These last two weeks I remembered the sounds of summer that I don’t especially like. The screen door slamming a million times… semi trucks and motorcycles blowing by so loudly I can’t even carry on a conversation on my porch…”I’m bored”…”I’m hungry”…thank goodness the road commission cut rumble strips all down M52 this spring. I was worried the road wouldn’t be loud enough this summer!

 Yes summer is here and I am already playing referee and trying to get creative to keep these boys occupied. This week we will try something I read in my favorite magazine ever - Family Fun. You soak t-shirts in water, wring them out, stack them on a cookie sheet with wax paper between them, and stick them in the freezer. The first person to put on their frozen t-shirt wins!! I have used so many ideas from their magazines and website.

 I bought this fabulous pool at wally world. I am too cheap to spend a lot of money so I got one that was way too small for all the boys that are here and the darn thing ripped within an hour of filling it up. They did a splash competition and that was that! I guess I’ll have to return it and spend a big $30!

 Another thing about summer that I seem to forget about until it is here is the amount of food these animals can consume. My five kids ate five cans of Chef Boyardee for lunch the other day. It was disgusting and they loved it. I’m not buying barfaroni again for a long time!

 I made it to the new ice cream place in town and thanks to Trent I am now hooked on Tom’s milkhouse special! Chocolate ice cream layered with peanut butter and covered in whip cream. It is so good. The building is decorated so cute and clever. I’ll be visiting there all summer….the peanut butter brownie is my second favorite!!

 The kids and I all went to the greenhouse and we were talking about how fun it would be to work there. We would talk to the plants all night. We ended up buying this big beautiful hanging basket and Ezra asked if we could name it. Leo and I rattled off some great name suggestions and at the same time we said “LaFawnda!” So LaFawnda now hangs on our porch and gets lots of attention. Ezra asks “has anyone watered LaFawnda today?” My mom calls and asks how LaFawnda is doing after the storm. She is a very popular plant!

 After the Relay For Life I inherited 2 18 packs of hot dog buns. Awesome!! I love free food especially hot dog buns. We have done so many delicious things with hot dog buns. They can take the place of any bread. Egg dogs, pb&j dogs, tuna dogs, chicken dogs, ham dogs, and Leo’s specialty – sicle dogs (popsicle in a hot dog bun). The funniest story about hot dog buns – my grandma used to put cheese slices in a hot dog bun and call then cheese dogs. My aunts didn’t realize that cheese dogs were supposed to have a hot dog in them until they were much older!

 One of the things that saves my sanity is the radio station Smooth Jazz 92.9. I just love this station. It feels like I have the weather channel on. It is smooth and satisfying!

 I’ll leave you with this vision – at Leo’s baseball game the little girl next to us was fixing her dad’s hair with a play curling iron and brush. I look over and Daisy is fixing the dad’s hair with the curling iron and brush!! I was a little embarrassed.

 “Grant me patience to deal with my blessings!”

 Bye for now!