Baby Bear's Bed

Cozette's bed is finally assembled and she's up off of the floor! Sadly for Cozy, that also means that I can't lay in her bed and cuddle her at night. She has to settle for hand-holding. Life's rough.


All of my kids still like for me to come in at night, sit on their beds, and talk to them. My favorite time! Even my giant boy, who responds to an affectionate, "I love you!" with, "Ok." (not even a "Me too - but about you."), will peek around the corner into someone else's room and say, "Aren't you going to come in and ask me about my day?" That's boy code for "I love you".

Double Rainbow

...on my bookshelf. I've been organizing...but I thought, "It would be best to organize these books in an aesthetically pleasing way that might make things harder to find."

Actually, I stole the idea from my SIL. Even if they aren't organized topically, alphabetically, or by author, you have to admit that the rainbow method is still better than that "turn all of the books with their pages facing outward, instead of their spines" nonsense.




Speaking of rainbows, we've seen tons of them this summer...and lightning. Actually, we saw forked lightning in front of a double rainbow. I just had to brag about that. No picture for proof. Only a car full of eye-witnesses.

Getting There

Me: Honey, I moved the furniture.
Tony: I know.
Me: So...what do you think?
Tony: I'm still thinking about it.


Tony: ...it feels a little weird. The chairs are in the middle of the room.
Me: I know - that's so everyone can see each other...and put their feet on the ottoman.
(We're lazy. Everyone wants to put their feet up.)


Tony: Mmm...I still think it looks weird.
Me: That's because it needs a rug - to show you where all of the furniture belongs.


More livable, don't you think? It took me forever to find that rug...because I could afford to either buy a very cheap new 8x10 rug or a very nice used rug. I've been stalking craigslist for weeks now. ...and I finally got lucky.

The person who was selling these rugs posted "Pottery Barn Runner $50" and showed a tiny picture of about 2 feet of this runner.


...and then, at the very bottom of her post, she said, "and I have an 8x10 that matches it for $150." SWEET!

When we got to the neighborhood, we figured out why they weren't trying very hard with their ad. Palatial estates. Maid answered the door.
"Um, gosh, Hon, why didn't the agent show us any homes in this area?"

It's trickle-down economics for home decorating. The rugs aren't perfect (pre-broken-in) - but perfect for me. :)

New Shoes

I knew these were looking a little shabby...and getting a hole in the right sole...


...and yet I was still surprised when someone handed me the heel off of one of my shoes and said they had seen it fall off.


Guilt-free shoe shopping time.

This pair is comfy.


...and these are the cutest shoes in history - ever.


I solemnly swear not to garden in either pair.

Montgomery County Fair

Fairs are great places to get connected to your local 4H, Bee Club, Master Gardeners, and so forth. And, although farm animals are persona non grata in Rockville, they appear to be welcome in some parts of Montgomery County.


The funnel cakes weren't too shabby, and the chickens were awesome! Baby chicks were hatching...and the ones that were already out - would follow your finger around, like a cat following a laser pointer! James thought it was hilarious.


Among the huge variety of chickens, Jonny noticed a little bantam hen, who had laid an egg in her cage.She kept nudging it under her and trying to settle down on it...and it would roll away. Poor lady. Where's a nesting box when you need one?

Cozy rode her first pony. She was very solemn the entire time...because it was such an important occasion. She still talks about her horse, "Cupcake", and complains that her toy unicorn is not big enough to ride.


The cowgirl hat came with the ride. She wore it for the rest of our time at the fair.


...and then we lost it at Costco. :(

Doctor Stuff

Classes start on Monday...for Tony. (The rest of us have another week to be lazy.) Today, he was issued all of his doctor stuff.

Equipment that is supposedly very expensive.


One thing this career change has been good for - birthday gift ideas. Someone needs a doctor's bag, so he doesn't have to carry his stuff in a shoe box!

And these are the books he received today...


He had to carry those to his car! Amazingly, the sea bag he brought fit them all, but we're lucky he didn't do permanent damage to his back. They have their own bookshelf...and I think it's time to clean the office and make a place for it..and studying.

Yep, the office hasn't been a huge priority until now. It's where I've been throwing my "yard sale pile".


Anthony actually snatched one of Tony's books right away and dove right into it! Maybe we'll have two generations of doctors in the family...wait...


...two generations of zombie fighters. Someone in that school has a sense of humor.

Cabin John Park

We found another train park - because that's just what we do.


The track travels through the forest, just like at our last "train park". During our ride, we saw a little Bambi munching leaves!

...and I didn't get a picture of it, but someone has garden gnomes sitting on random stumps along the tracks. :)


Tony had the day off last Tuesday, so he helped me find the park...and we took the littles there for a test run.



Today, I forced everyone to go. Driving myself added some time to the trip...because I got lost and ended up in Bethesda.

My dear, dear son, Anthony is pleasant and compliant when you send him up ladders to clean the gutters. He will climb behing the stove to retrieve a dead mouse. Mow yards. Whatever. ....but - trying to get him to go on any sort of outing with the family lately...and he is the biggest pill!

I tried to explain to him that, while he might not miss us at all, the rest of us are sad that school is going to start and that we'll be seeing less of him. SO, try NOT to make us look FORWARD to it!

He was rewarded for his cooperation on our park trip by Cozette (who he adores) happily sitting on his lap during the entire train ride - mewing like a kitten (Cozy, not Anthony).

We also did some good squirrel-watching while we were there. We were trying to lure them down from trees with acorns...but other kids were trying to tackle them. The squirrels decided that the acorns weren't worth it. In the end, Jonny found a tree with a nice, big hole in it. We dubbed it "the squirrel's house" (creative, I know)and filled it up with our acorn bait. :)

...and Jonny got some good "ninja training" in at the playground. If he doesn't get outside time, he'll do his climbing and "parkour"ing in the house. Not good.


...and that, my friends, is your rambling, train-of-thought post for the day.