Essie Why Says...

It Arrived!

2012-04-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

Peyton has been waiting so patiently for her final birthday present. It finally arrived today in the mail all the way from Pennsylvania!

Anyone have any guesses yet?

What can it possibly be?

It's open and I think it's going to be awesome!

It is awesome!

Thank you, Mom. You're the best (non) Dance Mom!

The timing was perfect as Peyton had her dance photos taken yesterday. Let's just say I would definitely NOT make the cut as a "Dance Mom." My mad skillz with dance hair and makeup are seriously lacking. Moms like me are nuisances to Abby Lee. I would be in and out of that company faster than a shuffle ball change.

House of Pain

2012-03-28T19:10:00.000-07:00

Get up, pack it in, let me begin
I came to win, battle me that's a sin
I won't tear the sack up, punk you'd better back up
Try and play the role and the whole crew will act up

Jump around, jump up and get down

Jump around, jump around

Jump up and get down

Jump up, jump up and get down

Jump, jump, jump

Safety nets are a good thing. We had a couple of close calls tonight.

Lemonade Stand

2012-03-17T13:38:00.001-07:00

Since it was going to be another gorgeous day in March (can you believe it?), the girls along with the neighbors decided to try their luck at a lemonade stand. They've always wanted to try it, but for some reason or another never did it.

When they started out this morning, it was pretty slow. By noon, they had maybe had a sale or two.

Things started to pick up a bit after that. Brilliant marketers that they are, they decided they needed to move their location to the corner--because that's where all the traffic is and do something that would attract some attention (safely).

I could hear them rummaging around in the house and when I went outside to check on them, this is what I saw...a banana and a giraffe hocking lemonade in the neighborhood. It must have worked, because while I was taking their photo a customer stopped by and said he couldn't pass up this lemonade stand after he saw a giraffe was selling it. It's too bad we don't have a leprechaun costume--they'd be raking it in!

Say Cheese!

2012-03-15T18:31:00.000-07:00

I recently bought a new camera so I've been snapping photos like crazy. It was a gorgeous night out and the girls were playing driveway volleyball. When there was a pause in the action, I asked if they would pose for a few pics and this is what I got...

Conspiring...

Let's pretend we're animals...this will be attractive.

I want to be the star!

Crazy eyes! Mom loves it when I have crazy eyes!

Oh, my eye!!!

Regroup...

Let's dance it out...

and dance (with crazy eyes)...

and dance...

and dance with a shout out to Justin Bieber.

After all that...these were the best photos of the evening.

I have a lot of practicing to do...

Dance Moms

2012-03-07T19:31:00.002-08:00

Tonight on our way home from volleyball practice and on our way to church, Peyton told me she wanted to start her own dance studio when she was older. I'm not sure if it's because she loves to dance or if we've been watching a few too many episodes of Dance Moms. What a train wreck! Don't even get me started on it--because I'm ashamed to admit I watch it every ~~now and then~~ Tuesday on Lifetime at 8:00 pm (that's Channel 1028 for my O! peeps). Is it wrong of me to keep egging my kids on to ask their dance teacher (who is a fabulous lady and wonderful teacher, btw) if she's ever watched Dance Moms?

Anyway, here's a shot of the neighborhood dance troupe. We hosted a recital at our house last fall and they're working on producing another show in early summer. They choreograph their dances, design their own costumes, and even do their own hair and makeup for the recital. It is a BIG DEAL!

Now the "Mom-ager" in me is coming out. Tickets will go on sale in May. Immediate family is free, but other price levels will include: VIP Pass $295--includes a meet and greet with the dancers and a seat on the couch; $139 - seating on the floor near the bar; and $89 - stairway seating.

A Lenten Special

2012-02-25T18:00:00.000-08:00

I'm back! After a long hiatus I am going to try to update more frequently--rather than every few months or so. I'm sure you know how it goes...new projects, new schedules, new activites...it can consume all of your time and then some.

