what's up weekly.

This week was full, full, full, so let's jump right in!

Juni and I spent some quality time cuddling and wearing the same outfit and comparing our baby bellies.  (Juni is a cuddler.  We had chiropractor appointments this week, and after her adjustment she pointed to a chair and yelled, "SIT!  CUDDLE!" She is not a fan of chiro adjustments.)

Atticus is a mowing machine.  And he's really good at it.  Yall better start budgeting to hire him next summer - he'll fill up his client schedule fast.

Todd got the backyard mowed for the first time since we hauled in 20,000 pounds of topsoil and then reseeded back there in early May.  The backyard has been off limits since then, but now that it has had a chance to get itself established, you better believe we've been living it up back there all week long.

The wooly bears are out already!  Doesn't this seem ridiculously early, or am I mistaken?  I feel like we mostly see them in the fall.  Is this an ominous harbinger of the winter to come?

Look at all that beautiful, beautiful grass, almost none of which was growing there before we did all our dirt work.  A green yard is the stuff of dreams.  I will probably reseed a few thin spots, and repair a couple areas that got washed out by all the floodwaters we had right after we laid everything down, but I'm happy with how much green has established itself already!

In addition to all of our time spent playing outside, I've also had some projects going in the kitchen.  I had an adorable sous chef.  (And no, we still don't have a dishwasher, and yes, I've been procrastinating on ordering one because I hate spending that kind of money to replace things that we already have.  It's so demoralizing.)

Now.  To get to this week's major holiday: the Fourth of July!  I made apple crisp and sausage patties for breakfast, and grilled hot dogs for dinner.  Ahhhh, summer.

We also scrounged up some fireworks to light off before family movie night.

This is my kind of Captain America.

It wasn't long before the boys started pretending their sparklers were rifles, and were hunkering down below our terracing like they were shooting at the enemy from the trenches.  Boy Summer = the same through all generations.

Once the work week kicked off, we were back outside.  Todd had Monday off, so he burned a bunch of yard waste in our fire pit through the day, and the kids hung out on the grass.  In the evening, we used the still-burning fire to make s'mores.

We also hit up Goodwill on Monday, where the kids sweet-talked Todd into letting them get these child-sized crutches for pretend play.  They have already been well worth the $2.25.

Todd fueled his mental fire while he sat supervising the literal fire.

HOW TALL IS THIS GIRL??!??!

We did a little matchmaking and found Stumpi a boyfriend.  We literally found him.  He seems to be providing well for himself, and has established for himself a large, stable home in our sandbox-turned-bin-for-compost-straw.  He did not like being manhandled and fought to protect himself and his home from invaders, so he seems like quite the catch.  (Literally.)  However, I made the kids leave him outside- one indoor box turtle is already two more reptiles than I ever planned to own, so he can pine away for her from afar.  Maybe he can serenade her outside the dining room window at night or something.  He's going to have to get creative.

This is the face Juni likes to make when we tell her she's not allowed to fall face-first into a fiery death pit.  Parents are so oppressive. 

Marshmallow Hair: one of the myriad reasons we only do s'mores once or twice a year.

I call this face, "The Healing Power of a Graham Cracker."

Look! He got all of us in one photo!

I also spent time this week tuning up our weed whacker.  I bought it in Cedar Falls, and haven't used it once in the five years since we've lived here, so I figured it was time to bust it out, now that we have grass that actually grows. 

You have likely noticed that I am not wearing shoes, which you may or may not have an opinion about.  I would just like to present the evidence that I have been alive for 35 years and am the proud possessor of all ten toes I had at birth, and if that's not a proven track record, I don't know what is.  Let's cut a deal: if I string-trim off a toe at any point in the future, I promise I will spend the next 35 years of my life doing things your way.  Until then, you live your life and I'll live mine.

Finneas caught a truly heinous, ungodly, sickening number of slugs.  Better in the jar than in my garden, that's for sure, but I can't even describe to you the stench that emanates from this jar just through the tiny air holes poked in the lid.

Now, back inside to my kitchen projects: I made a lot of cheese and yogurt this week.  We normally buy seven gallons of milk each week, but I've been drinking a ton of it myself lately since it consistently settles my lingering nausea, and I also knew I'd be needing to make yogurt soon, so I bought ten gallons when we went to the Amish on Saturday.  But I also bought three gallons for gals that I forgot would be out of town, so I had thirteen gallons of milk on hand this week.  So I turned a gallon into yogurt, a gallon into a semi-hard fresh cheese, and a gallon into paneer, which is this amazing cheese you can FRY.  It's creamy and crispy and salty and warm and you can serve it with honey and I may have eaten the entire batch in under 24 hours.  

