Got Milk?

"They told me I gave the best milk mustache of anybody!"

Yasmine Bleeth

♥

thanks to some of your suggestions, I've submitted Mustache's photo to the Got Milk Ad Campaign. I'll let you know if they express any interest!

Vegetable Garden

click to enlarge

" Weather means more when you have a garden.

There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking

how it is soaking in around your green beans!"

Marcelene Cox

♥

Why, Oh Why?

OK, so here's a mystery for you! Even me as the mom of autistic

triplets can't figure this one out! Maybe you can crawl into their

minds and give me a logical explanation! :)

I always lay my dish rag across the sink divider like this.

None of the triplets will leave it like that! They walk by and move it to

the sink on the left. In the sink. It doesn't matter if the sink is empty

or full of dishes or full of water, the rag gets moved into the left sink!

I've told them, even demonstrated that I don't want the rag in the sink!

I want it laying across the divider. Next thing I know, someone has

dropped it into the sink! They will even do it just walking by...very

nonchalantly slipping it into the sink as they walk! So, WHY?

It also doesn't matter if the rag is dry, wet, clean or dirty.

Anybody want to take a guess? I'm stumped! Especially since all three

of them do it, as if they made a pact to drive their mother crazy. ha.

♥

Harry's Hair

Remember Harry's wild curls? Well it seems he was not liking them!

Harry doesn't like it when his hair gets long and bushy and he has asked to

have it trimmed before. Well, last week while I worked at an auction,

Taylor watched his brothers. He walked into the kitchen to see

Harry cutting his own hair! He said that he was trying to use the

kitchen scissors and clumps of hair were everywhere! He told him

'no!' and took the scissors away.

But Harry was persistent, following Taylor around the house and giving him the scissors, as if to ask Taylor to finish the job for him! Well, this is what Harry looked like. His forehead was bare and he had chunks missing from all over his head. He had literally laid the scissors against his scalp before taking a cut. ha.

He seemed very happy and pleased with himself! lol...

So the next day I finished the job for him.

And gave his brothers a cut, too.

See, he wants to show you one of his bald spots! Oh, and I really should mention that this was the SAME DAY that Alex locked me out of the house in my nightgown. Yep, it was a really eventful day, that and working an auction. I couldn't sleep that night. I think I couldn't unwind! lol...

♥

Tunnels

One of my favorite little country roads to travel on in my neighborhood has a section that is completely enclosed overhead with trees. They rise up on both sides and meet in the middle. It's beautiful during any season but summer and fall are my favorites, when the tunnel is lush and or when you become completely engulfed in red and yellow leaves.

I drove through it this week and took a picture as I drove inside. The effect was this neat photo!

"When a train goes through a tunnel and it becomes dark,

you don't throw away the ticket and jump off.

You sit still and trust the engineer!"

Corrie Ten Boom

♥

An Adventure with Alex

Alex, with his trademark smirk, and award winning bedhead.

6-24-2011

*****

Thursday morning was a quiet beautiful morning here and I slipped out onto the back porch first thing with my coffee to sit on the porch swing. It's secluded enough to sit out in my nightgown and I have enjoyed starting out my mornings like this before the craziness of the day begins.

As I sat drinking coffee and playing with kittens, Alex joined me for a few minutes. He was bored, I think since I didn't let the porch swing go high enough to touch the clouds, so he went inside. I immediately knew I was in trouble as I heard the door close and the deadbolt slide into place. Locked out? Ugh! In my nightgown? Double ugh! I cupped my hands around my eyes to see inside the glass door. Alex was only about 6 feet away laying on the couch!

I knocked and called to him but he ignored me. Finally, I got his attention and motioned for him to come, but he wouldn't! He would look away or look down as if he thought I was upset with him. Well, I was getting there! ha. This went on for about 10 minutes! I figured there wasn't any way to coax him into unlocking the door. The other boys were back in there room, on the opposite side of the house and couldn't hear me.

