Day 24

I was feeling creative today. This is what I made. I think I will put this on etsy once I have it up and running. After viewing the blog post I think it needs a bigger photo!

Day 23

Tonight we went to the park with the boys. They had a great time. We went for a mini nature walk. Was meant to be longer but we weren't the only people on the trail and they were loud. This is my wonderful husband and the boys on the trail.


Once we were off the trail and heading back to the park, the boys found this.


A sign of what is to come.... I love autumn but not quite ready for it. Summer has only just arrived.


The last two are of my little boys. They are so sweet. After playing on the playground they rode their bikes for a bit.

Day 22

We ended up with rain showers this afternoon. I couldn't convince the boys to go out in it though. In fact I tried to get Benjamin to help me take groceries in but since it was raining he wouldn't do it. Wimps..... But the rain was actually rather cold compared to the hot humid day that we had. It is quite nice out right now. Anyway, after dinner I went out and took this photo of a lily. Funny story about this lily. My sister-in-law gave me some bulbs via my mother-in-law and she told me that they were gladiola bulbs. This is the first year that that bloomed. Gladiola's they are not!

Day 21

It was slightly humid today. You can see the haze around the moon. It really is a beautiful night. Wish someone would sit outside and enjoy it with me.

Day 20

I'm learning that when opportunity knocks for a photo, I need take it. Today is a photo of one of Nicolas' creations. It is a space ship that he made out of lego's. Wonderful creation lego's are! Except if you step on one in the dark. Then they are just evil.

Day 19

There is something about stacked wood. Not sure why I like them so much though. I really wish that we had a fire place in which to burn wood. Someday possibly we will. This wood if it sits here much longer will be burned this fall in the fire pit that is in my back yard. If my father in law comes and gets it, it will heat his garage this winter. Well for a few days anyway.

Day 18

Tomorrow is my sister-in-laws baby shower. I just finished up the cake at 11pm. Wish I could say that I am off to bed, but I still have tons to do before tomorrow.

Day 17

This is coony (aka-raccoon). When we got him for Chelsea he rather resembled a raccoon hence the name. He is a lover kitty. Always rubbing against me, sleeping on my feet and sitting on my lap. He will come and stand on his hind legs and reach out with his paw and touch my arm to get my attention. He is a real sweet kitty. I think he is about 7ish. I remember him sitting on my lap when I was pregnant with Nicolas who is now 6 1/2.

Day 16

Today's picture was taken looking out the back door. It shows the lawn needing mowing again and if you look close, you will see my dog at her dog house. It was a great tease to her. She thought I was coming to get her. I am so thankful that we have the yard that we do. It gives the kids a large area to play and to run. I've done a great deal of work to get it the size that it is. When we moved in here, our lawn stopped at the row of pine trees. Behind it was a mess. Weeds, trees, burdock, and a fallen in barn. Very dangerous and really bad to have to look at everyday. Anyway, it isn't finished yet but hopefully in the fall and then again in the spring I can finally get it the way that I want it. Not much more to do thankfully. The middle where the hill is, is my next project. Any suggestions??? I like to see the far back yard so I don't want anything that will block that. So anything that I plant will have to be kept low.

Day 15

The boys were starving when it was dinner time. Actually before dinner time they were bugging me for apples, banana's, bread, what ever they could get their hands on. I thought that maybe they would actually eat dinner tonight without giving me a hard time. Benjamin was the first to the table. I was still setting it and dh wasn't even home from work and picking up Colin yet. Nicolas realized that Benjamin wasn't in with him and came to look for him. So they were both at the table waiting... They weren't very patient about it either. They got tired of waiting and went to play with their lego's. I took the roast out of the crock pot and put it on a plate and put the potatoes and carrots around it and put it on the table then started on the gravy. At that point dh came home and the chaos started. The boys took one look at dinner and said that they weren't eating because they didn't like it. Don't know how you can not like something that you haven't even tried. It took telling them they wouldn't get ice cream if they didn't eat. Well they ate but weren't very happy about it. Dh on the other hand ate his dinner and then some saying that it was really good and that we need to have it once a week. Boy are the kids going to be unimpressed with that. But maybe they will learn to like it if they have it more. One can hope I guess.

