The day following the sweet corn festival, my family (again, sans Grandpa and the dog) headed out to an outdoor amusement park ( Read more... )

Nora and I took a trip to Iowa earlier this month for some summer festivities with my side of the family. We actually arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house prior to the crowd coming from in-state (stunning, when you consider that we had to stop at two gas stations -- the first one's pump wasn't working; at the second one I found my BP card had ( Read more... )

Mommy: "You don't bite your lollipop, you just suck on it. Some people call them 'suckers.'"
Nora: "And some people call them bite-ed."

Nora: "Where does Grandma live?"
Mommy: "She lives in Iowa. But she doesn't live on a farm, so she doesn't have any cows."
Nora: "Oh. That's sad."

We all know that certain music can evoke certain moods -- hence the term "mood music," of course. Evidently, we know that very young. As we were listening to music in the car this morning (the rumba song from Sandra Boynton’s Blue Moo CD), Nora informed me, very matter-of-factly, "Mommy, dat’s bad music. Dere's bad monsters in dis movie ( Read more... )

So, I mentioned in my weekly Monday post that Nora helped me make Crockpot Lasagna last week. In part, this was an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" capitulation on my part. I'm doing a lot of cooking for the following night's meal the evening before these days, and if I wait until Nora is in bed -- note that I do not say "asleep" -- half the time ( Read more... )

A beautiful summer weekend this past one. Too bad I only briefly get to enjoy our mowed yard, when I'm home eatiing popsicles out on the deck with Nora. Also realized that, although I put sunscreen on before going into the lake, I was still wearing my shorts when I did so -- and I took them off before I went into the water. There's space between ( Read more... )

Science (Zoology):

Occasionally, I will buy Nora magazines, such as the National Wildlife Federation's My Big Backyard or National Geographic Little Kids. (If you're looking for a frugal idea, these are particuarly cheap if you have a Barnes and Noble membership card, and pair that discount with the frequent coupons they send to your email. The ( Read more... )

We traveled to Iowa for the Fourth of July, to see various family members and do some traditional celebratory things. As I caught up on the laundry upon our return, it occurred to me that, judging from the evidence left upon her clothes, Nora's probably having a pretty successful little-kid summer: cherry popsicle, chocolate ice cream, sand, dried ( Read more... )

Last week, which most of this post is about, was a great summery season week. We had warm summer weather, we got to do summery things, and I was even inspired to dig out some old June/July issues of Taste of Home magazine and embark on actual plan-ahead, seasonally appropriate, not-quite-in-so-much-of-a-rut menu planning. It was also a busy week, ( Read more... )

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