July 31st

Bad luck on the boat.

July 30th

We attended the kid's carnival at the YMCA tonight. And even though Em wasn't too keen on getting her face painted, she did sit still long enough to get a heart tattooed on her arm...just not long enough for us to write "mom" in the middle of it.

July 29th

Remember when you were a kid and the most fun thing to do in the summer was running through the sprinklers in your yard? Well...ours are the kind that will shoot your eye out.

Em knows this. That is why she stands right on the edge, ready to bail at the very last second.

July 28th

Out of all the meals I cook, this is my husbands favorite. It is veal parmigiana (said in a thick italian accent)...only its a pork chop...pounded thin...cause I can't always find veal.

For those of you who are wondering what happened to Absolem, I am sorry to announce that he has disappeared. I saw him chewing away this morning but after lunch he was gone. I would like to believe that he has left the dill to form a cocoon on a more sturdy plant. However, I just have this feeling that a bird snatched him up because normally they cocoon to the plants on which they feed.

For those of you who were tired of seeing pictures of a dumb old caterpillar...enjoy the rest of the blog.

July 27th

I did a little research and figured out that Absolem is probably an Ozark Swallowtail. Swallowtails are the largest butterflies in North America, which makes a lot of sense because this is what he does to a sprig of dill in about 5 minutes...

July 26th

Absolem is getting bigger...and the dill is getting sparse.

He eats about a stalk a day. I hope we have enough!

July 25th

He's still here. By the way, I named him Absolem. I didn't realize how fast these things grow. He has already doubled in size in just one day. I hope you guys like caterpillars because I am fascinated by this guy and plan on featuring him quite a bit. At this rate, he'll be a butterfly in no time!

July 24th

This little guy moved in on my dill...and I'm okay with that. Caterpillars are pretty much the only bugs I can stand. They move slow, they don't bite, they don't hassel you, and they turn into beautiful butterflies. Don't get me wrong I don't want it crawling on me...it is a bug after all. But I don't mind sharing some dill.

July 23rd

Night Swim

July 22nd

This shot was illegally taken just for you guys. We went to another show and there was a "no cameras or video" sign on the theater door. But this show was all about kung fu and I didn't want you guys to miss it. That guy in the middle is balancing on swords!

July 21st

There is a candy shop across the way from our favorite frozen yogurt joint. And they have this bear that sits outside rain, shine, tidal wave, whatever. So its probably cool to let my kid touch him right? Ew.

July 20th

Em's new digs. Thanks Papa and Mema!

July 19th

Girls Night Out

July 18th

IT IS HOT

...so hot that we have been and will be under a heat advisory until Monday night.
...so hot that when David went for an 8 mile run today he came back after 53 minutes only having ran 4.5 (In his last marathon, each mile was run at least 3 minutes and 45 seconds faster.)
...so hot that we had to come inside from the pool to "cool off"
...so hot that our air conditioner is set at 75 but it can't seem to get below 77.
...not so hot that our thermometer is tilting toward 107 like Annapolis but I have a feeling that it is coming our way.


I would also like to add that this weather does not have me bummed. I would much rather have this than freezing cold. I like tank tops more than turtle necks.

July 17th

This is the Arkansas Missouri state line on Table Rock Lake.

July 16th

Thanks for all the advice. It was obviously clear that Canon was the way to go. So that is what I stuck with. I ended up getting the Powershot SD1300...in silver not pink. 12.1 mega pixels is a nice step up from 7.1. Here are a few pics I took to make up for the days I missed. I don't know about you but I was starting to have withdraws.

July 15th

Well, we went camera shopping today. I had full intentions of just walking in and grabbing the updated version of what we already had.

One day I will eventually get One of these :

However, as much as I would love to get a little more serious about photography, this camera isn't always practical. It is kind of hard to shove it in your back pocket and go. So we will save the big girl camera for later when I am absolutely sure of what I want. Plus I wasn't ready to drop over a thousand bucks on a whim.

Ok back to my story. The camera we have is a Cannon Power Shot SD750. The newest version of that is probably the Power Shot SD1300. We are already familiar with this camera and like it so it seemed like a no brainer. Unfortunately, they only had it in Barbie Pink. Which David wasn't too excited about.

So, this caused us to look at other options. Our price range is about $120-$180. We want something small and flat so that we can actually put it in our back pocket. Features weren't really important to us until we got to the store and saw what they had to offer. I also don't know a whole lot about what brands are the best. Now I'm so confused on what to get that I need some advice. Here are the few that I am interested in. They are all 12MP with 4 to 5x zoom.

