Hot Hot Heat

Well, the relatives have come and gone. It was a good week. We went to the mountains, the beach, and the Seattle Temple. And we sweated a lot--it was hot this week.

You might think that, with the record-breaking heat going on at sea level, the mountains would be a good place to cool off. We thought so, anyway. Wrong. It was still sweltering.


The snow might have been more inviting if it were less...gray.


Luckily, it wasn't too hot to pose for pictures and show off our biceps. Heh.


Maybe we should've gone for a higher mountain. Looks pretty cold up there.

See You On The Other Side

Isaac's parents will be in town for the next few days, so I'll be taking a blog break. I may check in and read a few blogs, but I won't be posting. See ya!

Atttack of the Killer Tomato

Remember a couple months ago, when I was worried about my tomato plant? It looked so sickly: Well. I obviously know nothing. My tomato is now a renegade...the jig is up, the news is out, they finally found me...uh, sorry. Ahem. Anyway, check out my "sickly" tomato now: Yeah. It's a monster.

Vinegar as a Cleaning Product: Link

 I've been using vinegar in my home for awhile now, so I was excited when I saw this article, 30 Household Products Vinegar Can Replace, on WiseBread.com. Check it out.

Little Boy Dictionary

The latest of Little Boy's most frequently used words: doff = golf diss moaning = this morning Bamma = Grandma Bampa = Grandpa dittah = guitar stawbees = strawberries appah doos = apple juice tuts = church teenum buhwuh = peanut butter bulled ozer = bulldozer Doo Doos = Blue's Clues sote-see sut = short-sleeved shirt eppane = airplane

In Which I Give Credit Where Credit Is Due

Okay, so I've won a couple of giveaways in the last several months. But I keep forgetting to blog about them and acknowledge both the products' and the givers' websites. And that's just not nice! So, without further ado:

• A hip-T, given away by Trying 2 Stay Calm. I'm pretty impressed by it. I actually tried it the first time under a tee shirt that was already long--sometimes even long shirts hike up when I bend over, and I wanted to see what the hip-T would do. It stayed put!

{Don't worry. That's not me.}

• A decorative birdhouse, given away by Pineapple Hill Designs. It's really cute--it's sitting on a bookshelf in my living room. All of their stuff is really cute. I highly recommend their shop.

• Crocodaddy, given away by Book Giveaways. It came in the mail just in time for Father's Day. Little Boy loves it. The rhymes are fun, and the illustrations are very cute and clever.

Care for the poor

"Throughout history, the Lord has measured societies and individuals by how well they cared for the poor. . . . We might ask ourselves, living as many of us do in societies that worship possessions and pleasures, whether we are remaining aloof from covetousness and the lust to acquire more and more of this world's goods." -D. Todd Christofferson {click image for source}

Pioneers in Ghana

I was reading the Ensign the other day and came across this article, "Pioneers in Ghana." It made me cry [but what else is new?]. The article is about an art student at BYU who went to Ghana, along with three other students, to paint portraits of pioneer Latter-day Saints in Ghana. And then the article has some of the artwork that these students painted. Here are two of my favorites, along with their captions:

 
Bitner Johnson: Grandson of the Patriarch, by Jesse Bushnell Named after President Gordon Bitner Hinckley, Bitner Johnson is the son of Brigham Johnson and the grandson of Joseph William Billy Johnson.

 
Dr. Emmanuel Kissi—“He Raised the Woman Up,” by Jesse Bushnell In 1983 a poverty-stricken woman with a severely malnourished child came to Latter-day Saint doctor Emmanuel Kissi for help. Dr. Kissi had food items sent to him by the Church to treat those with malnutrition. At no charge, he gave her rice, corn, beans, and cooking oil. The woman fell down in gratitude before the doctor. Dr. Kissi raised the woman up by the hand and said, “This food has been sent to you from God. You must give all your thanks to Him.”

U-Pick (We Pick) Strawberries

So, a few days after the Strawberry Festival, my mom, my sister, and I went back to the farm to pick strawberries. Oh, and Little Boy came, too.

