Get Along Little Doggies

So, for lunch today my family went out to eat at our favorite TexMex restaurant.

Everything was going along swimmingly and then Ben happened to mention that 

one of the dishes was served with Chihuahua cheese.

This is where the conversation took a big turn.

Chihuahua cheese must be made from Chihuahua milk, right?

There was talk of roving herds of the miniature dogs on free range Chihuahua ranches.  

12 inch high fences made from popsicle sticks.

Branding irons made from paperclips, heated with a Bic lighter.

Hiring children and people with small hands to milk the Chihuahuas.

It got silly really fast.

I love my family and our wacky conversations.

I love to hear my family laugh.

This weekend we are having a Harry Potter marathon.  

We decided that we wanted to go back to the beginning and watch all of the movies 

before we go to the theater later this week to see the final installment in the series.

It's been fun watching the Harry and company grow up again.

In true fashion, we lie around like boneless chickens when we watch movies.

The greatest physical expenditure is petting Peaches during the movie.

Although she also does her share of boneless chicken imitations.

We have enjoyed JK Rowing's stories and hate to see them come to an end.

I owe a great debt of gratitude to Ms. Rowling.

My son's love of  reading came when he picked up her first book in the 3rd grade.

He hasn't slowed down since. 

Splish Splash

Today we met up to swim at Mrs. Jennifer's pool.

She has a pool and no kids at home.  She has graciously asked us 

to come and swim anytime we want.  

Sweet!  

It was a wonderful sunny, but not terribly hot day.

Just right for playing and bobbing around in a pool.

Much fun was had by all.

Ben got really tan working at our church camp this summer.

He is always ready to keep the tan going.  

He has the ladies to impress, you know.

He and Allison had fun playing with each other.

Here he is demonstrating his lifesaving skills...

delivering his sister safely to the side of the pool.  

We started playing a diving game.

As they were getting ready to jump...

I would call out an animal...

This gave them just a split second to imitate the animal before they hit the water.  

They were pretty fun to watch.

 Between the goofy looks on their faces

 to the weird dives, 

it was pretty fun to watch.

About here is where I called out "Llama"!

Here is her llama.

About to be a very wet llama.

Splash!

 You can practically watch this kid grow this summer.

What a fun afternoon.

Dinner and a Swim

We joke about the only thing better than having a pool is having friends with pools.

With the hot days we have been having lately it has been quite nice 

to have invitations to swim.

Most especially when it comes with the invitation to come for dinner...

and enjoy their lovely yard. 

We have the best friends!

Thanks Lisa and Charles!

Cozy Nights

In our family kids always seem to wind up in our bed.

We like nothing better than to all pile into our big ol' bed and watch movies.

With the kids getting older I am starting to lament the time when they think they 

are too big to hang out in Mom and Dad's bed.

But for now, I'll take this for as long as it lasts.

Dinner with Friends

Tonight hubs and I spent our last night sans kiddos with friends.

We were invited the home of Beth and Mark Kershner for dinner and drinks.

Mark and his friend Brian did the cooking,

Beth set a beautiful table, as usual.

Beth really enjoys entertaining and her home always looks lovely.

She has a flair for decorating.

The dinner tonight was Portuguese.

Gazpacho, goat-cheese stuffed peppers, roasted tomato and pepper salad

a fragrant stewed chicken, potatoes, and a tasty spinach and chickpea side dish.

Thanks for inviting us Beth and Mark!

We always have a great time at your home.

Sweet Slobs

The kids are out of town this week. 

I took advantage of having free reign of their room and decided surprise them 

with clean rooms with fresh sheets and towels.  

Sounds lovely, right?

Holy Cow!  What a mess.  Eight hours and lots of sweat later this is what I culled from their rooms.

I filled three and a half bags of trash and removed a ton of clothes.

Three medium loads of clothes and a mountain-sized load of towels and linens.

Please tell me that kids eventually get neater. 

*Sorry the pictures are a little dark.  I am still trying to figure out how to get my new computer to talk to my newer version of Photoshop Elements.

BLT

Crusty whole wheat bread.

Crunchy Romaine lettuce.

Bacon ('nuf said!)

Mayo and fresh cracked pepper.

Dad's tomatoes.

Perfection.

Dad's Garden, Post 8

Dad's garden is in full swing.

He is beginning to take veggies to church in large quantities.

My father's garden efforts actually increase the attendance on 

Sunday and Wednesday nights during growing season..

Folks know that he will be showing up with veggies free for the taking.

Mom is just glad to not having to deal with all of the produce he is producing.

Here are some of the white onions that he has pulled.

Mild and sweet.  Yum.

The blueberries are starting to slow down a bit.

It has been a great blueberry year.  

I came home with a jar of Dad's blueberry syrup!

Squash coming in by the basket full.

These tomatoes are not beautiful but they will be very tasty. 

A rogue thunderstorm with hail dinged the tender tomatoes just before 

they were ready to start turning red.  

Subsequent tomatoes will be gorgeous!

I love how the onions drying on the garden fence look.  

Very neat and orderly.

The red ones are especially pretty.

The broccoli is done for the year.

It was delicious while it lasted.

The red limas are busy producing their pretty red lima beans.

The tomato plants are loaded down.

I mean - look at this plant! 

The okra plants have grown 2 feet since I last snapped a pic of them.  

They are putting on little okra now and Dad will be harvesting those 

lovely pale green pods very soon.

The green limas are getting well established now. 

They will be peaking about the time the red limas are finishing up.

Dad is letting the Grandma Parham green beans mature on the vine now.

He will harvest them when the pods dry up. 

They make great dry beans.

The muscadines are getting fatter and will be sweetening up soon.

The blueberries are still producing but they will be done soon.  

That's what's happening in the garden this week.

*shot with my iPhone - sorry for the grainy pics.