****

We have double garage doors with electric openers but Taylor's door has a keypad opener for emergencies. I had never used it before and vaguely remember what the combination might be, so I thought my only hope of getting back in the house was to walk to the side with the garages and try the keypad. As I unlock the back gate and walk out onto the driveway, I'm horrified to see the lawn service truck parked in front of our house! It was just a matter of seconds before I might meet Mr. Lawn Service Guy in my nightie! Ack! I run to the garage, flip up the keypad and type in my guess. Nothing happened! ACK!! One more guess and relief floods my body as the garage door starts to lift. YAY!

I don't even wait for it to reach my height but duck down and swoop

under the door in my own little game of Limbo. ha.

As I get inside and press the button to close the garage door, I see Mr. Lawn Service Guy coming down the driveway with his sprayer. Whew! Missed him by about 10 seconds.

****

Good grief! I did get in Alex's face and give him a piece of my mind as only we moms can do. I really don't know how much he understood or if he even realized he locked me out but I felt better after my little lecture. ha.

****

And I'm sure everyone will be glad to know that Alex got a hair cut this evening!

♥

Tall, Dark and Handsome

Flipping through the university's quarterly magazine, my eyes were

immediately drawn to this guy! Hey...I know this guy!

Yep, my oldest. Just look at him...why wouldn't they use him

as a model for some photographs? And yes, he did

say it was staged. He's only been in the library

twice in two years and one was for this photo session.

I used to go there for a quiet place to study.

But then, I lived in the dorms. ha.

♥

After the Storm

8:45 PM EST June 22, 2011

*

A spectrum of light that appears on high

when the sun shines on moistuRe drops in the sky.

An optical phenomenon thAt can't be physically approached.

A multicolored arc with colors lIke a jeweled brooch.

Always in the same order red, oraNge, yellow, green.

It's hard to resist it's colorful gleam.

Blue, indigo, and violet, too.

At the end a pOt of gold awaits you!

But it's short lived so watch noW or you'll miss

and don't forget to make a wish!

♥

A Tiger Sandwich

Tiger, surrounded by Mustache and Whiskers

******

"Thus nature has no love for solitude, and always leans, as it were, on some support; and the sweetest support is found in the most intimate friendship."

- Cicero

♥

Random Thoughts

front porch June 2011

1. When given a choice, wild kittens prefer to drink from a rain puddle than from a clean dish of filtered water.
2. I've survived two weeks of summer vacation! 10 weeks to go.
3. When you have to go to the bathroom really, really bad while driving in your car, a down pouring of rain does not help the situation. Just sayin'. ha.
4. Kisses from your children are wonderful, at any age, especially unsolicited ones.
5. When your autistic child finds leftover fried chicken in the frig and stuffs a piece in his mouth, crunching bones and all, refusing to spit it out no matter how much you plead, the only thing left to do is to pray that he won't get any internal punctures and it will all pass through safely. This would be Alex, btw, and it's been a few days, so I guess he will live! Geesh!
6. Everyone in this family likes their bananas still slightly green. Once they get little brown freckles on the skin, we avoid them like the plague. Too bad we don't have at least one person that likes them really ripe!
7. If you drink a big cup of coffee at 8:00 PM you will be awake and staring at the ceiling at 2:00 AM!
8. A rain shower every other day means you don't have to water the veggie garden with a hose! Nice.
9. It's really fun to see seeds break through the soil that you've planted yourself. I have 5 types of lettuce sprouting. Some for Nugget, some for us. :)
10. It's lovely to see the sun shining through raindrops and see the ROYGBIV of the rainbow.

♥

Coconut Key Lime Bars

Recipe

1 c sweet, flaked coconut

1 1/2 c flour

1/2 c powdered sugar

10 T cold butter

6 egg yolks

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

1 c lime juice

4 t lime zest

*****

Preheat oven to 350. Toast coconut 6-8 minutes until golden. Combine flour and sugar. Add 1/2 coconut and cut in the butter. (I used my food processor.) Press into bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Bake 25 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk yolks and milk together. Gradually whisk in juice and zest. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with remaining coconut. Bake 8-10 minutes. Cool completely, then chill in refrigerator. Decorated with additional zest and powdered sugar if desired.

Recipe by Martha Stewart.

Photos by me.

♥

Our First Two-Way Conversation

It was Spencer's turn to go to the grocery with me and we went on Friday.

