vegetable garden

We have a vegetable garden this year. Finally! We started small - tomatos, peppers, eggplant, pumpkins, carrots, herbs and zucchini. So far the zucchini is our biggest crop (and a bit of a menace to the other vegetables, it grows like a weed and the leaves steal all the sun). My mom was here watching sally for a few days when we went to Mexico and she and sally planted alot of it. Needless to say, we're very proud of ourselves. Although we kind of hate zucchini. And eggplant. Maybe next year we'll plant a candy garden.

mother's day

For Mother's Day this year Tony surprised me with a ping pong table. We love it, we keep it out by the pool and it's a great thing to have when kids come over. p.s. I suck at ping pong

New Kitchen!

So here's what happened - we've always talked about redoing the kitchen but the thought of living through the renovation always stopped us from actually doing it. Our plan was to rip out the laundry room and bathroom off the kitchen and make it one big room with glass doors opening to the back yard. But it would mean basically living with a makeshift kitchen for about 4 months. Ugh. Every time we talked about it, the only decision we ever came to was to talk about it later. Then one day about a month ago, our contractor was over to fix some lights in the office and I was standing in our laundry room and I was overwhelmed with a desire to do the renovation. Right away. Before I lost the nerve. So I told Jorge to demo the laundry room and back bathroom. That day. I'd tell Tony about it when I got to work. I figured I could present a pretty compelling case for why it had to be done. He's pretty good about allowing me my impulses. Except that I got to work and I forgot to tell him. I know, I know, that's a big thing to forget, but what can I say, I really forgot ... And then Tony got home. Before I did. Ooops. Let's just say we had words that night. But tony is a very kind, loving and forgiving man. And now we're getting a new kitchen!

underwater

I've been bad at blogging for the past few months. During hiatus I didn't want to even get near a computer and now that we're back at work, it's tough to find the time. I'm going to try to be better because so much has happened in the past few months, I want to have a record of it.

Here are some underwater photographs of Sally in the pool. She continues to be a little fish and started taking tennis lessons this summer, which she also likes, although she claims that gymnastics is still her favorite sport. Sally did Tom Sawyer camp again this summer and loved riding horses and hiking and building forts. As usual she'd arrive home after camp completely muddy, which means she had a good day! After a week in Wisconsin, she'll start art classes at the Armory for 2 weeks(an hour and a half a day) which I know she'll love. She'll finish the summer with a week of horseback riding camp with her friend Ana.

Maggie had another great year at Birchwood. She loved her cabin - all her best friends were in it, and she went on a 7 day canoe trip to the Boundry Waters in Canada that was amazing. She came home and did 2 weeks of theater camp here in Pasadena. After a week in Wisconsin she's going to New York to stay with Kate and see theater. Kate will take her to Next to Normal, Anne is taking her to Fela and American Idiot, and then the next night, Kate is taking her to see her favorite band, Spring Standards. When she gets home from camp, she has 2 weeks til school starts and she'll need it. She has 3 books to read and a huge math review packet to complete.

We're in the middle of a kitchen renovation that will probably take until early november, so we're kinda doing a lot of outdoor eating.

Also, our neighborhood has been having weekly outdoor movie nights this summer and we hosted one last week. All the neighbors came and we showed Home Alone on the side of the garage. Everyone brought their own blankets and we provided snacks - Milk Duds, Twizzlers and popcorn. It was so fun.

Tony and the girls left for Wisconsin this morning and he will stay til Wednesday. I arrive Wednesday and will stay til Sunday. We'll basically be passing each other on the highway. But work is busy and that's the only way we could swing it so both girls could stay at the lake the whole time.

Also, Sally, for the first time is going to stay in the bunk bed room with her cousins. Normally she stays with us in our room, but this year she really wants to try being a big girl. It's a huge room with 4 bunk beds and I just spoke with Tony who said Sally has unpacked her stuff and is on a top bunk above Payton. Fingers crossed she makes it all night, that will be a HUGE milestone for her and will be another step toward Birchwood next summer.

pigs

I haven't updated in a long time so I'm going to try and catch up. We had a hoedown in April and had Swifty Swine Pig Races come and show the LA types how people whoop it up in the midwest. Pig races, square dancing and BBQ. It was a great party and I have some pictures that I'll try to remember to post, but for now here's a shot of Sally holding one of the little piggies and a shot of Sally and her friend Ana.