Just Checking In . . .

The weather outside . . . 

is perfect. 80 degrees. Slight breeze. We ate dinner outside tonight. Birds chirping. Summer delight!  After dinner we ran down to the garden and I took a few pics for you. (pics later in the post)

I'm listening to . . .

Doug washing dishes. Yeah for washing dishes IN THE KITCHEN. So thankful! We were up to our eyeballs in remodeling drama this week. No kitchen sink for a couple days, so we washed the dishes in the bathtub. Ugh. (first world "problems," right? its not like I walked a mile three times a day to get a 40 pound bucket of muddy water.)

which leads to . . .

Around the house . . . 

So the DIY counter top situation was a no go. Nice try, I guess. I told Doug that the last few months have been the weeks and months of lots of beginner's mistakes. But I guess you gotta make a few to learn, huh? So hopefully we've grown as handy people and will be a little better next time around. So now the counter tops are in (hired professionals) and the sink/faucet is in as well.

The other situation is a kitchen table makeover. Doug had originally wanted to build a farm table for us but it was just too much this year. Maybe sometime in the future. I'm a Pinterest girl and have seen lots of people redoing old/outdated kitchen into really great-looking pieces. We got our table and chairs for free some years ago, so I figured if I gave it a whirl I didn't have much to lose. I've seen a few tables like ours at the thrift store for about $40, so I figured worst case scenario I'd just hit up the thrift store.

Well, anyhow I will probably give you the rundown later but it's been a pretty good process. Slow because of the drying time and multiple layers but good overall. I was just about done yesterday. I figured it should be done by Sunday or Monday. Well . . . then I made a major error. So it's back to the drawing table. I think it will be fine but its going to take some more time. It won't look as good as it was looking before but it will still be fine.  (I hope. Crossing fingers here.)

No dinner table for going on three weeks. Yikes. It will be nice to get it back one of these days. 

In the garden . . .

Pretty good. I don't get out there as much as I'd like to but still some good things are going on out there. Here's a few pictures.

Curing the garlic

Peter Piper picked a pack of purple peppers (and put them in the salsa)

Learning, learning all the time. . .

The three eldest have had swim lessons these past two weeks. They do love the pool. We've gotten out for some open swim times as well.

This coming week is VBS.

Mace is all about letters these days. Last month he was crazy about numbers. Now he's reading alphabet books, doing alphabet puzzles, singing his ABC's, and playing iPad games all about letters. It's pretty cute.

Somebody found a good place to store his peas. 

 We are reading . . .

I'm reading another autobiography on Maria Augusta Trapp (the Trapp family singers, think "Sound of Music.")  It's kinda of a tide-me-over until I go pick up the two GK Chesterton books I have on hold at the library.

I keep meaning to email my father-in-law about this book: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower. By C.S. Forester. It is a light, interesting read about a young British naval officer embarking on his career in the Royal Navy.  Check it out. Maybe you'll like it.

We are finally on our last history unit of the year. 800-1060 A.D. Right now we are reading aloud Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard. Basil is reading Beorn the Proud. Sage is reading D'Aulaires Book of Norse Myths. They both tell me that they are good. Time for a narration.

In the kitchen . . .

Cooking from the garden. I love that about this time of year! Baba ghanoush from eggplant, zucchini pancakes, kale salad and kale in our smoothies. Tonight we had our first garden salsa. Everything in the salsa was from our garden except for the lime and the salt. Wahoo!!

We've had some good salads this summer but here's one of my favorites. Grilled Chicken Souvlaki Greek Salad. 

Mace phrase of the week . . .  

We are driving off in the car but then have to turn around to get something I forgot inside. I run back out to the car and we take off again. Mace asks me "You all set, mom?" The sentences this kid picks up and turns out just crack me up!


Time to run! Love you guys!!

Tall Grandma came to visit last weekend. We drove down to Madison and checked out a few museums.