Friday, July 10, 2009

Family Friday--

I actually don't have a ton of pictures to post.. Adam has been out of town all week so I've been a little oh, frazzled maybe? Wow, I've got to find some single mothers in the area and give them a hand. They totally don't get the credit they deserve. And somewhere during the week, I stopped going crazy and finally got all the way there because I decided to end my already stressful week with a trip to Walmart... I loathe Walmart with a purple passion... When I get in there, I always want to scream: DO YOU PEOPLE SERIOUSLY THINK THAT THIS STORE WOULD BE HERE IF YOU WERE THE ONLY PERSON THAT EXISTED?! And there is room for two buggies to fit down one aisle. If, people would keep their buggy on one side and not in the middle of the aisle while they read the ingredients on the vitamins looking for the magic pill that is going to turn them into Jessica Alba.. Okay, so that was me looking for the pill that would turn me into Jessica Alba.. But at least my buggy was on my side.. And maybe all of us miracle vitamin shoppers should entertain the idea that maybe the thing that will make us thinner is MOVING!

So anyway, I haven't been to Walmart in about three months, because as you can see, I nearly lose my religion every time I go. But, I went today because we don't have any sort of craft store on our side of town and I had seen this nifty idea on one of those oh so talented mom bloggers page where she had turned placemats into throw pillows and I had just happened to have got a fabulous deal on some cute placemats but needed to find some stuffing for them... It looked so super easy and I was so excited about the opportunity to feel like I had some decorator's skills because the truth of it is.. The best I do is trying to keep my house clean. Not because I want A Soft Place to Land like the chic that runs that blog of whom I'm totally envious but, because I don't want to be landing because I tripped over something. So anyway, I went for some stuffing for my pillows that I was going to boost my domesticating ego with and, THEY HAVE GOTTEN RID OF THE CRAFT SECTION! So in light of that news, I say to my friends at Walmart, "Sam Walton would have been so disappointed in you'! And I am for real done with you now because unless you decide to pay me some big bucks to put your banner on my page, I NOW HAVE NO USE FOR YOU! Seriously, you would think that a company that big would do some marketing research to find that they were the only place to get craft supplies within 20 miles. You would also think they'd get on the bandwagon with having buggies that will hold more than one child. Even Lowe's has them! Did I mention that I LOATHE WALMART?

But, I did manage to grab my camera for a few shots this week. All though, I did skip getting pictures of my two girls with their mouths taped shut because I couldn't stand to hear them whine, "but daddy gives me a trick to help me go to sleep when he puts me to bed" one more time. You don't have to wrestle with whether or not you should turn me in for abuse.. I didn't really tape their mouths shut. But, only because I didn't have the idea until now.

But alas, here are the few pictures that I have gotten since I've been back from Alabama..



This first one was taken by Mark Grayson at our churches 4th of July festivities. And this was right before Emma and I lost our balance and my camera lens knocked against the picnic table causing it to snap in half. Thankfully, it wasn't my most expensive camera lens. But it is why all of the rest of the pictures you are going to see are over exposed. I am most partial to my 85mm but, it does such a good job of letting in light (a necessity for good indoor pictures) it isn't a good match for a super sunny day. Actually, taking pictures outside not in shade on a super sunny day isn't a good idea for any camera. But, sometimes, you just can't wait for the sun to go behind a cloud to make memories.

We got to spend some time with Maggie last week while her momma had an appointment. Here is Chloe serving Miss Maggie some tea. I'm not sure Maggie quite got why she was sitting out in the hot sun, parched, drinking something that wasn't actually there but Chloe enjoyed having her as her tea party guest. We did go inside to grab their sippy cups shortly after this picture was taken.

Here is Emma and her friend Avery and Chloe (who wouldn't take her eyes off of Strawberry Shortcake) meeting SS at the summer reading program that our library does.

Avery and Emma making wands to go with their princess dresses.