Here he is ready to go and impatiently waiting for Dad to come home and stay with his brothers. Waiting is never easy! And Dad is always late. ha. :) Spencer can say several words, but would still be considered nonverbal. He can ask for something, such as a hot dog, chips, bed, remote, things like that...they are 'wants' or 'requests'. He never has done a back and forth conversation and although this one was very simplistic, it is still the first ever!

Spencer has figured out what my shopping list is and what it means. He always reads it and makes sure I have printer paper and scotch tape on it! When we got into the Jeep and started to leave, he locked eyes with me, like he usually does. This means he wants me to say something. (As in read his mind, ha ha. That works with his brothers, but not usually with me!) But I knew this time he probably wanted to verify what he was going to get to buy at the grocery. So the conversation went like this ~

*****

ME ~ "So, at the grocery we will buy you hot dogs..."

SPENCER ~ "deedee" (means OK or yes)

ME ~ "cheese..."

SPENCER ~ "deedee"

ME ~ "paper and tape"

SPENCER ~ "deedee"

I stop, thinking we're done talking. Spencer turns sideways toward me and looks into my eyes.

ME ~ "You want to get something else?"

SPENCER ~ 'dee'

ME ~ "What?" Spencer just looks. "Say...I want..."

SPENCER ~ "D-D-D"

ME ~ "You want to get a DVD?"

Spencer nods. And looks out the windshield.

ME ~ OK! You can get a DVD, but just one!

SPENCER jerks his head and looks at me. "Two!"

ME ~ "You want two DVDs? ha ha...OK, you can get two!"

Aww! Isn't that great??? Sure made me smile! And if you have forgotten what Spencer's voice sounds like, or mine for that matter, you can listen to our saying body parts HERE. In fact, I really should do some more video clips. I still need to figure out how to do that on my new camera! Anyway, thanks for celebrating with me! And for those of you who pray for my boys, thanks very much. See...here's a wonderful answer! Certainly not in my timing, but then I'm learning that it's not all about me or what I want, either! :)

*****

As for the trip itself, Spencer has improved greatly since our trips last summer. Remember when he flashed his belly at the cashier and wanted to buy National Geographic's Border Wars, Vol. 1? Click here if you want to read about that. He did still push the cart way too fast, turn corners on two wheels and would have crashed into several people if I hadn't had a firm hold on the side of the cart. But he was much more patient, even on a Friday afternoon, with a crowded store and long check out lines. Although, I was exhausted when we got home! ha ha.

♥

Loch Ness

This week we have amazing cumulus clouds and I've enjoyed watching them floating by, morphing into all kinds of creatures. There was also a nice mix of white and gray, and peeks of blue sky, too. I thought this dark cloud was going to begin to look like a stegosaurus....

but it turned out to be more like the Loch Ness Monster!

And that's just fine with me, having Scottish ancestors and all! :)

This is a Sky Watch Friday post!

Click HERE to visit gorgeous skies from all over the world.

♥

Progression of a Bloom

Miniature Rose in my kitchen window.

Marilyn ~ if you see this, thank you and it's doing just great!

♥

The Furniture Movers

Today the boys decided they wanted to spend the day in the living room. Here's what the room usually looks like. Nice, neat, and clean.

I could hear furniture being rearranged and when I came in to see what was going on, this is what I found. I rescued a few toppled house plants and decided to let them have fun. At least I could vacuum under the furniture before moving everything back. I could also give their bedroom and TV room some good cleaning while they weren't camped out in them all day. This reminds me of the days of blanket forts...except without the blankets. ha.

Then I noticed this in the foyer. Ummmm....LOL!!! Gee, I hope nobody rings the doorbell. I'm going to have a hard time answering the front door today!!!

I wonder where the party will be tomorrow!

♥

Nexcare Waterproof Bandages

I don't usually do commercials here but I have to tell you that these are THE best bandaids ever. Actually, I should say bandages. Saying bandaids would be a Proprietary Eponym, right? But I digress. Anyway, these are really, really waterproof and stay put until you want to take them off.

I've had seven of these on my body for the last week and they have not moved! Not doing dishes, bathing boys, showering, gardening, nothing makes them even a bit loose!