Day 14

Today marks 2 weeks that I have been doing this project. I almost forgot to take a photo today. It has been a crazy hectic day. Lucky for me I remembered while Amanda was still home and I could get a photo of all the kids together! Doesn't happen much anymore that everyone is home at the same time. So here they are, my offspring! A great bunch of kids (and young adults) I have here.

Day 13

This wonderful work of art is in our back yard. I wouldn't actually call it a work of art but more of an eye sore. Thankfully this time of year if I haven't kept up with the weeds, they hide it from view. At least from the kitchen window! The insulators that line the top of the tank were found on or partially in the ground in the same area. They at least make it interesting to look at. I've pretty much gotten everything cleaned up back here but keeping up with the weeds, as you can tell, isn't an easy chore for me. Guess I will have to wait until next year to get this area back in shape! But who knows, I may get around to it before the summer is over.

Day 12

Wow day 12 already. I am impressed with myself that I have not missed a day yet. Although I am finding it a little (just a little) difficult to find things that would be interesting enough to take a photo of. I took about 8 different photo's tonight trying to find something that I wanted to post. I deleted countless photo's. I am posting one of my favorite flowers. The daisy is just simply pretty. It is simple. It doesn't have a wonderful fragrance. It is just a pretty flower. A wildflower some would call it. To me it is a staple in a flower garden. Unfortunately I mowed most of mine before I remembered that that they were in that area. I am glad that I didn't get them all. In a few weeks time I will be having another variety. I will probably use that as a photo of the day as well. I may have to buy some mums this year. I love them as well since they look quite a bit like the daisy. You will probably see a photo of them as well.

Day 11

What a nice day it turned out to be. We didn't see any rain until we arrived back home. Good thing we weren't home all day. Although I am sure my chickens and my dog didn't appreciate it. Day 11's photo was taken at my mother-in-laws house. After the family reunion a few of us went to her house and hung out. They had a little bonfire and we roasted marshmallows. Always a hit. I love cloud formations and this one is especially pretty. I was hoping for a dramatic sunset but the clouds were too thick and dark for that.

Day 10

The chocolate chip cookie. The cookie that makes everything better. Well it is supposed to anyway. At least in this house. How can you ruin them you may ask. Not so hard it seems. I tried to make them a bit "healthier" today when I made them. I added half wheat flour and half white flour. Not so good... It took the wonderful, soothing taste away. And you are left with a not quite as good chocolate chip cookie. Thankfully the chocolate still tastes good in them. It also does nothing for them if you over bake them. Or worse yet, if you burn them. I did both today. I was not on a roll by any means. I was making them for a family picnic tomorrow. They aren't a total loss but not nearly as good as they are meant to be. Good thing there will be brownies there as well. They might make the rainy day bearable. We shall see.

Day 9

Here are my goofy little boys. It isn't the greatest photo of them but this captures the mood that they were in tonight. Today was a rather trying day. They were full of it today. They really needed to get out and play but it kept raining off and on. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit better.

Day 8

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I don't need a thousand to describe this. It was good.
(And no I didn't need it but I wanted it and it could have been much bigger than it was)

Day 7

Summer time brings the sweet fragrance of flowers in the air. I have the most fragrant rose bush in my back yard. It isn't anything fancy, just an old rose bush. When I sit on the patio and the breeze is gently blowing, I can smell the beautiful scent of the roses. I dug up a shoot the other night and potted it, hoping that it will survive so I can plant a new rose bush soon. In my younger days I did't have much luck with growing roses. It wasn't until moving into this house did I have any luck. Not that I can really call it luck. I don't do much to it. Just prune it every now and then. It could be that the bush had already been growing for many years or if it is because it is an old bush and not a hybrid or one that has been engineered for beauty. All I do know is that I love this rose bush and the scent of rose that it produces year after year. Something attacks it every spring and it struggles for a month or two but then it wins the battle and thrives. I am thinking about moving it in the fall with hopes that what ever eats it in the spring won't find it next year. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my day 7 photo.

