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This weekend we spent most of our time in the basement converting our “dumping grounds” into a pretty nice toyroom for the kids. I decided about a week ago that the dining room was no longer big enough to house all of their toys and finally got sick and tired of the overflow into the rest of the house. So, we took the toys to the basement and made our dining room into a piano/game room. The final results are “fabulous” (as Noah put it) and we’re all tickled pink.

Saturday night Mark played piano for a friend’s baptism and then we hurried off to eat dinner with Dad and go swimming. We swam in the outdoor pool which was great fun, especially because the wedding party next door had an awesome D.J. and the stars were out and the crickets were singing and it was warm but not humid. Kak and Dad brought Aunt Me-Me a Dairy Queen cake for her birthday, which we all enjoyed and then we relaxed in the hot tub. The boys were having so much fun doing “cannon balls” in the pool they hated to leave but at 11:00pm it was time to say farewell and get the kids tucked in bed.

Today our Primary got reorganized and much to my delight, two of my good friends were put in the Presidency. The president and myself are both due with babies in the next couple of months, so we decided today to do the Primary Program on September 11th–which means a lot of work to get ready. But it will be nice to have it done before the baby arrives and let a substitute fill in for a couple of weeks while I recoup. The rest of the afternoon was spent working on the basement. We delivered some cookies to our friends the Hoggans and visited with them for a bit, while the kids played together. And that about wraps up our weekend. Hunter starts school in four weeks and we have so much to do still–the Bronx Zoo, Maritime Aquarium, school shopping, summer reading, the beach, Stamford Nature Center, cousin Meg for a sleepover, a lemonade stand and a Bridgeport Bluefish game to name a few. So much to do. . . so little time–hopefully we can squeeze it all in.

Today I figured out how Noah’s little brain works and got him reading several words on his own, took the boys swimming with Chris, took Melanie out for lunch for her birthday, did some school-clothes shopping with Hunter and picked up a few extra things at Wal-mart, correctly diagnosed Denver’s ear infection and ran him to the Doctor, went to the grocery store to pick up Denver’s medicine, picked Mark up from the train, and spent the evening watching the kids play outside while we visited with our neighbor, Elizabeth. Doesn’t sound like much but I’m exhausted. Probably doesn’t help that I’ve been sick all week and have been busy rearranging the house. Everyone keeps teasing me that I’m nesting but I disagree. I’ve already built the nest. Now I’m just cleaning up the messy parts that are no longer working for us–like the toy room that is overflowing with toys and the basement that we can’t even walk in because of the clutter. Anyway. . . I’m going to bed. It’s time for me to crash.

We finished swimming lessons last week and now that we are free to do whatever we want, we’re all a little sick. The boys came down with a nasty cold on Sunday and Mark and I followed on Monday. The weather has been pretty yucky too–today the weatherman said the humidity was “oppressive” which is as bad as it gets out here in Connecticut. Hot and very humid. So, we’ve been hiding out in front of the air conditioning all week trying to recover from whatever bug we’ve caught. It’s not all bad though–we’re finally tackling the basement/toy room monster that has been feeding on our clutter and I must say things are cleaning up quite nicely. The boys have been surprisingly pleasant despite being sick and stuck inside all day and I feel lucky that they are such good buddies. The weather is supposed to be great for the next four days–here’s hoping we recover soon so we can enjoy it.

A playdate, Pioneer day, and three haircuts!

For dinner last night we had Cheesy Sausage Stromboli and Sweet Fruit Smoothies. It was delicious! A little effort required (seeing as it involves homemade bread) but well worth all the work!

5 cups flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 pkgs. active dry yeast
1-1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup warm milk
2 Tbsp. butter
2 pounds bulk pork sausage
4 cups shredded mozzarella
3 eggs
1 tsp. minced fresh basil or 1/4 tsp. dried basil
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast. In a separate bowl combine water, milk and butter. Microwave for about 2 minutes or until butter is almost melted. Add to flour mixture and beat on low until well combined. Turn onto a well-floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes (or if you have a Kitchen Aid Mixer, just let it knead for 6-8 minutes, adding just enough flour to make sure it’s not sticky.) Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Meanwhile cook sausage until no longer pink; drain and cool. Stir in mozzarella, 2 eggs and basil; set aside. Punch dough down; divide in half. Roll one portion into a 15×10 inch rectangle on a greased baking sheet. Spoon half of the sausage mixture lengthwise down one side of the rectangle to within 1 inch of the edges. Fold dough over filling; pinch edges to seal. Cut four diagonal slits on top of stromboli. Beat remaining egg; brush over loaves. Sprinkle with Parmesan. *Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Slice; serve warm.

