Argh!

Reagan informed me today that MY teddy bear...which *I* have had since I was 16 was furthermore known as "Flower" and not "Cornelius"! I beg her pardon! First off, he's a BOY teddy bear as evidenced by his cable-knit brown sweater and dour expression. Second, he's MY teddy bear and has had the same name for 16 years!......She simply informed me that I was grown up now and so he wasn't mine anymore and his name WAS FLOWER. Hmpf...I don't know what to make of this child!

Taming the TV Beast...

We started a new system for watching television this week. Basically, Reagan gets 4 coupons a day. Each coupon is for 30 minutes of tv time. They sit in a bowl on a shelf on the entertainment center and when she wants to watch a television show (or movie) she gets one out and brings it to me. I use this time as my Internet time (as well as her quiet time!...I'm TRYING to cut down..I spend like 5 hours a day on the Internet..I'm very ashamed!!).

In addition, for every coupon she doesn't use, she gets a star on a wall chart. When she's collected 5 stars, we get a new book from the bookstore!

Note: I printed out 4 of the coupons (setting the print setting at 50%) and then glued all four onto a regular sheet of paper. I then laminated it so we can continue to use the same coupons over again. Every morning I just set the four coupons back out in her bowl. For the wall chart, look under Star Charts and then click on Free Star Charts. There are several to choose from. I printed out the fairy chart with 10 stars on it to fill in.

Ladies and Gentlemen....

WE HAVE ZUCCHINI!!!!! WOohooooo!! I'm so excited! A few months back, Reagan, Josh and I planted a garden. Josh worked really hard slogging through water logged ground to til it, and then Reagan and I spread potting soil..yes potting soil, I was determined! And then we planted tiny little seeds in the ground. Those seeds have come a long way baby!!

We planted zucchini, peas, green beans, cucumbers, spaghetti squash and pumpkins. We were able to harvest 3 green beans..they were fantastic! But...the rest have been taken over by the zucchini..half of our yard and our neighbor's yard have been taken over by the zucchini! We have little baby cucumbers growing, a couple of harvest-able zucchini, a few squash growing and TONS of beautiful yellow flowers waiting to turn into ripe vegetables! I can't wait to harvest cucumbers, pumpkins and squash!

A side note: big fail on the container growing this year..oh well.

Reaganism!!

About having strawberry shortcakes for dessert:

"My legs are too long to have shortcakes for dessert!!" *GROAN* ;)

New Favorite Soup!

You would THINK 90 degree weather would be too hot for a nice steaming bowl of soup...BUT....I fly in the face of convention! No, seriously..soup is easy, filling and delicious...and we found a new favorite recipe that all three of us adore!

Here it is!

Collins' Best Lentil Soup
(from Gooseberry Patch)

1 cup dried lentils
14 oz package turkey Kielbasa, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, peeled and chopped
1 cup redskin potato, diced
2 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
6 cup beef broth
1/2 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg (I omitted this!)

Sort and wash lentils. Combine lentils, sausage and remaining ingredients in 3-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high setting for one hour. Reduce heat to low setting and cook three hours. Stir before serving. Makes 10.5 cups.

Writing a book....

I think I'm going to write a book. Seriously. It's going to be slim-line, spiral bound (so it can be laid out easily), laminated, with photos and step by step instructions. And it's going to be targeted to men. "Everything You Never Wanted To Know About Housekeeping"....step by step instructions for properly loading the dishwasher, washing out baby puke stains, how much detergent to use. And of course, little gems like "don't wash whites and darks together...especially not in hot water."....Think of how much frustration this would save us wives!

Random Reaganism

Momma, do you think dinsoaurs have collar bones?

Happy Birthday America!!!!! GOD BLESS THE USA!

My country, 'tis of Thee,
Sweet Land of Liberty
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountain side
Let Freedom ring.

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills,
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet Freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our fathers' God to Thee,
Author of Liberty,
To thee we sing,
Long may our land be bright
With Freedom's holy light,
Protect us by thy might
Great God, our King.

Our glorious Land to-day,
'Neath Education's sway,
Soars upward still.
Its hills of learning fair,
Whose bounties all may share,
behold them everywhere
On vale and hill!

Thy safeguard, Liberty,
The school shall ever be,
Our Nation's pride!
No tyrant hand shall smite,
While with encircling might
All here are taught the Right
With Truth allied.

Beneath Heaven's gracious will
The stars of progress still
Our course do sway;
In unity sublime
To broader heights we climb,
Triumphant over Time,
God speeds our way!

Grand birthright of our sires,
Our altars and our fires
Keep we still pure!
Our starry flag unfurled,
The hope of all the world,
In peace and light impearled,
God hold secure!

Finding Contentment

The lazy days of summer are here...and hopefully the dog days have passed....for us at least. After a cold winter and then being shocked into summer with extremely high humidity and 90 degree temperatures, the last week has been a welcome blessing--one that I'm trying to remember to thank God every day for.

The weather has been perfect...little to no humidity, mid-70 temps, blue skies, no storms and a perfect breeze. The kind of days that kids love playing outside in, that make you picture magazines, swings and a cool frosted glass of lemonade at your side.

In reality it's been a lot of playing, working in the garden, quick gulping of whatever's available, hanging clothes out on the line, watering the garden, planting more flowers and just enjoying the sunshine....it doesn't quite match up with that magazine/swing/lemonade picture in my head, but in some ways it's even better. In most ways in fact.

I've found contentment. The older I get the more I realize that I'm a homebody...and the older I get the more I realize I am craving the simple things in life. The smell of fresh sheets dried on the line, the ACT of hanging out those sheets to dry, the excitement I get when Reagan and I check on the garden, worrying over what we are going to do with all those zucchini when they start arriving--and thanking God for the blessing that I'm worried about too much food. The shock of steaming hot water emptying out of my hose, the smell of the cool chlorine when the cold water finally rushes out. The sun-kissed streak across Reagan's nose...watching her run with her sun-streaked hair streaming out behind her. Watching her dance in the water and hearing her shriek. Noticing the way she crouches down to watch an ant scutter around the patio.

This is contentment for me.

Catching up!

This week has been amazing--the weather is absolutely perfect (much better than the extremely hot high humidity we had been having!) Reagan and I have been out of doors most of the time--going to the park, having kite flying play dates with friends, working in the backyard--you name it! We even both splashed in the Elmo splash pad this morning!

We also had a chance to go to Walmart yesterday (yes, I gave up Walmart for a time to cut down on our expenses...and now I only go on average about once a month when we really need something and I do NOT want to drive 30 minutes to Target--this arrangement has been working really well for the whole family!) Specifically we were looking for a new kite for Reagan and clearance flowers for the backyard...and we found tons! They had lots of ground cover and a good bit of flowers on clearance for .50 to $1. If my mother in law is reading this, they have Joseph's Coat on clearance for $1 per container!!!

Today Reagan and I spent the morning figuring out where everything needs to go. Unfortunately it's going to require a second trip to Walmart because I ran out of potting soil (argh!!!)

Reagan and I also found flowers on our cucumber plants, little tiny flowers (GORGEOUS deep bluish-purple) on our green bean (or maybe they were peas??) plants and beginning buds on our zucchini plants...we should have a nice crop..IF the zucchinis don't take over EVERYTHING in sight! (They're already almost as tall as Reagan and about 4 times as wide as she is!)

On other notes, Reagan got to "climb" a tree yesterday--mostly I pushed her up on the branch. She LOVED sitting up there, enjoying the breeze and exploring the bugs, birds and leaves all around here. That's what being a kid is truly about :)

I think that's it for today...will post pictures tomorrow!!!