Pickles, pickles and more pickles...

Ok, so they are not really pickles! Our two cucumber plants have been producing like CRAZY!! Last week we picked over a dozen nice, big slicing cucumbers. Over the weekend we were gone. When we went to check the garden this morning, we found TEN huge cucumbers. The vines were a bit dry, so hopefully these taste as good as the others. I'm waiting until the heat goes down a bit this evening to water them.

When I told the girls there were too many to carry, Rory retrieved the doll stroller from the shed. Not what I would have thought of, but it worked perfectly!

Happy Birthday Westin!!

Our friend Westin turned 7 years old on Friday, July 25th!

We were in Cedar Falls to help Grandma Julie & Papa Mark work on their house, so we got to help Westin celebrate. Since Rory's birthday is also coming up, we went to Chuck E Cheese in the afternoon with Westin, Alayna, their mom (& my best friend) Sara, & their Gramma Connie. Chris & Grandma Julie also joined us. I didn't take any pictures there (only because I was too busy "visiting" with Sara, Gramma Connie & Grandma Julie). Chris was pretty much in charge of the games and stuff. Here is the only evidence I have that we were, indeed, at Chuck E Cheese:

Rory & Soren used their tickets from the games they played (Westin & Alayna generously donated their own tickets, too) to choose various high-quality pieces of plastic from the Chuck E Cheese prize counter. They each chose one of these wonderful funny face masks. Just to be clear, the tongue in the picture is Rory's own tongue, it was not included with the mask!

Later that night, we went miniature golfing to celebrate Westin's birthday. There were 11 of us in all, so we split into two groups. Papa Mark even went - which is a birthday miracle in itself! The little girls had some interesting strategies to the ball in the hole! Westin was very patient with Soren's antics. Here they are posing together:

Afterward we went to Westin & Alayna's for cake and ice cream. Their mom, Sara, made an awesome iPod cake. (I have visions of what Rory's upcoming birthday cake is going to look like, but I'm not sure I'll do as well as Sara did on the iPod cake!)

Alayna, Rory, Westin & Soren

Maricle Mom presents....

Superheros in Training!!

These are the greatest pictures we've taken all summer. I JUST LOVE THEM!!

All they need now are capes, gloves, and some wings!

Just for the record, the girls have been super-impressed with a few things I've accomplished lately. Here's a short list:

* Saved a "ruined" Baby Alive diaper with some scotch tape.

* Concocted a wonderfully yummy treat consisting of tortillas, PB, bananas & chocolate chips. (And when I tasted it, I wondered what was so great about it.)

* Produced a box of graham crackers from the cupboard & a can of chocolate frosting from the fridge for simultaneous consumption.

And of course when they ask with awe-inspired curiosity, "How did you do that?!?", I reply:

Because, I'm MARICLE MOM!!

(And Rory replies, very deadpan, non-enthusiastically, "Oh, right, I forgot. You've got that picture on the computer.")

My silly girls...

The girls have been digging out some toys (and other things) they haven't played with in a while. Its been nice...they've been entertained & really, so have I!

First, they found the basket

where I've stashed every necklace, bracelet,

hair clip, etc., etc. for the last 6 months.

And they decided to put all of them on at once.

And Soren dug into the small box of winter

accessories I haven't gotten put away yet

(I DO realize it is July!), and tried on my hat.

The greatest was when they got out the

Baby Alives (plural- we have two: one

that cries and one that doesn't).

Rory had the one that cries, and every time she

took the bottle out of its mouth it would cry or whine.

"Jeez!" she said, "Why does it whine and cry all the time?!"

Although I had a great, seasoned-mom kind of comeback ready, I simply said, "That's what babies do."

Won't October be interesting?