It was too late to canoe, I flipped the homemade cheesecake upside down and it's been thirteen years with her.

She was four minutes away from being born in the car.
{Thank you Jeff for breaking speed limit laws that sunny, July evening...
...you are an amazing driver even at 91 miles per hour.}

It took us two days to name her....
...we flipped a coin while filling out the birth certificate.
The nurses were laughing at us. Heads Molly...Tails Allison.
Molly, my choice actually won...but Jeff really, REALLY had his heart set on Allison...
...and since I liked it too, I let him win.
My brother is marrying a Molly in just a few short weeks....
..we'll have the name in the family now. ;)

She loves horses and dogs...and it's really sad her mother hates them.
Not horses...but dogs...at least in the house. ;)

She wanted homemade macaroni and cheese and
burgers on the grill for her birthday dinner.
It was a family effort... we have kids that like to cook...
.....Jeff needs to build me a bigger kitchen!
{Would anyone want to donate to a GoFundMe?
Is that taking advantage? Nooo....I don't think so.}


Her cake was a cheesecake..she helped me make it.
Then I flipped it upside down on the floor right before
we were about to sing Happy Birthday!!!!!!!
{They all called five second rule...I just couldn't. Yuck!}

She wanted to go canoeing at sunset...after dinner we went to rent canoes.
We missed it by twenty minutes....plan b.

Fishing.
We caught nothing.

Sisters and bestest of friends.
I pray they always stay this close.

{^^^The pieced together flipped cake. Ha!}

We now have four "teenagers" in the house.
I absolutely love it!!! They are fun and incredible and make our home happy.

I can't believe...I CANNOT believe!!! my oldest daughter is thirteen.
She is such a blessing to us.
XxOo

As those 10,000 maniacs said...these are the days.

Splashing and sunflowers and kale and chickens and sun light and fresh chocolate mint
and naked feet and crisp, line dried beds and steaming sourdough and laughing girls
and easy, early mornings.....

.....the good life.
These are the days to remember.
XxOo

Ten things I learned from the "top drawer" and a devastating earring break.

He was so CUTE in his Structure vest, Fossil watch, 5.0 GPA, driving a gold Ford Escort...

...yes I'll go on a date with you and yes I'll marry you in three years!
...and yes I'll love you even more than I can imagine 20 years later!

The first summer we knew each other he bought me a pair of tiny gold hoop earrings.
I have worn them almost everyday since. That's over 23 years of wearing!

THEN...last Friday night one of my earrings cracked in half
when I was putting it back into my ear. I was so sad because...
1. My favorite pair of earrings were now broken.
2. Sentimental cry here...it was the first "big" present Jeff ever gave to me.

Saturday morning I was on a mission to find another pair of gold earrings I own,
since I can only wear gold in my ears. I can wear other metals only for a short time...
...then they bother me.

Anyway....
I ended up searching through and emptying out my "top drawer".

Do you guys have "top drawers"?
You know...an "important" junk drawer.
One you can't just dump...one that contains super important things as you can see below.

I learned a few things last Saturday morning.

1. My retainer no longer fits..my teeth have shifted.
{Really? I, the queen of tossing away still owns her retainer?
...it's that black polka dot container...
...I decorated it myself using white out when I was a young teenager.}

2. We have 2 free ice cream cones at Culver's.

3. I forgot how good Philosophy perfumes smell..and Jo Malone.
...and Elizabeth Arden's Green Tea.... an oldie but goody...especially during the summer.

4. I still own 10,000 bracelets I haven't worn in 10 years?
Because...you never know. But really..I do know. Just get rid of them Liz!

5. Why, yes Jeff, I do have chapstick you can use.
..Not the answer I gave him the other night, but after my top drawer, well...

6. I have an extra dollar now.

7. I found a few long, lost pens.

8. That little gold square in the top left corner of my dresser...it's a key chain.
Jeff gave it to me for our first Valentines Day.
It's engraved....my name is on one side and I love you on the other.
I forgot all about that sweet gift.

