creme Brulee

The other day I noticed Mr. M had added to my shopping list.  What was he wanting to make?  He told me he wanted to make Creme Brulee for me.  Ok then!

He made the whole thing up from start to finish on his own, with very little help.  Daddy did supervise when the torch was needed.  He did a great job.  The whole family enjoyed this fun treat!

Thanks Mr. M!

 

We enjoyed our cool treat in the evening on our cool tile floors.  It is HOT here!

The 85 is at 5:45am, the 117 is from time time in the last week or so.  The 20 is from month ago in the winter.  It seems to stay 82 in the kitchen area, no matter how much the AC is running.

A new kitten!

We were down to just one cat and feeling the need for another one.  At just the time we were thinking we should ask around if anyone had kittens we got an e-mail from friends who had received one of our kittens last year.  Their cat had kittens, did any one want one?

This is Cookie.

Cookie fits in well with our family.  He is sweet, seems to enjoy some cuddles, but has lots of spunk to him.

He is getting lessons in life with Mr. K (and Mr. K is getting lessons in life with a kitten).  Both have some learning to do.  Kitty is learning that it may be best not to walk up to Mr. K or sit down next to him.  Mr. K is learning to be gentle and to put kitty down when he is wiggling or scratches WILL happen.  Both seem to like one another despite their differences and look like they may become buddies once they get a few things worked out.

A very productive Saturday

Saturdays are often cleaning or work days around here, and that was the plan for today.  Our day ended up being even more productive than first planned.  My plan for the morning was to make Peach BBQ sauce (peaches were on sale, $.48 a pound!) while the kids cleaned bathrooms and floors.

*Even the little ones get into the cleaning.  Mr. K had so much fun helping Miss E clean the mirrors.  It looks like he did a good job too!

When a friend stopped by with some surplus produce my plans for the rest of the day changed.  I already had plenty of peaches, and she happened to come with just about all of the remaining needed ingredients for peach salsa.  

I love all of the bright colors when I get it all in the pot.  Once it is processed it loses much of the contrast, but it sure is pretty while it cooks!

Meanwhile the little kids took over our bedroom.  I had picked up a kitchen set the other day and we put it in our room to clean up before moving it to the girls room.  We were so busy the last two days we just didn't get to moving it.  The little girls brought their new quilt into the room and put it on our bed and set up house there.  It was so sweet to see them playing.  Mr. K is loving the set too.

I realized I had everything I needed to make a batch of regular salsa as well.  So, while Rob took the big kids to a friend's house to swim and the little ones napped, I made that up.

12 jars of peach BBQ sauce, 7 jars of peach salsa, and 5 jars of salsa

Dinner ended up being extra bright and colorful with roasted peppers and sautéed zucchini (part of the produce from a friend), salad with raspberries, peach salsa (for the chicken), and broiled peaches.

 

After dinner I shredded up most of the zucchini that was brought over.  Now it is in the freezer ready to be made into bread or muffins when Miss E wants to (one of her favorites).

What a day!  I'm thankful for our day of rest on Sunday.  I needed it!

keeping cool, nesting, and cleaning out...

I'm into my 23rd week of this pregnancy, I'm feeling great and itching to get things done around here. I'm starting to nest.  Arizona summer is rearing it's ugly head though.  It's hot.  Very hot.  Even with the AC going.  Our lovely skylights and high windows in the living room that give such an open feeling to the house also let way too much heat into some rooms.  I found that the sewing room is the coolest room in the house.

I have a BIG stash of fabric I've been wanting to clean out.  So I made up some taggy blankets and bibs.

*Taggy blankets just like my little ones love to snuggle with.  Just the right size for bringing along everywhere they go.

*Christmas bibs were fun to put together in the heat of summer.  Dreaming of cooler days.

 

My husband purchased an embroidery machine for me this past winter.  I'm finally getting around to learning to use it and enjoying playing with it.

*I just loved finding this design.  Just perfect for new babies!  I'm looking forward to playing with more designs in the coming weeks.
With the used curriculum fair (for our area) coming up last week-end I thought I'd try to work it all to my advantage.  I enjoyed the cool time in my sewing room using up fabrics and ribbons I already had while playing with my new machine as well.  The result was the above products that I was able to sell at the fair!  What fun.

Miss E joined me in the sewing room quite a bit.  She was busy working on these bunnies and also sold some at the fair.  It was great having her along with me, and fun to test out the prospect of crafting and selling.

*I still have some of all of these left (or will be making more).  If you are interested in purchasing any comment here or e-mail me at gabe @ gabesbabes (dot) com  
Taggies are $15 each
Burp cloths are $6 each or 2 for $10
Bibs are $8 each