week 34 in pictures

sunday: CHORES have begun. in preparation for the start of the school year (and because they have been lazy bums for far too long), I finally got the kids chores organized. micah, it turns out, is a crazy good toilet wiper.

monday: I had to run to angie’s to borrow something and the kids and I got to try out her spankin’ new zip line!

tuesday: new and improved backyard fun… riding your bike through the sprinkler!

wednesday: dropped in to visit my mom and got to see her in the middle of a physical therapy session.

thursday: someone is just a little bit excited that it’s finally his turn to play soccer. we picked up all the team gear and he was SO excited.

friday: layla and micah were in vbs all week and had some fun on the playground after. micah finally mastered the fire pole, and layla is now a bar-skipping monkey.

saturday: ah, the dreaded saturday chores. shane learned how to completely clean a bathroom and micah got to vacuum his room (among other things). most of layla’s day was spent dealing with the hell hole that makes up her desk drawers.

and some instagrams:

I love that micah is so excited about shane playing football. he does this whenever possible.

just a start on the school supplies my MOMS Club collected for our school supply drive for our local food bank. this pile grew significantly.

found these at my parents house. lawn darts! actual ones with metal tips that stick into the ground. you know, the dangerous kind you can’t buy anymore!

um. my foot was JUST there.

at the start of the summer, layla and my dad planted two whole rows of lettuce. NOTHING came up. and then, suddenly, we have this one, lonely, but very determined, lettuce plant!

and I finally have some cucumbers as well!

and that’s it. book shots coming later.

Comments

white wine marinated pork chops recipe

this recipe comes from the weber’s REAL GRILLING cookbook and is my family’s recent favorite way to have pork chops. shane thinks these are the best food he’s ever eaten, and will generally eat 2! i think layla asked for seconds as well, and micah pretended they weren’t on his plate… which is typical. we’ve made them on the grill, or broiling in the oven, and both are equally good. 1/2 cup dry white wine 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh thyme (I have used dried as well, and it works fine) 1 tbsp minced garlic (think I used a clove, maybe two) 2 tsp kosher salt (this was a little much. I think the second time I made them I reduced it to 1.5 tsp.) 1 tsp freshly ground pepper pork chops (4 or 5) whisk ingredients together in a bowl. place pork chops in a large ziplock and pour in marinade. seal and turn several times. refrigerate for 2 hours, turning once or twice. allow chops to stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before gril...

does home ec even exist anymore?

my last post got me thinking about how i somehow missed 'learning' all of those things which are essential in running a successful home. i'm wondering who dropped the ball on this (because, i can't possibly take responsibility for my own shortcomings here). i guess traditionally, one learns these things from their parents. i suppose i did learn a lot of my domestic skills at home. for example, the husband is supposed to eat the leftovers in the fridge. when making a bed, the 'top' of the top sheet goes down so that when you fold the edge over the blanket, the 'top' side is then up. why this matters when you are just going to cover the whole thing with a pillow and comforter is totally beyond me. but that's how you do it. so yes, my mother taught me how to iron, do laundry, clean a toilet, etc. my dad taught me how to plant a garden, mow a lawn, appreciate baseball, etc. and then there's home ec. do people still take home ec? i took it ...

week 33 in pictures

I don’t have a picture for sunday… will have to have one of the kids draw something. monday: here, we have layla, expressing her death-wish. her newfound talent in hula hooping is manifesting itself all over the place, and in odd, and sometimes precarious, positions. here, she’s balanced at the very top of the big, metal slide, which is balanced on top of the little plastic climber, which is on the edge of the deck. maybe the magic wand in her hand has cast some safety spell around her. she lived, but succeeded in giving me a heart attack first. tuesday: layla, micah and I took a picnic to the park. on the way back, micah was determined to carry the cooler. you can’t see it very well in the picture, but it also has 3 filled water bottles clipped to the front of the handle. he didn’t make it very far before he gave it back to me. wednesday: notice what’s going on in the background of this picture: our backyard neighbors were h...

homemaking 101... ponderings, ramblings... the usual.

so i've been analyzing lately (because that's what i do) why i get so frustrated with myself, my shortcomings in the areas of housekeeping and organization, creativity, cooking, etc. it would seem that i'm trying to live up to the expectations of june cleaver, or my grandmother, or something equally unrealistic. no, i don't expect to push the vacuum and baste a turkey in heels and pearls, (besides, i have the roomba , remember?), but i do expect more of myself than i have been giving currently. why? i've been doing what i usually do when i have an issue i want to know more about; i check out every book the library has on the subject (organization problems anyone?). there are a LOT of books out there written by homemakers, for homemakers with a lot of different slants on the whole subject. interestingly enough, the view that disturbs me the most is not the one that suggests that God has decreed it so that women have no other calling than to be wives and mothers (alt...

smoothie-crazy!

I’ve always been into smoothies. but I kind of go in phases with them. there will be times that I have the ALL THE TIME, and then other times when I’ve forgotten about them and don’t have them at all. right now, I’m on a major smoothie kick. I was reminded of their sweet, wonderful yumminess a while back when I read a post on the pioneer woman’s site about smoothies . of course, she’s all photography-savvy and has a clean kitchen and whatnot, and I don’t, but this is my take on smoothies. actually, it’s just today’s take on smoothies. it changes daily, depending on what I have on hand or what I’m in the mood for. as you’ll notice, it’s also a shameless plug for my 3rd favorite kitchen appliance. (the first being my coffeemaker, obviously, and the second being my coffee grinder.) so today’s smoothie consisted of the segments of 1 clementine (I have a 5 lb. box that I need to use up before they are not so good… plus, I figure the vitamin c will not hurt me any.), a BUNCH of frozen raspb...

rachel's continued ramblings

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