Gimme S'more!

Nothing says summer like a bonfire and some marshmallows! Not long after setting up camp The Girl and Little Man met all the neighbor kids. A couple days later we were the hang out spot.



We picked up a bunch of old firewood from out behind the sawmill. It was so dry it burned very, very quickly. It was all gone before the weekend was done. We went through 2 boxes of graham crackers, 10 chocolate bars, and 3 bags of marshmallows that weekend. Good times! :)

In the Kitchen

Chad and Little Man made dinner! Home Economics class is in session :) Eventually we'll have a full-sized kitchen and then family cooking will be much easier. Until then, we take turns :)



While I was snapping pictures and watching them cook, it hit me that they were dressed practically the same! Silly boys!

Summer Lovin'

Is there anything better than enjoying fresh picked, locally grown fruits and vegetables?! I love summer's harvest of goodness. We've been enjoying sweet corn, yellow squash and zuchinni, tomatoes, peaches, and blueberries. So yummy!

Buy me some peanuts!

Family day this week was an evening treat. We scored front row, home plate tickets to the South Bend Silverhawks game last night!



What a great view of the game. The only, and I do mean only, drawback to the seats was the view along the 3rd base line was blocked by the visitors dugout. But you could stand up and watch the play in left field if you really needed to see what was going on back there! The best part was the foot rest :) We had a lot of fun and snacked on $1 hot dogs and sodas.



Little Man was totally into the game until the hecklers started getting obnoxious. I tried to calm him down but he was completely distracted from the game the last 2 innings. He and The Girl were so unused to the rudeness toward the visiting team that I think it may have ruined the experience for them. I hope not. I'd really like to get season tickets next year.

I WANT THIS BOOK!!!

Cake Pops by Bakerella

Back in April I made some of these as baseballs for Little Man's baseball team and I love doing these! I so want to make a set of Star Wars cake pops :)

Summer isn't over...

until the school bell rings! ~Nora Roberts

As invariably happens, summer is winding to a close. The days are becoming shorter. The air is turning cooler. And the frenzy of back-to-school shopping has begun!

I'm working on organizing the kids school curriculum for the upcoming year, but in the back of my mind all I can think is "summer isn't over yet!"

I have this whole list of summer activites I want to do as a family, and we haven't gotten to very many of them. So many sights to see, smells to take in, memories to be made!

Some of my ideas for the rest of summer (and maybe right on into fall!)

Build a sand castle
Go to a museum
Fly kites
Go to a county or state fair
Go to a professional baseball game
Make home made ice cream
Build a fort
Go to the zoo
Have a pic nic
Go to a drive-in theater
Rollerskating
Make sushi
Take a Road trip
Climb a tree
Go on a scavenger hunt
Go thrifting/yard sales
Blow bubbles
Go bowling
Play board games/card games all day
Have a water balloon fight
Go star gazing
Tie-dye party!
Make fresh lemonade

and oh, so many more....

Super Cute Piggie Cookies

My project this week: Pig Cookies!

And Detroit Piggies :)


I totally busted out the Mad-Martha skills and made these little pigs for my mom's restaurant anniversary celebration. We didn't know what to do about a pig cookie cutter, but turns out my sister actually had one! I also got the recipe from her cookbook. I'm so ready to make some more of these sugar cookies. This recipe is one of the most amazing recipes I've come across! They baked up nice and flat and didn't distort. Perfect for flood-work frosting! Bring on Christmas, baby!

Highways and Byways: From Florida to Michigan

Just when you think you've got it all planned out you get a curve ball.

The plan went awry waaaaay back in June when we found out J had made the All-Stars team. Which is awesome and I'm super proud of him because he worked so hard to make it. But it did push our schedule back since the games would be in July. No biggie. We just pushed the departure date back a bit.

July playoffs come along and don't you know - they win the District 14 title! Way to go Winter Garden All-Stars! But, another set back all the same. At least the sectionals were at the end of July. So I go ahead with our plans and drive to Michigan to work for a week or so and then fly back for the games. Not a curve ball this time - we got hit by the pitch! The car broke down in Atlanta, costing me a one day delay and a Greyhound ticket. Plus the car is now stuck in GA.

So I work the week and a few days, saving every penny, only to have to pay extra for the plane ticket back because I had to wait to purchase it. Oh well. What do you do?

The weekend of playoffs was a wet one. It rained and rained. So many delays! But the weekend was finally over. The team came in 3rd place. I half wish they'd won to go on to State, but at the same time I'm glad we could finally get moving.

We loaded up the RV and pulled out the next day. Only to find the A/C was out on the truck and the heat index was over 100! No way were we driving without A/C! So another delay. Several hours and several hundred dollars later we were finally ready to head out. And then I discover that K's fish died. :( He hadn't been looking so well the last few days so I knew it was coming. And really, just as well he stay in Florida. K took it. She said it was a sign. A sign that we were not supposed to leave Florida. But leaving we were!

After an agonizing 6 hour delay we were finally on the road. We stopped for the night outside Atlanta to get a good nights rest. By morning we were infested with sugar ants.

I couldn't make this stuff up!

We dumped a bunch of ant stuff all over the counters and hit the road. By 1 am we were ready to stop outside Indy. We pulled open the RV to fall into our beds, but the ants were still crawling all over the place. And the inside of the RV was at least 90 degrees! No rest for us. Back into the truck and back out onto the highway. We finally arrived in Michigan at the break of dawn. We grabbed our pillows and crashed in the basement at Chad's moms. When we went out to the truck the next morning...the back tire on the truck was flat. I don't mean low or squishy...I mean FLAT!

You think I'm kidding don't you?

Luckily Grandpa had an air compressor and we filled it up. After dropping the RV we took off for Niles to get the tire fixed. Wouldn't you know it, they wouldn't fix the tire. So we went to Sam's in Mishawaka where we'd purchased the tires. Another 2 hour delay and the tire was fixed. But it still had a leak. So they put the spare on and tossed the old one. Another hour and we were on the road back to Dowagiac.

Later that week we moved the RV to a resort outside Decatur where it now sits in the shade of two lovely maple trees. After all the misery of that trip, it deserves a nice place to rest.

After all that, we're still not sure where we're going and what we're doing. All we know is that Life certainly takes some funny twists and turns.