Caturday Cont....

After spending the early afternoon at the Pritchett OkraFest, we had to leave empty-handed okra-wise. Mark decided to head north to see if we could find any farmer's markets still open. We ended up near Pittsburg at Efurd Orchards. It was the perfect addition to the rest of our day and I highly recommend it to my east Texas peeps.

(click to biggify any picture)

(we lucked into a shady parking spot)


(right across from this awesome truck)


(and this, one of several, antique tractor)


(inside was warm but there were fans to keep us cool)


(lots of preserves)


(and fresh veggies)


(and peaches, which I'm regretting passing up)


(and moonshine syrup)


(Mark and Amy taking an ice cream break, peach and strawberry soft serve with fresh fruit)


(there were lots of rocking chairs for resting)


(Sarah and Ryan opted for real Dublin Dr. Peppers)


(love the color of this old ice cream freezer)


(would love this in my kitchen)

We ended up coming home with green beans, new potatoes, and several beautiful ripe tomatoes(of which we have less than half left). YUM!

In other news...

We still haven't got our pool swim-ready yet. Its not green but its very cloudy. Mark is going to try flocking it and see if the stuff will sink to the bottom. I'm not optimistic. It would be really nice to be able to swim a few times before the season is over. Hopefully we can get it resolved and the rains will hold off a few more weeks.

The difference a day makes...

I think I'm back!! I've been in a funk lately about my STUFF. The staggering amounts of junk in our house and not knowing how to deal with it, or having the time to address it has hog-tied me and kept me from enjoying anything. After a much-needed day of rest, I feel much better about things. It seems like something came up every weekend we thought we'd be able to relax. Finally, after spending most of the day Saturday running errands to the pool supply store, grocery shopping, mall shopping(ugh), and more, we stopped Sunday to rest(mostly). Ryan had a party from 1 to 6 so after we dropped him off we ran to Academy to get shorts for the girls($3.99 a pair) and then home to the pool. We stayed all day.


(Mark had to get up the last bits of glass first)


(my view from the pool)


(straight up from center of the pool)


(the girls swam while the adults floated)


Then, of course, comes Monday...


(my utility room shelf is going to the garage, being replaced by a rectangular table so the catboxes can go under)


(and this needs addressed, again)


(however, I have many obstacles in my way, some with fangs and claws and ill tempers)


(and some with the cute factor that keeps me from moving them)


(and the occasional distraction known as facebooking*)

*you can add me if you'd like, Molly Smith Sonier. Just tell me you know me from my blog if you've got a name I might not recognize.

Crazy Times...

If anyone ever tells you that toddlers are harder than teens, please smack them immediately. They are NOT. Teens have to be driven around, watched like a hawk, and fed lots of pizza(or other junk). I swear I'm in the car more in a month than I was in a year before anyone turned thirteen. My kids didn't do soccer or gymnastics or music or art lessons, or anything else extra-curricular so their childhoods were blissful. Now that two of them are teens(and the youngest a very social nine), they still don't participate in those kinds of activities but I find myself hauling them around almost daily!! To a friend's house, to work, to the mall, to church activities, to homeschool activities, etc, etc.

Hauling kids along with real life have overwhelmed me to the point that my blogging is getting neglected! I hate that! Anyway, here's a catch-up:

Mark's job is going well. Slower paced than he is used to but very stable. He is driving an hour one-way to get there and back so that's been an adjustment. Things he used to do on his lunch hour here in town, I'm having to do.



I'm still in decluttering mode. It is amazing how much STUFF we have! Items that have been stored on shelves for years and years that we don't have a need for. I've taken bags and bags to the local thrift store(Hope's Closet). The bad thing is that I can't even tell anything is gone!! Where was I keeping all the other stuff before? I have no idea.

One of my favorite blogs shared this a while back...

The Story of Stuff. It has certainly opened my eyes!


Our pool is finally up and running! Usually we're swimming by the last part of May. This spring was cool so we didn't even start on the summer prep til mid-June. Ryan had a pool party the last weekend of June and the water was horrible, even after lots of chemicals. We ended up having to drain it and start with clean water. So far so good and Ryan's hosting another party in a few weeks!

The kids are going to North Carolina at the end of August. I'm still deciding if I'll join them. There is SO much to do here that I'd love to have that "free time" to work in the house.

Hopefully things will click soon and I'll be back to blogging on a regular basis. I definitely READ blogs almost daily!!LOL

Saturday-ish...

No time for coherent posting today! Pool party with tons of teenagers, hot dogs, and so forth! But, I did want to share these loverly sites/blogs/what-have-yous.

Go NOW and read this!! Autumn is soooooo very wise!


Look here for beautiful inspiration.

My friend Sadira had the most magical of Mad Hatter Tea Parties!

And last but not least, here are some quick pics of our kitchen paint colors. It took forever but we've finally settled on most of the colors. The very farthest wall(above the doorway to the utility room and next to the fridge) will either a burnt orange or a rosy red magenta for an added pop. I'm very excited about these colors, they all just meshed this morning for some reason. Hopefully we'll hop right on this and finish by the first of September!


(kitchen view from the dining area)


(soffit color, a banana pepper green- this didn't photograph well, it isn't quite as intense as it looks here but is more yellowish)


(kitchen wall color, Chardonnay Bottle)


(dining room color, a Kilz color, Garden Glove, that I'll have to match in Valspar)

Happy June Everyone!!!

I'm not a summer person, typically I hate hot weather, the humidity of east Texas, the searing seatbelt buckles, and feeling like I've melted after a few minutes outside. This year I'm SO ready for summer I could scream!! For ice cream even!

Usually we've got our pool up and going by the end of April or first week of May. Our weather this spring has been so cool that it was just this past weekend that we even started the clean-out process. Never in a million years would I have expected it to be June before we swam. Crazy. And, after last year's fiasco with the liner replacement that began on April 1st and went til the filled it with water on July 12th, I am more than ready to be in the water!

We are very much looking forward to this...







And would like to do some of this...







Not sure when we'll get to the camping because there are things we need. Our tent is very old and the walls are breaking down, making it sticky and gritty. Being the princess that I am, gritty and sleeping don't work for me. Also, the boat motor is giving Mark fits. It will start and run just fine on the driveway but once its in water it doesn't stay on when he puts it in gear. It is fine for the boys to go up the road to fish for a few hours, they can use the trolling motor to get them around the stumpy fish habitats but I'd rather not have us all on the lake and have to row back in.

We sold our Suburban(with its huge roomy cargo area and removable back seat), and now have a small, very small, Jeep with a lot less room. I'm thinking we'll have to get something for the top to haul our gear. Or take less stuff. If we don't take the boat then we don't have to take tackle boxes or 5 life jackets, or fishing poles, etc, so that will help. There is a place that I'd love to visit but its several hours away. Check out The Woodland School for some great pics.

Amy asked me this morning when we could go. I don't know, I really don't, but soon... I hope.