Nothing fancy, but these are my homemade (FREE!) cheese presses: lard and cottage cheese containers.  The bottom ones, holding the cheese itself, have nail holes poked through so the whey can drain out, then the top ones are filled with warm whey, which settles the cheese and presses it out.

Cheese and yogurt percolating together.

And lastly, let's head back outside because ARE YOU KIDDING ME, WE HAVE OUR YARD BACK!  This is how the kids ate lunch yesterday: in a tent strung from my brand-new clothesline.  Gosh, summer is really getting its legs under it now.

Now, I'm off to drink some milk and eat some cheese, because those thirteen gallons of milk aren't going to consume themselves.

what's up weekly. (and lissy turned four!)

The big news this week is that this big little personality got a little bit bigger!  Callista Janelle turned four!

She is spicy (though she tells you she's "not picy annmore" now that she's four), she's funny, she's joyful, she's compassionate, she's sassy, she's loud, she's expressive, she's just... Lissa Lou.  She woke up on her birthday and said, "I'm fowh now! I'm not a turd annmore!"  And she genuinely believed it when she said it.  (The rest of us were more skeptical.)

We had planned to go to Iowa to celebrate, but the night before we were set to leave, Rocco had barfed up the entirety of his dinner, so we didn't think that would be a good idea.  The kids were really bummed, but as soon as Penelope was told she could plan Callista's impromptu at-home party, she perked right up.  "I need a piece of paper.  I need to make a list."

She made and decorated a cake, she hung streamers and balloons, she helped Callista pick out an appropriate outfit, and she organized the gift opening.  She even made sure Juni had colored on a piece of paper, and then she wrapped it for her to give to Callista as a gift.  Penelope is quite the event planner.

All the kids got Callista amazing gifts that she just adored - Penelope got her Pretty, Pretty Princess; Atticus got her a bunk bed set for her Calico Critters, Finneas got her a princess Barbie, Rocco got her a tea set, and Laurelai got her a mermaid swimsuit with a tutu on it.  (And Juni gave her the aforementioned scribble paper.)

They love this little one so much.  They even risked smothering her to death on her very own birthday to show how much they care.  She is all the way at the bottom of this pile.

Todd and I got her a ball and a princess nightgown.  The ball was the big hit among the group.  Even Juni got in on the action.

The rest of the weekend was back to normal, for the most part.  Rocco's belly felt better, but a few of us dealt with some off-and-on tummy upset all week.  Juni got hit hardest, with some incredible explosives alllll weeeeeeek loonnnnnnng.  Not sure what on earth is going around, but I will be happy to see it leave.

Between the off-and-on care people have needed, combined with the fact that our days can get reeeeeeally long without school on the schedule, I decided to put my hand to a few creative food endeavors.  I made homemade ice cream, a Trim Health Mama cake, and a full-on Southern-themed dinner, complete with a tablecloth and special lessons in table etiquette.  Unfortunately, we still don't have a dishwasher, so all of these projects also meant SO. MUCH. TIME. at the sink.

Ahhhhhh, quintessential summer: homemade ice cream, a patriotic tank top, and hair that screams, "It has been rainy and hot every day for the last two weeks."  

Penelope has also been productive this week - as soon as she learned we were having another baby, she said she wanted to make a baby blanket for it.  She didn't know how to crochet before, but she sees this as a perfect opportunity to teach herself.

And speaking of the baby, I had my first appointment this week, and my ultrasound is scheduled for August 2.  I am growing SO MUCH already - I think it's just because I haven't been nearly as barfy this time as I usually am, so I'm just kind of packing on the pounds.  But it's fine.  I'm not worried yet.  I've been walking on the treadmill somewhat regularly the last couple of weeks, and I'm finally feeling sick enough that Snickers bars don't sound good anymore (sugar of any kind has made me feel increasingly worse and worse), so maybe I'll get svelte soon.

Callista is ready for the day when we can go outside to play.  We have had torrential storms almost every day over the last two weeks.  I, for one, wish they could go outside to play as well, but mostly I'm just thankful our sump pump is a go-getter and has kept our basement totally dry.  Once you become an adult, the weirdest things excite you.

Juni is singing in the rain.  Or really, singing in the house while watching the rain.

And just to reiterate: the kids love Callista.  How much? So much that the boys will play Pretty, Pretty Princess with her without having to be begged.  My oh my, she's got it made.

And now I'm signing off.  I have been in 'school planning' mode the last couple of days, and I've gotten all their portfolio stuff ordered and organized, and all their books for next year ordered.  Now I need to work on our weekly lesson plans and calendar, and actually assemble their portfolios (and grade a few last papers that are still hanging over my head), and I also need to hunt the Fourth of July sales for a new dishwasher.  So I don't have time to stick around chatting with you yokels any longer.  I have stuff to do!