Revolt against Hair Tyranny

Compote

When we were cleaning out Grandma Dickey's freezer, we found jar after jar of various kinds of homemade compote. Grandma had several fruit trees (sour cherry, plum, pear, and apple). She didn't like to waste even the fruit that had fallen to the ground and was infamous for her delicious preserves and fruit leather, and I tried not to think about the extra protien that may have been lurking in it from worms and the like.

In honor of Grandma, I made gobs of rhubarb compote (from six cups of cut up rhubarb!) and dutifully stored some in the freezer, with a piece of masking tape to mark the type and the date. And of course, reusing an old plastic container (i.e. from cool whip or margarine or some other toxic substance) gets you extra points in frugality.

Calvin asked for a PBR sandwich at lunch, and tonight we're going to have rhubarb shortcake. I also love it on pancakes and crepes.

Camping in the Sun

These photos courtesy of the talented Ellen Patton. A few tidbits from the annual ward campout:

Ivy loved the handcarts and cried when anyone disappeared with one over the horizon. She also was "that baby" who cried too much during the dark hours and kept other campers awake. We tried everything to get her to go to sleep (rocking, walking, ipod movies, drugs), and finally around 4:30am she knocked off. And this coming from my best sleeper! What a crock. Good thing she's cute...

Calvin loved the space to run and being in the outdoors 24/7. He delighted in the seemingly unlimited supply of s'mores materials left unattended, and the kindness of "nice girls" like Sister Patton who gave him cookies and directions and such. He loved the mini back door escape hatch to our tent.

Bryn hit the ground running and spent her time racing from site to site visiting and rounding up friends. Over at the pond, she commandeered the canoe and taught herself how to paddle, and soon enough was zooming all over the pond, picking up swimming stragglers as she went. Our kids begged us to go to bed both nights from sheer exhaustion.

I enjoyed the company of friends, the soccer games, the Frisbee tosses, the lawn bowling, the fires, the testimony meeting on Sunday morning, the communal meals, the play put on by the kids, and the hammock. Peter took a hike with a couple of our kids and the Johnstons. We had a particularly fun evening where everyone sat around a humongous fire and shared stories of love, campouts past, and practical jokes.

Summer Sister Skirts

Here are the girls in all their flirty skirty glory. These adorable matchy matchy skirts brought to you by the sewing talents of my mother.

To Infinity and Beyond

"I didn't always know what the whole universe was. But now I know it's the whole solar system AND the next page."

-Calvin, tonight at dinner

Big Truck Heaven

The Big Truck festival came to the library parking lot today. Despite the heat, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Afterward we hit the Candy Castle for a laffy taffy (Bryn's choice) and a tootsie pop (Calvin's choice).

I then found a sweet little Asian Bakery hidden right in the town center and we shared a slice of strawberry cheesecake (my choice) in the frosty a/c'ed air. Bryn told me on the way home that I was the best mom ever. Money can't buy love, but sometimes $2 puts the cherry on top.

Local Cup

I finally found a pick-up soccer league close to home, and went for my second night tonight. It's fantastic to stretch my legs out on a real grass field again (I played indoor last winter). I'm hoping my cardiovascular system will get with the program before the summer's done.

Cutest li'l popsicle eater evah

My friend Eileen watched this video and told me, "Speaking as a swallowing specialist, she has great lingual elevation and bilabial range of motion in the oral phase of swallowing!" I'm not sure exactly what that means, but it's probably something to the effect of "she's so talented at licking."

Beating the heat

You know you're a third when your mom doesn't even bother filling up the bathtub for you.

***

And just for fun, here she is sporting the "giraffe" hairdo (named for the likeness to the nubs on giraffes' heads):

Winner winner chicken dinner

We're so proud of our experienced little hopper.