*Because we don’t have big eaters (yet), I made one loaf in a disposable aluminum pan. Instead of letting it rise the extra 45 minutes and baking it, I wrapped it up good in saran wrap and foil and froze it. When I’m ready to use it, I’ll thaw it overnight in the fridge and right before baking it, I’ll let it rise 45 minutes on the countertop. Then bake it as directed. I don’t know if it’ll work, but if it does, then all the work involved in this dish is really worth it–two meals in one–Awesome!

1 can sweetened condensed milk
8 oz. strawberry yogurt
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
8 oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 medium ripe banana, sliced
1 cup halved fresh strawberries
1 cup crushed ice

Blend together and enjoy!

Kak-kak gets all the credit for finding this one! My kids think it’s hilarious.

Yesterday we picked blueberries at a Pick-Your-Own-Farm. Hunter did a great job filling his basket and even Denver, who hates blueberries, picked quite a few. Noah, on the other hand, hid himself in the blueberry bushes filling his mouth as full as he possibly could with the big, blue berries. He even tried stealing a few handfuls from our baskets–maybe we should have named him “Sal.” Anyway, we left with about 12 pounds of blueberries which will hopefully be enough to make us some blueberry pie and syrup and leave enough for frozen blueberry marbles which we use through the winter for fruit and yogurt parfaits and fruit salads.

Afterwards we had Sourabh (a friend of Mark’s) come to lunch with his new bride, Swagota. They were tons of fun to chat with and Hunter was especially sad to see Sourabh leave. They always end up having so much fun together. Then Mark finished putting together our new chicken coop (I guess the girls get to stay) and I mowed the lawn while the boys played in the pool and rode their bikes and played with some assorted sticks and rocks and dirt. Then Kak-Kak came over and took Hunter and Noah to see “Willy Wonka” while Mark and I ran a few last errands with Denver before Sunday arrived. Then it was quick haircuts for the crew, a dunk in the bath and off to bed. A great day, all in all.

I’ve had a total of 5 migraines my entire life. My first, second and third migraines were all within a year of each other between fifth and sixth grade. Probably puberty. Then, about two years ago I got one at church–must have been hormones again because I had just had Denver. Either that or the stress of three children. Today was my fifth. Although it wasn’t near as bad as the migraines I got when I was eleven–it still hurt pretty bad. It started early this morning while I was making muffins for breakfast. All of the sudden I couldn’t read the recipe or the buttons on the microwave to heat up Denver’s “warm sippy.” While I was eating breakfast, my lips and tongue went numb and within twenty minutes the left side of my head from my neck all the way up was throbbing. Thankfully, Mark saved the day and called in sick to work and took the kids to the free movie in Trumbull and got all the grocery shopping and Walmart errands done. At this very moment he’s downstairs washing dishes and getting lunch marinated for company tomorrow. Am I a lucky girl or what? Still, I’m glad (and I’m sure Mark is glad) this doesn’t happen very often. It’s painful for all of us.

you can spend over $500 online “window shopping” for non-maternity clothes and you still have two months to go. I’m fantasizing of the day when I can actually wear my jeans again and feel skinny even tho I’m still toting an extra 20 pounds around. I do this everytime I get pregnant. . . I could spend hours drooling over all the cute clothes out there that I can’t wear. Ah well! I suppose all those skinny clothes will have to wait cuz junior here isn’t ready to join the “real world” and that means I’m only gonna keep on gaining weight. And in order for me to save up that much money to go shopping I’ll have to wait at least another nine months and even then, how could I ever spend that much money on clothes? And then there’s the weight loss problem–I really shouldn’t buy new clothes until I lose my pregnancy pounds. And let’s see, with Denver it only took me what. . . two years? Ah, the dilemnas of being fat and wanting to be skinny and being poor and wanting to be rich. Maybe I’ll just get me some Dairy Queen and drown my sorrows with some hot fudge and peanuts. Ice cream always makes everything better, doesn’t it?

We’ve had some pretty hot weather here lately. . . hot and humid. We’ve been spending the days at the Lake trying to keep cool and when we’re done there we hurry home and eat lots of popsicles. Today the boys dragged their chairs to a shady spot and sat together, chit-chatting about this and that, enjoying their popsicles as they dribbled down their chests. A photo op I couldn’t pass by. Hope y’all are keeping cool and enjoying the lazy days of summer as much as we are.