Summer Games

I think summer is finally here.  I have one more commitment and then.....yep.....it is here.  My list is long of want-to-do's.  Sure, there are need-to's.  It is the want-to list that is glittery in my vision......it is in my reach.

In the meantime, I have a few finish up and prepares for next week and next year.  What is distracting me?

The Summer Games.

Nope.  Not the Olympics.  The neighbor kids.

Their games terrify me.  It is like the X-Games in my backyard.

Game #1 - Tether-ball Trampoline Skip Ball

How you play:  Eight to Ten Children bounce on a trampoline while one kids swings the tether-ball over the trampoline like a Skip Ball.  All of the kids try to jump over the ball on a rope.  The last one standing is the winner.

The make-me cringe-moments.  We have seen rope burn, kids falling off the trampoline, but the worst.....when the ball swings a little higher than it should and wraps around a kids neck.  Aargh! And the parents?  No where in sight......

Game #2 - Catch the Arrow

Yes - you read that correctly.

How to play:  One kids shoots an arrow in the air and everyone else stands looking up to see where it will land.

Oh.  Dear.  God.  I.  Could.  Pee.  My. Pants.

Last night, they were shooting into the archery block, but the "judges" for the game were perched in the tree....right above the target.

I am sure I played these insane games as a child.  I just wonder......was the neighbor trying not to pee their pants while watching?



My only relief might be in sight......  I think there is a man measuring for a fence.......oh, dear God, please let the man be measuring for a fence........

Welcome to Summer

Graduation is done. The company has left.  Now it is time to kick into summer and the stuff I WANT to do.

#1.....Welcome to my garden.








My gnome has been keeping busy keeping his little patch of sunshine clean and clear.  I find it really odd that there is nothing growing around him.......

My first thought is that it is the poison leaching out of the resin he is made out of and killing everything in it's wake....or.....he works for the Garden Police and is known as "Agent Orange"...sorry....bad joke.

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I am hoping to get some tomatoes and some eggplant in this week.  I have been overrun this year with LBB's (little baby bunnies), so I am taking Mr. McGregor's approach and asked for a gate.

This is what Tall Man made for me......

.....I think I need a cute fence to match now.

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The faerie house is on the market.  I have been watching for signs of faerie, but the gate hasn't moved yet.....

maybe soon.

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And my favorite flower so far?






Pretty Picasso.

Graduation

Another graduation.  My Frog is all grown up and ready to head out of the door.  She has filled her schedule with work for the summer and the list is long of things she needs to get ready to leave for college in the fall.

It was a relaxing day, enjoyed by family.  Next week is the big party and celebration.  We still had a lovely day with a small lunch and sharing gifts for our graduate.

The Man Child once again had the realization though.......who is going to take out the garbage at his graduation?

I am still here.....

I haven't moved away. I really am here....at least physically. Mentally? Well, we know that answer already.... My list is long. The end is no where in site. Muddled in all the have to's are the want to's..... The writing is in my head...the craziness of my life is still there....I just haven't had time to write. Frog graduates this week from high school. I finish teaching this week and then one more week of inventory, clean up and our faculty play. I hope to be back soon, but in the mean time....I better eat breakfast. I need my energy for first grade today.

The Green Crayon Incident

A long, long time ago, in a faraway land of the mitten shaped state, there was a small Man Child.  This Man Child attended preschool.  This Man Child loved to carry stuff in his pockets.

We had a smorgasbord in our washing machine every time it was laundry day.  I tried really hard to always check pockets, however, I missed things occasionally.    A stick now and then.  Some rocks.....no big deal.

A green crayon?

It survived the washer alright, but the dryer.  The dryer.  Heat and crayons are not a great combination.

White clothes and heat and a green crayon do not mix well at all!  Well, I take that back.  They mixed really well.

This is your household hint of the day.....you should write this down.

Amway SA-8.

Use it as a pre-soak.  Believe it or not it took out the crayon!  I still had to scrub the dryer, but the clothes did survive.

The Man Child?

He did survive.  The punishment?

From the age of five, all of my children have done their own laundry.  They separate, they put it in the wash, they change it to the dryer, they fold it and they put it away.

All is well until the spin test fails.

It is a vicious cycle.......

A Flashback Moment

I have simple pleasures….small pleasures. 

I have white sheets.

Don’t get me wrong.  I would rather have Tall Man home, however….

If I must live alone, I will have white sheets.

I was switching laundry the other day.  I took Man Child’s laundry out of the washer, put it in the dryer, did a quick spin of the drum…..no noise…..and shoved my lovely, soft white sheets in with some lavender aromatherapy soap. 

When I went back to switch the laundry………a pen.  A black gel pen.  In my sheets.

Man Child!!!!

I quickly recalled ….. The Green Crayon Incident.

Puppy will help!

It is like having another child.

She has to participate in everything we do.

Today, we finally got around to addressing some invitations for Frog's graduation reception.  Puppy wanted to sit on Frog's lap. (Frog was gone all day yesterday.... withdrawal had occurred.)

Then she decided she could help.....

I think she remembered the yummy taste from licking every envelope she found in a basket in my studio.  Yes...she took each individual envelope out of a basket and licked ALL the stickum off every one.

Must have been a tasty snack.