So anyway...we have started the Lenten season. C decided to give up her iPod. No more gaming or dancing for her for 40 days. Good choice! Much to my relief, my almost 12 y/o Pey decided to give up eyeliner. Hmmm...does a 6th grader really need to wear eyeliner? Nonetheless, I am thankful for her sacrifice as well. K's plans include the generic "losing weight" while I decided I wanted to try something different. Yes--this farm-raised, mid-western girl is giving up beef for Lent. What this really means is that our ENTIRE family is giving up beef for Lent. We're only a few days into it, but so far so good. What are you giving up?

The Casual Spectator

2011-10-17T18:12:00.000-07:00

The last few months we have attended a lot of sporting events--mostly volleyball. It never fails, that we have one in the bunch who is not so excited to attend. Wherever we go we always need to make sure that she has plenty of room to stretch out.

Cameron cheering on Matthew during baseball season.
I think we've seen this photo before...

Soaking up some rays at soccer.

Cameron actively watching the VB game at Gretna.

Fending off the paparazzi while rooting for Peyton.

Taking a breather during the final set of the most exciting match of the day!

Go Big Red

2011-10-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

The boys are off to the game this evening. The weather forecast has been all over the board this week so you just never know. Hopefully it will only sprinkle a little and not rain buckets all over the Husker faithful.

Since my last update, I can (proudly?) say I haven't cooked a meal since the wok fiasco. I need to get back in the groove, but it's going to be very busy this week at work (ahem...excuses) so I might make my reappearance as Chef Essie next week. Until then I'll probably call on my main men--Jimmy John and Little Caesar--for some assistance. Hmm...Peyton did just finish a Foods & Nutrition class at school. Maybe she has a few tricks up her sleeve. I remember her saying something about banana smoothies.

Back to the fans, we sent them off with a couple of GBR cheers to Lincoln.

I love Dad's expression...typical WTH!?! with a slight smirk.

Burning Down The House

2011-10-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

I wish I was referring to the Talking Heads song from a long time ago. But I'm not...

Because I've had such limited success in the kitchen lately, Kris said he would take over cooking duties. I told him that would be fine, but he couldn't make anything that was overly processed or came from a can such as Manwich, Hamburger Helper, or frozen pizzas, plus the meal had to include either fresh or frozen vegetables. After I thought about it for a second, I exempted spaghetti sauce and told him that would be a safe ingredient.

For tonight's meal Kris quickly suggested Home HuHot. I love HuHot!  "Home HuHot?" you ask.  A long time ago when the girls were younger I asked them what they wanted for dinner. Peyton loudly said, "Home Subway!" Cameron echoed "Home Sub-boy" in her two-year-old voice because she couldn't say "Subway" correctly. I always thought it was funny that Peyton didn't just say "Sandwiches!" rather than Home Subway. It's cute how children's minds work. Anyway, we've had Home Subway before with great success...I know all of you are probably thinking you'd have to be an idiot to not have a great outcome with Home Subway...but Home HuHot? That's a bit trickier.

Since I don't have a big grill table in my house like the restaurant, I went out to buy a wok. Again, please keep in mind Kris was the one who suggested this. His exact words were, "I've been watching a lot of the Food Network lately so I can take care of this."  The plan was he was going to mow the lawn while I was out buying the wok and taking Peyton to volleyball practice. Upon my return he was going to cook the meal.

When I arrived home with wok in hand and Peyton fresh from volleyball practice, Kris still hadn't mowed the lawn. He told me to go ahead and cook it while he mowed. So I chopped veggies, prepped the shrimp and chicken, and created the sauces. I was on a roll. I even googled how to cook with a wok and found some sage advice from Rachael Ray.

