Where Do They Come From?

What is the key to eliminating fruit flies from your house altogether? Get rid of the fruit.

If only that were possible. Funny, but they really seem to like my wine the best. Aaahh, at least my fruit flies have refined taste.
Catching them is easier than I thought. I tried the cider vinegar, but that didn't seem to attract them. What they like is our juice. So I've been treating them to pink lemonade and V8 Splash. Haha. Little do they know it's laced with dish soap. As soon as they hit the surface they sink & drown. Nice huh?

Now if I could only figure out how to stop them from invading my kitchen in the first place. Yeah, right. That's about as possible as having world peace these days. Oh well. We'll always have wine.

Good Day

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!!!!

I have had a great day today. It's my 32nd birthday and I don't feel a day over 32. Hehe.
So I started the day by putting on a cute outfit and a tiara (I've always wanted to do that!) which I am still wearing as I type this after 8pm. The kids sang to me this morning and I went to work. When I got there I had presents on my desk! Yay! Huge surprise. I have great coworkers who got me 2 bottles of wine, a dozen roses, a new bracelet & earrings and delicious chocolate, as well as a gift card to buy, you guessed it, more wine! I think they felt bad for me after yesterday's horrible-ness of losing hundreds of dollars to an identity thief.

So, my other birthday gift was that Bobby was able to get all our money back from the bank. Yay! And then I came home to brownies and chicken parm for dinner. And on top of that I got to see my BFF Erin. Phew. What a day.

I love my birthday.

3 weeks!

Aagh! It's been 3 weeks since my last post. The only excuse that I can give you is that my life is really boring right now. Basically work, and weekends. That's it.

I did manage to sew this weekend. I made a new John Deere pillowcase for Jake, a skirt for Emma for school, and a skirt for myself. I'd post a pic but Jake's sleeping on his pillow right now and Emma's skirt is tucked away awaiting the first day of school. My skirt is not really worth photographing, especially with me in it. I didn't use a pattern and realized that vertically challenged girls with no waist should not wear peasant skirts. Ok, so it's not THAT bad. It's just not something I'd like to photograph until I have the right shirt to go with it.

Speaking of that, I have a new blog to follow. I actually am thinking that I'll be an active participant with this one. Check this out: My Weight Loss Journey
This blog was started today by a friend at work who suddenly realized that it's time to make a change in her life. Not only do I plan to coach her through this, but I plan to participate and attempt to make some changes for myself as well.
I know I will never be that size 2/4 that I was before kids (and after them too - thank you, breastfeeding!), but I don't like the size I am currently at and hope to get back into the size 6 pants that I have held onto for the past couple years. My eating habits have not changed, but my metabolism has (man, did 30 take it's toll or what?). I also have not been dancing for over a year (funny for someone whose blog is called The Dancing Mom). I need an excercise routine and I need the motivation to stick with it.

So Tiff and I are in this together. And hopefully we'll both see success at the end of the road, wherever that may be.

This Blueberry Pie...

is the most amazing thing ever. I worked at the Bowdoinham Farmers Market this morning, which is always a treat for me. I get to hang out with some neat people while selling delicious berries and veggies from a farm I truly believe in, all while making a little extra cash.

So with this extra cash today I chose to buy a blueberry pie. This isn't just any pie, mind you. This pie is homemade with love by a wonderful 12 year old named Libby. She and her friend Julia were there today with the Sprouts program (a program in Bowdoinham for kids to sell their wares at the Farmers Market).

I have to say that I have eaten other delicious treats made by Libby last summer, but this pie takes the cake! I believe the crust is homemade and the blueberries are picked by Libby and friends at an undisclosed location. They sell 3 different sizes: personal, medium, and full-on pie size!

So I'm sitting here enjoying my pie for lunch/snack while my successful first attempt at making potato salad cools in the fridge.

The kids should be home soon from the Wildlife Park (turtle exhibit) and then we're off to Uncle Jerm's for a BBQ this evening.

Why is it that when the sun comes out, my day just seems to get better and better?

And the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down...

That's one of my favorite scenes from Disney's Winnie the Pooh movie. The rain pours down and poor little Piglet gets washed away in a hunny pot.

That's kind of how I'm feeling these days. Aside from a few random days of sunshine and "warm" temps, these past few months have been filled with rain pouring down. I'm afraid that one of these days I'll come home to my kids floating down the flooded driveway in beach buckets.

In some ways, though, I kind of don't mind it. When it's raining I don't feel as bad about leaving for work and spending 9 hours away from home. When I stayed home I loved the warm sunny weather because we could do anything we wanted and spent much time outside. Now the only thing I feel bad about is leaving poor Bobby home all day without a car, stuck inside a tiny house with 2 extremely active children.

So now, it's 8:30 pm, pouring rain outside, with nothing exciting on tv. I have made myself a nice cup of hot tea with hunny :) and I'm going to curl up in the recliner with my latest book (The Gatecrasher, by Madeleine Wickham, aka Sophie Kinsella of Shopaholic fame). It's taken me a while to get into reading it as I don't have endless summer days to lounge around & read anymore, but I have plenty of quiet (and probably rainy) summer evenings to myself - just perfect for catching up with my favorite authors.

Now I just wish the library was open on weekends :(

Letter to the Sun

Mr. Sun?
Is that really you? I can't believe you're really here. And on a weekend. I am so excited to actually feel your warmth and bask in your lovely rays of light. It finally makes it feel like summer.

We have seen so little of you lately. Where have you been? Have you been hiding? Have you been sick? Have you been cheating on us with others who have been enjoying your warm glow?

It makes me sad to think that you have been away for so long without telling us why. Why have you let those evil clouds take over your righful place in the sky? Why have you allowed the rain to soak us more than necessary? Are you punishing us for always taking advantage of you when you're here?

Either way, I'm glad to see you back in our neck of the woods. Please stay for a while. Don't go away again for such a long period of time. We need you. You make us happy. You keep us warm. We love your seemingly endless light throughout the day.

Thank you, Mr. Sun, for finally coming back to us. I love you.
-Missie

Growing Things

It is that time of year when I want nothing to do with the produce department at the grocery store. My aunt Cathy's vegetables are coming into fruition and I LOVE them. I worked at the Bowdoinham Farmer's Market on Saturday representing Fairwinds Farm. Although it's still a little early for tomatoes and potatoes, there were still quite a few goodies to be had. The zucchini and broccoli almost sold out and I sold out completely of lettuce, summer squash, cabbage, beet greens and strawberries.

My own garden is also doing quite well despite the rain. My tomato plants are huge and hopefully we'll have some peas and green beans soon as well. But my flowers are what I am most proud of. I bought this climbing rose bush at Reny's for only $5 earlier in the spring. I have had 2 full blooms so far and about 6 more that will pop out this week.

And what good is a beautiful summer morning without your best friend to share it with you? (Emma & Patience, ages 6 1/2)