Day 6

I have had many pets throughout the years. Bunny, dogs, cats, pony, guinea pig, birds, hamster, the normal animals children have. This is Mr.Clucky, he is my rooster. He was given to me along with 7 other chickens last August. They are Bantam chickens. So they are smaller than your standard white chicken. They were only a week or so old when I got them and it has been fun raising them. Even in the middle of winter I really didn't mind going out to tend them. Maybe it was because I didn't have to go out in the wind since they have a corner of the garage. Chickens are a riot to watch and have such personalties. They truly are an easy pet to have. And it is great to have fresh eggs every day!

Day 5

Today turned out to be a beautiful day. Rather chilly start but once the clouds thinned out, it was almost picture perfect. Today is day 5 of my project and I chose a picture from the Cross family picnic. Everyone gets together every summer for a reunion and today was that day. It is a chance to see everyone that we don't usually see during the year. It was a great turn out and nice to see cousins that I haven't seen in the past six months. This photo is a little waterfall that I saw while on the pedal boat with my hubby and boys. Had I brought my camera on the boat, I could have gotten a photo of a turtle and a frog.

Day 4

Today was a lazy day for us. I puttered around, hubby was on the computer and the boys played. We took them to the movies and we saw the new Ice Age movie in 3D. They loved it and I have to confess that I did too. They can't wait to see it again. They will have to wait until it comes out on dvd though. 3D movies are crazy expensive!
Before we went to the movie they were playing in the kitchen. For the past few years my hubby has gotten them this stuff called "Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty". They love the stuff. Today's photo is of their creations. Nicolas came and got me to see what he had made. I had to walk into the kitchen with my eyes closed so I couldn't peak. He is quite creative when he puts his mind to it. (His creation is in blue). Benjamin jumped on board and made his guy next. Only it isn't a guy, it is me. At least he made me smiling. lol I love how creative they can be......

Day 3

What a beautiful day we have here today. We went outside this morning so I could do some clean up of the yard work I did last night. The boys played and rode their bikes until it was lunch time. We had a picnic outside today which the boys loved. Nothing really fancy; just peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, iced tea and fruit cottontail (as the boys call it) aka: fruit cocktail. I have been reading to the boys a book called "Junie B., First Grader". They love it and actually listen to the story. We took the book out with us so I could read after eating our lunch. We then walked around the field and talked with the neighbor for a minute. They were anxious to get back to the story so we headed home and sat under the trees by our patio and read some more. The book is almost finished. I hope they are into the next one I pick as they have been with this one. We will be heading back outside shortly to hang more laundry on the line and so they can play some more.

Day 2

The weather in upstate NY hasn't been very summer like. I've actually been able to bake things that I don't usually do this time of year. Today is one of those days. As I sit here working on day 2, I am enjoying banana bread that I made this morning with a cup of dark Mayan chocolate (general foods international coffee). It is almost half gone already since my little ones really love banana bread! I used whole wheat flour this time and it changed the taste just a bit but in a good way. I also put wheat germ on the top of the loaf before baking it. Adds a bit more nutrition to it. Since my oldest daughter isn't home to enjoy any of it, I added walnuts as well. She doesn't do walnuts since they make her throat feel funny. I guess even though the weather isn't really the way that we would like it to be this time a year, there is still some good in it. I can bake and not become overheated in the kitchen!

Day 1

This is a photo of the snowball bush that my mother-in-law gave me last summer. I planted it last fall and I was very surprised to see that it is flowering this year. In between the rain showers today I went out and took a photo of it. You can still see the rain drops on the leaves of the bush. I may have to use the same idea later on once the color of the "snowball" changes. I may run out of ideas during the next 364 days....