So the kids were in the kitchen picking out their ingredients for their individual meals and I started to heat up the wok. Rachael said to heat the wok and wait until you could see smoke coming off the wok before adding the oil. Well, the wok was a smokin' so I added some oil. Shortly thereafter there were flames, flames, and more flames! Peyton screamed, Cameron ran to get the fire extinguisher, and I stood there thinking there was no way this was happening to me. A million thoughts were racing through my mind..."I hadn't even started cooking anything yet and I have a fire?" "Kris is going to kill me!" "Why aren't the fire alarms going off?"  "This is a grease fire. How to I extinguish a grease fire?" "Kris is going to kill me!" "Where is the lid? I need to cut off the oxygen. This wok didn't come with a lid!" "Kris is going to kill me!" Finally I pulled a cookie sheet out of the cupboard and covered the fire in the wok.

Holy smoke! What. A. Mess. If you were driving through the neighborhood and saw smoke rolling out of a tan house, why, yes, it was my house, thank you very much.

Thankfully my upper cupboard didn't catch on fire, but the house was smoky for a very long time. When Kris stepped in the house he said he thought it smelled like HuHot, but quickly asked why in the world it was so smoky. I told him I thought it would have been better if we had just gone to the restaurant this evening instead of cooking at home.

Curse you, Rachael Ray!
I take that back. I'll still go to your website and watch your show. There may be hope for me yet.

Kitchen = 1 Susan = 0

Better Than Crack...Brownies

2011-10-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

September truly flew by this year. With school in full force and work busier than ever, I've been trying to plan our meals a little better rather than relying on the great chefs of the Big O! to feed my family. I'm truly hit or miss when it comes to cooking. This week Kris asked, begged, pleaded that I start following the recipes. When I make something, I'll {generally} measure the ingredients in addition to substituting an item or two. I don't know what it is, but in the back of my mind I'm thinking, "Oh, this would be so much better with garlic salt." or "I love cinnamon, I should add four times as much because it is so yummy." I stumbled upon a recipe called Better Than Crack Brownies--of course I had to try it. Sometimes I like to try things just because of the name. I mean, come on, doesn't it only make sense? Meatloaf...blah, blech, something Alice used to make for the Brady kids. Now, chicken Florentine...exotic, interesting, I've got to try it! Don't even get me started on Better Than Sex cake. I must say it's interesting how our culture has changed...Better Than Sex? Better Than Crack? Lord, knows what will be next.

Below you'll see some of my hits and misses...wait, that's probably more like one hit and several misses. You be the judge.

Banana muffins - I've usually never had a problem with these, but this time they turned out concave???
Oh, yes...I only had one egg. Apparently eggs are very important in a baking recipe.

Half pineapple/half pepperoni homemade pizza...not too great.

I felt I redeemed myself with this homemade pizza gem...fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, veggies, etc.
"Delicious!" I declared.
"Disgusting!" according to my family.

Better Than Crack Brownies...brownie base, peanuts, peanut butter cups,
topped with a peanut buttery, chocolate rice krisipie topping.

Man Hands

2011-09-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

Yes, my name is Essie Why, and I have "man hands." The Urban Dictionary defines "man hands" as a way to describe a woman's hands when they are "less than feminine" or large and very masculine.

I recently moved to a new building at work and wanted to take a quick break. I went to the vending machine to buy a pop and return to my office to finish up some projects. I should have stopped right there. I don't really like bottled or canned pop--I'm a fountain pop kind of girl--but sometimes you just need to get away from your desk and get your mind off work. Anyway--this building only sells bottles and the Diet Coke I wanted was on the very top shelf of the machine. As soon as I pressed the button to purchase the pop, it "free-falls" for what seemed like five stories before coming to rest in the bottom of the machine. While I'm reaching my man hand in to retrieve the pop I'm thinking I'm going to need to let that sit for awhile before I spray my coworkers like it's Game 7 of the NBA championship and I'm on the winning team. Quickly my mind caught up with my body and wondered why my hand seemed to be stuck in the machine. After what seemed like a five minute struggle (which probably really only lasted ten seconds) my claw was freed and I had my Diet Coke in hand. Sweet success!

Of course I had to google "man hands" and found that I am not alone.

Fergie has man hands like me!

So does Uma!

Tina's are fake and thank goodness mine are not like that.
It looks like she has a long-sleeved sweater on too. Blechh!