9. The watch I always wear on my wrist is not on my dresser.

Finally....

10. Gulp..I guess the girls aren't the only reason pony holders go missing.
Sorry for all that blaming dear daughters of mine.

P.S. I never found the other gold earrings I was looking for.
XxOo

Wrapping up the week...Monday thru Friday and a couple of little articles for you.

Nothing exciting going on around here.
Just the usual...and the usual is the most peaceful.


Monday:
I had to give the Heimlich for the first time in my life.
...to my 2 year old.
....he was choking on a cracker RIGHT in front of me while I was chopping peppers.
...it was scary to see him turn purple and not breath.
..I was thankful I knew what to do.
...he cried for a little while. I didn't cry...but my hands were pretty shaky.


Tuesday:
We ate tacos...because..well, Taco Tuesday.

Wednesday:
It rained. a LOT.  Hello weeds everywhere. Hello mosquitoes everywhere. Hello humidity.

I'm also very proud of my brother in law .
His job is not an easy one...especially in this day and age.
Thank your local officers!

Thursday:
In this week's episode of God convicting Liz and her sin nature...
After having my very own expectations and taking them out on my dear husband...
I read this article a friend posted on FB  ....Ouch! too bad I didn't read it sooner.
Sorry Jeff.

Friday:
I bought a bottle of geranium oil. and a Larabar  ...big excitement.
I also found a new store that opened close to my house that sells Polish Pottery!
It's eight hundred million dollars a piece ...I'll be doing a lot of browsing. ;)


Hope you have a fabulous weekend.
XxOo

Have you ever seen anything so dirty on an early Sunday evening after eating pizza?

It was an unplanned, last minute, brick oven pizza {sort of} party after church.

All of us adults made pizza and chatted while the kids rolled
tractors and cars and trucks through dirt and dust and rocks and...
..well....you can see the results here.

Hope your week is off to a great start!
XxOo

Wrapping up the week....firetrucks that mow lawns, satire at it's finest and the best cocoa powder in the world!

I found these shots on my camera...taken by Sophia.

This little red firetruck is played with more than anything else he owns.
We bought it for him the Christmas after he turned one.

Up until this past week it was an inside toy...now it also "lawn mows".
We've had our yard mowed around forty times just today! The grass looks fabulous.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love the age of two?!?
I do. I really, really do.

Do you like satire? Do you enjoy sarcasm?
Do you have a sense of humor? Do you love to laugh?
If you answered NO to any of these questions,
don't bother clicking on THIS LINK.

{If you did click, browse around...Jeff and I were cracking up}


The BEST cocoa powder in the entire world.
I buy it for much less at the grocery store...but it can be difficult to find.
..and to be honest, I would consider splurging every once in a while
if I couldn't find it anywhere.

My homemade coffee creamer is amazing because of it.


Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
XxOo

Annual Fourth of July Partaaaay! Flag shirts, fireworks and all the trimmings.

My kids look forward to my parent's Fourth of July party as much as Christmas morning.

To be honest..all of us kids {my siblings} do too.
They've been throwing parties on this day forever and ever.

It's sort of like a mini family reunion...
...it's the one day out of the year cousins and second cousins and third cousins all get together.

My cousin and I realized yesterday how big our family has grown over the years.
It's crazy! ...in a really great way.

Tons and tons and TONS of food.
Flag shirts.
Blueberry pies.
A new puppy. {not our's!}
Swimming.
The bouncy house.
Fireworks.

...and by fireworks, I mean FIREWORKS!
{including my pyro-tech brother's homemade concoctions}
We're talking my brothers and my husband here..and if you know them,
you know what I'm talking about.

{My parent's grandkids minus three}

Four Generations : Great Grandpa. Grandpa. Uncle. Nephew.

I'm thankful for this country.
I'm thankful for my family!

Hope your holiday was blessed and wonderful.
XxOo