Quick 5

Hot, dry, crunchy August.

1. The girls got to go to a birthday party at Home Depot on Saturday. We had never been to one of the kid workshops at Home Depot, and I knew they would love it. Building real stuff AND cake is kind of a winning idea. I did have to take Bria, which means she had a super short nap, and she was difficult, as I knew she would be. But the good news is while she was sitting in her chair hollering about the injustice of it all, everyone else was banging away on their projects. So no one could hear her. It was awesome. By the time we had cake she calmed down, though.

Bria is literally shaking her fist in this pic, screaming "No picture!! No picture!!"

 2. Joya was so proud of her project that she wanted to take it everywhere and show everyone. When I said that wasn't a good idea, she used her noggin and asked if I could take a picture of it on my phone and show everyone that way. So I did. And she made sure that I kept up my end of the bargain at church, showing everyone her project.

3. On Monday we had a Cousin Day in Colorado Springs. I don't have any pictures, and I'm a little proud of myself for that, because our generation feels compelled to document EVERYTHING in pictures. But instead I just enjoyed. We went with my sister and her kids to their neighborhood pool, and it was delightful. It's a fantastic pool for little kids. I'm also quite proud of the fact that it was my first time ever taking the girls swimming all by myself. Alaina is very trustworthy in the water, and Joya is too. Bria, not so much, due to her lack of experience. And her stubborn will. But we all had fun, and Aunt Jamie's brilliant usage of fruit snacks made even leaving a peaceful experience.

4.  Supplies have been purchased, registration fees have been paid, and her school picture has been taken. Alaina is ready for 2nd grade. Next Thursday is Back to School night when we get to see her classroom and meet her teacher. Alaina is ready to be with all her friends again. And she's looking forward to all the new challenging work. (Her words, not mine. She really is.)

5. My garden just might be a failure this year. I can't decide if I'm watering it too much or not enough. Maybe both. My zucchini plants have lots of giant blooms every day, but none of the blooms are the fruit producing ones. My tomato plant is totally lazy. My sugar snap peas dried up at the mere sight of the sun. However, my pepper plant has at least 10 peppers on it, and we're getting raspberries. I've been able to pull off three or four berries every day, and it looks like soon we might have a whole bunch at once. That is the most exciting to me. I don't know where I went wrong with the zucchinis, but maybe next year.

Peace out!