There's No Such Thing As Too Much Hand Sanitizer

2011-09-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

Once again (just like everyone else on this planet), we had a busy, yet fun-filled weekend. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous so it's been nice to spend some time outside. We borrowed an idea from the cousins and decided to head to the zoo today. Although I've purchased a zoo pass every year we've lived here, I personally had not gone to the zoo for a couple of years. If you haven't been to the Henry Doorly Zoo lately--run, don't walk--you need to visit it! It is truly world-class. Even though it was jam-packed with holiday visitors, we still had a good time.

One of the kids' favorite exhibits is the "budgie experience". I'm not a bird lover by any stretch of the imagination so it takes a lot for me to muster up the courage to step inside. Ick--birds swooping all around you--not my cup of tea. Inside the "cage" (which is about the size of my family room), 50 kids are trying to feed about 500 birds with a birdseed "stick". This is happening while you also have children who have apparently been fed ice cream, candy and pop before entering the cage who are running around stirring the birds up. Thankfully no birds landed on me during my time in the cage and you can bet I was all over the hand sanitizer like a crazed Kate Gosselin after we exited the cage and after we visited the petting zoo and after we saw the butterfly pavilion and... Here are a few highlights from today.

Kris' best impression of Ozzy Osborne???

You never know what you have until...

2011-08-31T20:33:00.000-07:00

...you clean your room (or your office, in my case). When I haven't been staring at the new wall I painted in my house a couple of weeks ago, I've been busy sorting my office belongings and purging, purging, purging. Earlier this week my office moved to a new location. I do like change and there's nothing like a good spring clean. Some of the treasures I found during this process were three rubber snakes!?!; a few documents from 2007 which are seemingly no longer important, but drove me crazy looking for them at the time; fifty-three pens (31 black/18 blue/3 red/1 green); twelve black Sharpies; and enough post-its to leave a trail from here to WR. I'll use the office supplies, but being one who hates to waste anything, I need to figure out what do to with the rubber snakes. Hopefully I'll find a home for them before I perish from the hantavirus* I contracted from the old storage bins and boxes I sorted through before the move.

*I did not contract hantavirus during the move, but I feel like I inhaled enough dust and "yuck" during this process to justify a mention.

My Favorite Color Is...

2011-08-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

For the past 18 months (yes, 18 months), I've been thinking about painting some accent colors in the house on the main floor. Before we moved in, the entire house was painted a nice khaki color. I am a total "tan" kind of girl, but I was starting to get a little tired of it. Besides, I love to paint and see the transformation that occurs. I guess you could say it's my zen. Anyway, one of my (many) fatal flaws is that I cannot make a decision about color or decorating or anything of that sort. I am a domestic diva wannabe and really admire those who have an eye for color. So after months of looking at paint swatches, getting the opinions of a sister-in-law, a neighbor, and the guy who works at the paint counter at Home Depot, my new favorite color was found. The paint swatch is called "Borough". I had looked at Sandstone and Fig and Cashmere and Barnwood, but Borough made the cut. I can't even begin to describe it--it's like mocha mixed with pewter with a hint of steely purple in a haze of twilight.

My blah khaki wall

Borough = fabulousness on my accent wall

I loved it so much I proceeded to use it in my dining room too. Right now I love it, love it, love it. I hope in a few months I don't hate it, hate it, hate it. My photos definitely do not do it justice. If you're ever in the neighborhood, stop by. I'll probably ask you if I should hang this picture there...or if that rug works in this room...but whatever you do, please don't touch my walls!

Baseball, Bowling & A Birthday Party

2011-07-31T20:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had lots to celebrate. On Saturday Matthew played in an all-star baseball tournament in Omaha with other little dudes (er...I mean all-stars) from across the state. It was quite an honor for him to make the team and we were proud of Matthew. We finally had a break in the weather so it wasn't too bad outside to catch a game. Nobody can refute the fact that the Whys are fair-weather baseball fans. At first the girls were kind of into it, but their interest quickly waned about an hour into the game. Matthew's fan club kind of fell by the wayside when it started to heat up outside.

