Ehhhhh....What's up doc?

We picked our carrots yesterday and they all looked like this. Every single one of them.

Did we do something wrong?

Is this the way homegrown carrots are supposed to look? If so, I think I'll just stick to buying them at the grocery store!

Home again, home again, lickety split!

We are home from our vacation!

When we visit my husband's family in Massachusetts we drive so our trips are any where from 10-14 days. That's a long time to be gone but it is so worth it. My kids love spending time with that side of the family and there is always so much to see and do.

This vacation was relatively calm and uneventful except for the time right in the middle of it when I woke up with a sore throat which developed into strep throat. Oh joy! Because nothing says vacation like a trip to the urgent care!

And this bout of strep seemed to be much worse than the bout I had in May. Every time I swallowed I winced. I never realized how much I swallowed throughout the night and day until each time I did so it almost brought me to tears. There was one point when I was waiting for the antibiotics to kick in that I was actually spitting saliva into a napkin so I wouldn't have to swallow it. Good times, y'all. Good. Times.

But I survived, we had a great vacation and now it's over and I'm working my way through a giant pile of laundry and mail. We have nothing left to look forward to this summer except buying school supplies.

That's right. I said school supplies. I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries on Monday afternoon and was shocked to see school supplies out already! It is still July. I haven't even received the list from the school yet letting me know what my kid's teachers require.

And I'll be darned if I buy anything early. I would hate to get the 24 pack of RoseArt crayons when the teacher specifies the 8 pack of Crayolas. I don't want the teacher to be annoyed with my kids on the first day of school because Wal-Mart is pushing school supplies in July!

Well I'm off to Shred (which I did not do during my vacation), read another 12 pages of the Bible (which I did not do during my vacation) get some laundry going, pay a stack of bills, figure out what we are going to have for dinner, dust, clean out the fish bowl and try to figure out what I'm going to do with the kids today so I don't have to hear "Mommmmm! I'm bored. What can I do?"

I think I need a vacation.

Miracle Monday

Miracle Monday is still on vacation this week.

Feel free to check out the Miracle Monday archives and remember...

He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.

He bestows rain on the earth;
he sends water upon the countryside.

The lowly he sets on high,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety. - Job 5: 9-11

Pride goeth before a woman in a white bikini.

I'm on vacation right now and before I left I purchased two new bathing suit bottoms.

I decided that after 4 years of wearing bathing suit skirts, I wanted to wear bikini bottoms with my tankini tops.

After all, I've been Shredding for 2 months, I've lost 3 pounds and my thighs were finally slimming down a little.

So before we made our way down to the beach on Saturday morning, I got out my new bikini bottoms and proudly showed them to my husband.

I put them on and strutted around a little.

And on the walk down to the beach I kept admiring myself. I am not ashamed to admit that I kept looking down at my legs thinking how nice they looked.

I was quite pleased with myself.

Even after we had been at the beach for 30 minutes I was still admiring my thighs.

And then I looked up and caught sight of a woman who was my age or maybe even a little older.

And I froze.

She was gliding down the beach with her 4 children.

Her legs were super toned and super tanned and she was wearing a bikini.

A white bikini.

Not just bikini bottoms and a tankini top.

A bikini.

A white bikini.

It was at this point in time that I stopped starring at my thighs and admiring them.

And in the last three days, I have eaten donuts, 2 different kids of pie, and several different kinds of ice cream. I am on vacation after all.

I have even been eating blueberry buckle for breakfast.

And let's face it. Even though it has blueberries in it, it's still just cake.

So I've been eating cake for breakfast for the last three days AND I haven't been Shredding.

It's a good thing I packed my old bathing suit skirt bottoms. I think I'm going to need them before this vacation is over.

Miracle Monday

Miracle Monday is on vacation for the next couple of weeks!

Please feel free to review any of the past editions from the Miracle Monday archives.

And remember...Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.

Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced... (1 Chronicles 16:, 11-12)

If you have a miracle it's easy to join. Write a post and link to it here using Mr. Linky. Please remember to link to your miracle and not your main page. And include a link back to Miracle Monday in your post.

Note to self...

Must remember never to try to make French toast with regular bread. Must resist the urge to make French toast until firm, crusty bread is available.

Also must remember not to let Sarah be in charge of dunking the bread in the milk and egg mixture. Waaaaay to aggressive. Maybe when she's 6. Or maybe it wouldn't matter as much if I had firm,crusty bread.

One last note to self - Soggy French toast is not good.

In the words of Peter, "Can I just have a sandwich?"

In the words of Sarah, "I don't think I can eat this."

In the words of Mommy, "Who's going to clean up all the dried egg and milk that got splattered everywhere?"

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary...

Here's a picture of our adorable little garden! Isn't it cute?



My husband has been planting, weeding, watering and fertilizing for the last 6 weeks or so and I'm very proud of his efforts.

It may not look big but we've got lots going on in our little garden:

4 different varieties of tomatoes
Green beans
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Carrots
Cilantro
Rosemary
Basil
Parsley
Watermelon

Some of the items were started from seeds and others were started as plants.

I've got lots of basil right now and lots of green tomatoes that we are anxiously waiting on to turn red so we can start having soups, sauces and of course, mater sammiches!

This is our first attempt at anything other than tomatoes so we are taking notes so that next we can improve on our efforts.

Two of the things we have learned so far...

We have already harvested lots and lots of zucchini and we discovered that none of us really like it. So I don't think we will be planting that next year. (And I wasn't too disappointed when squash bugs got to one of our zucchini plants and we had to remove it.)

We planted the green beans and the cucumbers on the inside row. Next year we will be planting them on an outside row so that they will be easier to pick. Or maybe just make our rows a little bigger. The kids are having a hard time helping us to pick these things because they are hard to get to being in the center of the garden.

This garden is helping us get us fresh produce cheaply, it's been fun for the kids and I think my husband has a new hobby now!

He mentioned the other day that he would like to build a brick fenced in area and plant an English garden.

Momma likes flowers but I'm not sure if Daddy knows how to lay bricks. One hobby at a time, honey!

Easy Method For Husking and Silking Corn on the Cob

This time of year I love serving fresh corn on the cob. But I hate getting the husks and the silks off. Hate it!

But I have discovered a simple technique that makes cooking and husking easy. Just follow these easy steps and you will be nibbling on corn on the cob in no time!

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Place corn (husks and all) on a cookie sheet.
• Heat in the oven for 30 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes.
• Start peeling off husks. You will find that they are super easy to remove and the silk (that dreaded silk!) practically slides right off! (And I have been known to use an oven mitt for this if I'm in a hurry and can't wait for it to cool a little.)

Enjoy!

And for more summer recipes, visit Kristin at We Are That Family.

Let me clarify...

Early today my Mom asked me to explain the title of yesterday's post. "I don't get it," she said. "Why are you talking about chiffon in the title of your post?"

"Not chiffon the fabric, Mom! Chiffon the Margarine!"

An I the only one that remembers the "It's Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature" commercials?