Many of you heard that there was recently an article in Real Simple Magazine this spring in the special family edition that highlighted Dine Without Whine.

Well, I am now a contributing author to an actual book that was published! How cool is that? There is even a Thank You to me in the dedication section. The book is called “Mom CEO (Chief Everything Officer) – Having, Doing and Surviving It All” By Jodie Lynn. I contributed several recipes and Dine Without Whine is highlighted throughout the entire book. Very fun!

Anyway, just wanted to share. I got my copy the other day and am gradually making it through it.

I had a big long post written out and when I clicked publish my internet went down and it was lost….

Anyway, I am tired so I will just post a quick note for now.

I hope you had a great 4th. We had a good time. I got up at 5:00 to cook an egg casserole and cinnamon rolls for the church breakfast that started at 6:45. We had breakfast and then went to the service that started at 8:00. A pastor that Matt went to seminary with was the guest speaker, so Matt didn’t have to do anything except the closing. Afterwards we rushed off to the parade. There were lots of fire engines and tractors, one marching band, and a couple horses. The kids had a good time – collecting their candy once again. We came home and had lunch and then took naps. We were planning to go swimming with some friends, but a thunderstorm developed, so we waited that out and then headed to the BBQ we were invited to. The kids had a great time playing with the other kids. Everyone combined their fireworks and we had a little show and then watched the city show from their front yard. The kids plopped in bed about 10:30 and woke up at their usual 7:00 a.m. So they were on the crabby side today. I finally convinced them to take naps this afternoon and then they couldn’t fall asleep tonight. I don’t think they konked out until about 9:45. Hopefully they will be back on schedule soon.

We did get three days of heavy rain storms. Our grass is happy and the farmers are happy. Unfortunately, Japenese Beetles have made residence in our trees. A couple of them are almost completely eaten. Matt sprayed today, but I’m not sure how much it is going to help. Yuck.

I can’t believe tomorrow is already Thursday. It gets so confusing when there is a holiday in the middle of the week. Matt is going to the Bush Race Saturday. They leave around 5:00 a.m. and get back late, so I’ll have the boys to myself. I’ll have to think of something fun to keep us occupied. We’ll probably do a bunch of cleaning since we have the youth group coming over Sunday.

Anyway, I’m off to catch some beauty sleep.
C-

It was a lovely 101.8 Hot Humid Degrees today. We are incredibly thankful for air-conditioning. It was already 97 when church let out around 10:45 a.m. and the air-conditioning was not keeping up inside the church real well – everyone was warm. Yesterday it wasn’t quite that hot, but close. We did go out for a walk this evening when it “cooled down” to 88. Then this evening a little girl from church stopped by, so they played with water and caught lightning bugs as the sun set.

The last two days I was caught up in a good book. It is called Weighing Life. It is not a Christian Book. so it had a bit of language I could have lived without, but other than that it was a good read. One of those you can hardly put down. I devoured all 424 pages in two days. I picked it up as it was highlighted in our newspaper. It was written by a couple somewhat local ladies. It had been way too long since I had read fiction. It was a nice change.

Our kitty did return home after a full day away. I guess she went on an adventure. Matt thinks she might have gotten scared away. There was a broken glass jar in the garage in the morning that he thinks she might have knocked over. She has stuck close to home ever since she returned, and she is still looking nice and plump. I am guessing in 2-3 weeks we will have kittens. That should be an adventure!

Dane each day is getting better at communicating what he wants. He has the “I want” phrase down. Today he said “I want downstairs” and “I want ball”. He did get in a bit of trouble yesterday. Here is a picture of what he looked like when I found him.

That is lotion, mascara, and lip gloss. Little Turkey. Of course he thought it was great because then he got a bath!

It has been very dry and the farmers are starting to get a bit concerned. We have seen rain clouds several days just to the south of us, but no rain has landed here. Our soybeans still look good, but I am sure they could use some water soon! As I write I hear quite a bit of thunder, so perhaps rain is soon on its way. I hope so, for the farmers sake and for our lawns sake.

Well, that’s all the news for now.
C-

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I will have a new Daily Life Post up in a bit.

C-