Summer Fun List

During dinner last night Madison and I made up a Summer Fun List. We only have about a little less than 4 weeks until school starts, so we have to pack a lot of stuff in.

• Go to McDonald's Play Place (we finally found one that isn't too far away)
• Catch Fireflies
• Go skinny dipping (this was Maddie's idea)
• Go to the fair (we will probably go today)
• Go the the farmer's market
• Go to the beach
• Go to the toy store
• Go golfing
• Paint the sunset
• Play with shaving cream
• Go for a walk
• Go for a bike ride
• Go to a sprinkler park (Cedar Rapids has a bunch of free ones)
• Play flashlight tag
• Camp out
• Have a lemonade stand
• Make a beautiful bouquet
• Have a bon fire with s'mores
  

Our Dining Room

We bought a buffet off Craig's List and I painted blue. Then I went to Good Will and bought some Lamps. I'm really liking it. I just need something for the table and I'm thinking of doing a white plate wall to the right of the window.

Yeah!!! My new couch is here!!!

Here are some pictures. I love it!!!

Dialogue Over Dinner

Madison: "Mommy, how do we get chicken to eat?"
Me: "We cook it."
Madison: "No, I mean how do we get it so we can cook it?"
Me: "We buy it at the store."
Madison: "Mom, do you know how we get eggs?"
Me: "How?"
Madison: "First, a chicken lays an egg and when the daddy doesn't plant the seed then we get to eat it."
Me: "Who told you that?"
Madison: "Nana"***

***Nana says she did not tell her this.

Since we have moved to Iowa, where there is a Tyson Fresh Meats facility, we have been more exposed to what really happens before we buy our meat at the store. I mean, I had an idea, but didn't really want to know the details and tried not to think about it.

Since we can't drive to our nearest "bigger" town (which is about 15-20 minutes away) without passing at least a cow farm and a pig farm (we see a lot of animals, but I'm not sure if they are just raising cows or pigs for meat) it is extremely difficult not to think about it on a daily basis. Yesterday, we were driving on the highway and saw a semi load of live turkeys in tiny, open cages blowing in the wind. Very similar to the picture below.Picture courtesy of www.ecoble.com.

My Kitchen After Almost A Week

Last Saturday night I sat on my neighbors deck, beer in hand, and decided I was going to paint my kitchen table and chairs. It took almost a week to get done and there were a few moments when I wasn't so sure if I should have started this project. I'm very happy with the end results though.

Before

After
(I still need to iron the curtains)

Dog Poop and Jam Sandwiches

Maddie has a thing with dog poop. If there is even one turd on the ground she says, "Mom, there is dog poop everywhere!" She said this to me on Sunday while I was painting and asked if she could pick it up. Of course I said yes. She got Gabe to hold the plastic bag and she shoveled pile after pile of dog poop into the bag. I don't think Gabe was too thrilled with this, but he went along with it anyway.

This morning the kids came running happily (this is the key word) into my room. Maddie immediately wanted breakfast. I told her I would be in the kitchen in a few minutes. Not even five minutes later this is what I walked into.She made herself...

and Gabe...a jam sandwich (we're out of peanut butter) for breakfast.

Good Eaters!

I've got some good eaters. Maddie just ate a 4 oz. steak and a bunch of corn for dinner and Gabe ate 7 chicken nuggets and some corn. They were hungry!!!