Canning. Open House. Flowers.

Some peaches have been picked and canned. Nine quarts. More to go. Chad helped last night. Today on my own. You can peel peaches without a knife. Who knew? Some person on the internet. Put in boiling water. Then put in ice water. Peel falls off in your hand. Peach has to be really ripe.
House on the market for 71 days. Open house tomorrow. Second open house. Frustration. Different houses on the market now to choose from! First time home owners grant running out in November. Potential!
Flowers blooming. Miracle grow occasionally. Vibrant colors. Weeds gone. Benadryl is my friend. Grass will be mowed soon. By me.

Calla chilling.

Chad working.

Getting prepared.

Boil with skin on.

Ice water with skin on.

Shiny. Skin off.

Slicing.

Boiling jars.

Finished!

House for sale. Nice. Cheap. Clean. Remodeled. Call. Visit. Buy. Move in.

Dianthus.

Black eyed susans? Not sure.

Mums.

Roses.

Blue Fescue.

It's time

Plump peaches patiently pending picking.

Perfect peaches pop a punch to the palate.

Rampant rhubarb ripe and ready to ruminate.

Rich rhubarb ripped resourcefully, ready for refrigeration.

Our Adventure

Camping. Calla's first experience. Barely fitting in the car. Asking 946 times to 'Go camping!' even though she meant 'Go fishing.' Sunscreen. Swimming in Fort Kearny lake. Building sand castles. Breaking Daddy's sand castles. Walking along the sandy beach. Throwing balls in the water. Walking on the shag carpet like moss covered lake bottom. Sandy girl. Cooking hot dogs on a fire. Eating lots of junk food. Scaring off the ground squirrel who wanted to go in our tent. Fishing. Reeling in a lot of moss. Playing in the tent with Elly. Falling off the picnic table. Ticks. Bug spray. Seeing friends from daycare. Seeing Grandma and Grandpa Ripp. Refusing to use the outhouses. Refusing to use the regular toilet. Being scared of flies. Peeing in the grass. Peeing in the grass because you are told "This is what Dora does." Watching our pregnant man neighbor and his redneck clan. Worried that we need to 'turn the fire back on.' Roasting marshmallows. Eating chocolate. Looking at the stars. Watching the fire burn. Falling asleep in Mommy's arms. Sleeping on the Dora couch in the tent with pink blanket. Sleeping through the night. Waking up asking 'I want to go camping.' Eating white doughnuts. Asking to 'go potty in the grass like Dora.' Going on a 5 mile walk down the bike path. Seeing the burned bridge on the Fort Kearny trail. Riding in a kayak. Fishing with the Dora fishing pole while in the kayak. Eating more junk food than lunch. Repacking the car. Falling asleep in the car on the way home. Sleeping for 3 hours after returning home. Waking up from a nap asking to 'go camping again.' Taking a bath and asking to go to bed at 8:00PM. Great memories. Fun times. Spending time with great friends. Tiring. Plans to go again soon.

Ready to go!

Trying to convince the Mommy's they are both sleeping here.

Our campsite.

Cooling off.

Being silly.

Helping figure out the new two person kayak.

Trying out the new kayak.

Fishing.

Moss.

Campfire.

Playing with her friend.

More Hummus Please!

Yesterday I stepped out on a limb and decided to try a recipe for hummus. Had I ever had hummus? No! Did I think I really would like it? No way! Had I looked at it before and thought it sounded disgusting? Yeppers!
MckMama had bragged about her recipe on her blog several months back and her children eat it and love it. Well...I bought the ingredients while at the grocery store and fired up my trusty Magic Bullet and mixed me up some hummus.
IT IS WONDERFUL!!! Yes I know that you can buy it at the store, but it is cheap and way easy to make, and I know exactly what it is in it this way!
I strongly encourage you to go here and scroll down to her Wednesday, May 6, 2009 entry and find her words and recipe for yourself!
Let me know if you make it and how you liked it!

Calla do you like hummus? "YES!"

"I'm serious, I really do like it!"

Summertime, Summertime

Calla is such an amazing little girl! Everyday she learns new things or says something funny and we just are so thankful that she is ours!
For instance, Boogarts (the grocery store) is "yogurts"; hospital is "hositol"; pool is "cool"; Andrea is "Anrea"; orangutan is "rangatang". She loves to go swimming out back in her "cool" and she also started swimming lessons that she is enjoying. I am currently between jobs and enjoying my time at home preparing for my new classroom. Enjoy the pics and the video!

Last night she ate her first corn on the cob...and finished all of it!

Here she is in her "cool" with her Dora floaty!

In the bathtub with the Dora floaty!

a really cool car from Cruise Night this last weekend

a cool trailer for a motorcycle

Calla with her favorite car...a racecar!

Enjoying the parade...with the "phones" on because it is too loud! There were several firetrucks and loud motors!

Chad and I several weeks ago. We went out to the Garage to hear a band play. It was a lot of fun!

I don't know why this box is here...I can't get rid of it...sorry!!!

4th of July Fun

Our party excitement for the weekend started on the 3rd with the Annual Party at Aunt Stacey's house. (Chad's cousin) Calla enjoyed eating and hanging out with different people. Then when the loud fireworks started she HAD to have her "phones." This would be her head phones from the racetrack! "The fire works at Stacey's house loud and I crabby and put my phones on to cover my ears." At dusk we went to Pam and Dave's to watch the display that is put on by the city. She really liked those fire works and did not have to have the phones.
On Saturday afternoon Calla and I went to my friend's wedding. When they were coming out of the church they let off two loud cannons with streamers. Calla was bawling and yelling that she needed her phones. I kept telling her that they were done, but she still kept her ears covered with her hands.
On the 4th we went to Amber and Andy's and played inside and ate supper. After supper the big boys started the fireworks and Calla was so upset. We even had her phones on and she still would not get very close. We stood back for a while and slowly crept our way up to our chairs and eventually she was a little more ok with them. So hopefully next year she will be a big 3 year old and be a little more comfortable with the noise!

She licked the beaters after we made dirt and worms last week!

Going to Elly's house for the party!

Wearing her 'phones' and hanging out with Daddy!