I never thought I would say beautiful and insect in the same sentence, but this insect is, well, beautiful!




We have had a great week, but I can't wait for it to be over. Bring on the weekend and my birthday!

up[side]

This weekend we enjoyed the upside of summer with a wonderful, warm, lazy weekend... just the way I like it with no plans or commitments.

my summer loves

evening cricket serenade

freshly cut grass

lightning bugs sparkling

grilling on the deck

corn on the cob

car windows down at night

fresh carolina peaches

sweet tea with lemon

Sun + Sticks

Our geraniums are beautiful with the sun setting on them. I love that the sun rises in my kitchen and on the deck out back and sets on the front of the house on my office where I spend my evenings. I especially love my breakfast nook [pictured below] that gets light from the the sunrise, the afternoon sun, and the sunset. I almost wish that this didn't have to be our dining area because it would make a perfect sitting room... I will add that feature to my list for the dream house! Come to think about it, I don't yet have a list, but now may be the perfect time to start it.





This poor red ball is feeling very lonely lately. The boys have been way too interested in the random collection of sticks that continue to accumulate during our afternoon and late night thunderstorms. They have been in stick heaven!







Mason is over the sticks...



... so we carried the fun inside to enjoy the air conditioning and escape the pesky mosquitos. Why must they love me???

Pineapple Express

We love fresh pineapple, so we get lots of use out of our Vacu Vin Pineapple Slicer. Just 3 easy steps shown below: slice off the top, position slicer over the center of the cut top and twist down until it stops, pull all the fresh pineapple out and leave the tough core and sides inside. My mother-in-law taught me that the best way to tell if a pineapple is fresh is to pluck a leaf from the center and if it comes out easily, the pineapple is ripe. It's worked like a charm every time!

[Sun]day

This morning started off a bit rocky, but the boys soon found common ground! Then it was smiles and sunshine the rest of the day. They got in a little trouble for digging a hole, so they took a time out in the kitchen.