Stuff:

1) I am sitting in Chalet Golightly with the screen door open behind me, and there is some sort of animal making a VERY weird noise. Kind of a howl. Kind of a bugle. Sort of WereElk-y really. If I am discovered half eaten in the morning, you know where to start.

2) I have verbally committed to walk a half marathon in November with my Mother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law (Scarlett). Um...

3) I have also committed to our family version of The Biggest Loser Challenge. It is based on the percentage of your body weight that you lose, and there is a prize. $300. On some level I am going to win this thing. But only if I quit making macaroni and cheese for dinner. (So yum.) Final weigh in is the day after Thanksgiving. (cruel) My goal is 15 pounds.

4) Oh, right. I should post about the news on the food front. So apparently I am not allergic to wheat or gluten after all. My doctor's office misread my test results. However, reintroducing wheat back into my life is not going all that smoothly. So I dunno. Can't really decide what to do there. (The mac n' cheese was gluten free. FYI.)

5) Sweet Pea has a really nasty case of ring worm that I feel like I am losing the battle on. We tried Lotrimin, and then got a scrip for some other cream...spots clear up but new ones form just as fast. Swimming in chlornated water seemed to help a lot on Sunday, so my plan for tomorrow is this...A bath with some bleach in it, then put her cream on, then go buy iodine and put that all over her. May sound crazy, but...my poor baby! It's awful. Interestingly enough, it isn't nearly as contagious as I always thought it was. So that's good news.

6) I made cherry infused vodka with a splash of almond liquor. My plan is to add that to a bit of lemonade and some soda. Sound good?

Pictures of the great cherry picking and canning of 2009 to come. There's not much in this world as pretty as 24 quarts of sweet cherries and a whole lot of cherry jam.

In a related note...diapers full of cherry pits are gross. But also funny.

~Clover

We have this dog. She is a GREAT dog. In fact, I think that she might be the greatest dog ever. She isn't super smart. (But she isn't dumb either.) She doesn't do any tricks. At all. She creates enough methane gas to launch our house into outer space. She hasn't ever saved anyone's life or scared away a bad guy, or ANYTHING really. She's just your typical Yellow Lab. Lots of big brown puppy dog eyes. A lethal tail. And a love of being scratched on the behind that transcends human emotion.

But here is the kicker. She poops at home.

Yes, that does mean that we have to scoop a lot of poo at our house. Our backyard is sort of a minefield. But I will take that any day over walking around with a plastic baggie full of poop.

Yesterday I took that kids to a new park. Well, new to us. It is most certainly not a new park. And definately not a best kept secret kind of place. In fact, despite all the signage telling people to keep their pets on leash, this seems to be the place where every dog owner in the SE End takes their pooch for a good game of fetch and a big ol' dump. I am not even kidding when I tell you that I saw at LEAST 10 dogs doing the hunch backed crawl in the 45 minutes that we were there.

Of course all of these dogs had their people with them. And these properly trained humans were very dutifully cleaning up after their furry friends. So I am not complaining about the use of the park by dogs. Not at all. I love dogs. And I LOVE to see them chasing a tennis ball with that "BEST DAY EVER!!!" look on their little furry faces. Once upon a time when my Irie Dog was a wee bit younger she loved to chase a tennis ball for hours. Now she's good for about 3 runs. After that if you throw it, you fetch it.

But at our house, the dog takes a crap in the yard before we go to the park so that I can put a bandana over my nose and then use a rake and a shovel to keep my distance from her feces like a normal person.

I mean, we haven't forgotten that it's POOP, right? Ew. Unless it is an extreme emergency I am not using my hands to pick up warm dog shit. Sorry. But I am not comforted by the membraneous layer of plastic separating me from, hello, I'll remind you again - DOG SHIT.

And if, under extreme circumstances, I DO have to clean up after my furry baby, I sure as hell am not going to walk around with the sack of crap dangling from my wrist. Do you know how many people I saw accessorizing with POOP yesterday? There were these two women with about 7 little yappy dogs between them. They had an area on the lawn all staked out. Blanket, traveling doggie water dish, beach bag, snacks, etc. etc. etc. Their dogs were running off leash for like 10 minutes. Then suddenly, they stood up, put the dogs on leashes and took them on a walk. AND THEY CARRIED THE SACKS OF POOP WITH THEM. They left the snacks sitting there on the grass, and took the dog poop with them.