Okay, here is the part that I am most excited about showing you. Not only am I not much of a decorator, I am also not a gardener. However when my mother-in-law aka: Nana in our home, heard that I had wanted to try to grow some vegetables with the girls, she got me these grow boxes. Since Lynn shares in my gift of having a brown thumb (no, I am not getting myself in trouble. She has a brown thumb by her own admission and she is totally secure in her brown thumb as well as I), and she had gotten vegetables to grow that way, she just knew that I could too. So, we decided to start easy and plant cucumbers and carrots, two of the girls favorites. I didn't have much confidence that anything was going to amount from it. And I had thought we had been successful at growing some weeds but, I became suspicious that we might have a little more than weeds in the carrot box when the cucumber box was making nothing. So, I jumped on the internet and looked up "carrot leaves" and low and behold, I found that we were growing carrots! And for me, one out of two when it comes to gardening, is a huge success!

Cucumber left Carrots right
So the other night, I let Emma pick one and I couldn't believe my eyes but there was a full grown carrot there! I peeled the one carrot and cut it into small pieces to share with some friends we had over and they all declared that it was the best carrot that they had ever tasted. I told Emma that I wanted her to wait to pick the rest until I had my camera ready . So, this afternoon was harvesting time! Except for one carrot that she left to pick with her daddy. So sweet!









And I was about to get a domesticating ego boost because of the carrots and then I recalled something.. Chloe and I had planted the cucumbers, Adam and Emma planted the carrots.. Oh well. Someone else that can do it for me.. EVEN BETTER!!! And besides, they are in my backyard so I'm claiming them!

Adam did make it home safely around 1:30 a.m. He and Emma are watching Narnia since they just finished reading that book together and Chloe is taking a nap and I'm about to go outside and get some sun on my white body! I wish you a happy weekend with lots of family to love!

Blessings,

Dana

9 comments:

Hyperactive Lu said...

Had to laugh at this one...and yes, about 18 mos ago, Walmart decided to close down their crafts section. Why do I know this? Because I was doing a crafty project for Peanut and they were closing out all their fabrics... its quite a bummer since they were the cheapest craft store!

Cudos to you for making it through another week!!! Oh and LOVING the big carrots!

April Cluck said...

Great job with the carrots, I am reaping on 50% with my garden as well.

Oh and I loathe WalMart too!!

Sara-Beth said...

Love the tea party picture! Will you send it to me?

I do not enter Wal-Mart unless I have NO other choice. I will drive to Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Target, anywhere to avoid it.

Good job with the carrots. I think our garden has keeled over due to lack of H2O.

BASSakward Tales said...

our walmart has not discontinued the craft section but i hear it is shortly coming...kmart does not have a craft section nor does target...this forces me to go to hobby lobby which i love but it is 30 miles from my house...i totally feel your pain...

Holly-- The Storm Chaser said...

Fellow Wal-mart basher here... LOL at the pic of Chloe unsure of SS. I would be too! That thing is creepy. Congrats on making it as a single mom. I don't know how they do it either. Tax season nearly kills me each year. Glad Adam is back safely. Take care!

Papakeith said...

I want a carrot, do you think Emma could bring me one?

Christine Short said...

Sheesh! Look at the size of the head on that Strawberry Shortcake doll! No wonder Chloe couldn't take her eyes off of it! It looks like it could bobble right off her neck and roll away and surely take out Chloe. Smart girl! As for the Walmart thing, it's a love/hate relationship for me. I love the deals but hate first, the carts left all over the parking lot even though there are cart corrals every few spaces and two, they exploit my ADD tendencies and I don't even have ADD!! Seriously, how often does it happen that I go, "Need laundry detergent, need laundry detergent, laundry detergent.." and then I see some insane deal on the end cap and forget all about the detergent. (sigh) I hate Walmart.

phillips phamily said...

Love the carrots! How satisfying!

Those socks got put away, but I found a few more in the next load of laundry waiting...

Anonymous said...

Okay, my dear sister, I am afraid that I may have passed the brown thumb down to you and am so glad to see that at least one of the girls did not inherit it! One of my simulated missions at space camp was to grow plants by hydroponics in the International Space Station! I told them that I could not grow plants on Earth, I feel sure that I will kill them 24,000 miles away! Anywho, I hope the next set of teachers get to experience that simulation because I feel sure that they will find a beautiful pot of basil potpouri sitting in the incubator the next time they open the glass. Leave it to me to totally shut down a whole NASA experiment by one pass of the hand!! Love you! Denise