Cousins and fish, you can't beat that

We just got home from a little vacation at the lake where one of my favorite cousins and her husband joined us.

We had more fun not doing anything!

The guys on the other hand, paid good money to their new friend the fishing guide for their fun...

Those fish tasted really good though!

Jennifer brought the favorite dog to see Mike

My sister and her husband came up for a day.  My favorite part of the visit was a ride to the store where they told me I was still the youngest and had to go in the store while they waited in the car. 
A little later the three of us piled up in a bed to watch t.v. and they made me get in the middle cause I was the "baby"... It had been a long long time since I had them treat me this way but you know what was different?  I really liked it this time... not just because I could remind them that yes, I was much much younger than either of them but because something was comforting about that.  I was still the baby but this time they weren't mad about me playing with them...

The girls enjoyed having their own room and feeling independent...

there was a lot of pool time... a lot. 

We're already planning next years trip!

But as usual, I'm glad to be home. 

Zombies? Maybe...

Katie got home from her week working at Student Life camp yesterday.  She had a great time and spent a couple of hours before bed telling me all about it... I was glad to have her home.

Until...
At 2:30 this morning she bolts into my room, turns the over head light on and is screaming...
She goes on to explain that her friend called and woke her up to tell her there had been a "bright light that filled the sky... and now all of the electricity in town is out..."
The friend then went on to explain that she was pretty sure it was aliens or the zombie apocalypse.
So this is what sent Katie is crying, scared and shivering into my room...
I assured her I knew it wasn't zombies since they weren't real and her reply was "oh yeah"...And we have electricity...
Kellie was up and taking this opportunity to try to scare her big sister more by continuing to talk about zombies.  Her friends were calling her to tell her about it too.   (Why don't 13 year olds ever sleep during the night?)

I told Katie I knew how we could find out exactly what happened...
Facebook.
And I was correct... everyone seemed to be up and have inside information to what was going on...and to her relief it was an electric explosion and not zombies or the end of the world.

Katie eventually made her little sister sleep with her and I went back to bed.
This morning I had to keep her dad from running into her room screaming about getting out of town before the zombies come.
I left to run an errand and within minutes I had a phone call that Mike and Kellie had put ketchup on their face and acted like zombies to try and scare her...

I thought the zombie threat was over till this afternoon when Mike told me he might "lay out and get some sun"... I do believe he might be a zombie after all...

Never a dull moment here. 

Need Jelly?

I know I've mentioned the wonderful basket of fresh produce I get on Friday afternoons. 

I shelled the small batch of black eyed peas. 

 I was telling my girls about when we I was growing up and we had a big garden and how you couldn't go do anything fun till you shelled a bowl of peas.

They didn't really want to learn how...

I've decided as great as the fresh produce is, it has been bad for us.  Tonight Mike wanted the fresh okra and squash fried...


I made peach preserves and more pepper jelly today.

I think might have a jelly problem. 

Last night I couldn't sleep and was up in the middle of the night looking for something to do so I read all the canning recipes on Tasty Kitchen...
I think I'll be moving to Mayberry now.  Maybe enter jelly in the fair.  Plant a big garden...

Katie leaves at 5:30 in the morning to go to work a church camp with the youth.  She has a busy busy week a head, hope she can manage without complaining!

We are going on a little vacation in ten days

My people are excited... Goofy here was showing me that we could count down on our fingers now.
My cousins from Mississippi are meeting us.  I'm very excited about that.  Boys will be fishing.  Girls will be in the pool.

 Elvis will be waiting at home:(

Time

For it to be summer, I sure feel busy. 
How do days go so fast???
We are busy with Kellie in the local production of "Fiddler on the Roof"
I had never seen it before and didn't know the story...

But, after watching my own little "Jewish girl" several nights in a row, I know the story well...I even pick up when people miss lines now...
The play is about 3 hours long.  I think I should have an award for sitting through this so many times....
But, as busy as I feel running kids, teaching one to drive, etc, the girls do not seem to have the same problem...

they seem to have too much time on their hands...

and my phone seem to always have new pictures from their extra time

I got my weekly basket of goodies

all that arugula and parsley let to some great pesto

Mike and Kellie left today for a quick trip to Dallas for him to take his mom to the doctor...

If you wanted to pray for that appointment and decision making for her it would be greatly appreciated!

Katie, her friend, and her dog all have pink hair streaks after a free afternoon today

I failed to get an after picture.  I'm sure there will be many on my phone in the next day or so...

Last week I mentioned how proud I was the big girl and her friend wanted to do something from Pinterest...

This week Kellie and her friend got on there and found a couple of things they wanted to do but failed to tell me...

This is how I knew she is not busy enough...

Earlier this week I grabbed a lime and cut into it.

It had a huge red blob in the center.  I couldn't figure out what on earth was wrong with that lime...

Then I cut into the second one and it had a blob of blue inside of it...

I realized at this point my limes had been tampered with.  That and the small piece of tape over a very small hole in the lime...

 I wish I had gotten a picture of the red one....It really looked like blood inside the lime.

Later I found an egg in a glass of vinegar...

The lesson of this is young teens shouldn't spend time on pinterest or your fruit won't be safe...

2 a.m. friends

One of my oldest and best friends came to visit this weekend on a spur of the moment trip.  Her niece found out and wanted to come (she and Katie are the same age and have been besties since the baby bed) but Gabbie couldn't get off work till 7 p.m. so she waited on her and they got in about 2 a.m....Oh, and getting here about 2 a.m. is very usual for them for some reason...There aren't many people I would wait up on but they are worth the wait!
What makes her a better aunt than me is that Gabbie also had to be back to work at 11 on Sunday morning so they left at 5 this morning...
So, needless to say, we didn't waste much time sleeping this weekend.

We enjoyed time talking and visiting, eating of course

looking for some fun where we could find it

 and then did a little jelly making which we love but the girls thought that made us the biggest losers ever!

Those girls did make us proud though when they asked to make a recipe from pintrest!

all the girls managed to get along.  Most of the time.

We are so blessed with good friends!

love that beautiful girl!

and the baby of the group.

so sweet!

fun fun fun!

OK friends, who's visiting next?  I'll wait up for you...

Foodie Pen Pal

I participated in The Lean Green Bean's foodie pen pal again this month.
I really enjoyed getting to know the person who was matched to send to me.   Her name was Jenn and she lives in NY... We talked about her having never been to the south and me wanting to go to NY...
I have enjoyed reading her blog, Fit Appetit. 

I had been at church camp all week and came home to my box from Jenn.  I waited till the kids were gone to open it or they would take my treats!

And it was worth the wait!  It was full of yummy goodies. 

She encluded a sweet note explaining each item and why she sent it.  I loved that they were favorites of hers.  We had discussed in our emails her love of cupcakes and she had asked what my favorite flavor was.  I told her coconut was one of my favorites and since she didn't get to send a cupcake I did get some great coconut macaroons.  I was very excited about the fig preserves, the hazelnut butter spreads and honey straws. She sent pretzel chips which I love but they were in a flavor I had not tried but is now my favorite flavor.... All of these goodies have been great for our summer on the go snacks and picnics!

She also included a recipe for a healthy-ish cup cake I am dying to try!  Jenn, you did a great job and I appreciate all the thought you put into it!

I put together a box for Joy at EnjoywithJoy.  She has a great food blog!

Visit Lindsey at the Lean Green Bean if you want to join in on the fun....

Here’s a detailed explanation of the program:
-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!