WHY DID THEY DO THAT?? There were garbage cans right there. Right there...

Once, when my dog surprised me with an off-site potty break I put the sack of poop into a garbage can in someone's driveway. I mean, it's a garbage can. And I think a sack of dog doo doo qualifies as garbage.

So there you go. If you come to my house for a barbeque, watch where you step. But I promise that you will NEVER see me walking around carrying you-know-what.

Good dog Irie!


~Clover

Happy Father's Day!

This year's mini album is in altered book form. My goal is to make one every year for him. Here is 2008. It's nice to have goals...

We love that Daddy of ours everso!!











Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's in our life. We love you!
~Clover

Well. What can I say? It's been a week and a half of "all kids, all the time, summer vacation 2009." It's been fun. And I haven't had a single "Calgon, take me away" moment. (Admittedly, there have been a few, "FINE. Be naked/wear your shirt on backwards/don't comb your hair/read your own book" moments. So don't go nominating me for Sainthood just yet.) But it has been "all kids, all the time." So there hasn't been a lot of time for Mommy Activities.

Mommy activities include things like downloading pictures of your girl trip. And blogging. Ok, well, communication with adults of any kind is probably a Mommy Activity. But showering is NOT. Showering and other forms of personal hygene are a basic right. And if you have to plop your 20 month old in front of Yo Gabba Gabba with a box of crasins to get it done, YOU GO GIRL. Take that shower and don't look back.

Uh oh. I hear children waking up. So I will just quickly type that I am sorry for the neglect. And I am dying to look at, much less post some pictures from The Fabulous Traveling Photography Class, otherwise known as "Tour de Tater." (Sorry J. I know I was supposed to come up with that while we were in the car...I think all the laughing had me oxigen deprived.) And I also have this leetle idea about posting some bad high school poetry if I can find my old notebook...

And now I have to go fix my most requested gourmet breakfast. Toaster waffle anyone?

Besos,
~Clover

Oh my...where do I start?

Ok. This is just embarrassing.

I haven't been all that busy. I don't have writers block. I just can't think of a single interesting thing to tell you about.

I guess we are just trucking along. I'm doing alright with the gluten free thing. I have an appointment with a Gastroenternologist (sp?) in a couple of weeks. Until then I am trying to be really good about not eating the obvious stuff. No bread, no pasta, no cereal. And I'm reading ingredient lists, but all those sneaky things have me a little flummoxed. So I'm not sweating that too much for now.

So far it hasn't been too big of a deal. I've tried a few flour alternatives. Rice flour pancakes were great. The pizza dough, not so much. But I blame that on my press for time, not the flour. (I bought an instant kind instead of one that you let rise. Yeast is a good thing.) It sure smelled good though.

The kids only have 2 days of "school" left before we are on summer vacation. We have lots of big plans. So I'm both looking forward to it and kind of anxious about it. The formerly "Sweet" William is going through the terrible twos and trying threes this week. I'm hoping he's just trying to get it all out of his system. Otherwise I think we will have to find a priest who can exorcise the deamons...

I'm not sure exactly what's up with Sweet Pea. But she has suddenly developed a fear of other people. ALL other people. Everyone except me really. Which results in sudden bursts of head burying and leg clinging out in public. The other day at preschool drop off there was a fit of epic proportions. I am starting to wonder if kindergarten teachers are as adequately trained for this kind of thing as I had always thought they must be. They must be, right? I mean, I've never seen a mom attend the first week of kindergarten.

And, well. That's about it. Kind of lame really. I mean, not for me, filming live. But I don't really have any witty tales to tell. Aw boo.

I am having a fun girl week with my neighbor and the kids which could result in some hilarity. Or poignancy. Maybe. Right now it's resulting in a lot of thunderstorms, poop, and us wondering why we thought we should leave the dog at home. (Hello! Do you know how many times we've had to sweep the floor?)

And in a few days I am doing a quick lil' road trip with some other girlfriends that is certain to result in some postworthy tales. And a lot of pictures as it is kind of a rolling photography class.

Until then...there ya go. Life. Just life. A great life too.
~Clover

Taking a break from my pity party, table for one, to let you know that I am thinking about what little goodies will be winging their way across miles and even oceans to get to you ladies who responded to the pay it forward challenge. Something paper, something sewn, something...else! Woo!

And Beege, maybe I'll just deliver yours in person.

~Clover