Why do I have seven bandages on? Well, because of these little guys! Except that the mosquitoes this year are not so little! They look like humming birds buzzing around our yard! Well, maybe not that big, but a month of rain certainly gave them the perfect conditions to grow and multiply. I'm not sure if you can be allergic to their bites, but mine swell and turn huge even if I don't scratch. It's best just to put anti-itch cream on and cover them up. Although I do confess to scratching around the bandages like a kid would!

♥

Tiger

So, Tiger goes through this little routine every day....

Posing... Smelling...

Biting...

Kissing...

Playing...

Teasing.

♥

I Spy

Can you find Mrs. Goldfinch? She's in her sheik camo outfit to keep her safe.

Mr. Goldfinch is much easier to spot with his brightly colored summer coat and beret.

Can't believe this couple found this thistle sock I hung on the Red Bud tree

but they did! Thanks for the idea, Nanny! :)

♥

Summer Smiles

There's nothing more fun than lounging in your undershirt all

day, sporting bedhead and just generally goofing around!

It's very fun. And very amusing!

Yes, it's downright side-splitting hilarious!

♥

Kitten Update

First there were four, then there was three, then only

two! A week ago, little Whiskers went missing! After

she didn't show up after a few days I figured someone

took her or something ate her. :( Then Marmalade went

missing! I figured the same thing happened to him and for

2 days I just had Tiger and Mustache to play with.

Then yesterday morning, I looked out the kitchen window and Marmalade comes across the neighbor's yard! I went out on the porch and called him and he came...bringing Whiskers along with him! Wow~ I never thought I'd see either of them again! They ran to the violet patch under the crab apple tree where mom and the other two were sleeping. Mom was obviously surprised to see them and they greeted each other with licks and meows. Then the two starving kittens settled down for some milk, tails up in excitement.

Happy to be back together! Don't miss Tiger...his face blends into the tree! I'm always amazed at how photogenic mom is. She actually looks so scrawny and thin. She will sit beside me but still won't let me touch her. She's content to nap while I play with the kittens, though, so I guess she trusts me that much. I wonder if Marmalade went searching for Whiskers. Marmalade, being gone only two days was very thirsty but otherwise fine. Whiskers, who was gone a full week, was very thin, starved and dehydrated. See how much smaller she is? Everyone grew the week she was gone. Even the size of her head is so much smaller than the other's! I'll see if I can fatten her up so she's the same size as her twin again! Last night it was fun watching them all play together! And this morning I found them like this, still asleep.

Now that I can get closer to them, I've discovered that they are all males except for Whiskers! What do you know...a little girl to keep me company! At least she won't want to share my makeup or borrow my shoes! ha.

♥

Can't Turn My Back For A Second!

Meet Mr and Mrs Bird. Original names, I know.

Taylor named them when he was much younger. :) They are just part of my zoo here.

But this story is really about Spencer.

I give my parakeets a probiotic supplement. It's good for

them, just like it's good for us! Anyway, I was mixing some into

some water to put into their cage and turned to the sink

to wash my hands. When I turned back the glass was empty!

It took me a second, but I subconsciously remembered Spencer

walking through the kitchen while I washed up.

Yes, he glugged down that water and went on his merry way

before I could even take notice!

Good grief!

Thankfully, it's only healthy things like acidophilus

and lactobacillus. Still, some days I just shake my head!

♥

Sure Signs of Summer

1. An anklet has replaced my ankle socks.
2. I saw the first firefly of the year.
3. Freckles have appeared across my nose.
4. My coffee gets poured over ice by noon.
5. Sunscreen and Off sit by the back door instead of rock salt and a shovel.
6. There is less laundry since T's & shorts take less room than jeans & sweatshirts.
7. Comfort food has been replaced by salads and grilling.
8. Chores have been doubled, adding the outside ones to the inside ones.
9. Bing cherries are in the fruit bowl instead of apples.
10. A bowl of ice cream has replaced the after-dinner cup of tea.

I made the anklet from a $1 package of Chinese porcelain friendship beads. I alternated them with antique brass spacers on a silk cord and finished it with a clasp.

Happy Summer!

♥