Year 2, Day 171: Beautiful Summer Day!

I LIVE for days like this!  It was about 78 degrees, sunny, but the wind was whipping around like crazy and keeping it cool!  Benaiah mowed the lawn.  The middles made a makeshift slip and slide after I suggested that they could play in the sprinkle of rain we had.  Abishai had a very short nap in the van when we went to pick up Jared's truck from the mechanic, but was very subdued most of the rest of the day.  He fell down again and scraped his other knee!  But, he was brave and let me wash it off and he helped me put the homemade "owie" lotion on it.  He LOVES lotion, and loves to put it on himself!  And when I put him down for bed tonight, he knew several words to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," "Itsy Bitsy Spider" as well as "The Wheels on the Bus," "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," "Jesus Loves Me," and "The B-I-B-L-E" plus a lot of the motions!  This kid is a born singer/musician! I think the other kids did some of that, too, but I think Abishai might be doing it earlier and better than they did.  Of course he has many teachers, but still, we all ohh and ahh when he does these things. I can't wait to teach him the CC material!  I'm sure he'll be picking up on that as I do it with the others.

Ok, back to the events of the day.  Actually, besides getting groceries, which took us only 30 minutes in the store (one of our fastest times ever!) for a full load of groceries, not much else happened.

Well, one new thing I learned today was that most table salt contains dextrose, which is a sugar!  So now I have to buy pure salt or sea salt or something if I want to flavor my food during this whole 30 day thing AND I don't think I can trust anything that has salt already in it.  I did buy a few things to try tonight like turkey burgers.  I put my knowledge of reading labels to the test tonight in light of what I know from this new diet.  This time, Aldi's won't cut it, so I'll have to check out Meijer for special ingredients like the salt and special oils and such.  Not a big deal.  Meat, fruits, veggies (except peas and lima beans, and no corn), and some nuts (not peanuts).  That's it.  No prepared sauces or granola bars except for certain Larabars.  I'll have to do lots of prep and be very careful.  I'll be practicing for the next 11 days and start on July 1st.

Oo, I just heard some home fireworks!  Firework season has begun!  And I hear a police siren.  But, that reminds me, we had the windows open all night and this morning, when Abishai crawled into my bed for snuggle time, we heard some fire trucks and a little bit later, we heard the train whistle, not just once, but a couple of times from different locations.  Ah, yes, now I hear fire engine sirens, too.  Hm,....which reminds me, touch a truck is coming up soon, too!  And lots of other events, so stay tuned, we've got lots of fun things planned!

I didn't share this the other day, but, Michael W. Smith's long term friend and keyboardist finally put out his own instrumental record.  It's all original and a labor of love.  He's wanted to make it for the last 20 years!  I've heard snippets and it's incredible!  Michael W. might have great skills for pop records, but he would be lost with out Jim Daneker.  If you have love movie soundtracks, than put this on your list to buy next!

I was watching something on Batman last night and working n this puzzle at the same time.  It's a fantastic puzzle!

On our way to get the truck, we stopped at Grandma's house first.  Abishai was upset that he couldn't get out of the car, so Grandma came out with a bag of marshmallows she used part of for the ambrosia yesterday.  Well, it was close to nap time so he fell asleep holding the bag of marshmallows and never let go of them!  Cute!

At the mechanic, this fiat was parked across from us.  I think the characters on Tayo, the Little Bus TV show are based on this car because those lights look like Tayo's eyes and I see a mouth in the grill!  Ah!!!!

I had no idea Keturah and Justin could pick up tires and move them.  Justin has the idea of using them as weight for the slip and slide.

Homemade slip and slide fashioned after the slip and slides they made at Canoe Cove Christian Camp.  And maybe the slip and slides at the recent youth group event, but Justin specifically mentioned Canoe Cove in Canada.  Aw, memories!  I got to show off my mad water skills with a hose because I've been playing in water outside for 30 years and dealing with makeshift slip and slides and jumping through sprinklers.  We never did have a blow up pool, except for the baby one we would put at the end of the slip and slide to help us stop.

Aldi's, I love you!  No sugar or sodium added!

Benaiah digging a hole to put the dog's stake in so he can come home - TOMORROW!

It was not a particular fast slip and slide, but they made it work.  She's much bigger than she was in the next picture.

This picture showed up on my FB feed today, so I reposted it.  It was Keturah's 4th birthday party 5 years ago!  And that mom in the background is still one of my best friends and she's coming over tomorrow.  And between us, I think we have 3 or 4 more kids than we did then.  You can also see Abishai's tricycle in the background.  And a scooter we still own, and the wheel of the motorcyle tricycle.  Ah, memories!

They did add some dish soap to help it slide more.

Kneeboarding.

Abishai didn't go down the slip and slide but he did touch the water and got sprayed a little.

A ladybug!  And Keturah immediately wanted to pick it up!  Sweet!

Jared gardened for the first time in his life tonight!  This is a plant that will help repel mosquitoes and black flies.  Yeah!

Jared wanted to get rid f the black plastic, so he got started on that tonight.  Again, it's a first for him!  And I'm glad he's taking an interest in landscaping!  We even saw a small bunny in the yard tonight, too.  We want to make sure we keep enough cover for the bunnies in the front yard because Socks will be chasing them out of the backyard soon enough.