The Kodak Easy Share, this one is cool because it is the only camera that can upload pictures to email, facebook, blogs, and such when in range of free wifi. This means that I don't even have to be near a computer to update my blog. Pretty cool but not a necessity.

The Nikon Coolpix, this one is cool because it actually has blink detection. David ruins a lot of pictures by blinking so this would be a nice feature to have. Pretty cool but not a necessity.

The Fujifilm Finepix, this one is cool because it is water proof up to 10 feet, freeze proof, dust resistant, and shock proof which means you can drop it and it will survive. They were out of these at the store but the clerk wanted to show it to me because it was his best seller. Plus, he thought it would be a good one for us since David was currently running down the isle chasing Em who had found a bin full of bouncy balls and was throwing them all over the store. Apparently we are good candidates for durable cameras. I would agree. Even if we didn't have Em I would have agreed with him. I closed our current camera in the reclining mechanism of the couch the first week we had it. My only reservations about this camera is that it is a little more than I want to spend and I'm not familiar with the quality of fuji cameras.

Help! Any advice would be appreciated. Or if you have another camera not listed above that you think is better please let me know about it. Which one should we get??

July 13th & 14th

I am having technical difficulties with my camera...as in it died...of exhaustion apparently.
Stand by.

July 12th

Oh my! I have discovered a whole new level of deliciousness.

July 11th

A monstrous storm is coming. The kind of storm that will have Lincoln shivering in between us in bed stealing all the covers.

July 10th

Em's buddy Braxton came over to play for the day. We immediately took the kids to the pool for some fun in the sun...and to wear them out. (they slept for 4 hours after lunch...our plan worked!) This was my favorite shot of the day because it was totally candid. I never did figure out what everyone was looking at.

July 9th

Summer reading list #2

July 8th

I fought the kid and the kid won. We have been having a little difficulty lately with dinner time. When Emery was an infant, she would eat anything I pureed for her. That is no longer the case. She will only eat fruit, spaghetti, mac n cheese, pb&j, or chicken nuggets and fries at dinner time. Why is it that the foods she once loved, she won't even touch now? Needless to say, David and I would like a little more variety in our diet. We also do not want to get into the habit of making Emery something different than what is on the menu for the night. Emery would rather go hungry than eat something that is not listed above...this in turn punishes us as well because she doesn't sleep well that night. So we are in a pickle. Tonight we decided to sit with her until she took a few bites. Forty five minutes later she was in full blown temper tantrum. Even I shed a few tears of frustration. She may be a little to young yet for force. Eventually Em won. She ate a cup of applesauce, two pieces of bread and a glass of milk. Believe it or not, that is a smile on her face. I would love some advice if anyone has any.

July 7th

It's that time again. This is the 2nd time we have participated in the Nielsen Survey. Either this is a huge coincidence or they followed us from Maryland to learn more about our astronomical tv watching. Basically you log every moment of television watching in the grids for one week...show, channel, time, who was watching. It is super easy. The only hard part is remembering to do it. Plus you get $30 cash out of the deal...before you even participate. Shoot, I'd do it for free if it helps keep my favorite shows on the air.

July 6th

Tomato Update: Yes, they are starting to ripen but the plants are starting to look pretty puny. First I had to fight off the bugs. Then the perfect storm came and blew them right out of the planter they were in so I had to re-pot them. It is probably for the better because I think they were starting to out grow the planter anyway. Luckily a friendly neighbor gave me these tomato food stakes today that are supposed to feed and revive struggling plants. Green thumbs crossed!

July 5th

July 4th

Em's first bounce house experience. Happy Independence Day!

July 3rd

Oh Sherrie, what a night! We enjoyed some awesome music and Lights in front of the fountains at David's mall. Chain Reaction, A Journey Tribute played to thousands of fans who Faithfully welcome them with Open Arms each year. Then a firework show followed exploding Wheels In The Sky. It was a great way to put us in the American spirit. So, Don't Stop Believin'. Na na-na na na-na, na-na-na na na...

July 2nd

One of the best things about being a parent is having this little person that wants to be just like you.

Sorry for the blurry pic. I had to be quick. I knew the inevitable was about to happen...

Heels take practice.

July 1st

I was finally, finally able to make my amish friendship bread today. (K-I made the healthy one you posted...not bad!...however, I will be making the less healthy/more tasty version next time, I must admit. I has just been too long.) The thing about friendship bread is that you have to babysit it for 10 days. Thank goodness I am not going anywhere in the next 10 days so that I can make more!