Bed In Summer

One of my favorite children's poems.

Bed In Summer
In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?"

- Robert Louis Stevenson

The Waiting...

Today, I reqeusted several books from the library. 2 Claudia Mair Burney books, 1 Ann B. Ross and 1 Dean Koontz. Now, I wait......and try not to think about the fact that my mother has read one of the books already and has another waiting for her at the library when she gets home. You see, I introduced her to Ann B. Ross books. Now she's hooked and ahead of me. Unfair. Shortly after my girlfriend introduced me to Claudia Mair Burney books, I also introduced mom, and now she's hooked. And shortly, she will be ahead of me there, too.

Again, unfair.

Yes, it's petty and very junior high schoolish of me.

Still....unfair.

YEEEEEEEEEEE-HAW!

Oh my goodness, we got a dog!!! Yay! My super awesomely incredibly great and wonderfully kind husband picked up a sweet mutt from the Animal Shelter today. Her name is Darcy...here she is.

SUMMER!!

Today is the first day of Summer! As a kid in New England, Summer was my favorite season. Summer meant days at the beach, drives to New Hampshire, playing in the sprinkler, cookouts, collecting seashells and beach glass, camping and best of all, NO SCHOOL!


Summer still means no school for me, for the most part, but other than that, it pretty much means "sweat." Summers in the south are a little more intense than on the coast of New England. Although it gets REALLY humid up there, it's much hotter here. And unless you're in the desert, you can just forget about "dry heat." That just a myth Northerners make up about the south. When you tell a Northerner that summers in the south are hotter than up north, you will most likely hear them say, 'Well, yeah, but it's a dry heat. You guys don't have the humidity." Wouldn't that be nice? We do have "the humidity." Granted it's not as much as on the coast, but guess what? 40% humidity at 100 degrees is just as hot as 50 or 60% humidity at 92 degrees. Sad, but true.

OK, on with the good things about summer.

Blueberries * Tomatoes * Beach trips * VBS * Youth camp * lots of green * swimming in the lake * cool libraries * summer movies * needing a blanket while watching the summer movies because of the ice cold AC * FREON * Sonic drinks * BOPS frozen custard * watermelon * shooting stars * gardening * Ben's birthday * our anniversary * July 4th celebrations * Wyatt's birthday * red winged blackbirds * end of summer vacations to the Smokies * minted tea * grilling * hearing stories of summer before AC * reunions * corn on the cob * fishing * rose gardens


I'm sure there's more, but trust me, this was work! I am a cool weather gal, if I don't stop now I'll just be lying.

Happy Summer!

Dolphin Watching at Gulf Shores

This weekend we ventured south to Gulf Shores, Alabama. It's about 150 miles from my inlaws house in Petal, so we left here Friday night and spent the night with them. Saturday, we all drove down to the beach...through rain, thunder and lightning. We stopped for lunch in Foley. The rain died down and the skies were looking promising, so we continued to the beach. It was still sprinkling when we got there, BUT stopped shortly after we layed out the blankets. And the beach was practically empty, which is always a plus! We enjoyed several hours of splashing in the waves and playing in the sand before we packed up and headed back to Petal. Yes, we drove 300 in one day to go to the beach. We did not rent a room down there...have you ever stayed overnight in a hotel with 5 kids? Not cheap, no sleep.

Here are a few more pics.

Abby was ok as long as Daddy was nearby. She really preferred the sand.
Sam liked playing tag with the waves.


Ben kept his vest on just about the whole time!


Lizzie LOVES the beach and spent most of her time in the waves.


Wyatt took a break from the water after a few jelly fish stings. ARGH!!!


Although we only got to see the dolphins from a distance, we did see a few jellyfish close up. The boys decided to play in the sand after a few stings.

Righteous Dog

For Eric

My husband has one sister, Joy. She and her husband Eric are expecting their first child in November. Since Father's Day is right around the corner, I thought I'd post a little sisterly advice for the Father-to-be.

Spread the diaper in the position of the diamond with you at bat. Then fold second base down to home and set the baby on the pitcher's mound. Put first base and third together, bring up home plate and pin the three together. Of course, in case of rain, you gotta call the game and start all over again. ~Jimmy Piersal, on how to diaper a baby, 1968