C&P totally engrossed...
in their IPODs.

About an hour into into the game, C decided to take a break after complaining of being thristy, tired, sick...basically any excuse under the sun she could use so we could go home.

To round out the weekend, we had a bowling birthday party for ME! I think everyone had a pretty good time. Even Maddie rolled a few balls down the lane. I can't remember the last time I've been bowling so it was kind of fun to try it again. I think Tim is going to join the pro-bowling circuit. She busted out a 180+ on her first game!! My range is typically around 30 (yes, it's really that bad) to 60 (no joke, I'm really that bad).

The bowling crew.

Giving You The Shirt Off My Back

2011-07-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

As if I hadn't spent enough time outside on Friday for the company event, I thought it might be fun to have a picnic with the Whys and Kays on Saturday evening. Our destination was a large park with huge play structures for the children. The weather seemed to have cooled off a little so I didn't think it would be too bad. As we drove up to the picnic rendezvous spot, I spied something with my little eye. It appeared that Dustin was going to be picnicking with us sans shirt.

Now I know we all have our little quirks--a few of mine happen to be the smell of Fritos and Cheerios (I seriously feel like I'm going into anaphylactic shock {I'm being a bit dramatic} when I get a whiff of them), maple syrup (I can't stand the stickiness), walking down the pet food aisle at the grocery store (the smell is overwhelming), and grown men in tank tops (only excusable if said grown men are playing basketball).

Not knowing what was going on, I asked the kids not to say anything because I didn't know if Dustin was just feeling hot and felt he had to take his shirt off to feel cooler because of the weather or if he had misunderstood my invitation and thought I might have said "let's have a redneck picnic" rather than "let's have a picnic." Of course, as soon as we got out of the car, my unfiltered mouth yells out, "No shirt, no shoes, no service! Put a shirt on, for heaven's sake, this is West Omaha!"

I quickly learned that Dusty's nude-i-ness was due to Baby Emm getting sick all over Tim's shirt upon arrival at the picnic. Being ever so gallant for his lovely bride, Dusty decided to disrobe and literally give his lady the shirt off his back so they could stay for the picnic because her shirt was destroyed. After a lot of jokes and teasing and even commenting that the players in the nearby soccer match weren't even playing "shirts and skins," Kris decided to take his shirt off too so Dusty wouldn't feel so self-conscious. At that point we called it a night and bid everyone a fond farewell. The picnic was officially over. I'd had more than I could (love) handle(s).

Sorry guys...here it is...

Awesomesauce

2011-07-23T12:05:00.000-07:00

"Awesomesauce" has been a buzzword of Peyton's lately. The past couple of weeks have been extremely exhausting. It's been busy at work and we've been suffering through a massive heatwave. It feels like we've been marinating for days in a giant crockpot set on high. For those who can relate, Friday seemed like the hottest, smelliest, worst-day-ever kind of detasseling hot that you can remember. On a positive note, our A/C has been awesomesauce throughout this heatwave.

Last night we attended a company BBQ and baseball game which was somewhat of a bookend to my hectic schedule in July. I figure if I can plan a party for 800--everything else is easy-peasy. Everything went smoothly and nobody succumbed to the heat (that I know of). My duties were finished and the Whys were taking a stroll on the Werner Park concourse to get some air. After stopping for a smoothie, some Dippin' Dots, and a lemon ice, Peyton announced, "There are some sauces down there." On the concourse there are many food vendors with gigantic bottles of ketchup, mustard, and other sauces set up in self-serve stations. I thought she was referring to one of those stations. Because I couldn't drum up the energy to even respond to her comment other than give her a tired smile, she said it again and asked me to come to the edge of the deck. Lo, and behold, there were some sauces down there.

The sauces were getting ready to race on the field between innings. The winning sauce was "hot"--for those who were wondering--and won a combo meal for everyone in Section 103 at the ballpark. Awesomesauce!

