Final Catch Up... Misc Junque

I think I have most of the major highlights caught up, finally. I will do a new post with Faith's volleyball pictures tomorrow. I just updated Chet's blog with the pictures from last week's trip to St. Jude. My computer's powercord and I have parted ways due to it not working properly, and now that I have replaced it with a younger and prettier cord my computer is re-energized (literally) and working much faster again. I just had a few fun photos I wanted to include before I called it a night.

This time of year has me up before the sun is most days. I love the foggy mornings the best.I always liked foggy mornings in California too, but here in the mountains it has a whole different feel to it, and I personally think it is much prettier. I love looking out the bathroom window in the morning and seeing the sun light up low-lying fog and fields and ponds.
Then at night it sinks back down in front of the house, and I get to gaze at it over the neighbor's property, ponds, and fields. Of course, their barbed wire gets in my way too, but such is life sometimes. I thought these clouds looked so cool sprawling across the sky. Although I think the mountains rule when it comes to sunrise, I have to admit the desert has it hands-down when it comes to sheer glamourous sunsets. Ours aren't too shabby here, though.

When we moved in, we found these green ball things all over the yard. Kyle likes to call them Monkey Balls. I had no clue what they were, even after the kids made money picking up walnuts in our friends' yard last year. I was looking at them the other day, and realized that these are the green hulls on the outside of the black walnuts.
It took me two years to realize what it was, but I have a huge, bountiful walnut tree in our yard. They are all almost done falling off the tree and the kids and I are gathering them up to take them down to get hulled. Then I am going to come home and make Banana Monkey Ball Bread.
It is bad enough that Faith wants to wear make-up. Beth keeps practicing putting it on as well. She found the little mirror in an old purse and took it out to put in her purse along with the lipgloss she always carries. She is five and wants to be a Cover Girl.
Faith has really enjoyed cooking lately. We picked a bunch of jalapenos last week, and she stuffed them with cream cheese, wrapped them in bacon, and tossed them in the oven all on her own. These are soooo yummy!
Simple pleasures. The kids keep picking handfuls of the autumn wildflowers growing abundantly all over the property to fill my camping coffee percolator with. It looks very down home to me,and I love coming home to see them on the porchrailing. My kids love me enough to pick the very best weeds for me, a gallon at a time.


I also wanted to share this story that Rachel posted on her blog. Her son Kyler and Kyle have become really good friends, and Kyle went to her house for Kyler's birthday party last weekend.

4. It sometimes continues. Kyle came to Kyler's party. He comes from a large family. Remember when you HAD to eat the candy/cookies/etc., to keep your brother/sister from getting it? No? Maybe that just happened in my family. Anyway, Kyle rode to the party with my parents. He managed to eat all the goodies before he got home. . .except the gum. Mom said she told him that he could share that with his brothers and sisters. . .He managed to get all the gum in his mouth before he got home. : ) (Jenn, I hope you don't get mad! I thought it was hilarious!)

I wasn't offended at all, but we had a good time teasing Kyle about it after I read this. Todd said "You hid cookies from me???" This isn't just a large family thing, though. My brother and I were home alone one day, and thirsty. We stood in front of the open refrigerator door, and I was drinking the water directly out of the gallon bottle, breaking two of Mom's rules in one shot. He was telling me to hurry up, so I showed him. I drank that whole gallon of water in one long continuous glug, and proceeded to painfully slush around the house for the next couple of hours. Jesse was really suffering, I tell ya.

Now I need to stepaway from blogging and get my design work caught up. See ya tomorrow!