 
We searched for berries...

 
picked berries...

 
looked cute while standing among the berries...

 
and hauled berries. We ended up with three bucketsful--way more than we needed. That was fine with me. I have a strawberry problem, remember?

 
Mmmmm.

Reverence Is Rooted in Love

“Reverent behavior is not a natural tendency for most children. It is a quality that is taught by parents and leaders through example and training. But remember, if reverence is rooted in love, so is the teaching of it. Harshness in our training begets resentment, not reverence.” -Margaret S. Lifferth

Phantom Load: Saving Money on the Electric Bill

Here's a riddle: What common household device still uses electricity, even when it's turned off? Answer: Pretty much everything.

According to U.S. News & World Report, "Many electronic items still draw power when they're turned off. It's a phenomenon called 'phantom' load, and it sucks about 5 percent to 10 percent of the energy used in America's homes each year." The best way to stop it is to unplug your electronic devices when you're not using them.

This is one of my favorite ways to save on our electric bill, because it's so darn easy. I use a power strip to plug in devices that are close to each other, and then I just turn the strips off at night before I go to bed.

We save a fair amount on our bill by doing this, but our electric bill was kind of small to begin with. I imagine, though, that most households would notice some difference.

Have you guys ever tried it? How much did you save?

Strawberry Festival

Okay, so I'm at least two weeks behind on photos here. I'm trying to catch up. So, two weeks ago we headed out to a local berry farm for their annual Strawberry Festival. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I have a strawberry problem. If there are strawberries within reach, I will eat them all without even realizing it. All of them. And I don't know why. They're just good, I guess. So anyway: Strawberry Festival? I'm totally there. Another draw was that everything at the festival was free. Except the berries, of course. But that's a good deal for a family outing. Why are we here, Mom? Oh, you just wait, Little Boy. Small strawberry sundae = free. Our best friends just happened to be there, as well. We didn't plan it. This is what sealed the deal for Little Boy. The farm had a big green tractor. Well, I'm sure they have more than one tractor, but this one pulled us around the farm on a guided tour. Little Boy was all excited to ride behind the tractor, but once we climbed aboard, he took it really seriously. He sat on his little seat with an all-business look on his face. I think he felt grown up. And then, of course, there was the playground. He's probably staring out toward the tractor again. So, in spite of his uncertainty, Little Boy had pretty much the best day ever. And Isaac and I enjoyed ourselves, too. Did I mention the strawberries?

Anti-Recipe--Grilled Cheese with Tomato and Basil

Did I mention that I'm eating dairy again? Oh. Well, I am. And I feel fine so far. Yay!

So anyway, this is another one of those anti-recipes without measurements or bossy directions. It's so easy: next time you make a grilled-cheese sandwich, make it even tastier by adding a slice of tomato and a couple leaves of fresh [not dried! fresh!] basil before you cook it.

I usually chop the tomato to get better...tomato coverage?...but that's because I've made so many of these darn sandwiches that I've started to mess with the formula a bit. I think I'm addicted. In fact, if I had a tomato, I'd go make a sandwich right now.

Being Like...

When Little Boy pretends, he says he's "being like" something. For example, "Bein' like Daddy!" Or, "Bein' like Spongebob!" Or, "Bein' like a orange!" [Don't ask.]

So the other day, Little Boy decided to be like "the ditty!" [We don't have a cat. It's my mom's.]


Nope, he's not crawling around...


because my mom's cat is a little bit lazy. The "ditty" is not exactly something that I would personally want to be like. But then again, neither is an orange.

Freedom Quote of the Day

"True independence and freedom can only exist in doing what's right." -Brigham Young [image source]

Bean Counter

Take one Little Boy...

 

add some beans from the pantry that, let's face it, I'm never going to use...

 

...and a measuring cup. And then make it very clear that the beans will stay on the pan. [They didn't, but he tried pretty hard.]

He played with this for half an hour, and I'm sure he would've gone on much longer, but it was nap time. And nap time is very, very important around here.