A Duran Duran "Do"

2011-07-14T20:18:00.000-07:00

Earlier this spring I heard Duran Duran was going on tour. I was so excited and secretly hoped the tour would hit my town. I could see it now...me and all of the Real Housewives of Douglas County* would be at the concert singing "Rio" and my personal favorite hit, "The Reflex". The only way the evening could get better would be if Rick Springfield was the opening act. Apparently, it was not meant to be. I recently heard Simon had issues with his vocal cords and the tour was cancelled.

While strolling through my local Walmart seeking out inexpensive school supplies (I refuse to pay more than 20 cents for a bottle of glue!), I looked in one of the bargain bins and found something I actually really wanted. Whenever I've looked in those bins in the past, I'll find some really strange items like "Howard the Duck" and "Breakin' 2 - Electric Boogaloo". Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon a Duran Duran CD for the BARGAIN PRICE of $5.00!

At home the kids started unpacking the bag and noticed the CD. I reminded them of some of the songs they had heard before. Peyton took a quick glance at the cover and asked if Duran Duran were boys or girls. {Gasp!}

*I shop at Walmart which automatically excludes me from being a member of the Real Housewives of Douglas County.

Soarin' Over Colorado

2011-07-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

On our recent getaway to Colorado, we had the pleasure of visiting the Royal Gorge. What an amazing place! After looking around, baking in the sun (it was extremely hot that day), and riding the incline railway which descends (at a snail's pace) at a 45-degree angle to the bottom of the canyon, we were looking for something more.

Hello, Skycoaster! You and your nearest and dearest are strapped into a big holster. You are pulled 100 feet into the air and then you pull the rip cord. We could feel the cool breeze on our faces as we barreled 50 miles per hour over the gorge with a bird's eye view of the Arkansas River 1,200 feet below. It's been voted the world's most scariest skycoaster, but it was AWESOME! If we ever go back to the Royal Gorge we'll be first in line and will have Cameron right next to us. She was going to ride it with Kris and me, but decided against it at the last minute. I guess at 8 years old, she just likes to pace herself.

The Ess Cousins and Peyton enjoying the ride.

Kris and I on the Skycoaster.

My view while on the Skycoaster.
Kris' eyes were closed most of the time.

Freckle Juice

2011-07-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

Freckles are cute and I think they are especially cute on little girls. I don't know if you recall reading Freckle Juice by Judy Blume when you were younger, but I loved it along with all of her books. Cameron's complexion reminds me of what I pictured Nicky Lane might have looked like.

When Cameron was really little she referred to her freckles as 'polka dots'. Back then, she had only ten or so polka dots sprinkled across her nose. It's amazing how many new polka dots appear each year. I always tease Cameron and tell her she needs to sit still while I count them. So far, I'm at 838 and counting...

A girl without freckles is like a night without stars.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

2011-07-06T19:52:00.000-07:00

This past week we were able to get away for a few days to enjoy the scenery in Colorado with the Ess cousins. We enjoy trying new activities and had an adventure-filled time and shared lots of laughs. I'll have to post more about our activities later on as I wanted to keep this post brief. We just got home today and I am worn out.

Inevitably, when we travel a distance there is usually one in the bunch that gets motion sickness en route to our destination. What I don't understand is that we can go on crazy, looping roller coasters but we can't hardly travel more than a few hours via plane or car. This time I think the altitude was a factor along with the winding roads and Kris' marginal vacation driving skills. Something we haven't tried yet (along with Dramamine) is traveling by train. Who knows--that may be the ticket!

And yes, I probably will not win the "Mother of the Year" award for snapping this pic, but I couldn't help myself. Cameron's glasses were killing me.

Snap, Crackle, Pop...

2011-06-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

Ah yes...the 4th of July is fast approaching. Fireworks have officially made it to the Why household this summer. Now that it is legal to purchase and light fireworks in the Big O!, there are many stands to choose from around town. Apparently without consulting the boss, {ME}, Kris thought he should buy mini-bombs, aka fireworks, so our currently ten-fingered and toed daughters could light them!?!

They started off with some parachutes, but there was a slight breeze so all but two landed on our wood roof. One of the parachutes looked like a flaming torpedo as it shot through the sky before landing on the (neighbor's) roof. Yikes!

Even though I don't like my children lighting fireworks,
this one makes me smile.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

2011-06-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

We thought we'd try our luck again at fishing this afternoon since it was kind of a gray day. I thought it was supposed to be hot and sunny and hoped to swim the day away at the pool. As it turned out we had a pretty successful day on the lake. The Why cousins joined us this afternoon too.

At first it didn't look so good and it started to rain. It wasn't a "let's start bailing water out of the boat" kind of rain, but a decent rain nonetheless. We decided to stick it out for awhile longer. The rain stopped and the fish came biting. They were practically leaping onto our laps in the boat. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but we caught five fish in about 45 minutes. I'm not sure if that's a good ratio, but it seemed pretty good to us and kept the kids' attention. We did end up releasing the fish back into the water. I like seafood almost as much as I like beef, but you don't see me butchering a cow by myself, plus we didn't snag these little gems from the sea--only from a little lake nearby. When it comes to meat, fish, milk, eggs, etc...I definitely like having a middle-man (i.e. butcher, grocer, farmer's marketeer, etc). It's going to be awhile before we bring our catch home. After all, I wouldn't let Kris purchase the gigantic fish knife that he coveted on an earlier trip to Walmart.

Here's a recap of our day on the lake...and also a reference point for future fish-telling stories about just how big those fish really were.

Cameron caught the first fish of the day. The whole "crew" was excited.

Peyton was next catching her first fish EVER!!!

Kaitlin snagged one too.

I think Kim caught the smallest one!

Peyton hooked another one before we called it a day.

Love Notes

2011-06-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

We are a "post-it note" family. If someone needs a reminder to bring their river diorama to school or bring a sack lunch for a field trip, there will be a post-it note on the door leading to the garage.

The other day I bought some new clothes for Kris because his circa 1995 threads weren't making the cut anymore. The girls displayed his new clothes on the kitchen table so he'd see them right away when he came home. Cameron thought he might not realize the clothes were his so she felt she should write a note--a really nice one. She quickly decided that since I had bought the clothes, I should probably take credit for the good deed so she crossed out her name and added mine instead.

You Say Tomato, I Say To-mah-to

2011-06-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

First tomato of the season
(next to a Pez dispenser for scale)

Growing up on a farm, I felt that if farmers could grow acres and acres of crops from a few seeds, some decent ground, and water; gardeners could certainly produce a few tomatoes and green beans fairly easily because the operation was so much smaller. I was up for the challenge. How cool would it be to be the person in your neighborhood that supplied everyone with fresh produce because your green thumbs were producing more than you could handle? I had dreams of selling my goods at the farmer's market. People would come from miles around and comment how colorful and fresh my vegetables were. I'd learn to can and make jams and I'd turn into the Midwest's version of Martha Stewart (minus the SEC situation and hard time in a minimum security facility). It would all be fantastic...

The past couple of years I've been trying to develop some "mad skillz" at gardening. My first year produced a few ping pong ball-sized onions and bell peppers. Last year I couldn't get anything to grow but a jalapeno plant. I started out diligently watering the plant, but then stopped sometime in June because we had so much rain...it was too hot...I didn't like winding the hose back up everyday after watering the plants...you get the drift. Apparently, my self-imposed drought caused my single jalapeno plant (I had planted on a whim) to produce and produce and produce. I probably picked 50 jalapenos from that single plant through the end of October.

This year I thought I'd try tomatoes. Again.

I planted three tomato plants Easter weekend. The conditions have been great because these plants are waist high and huge with flowers and small tomatoes growing every day. Tonight I picked the first one of the season. Although the tomato was only golf ball-size, I was still excited about it and all of the future tomatoes I would harvest this summer, chop up into homemade salsa and give away to the neighbors. Unfortunately, I noticed the bottom of the tomato was rotten as soon as I plucked it from the vine. Ughhh...

Icky--a rotten tomato