Poptarts and a squirrel...

Do you like Pop Tarts? This is a loaded question. Go ahead ask a couple of people. The giving of opinions can become quite loud when the childhood favorite is maligned. I've bought them for the girls in the past but they were way tooooo sweet for me. Well I was converted by the sassy combination of brown sugar, cinnamon and frosting last year. So while they aren't really the best breakfast for you they'll do in a pinch. I did recently laugh out loud in while in Giant Eagle and I saw the "made with whole grains" logo on the side of the box. Really are they trying to make me feel like a better mother by loading the girls sugary goodness with vitamins? Sugary goodness should just be sugary goodness. So I left the whole grain box behind.

Okay so why the pop tart discussion? Well on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning I take the girls to the Botanicals....they either get doughnuts or Pop Tarts. Today we had Pop Tarts. The girls will get into and out of the van the whole time we're there. I went to load in my tools before we left. When I actually screamed a girly scream. There was a squirrel looking back at me from underneath the rear seat of my van. Apparently my little squirrel friend likes Pop Tarts. So I talked to him and he actually came when I called him out of the car. You know me..."Hey little buddy...Really you want to come out of the car....Really.....Come on little buddy.....out out out...That's a good little buddy." When I was sure he and his treasure which I threw across the grass were gone. I slammed the door. Me and squirrels I tell you. A squirrel in the van, chasing guests out of my studio, three crazed squirrel chasing girls, I can never have enough squirrels.

Included below are a few of my favorite's things,

besides a nutritionally well balanced squirrel, that I found in nature today.

Morning Glory by the front fence....

forgot about the Carpenter bees!

Really, really need to kill the bees tomorrow. Jewelweed flower.... I love my weeds!

New find at the Pioneer Garden. Matt Ross showed me this amazing little flower under all the squash vines(which I will be cutting back on Thursday.) You'll never guess what it is. Okra...yeah amazing little creation isn't it?

Berry good time...

Kate, Sydney, Paige and their partners in crime Faith and Hope, decided to pick some berries. These are "the fruits" of their labors...I know me... so very punny... mulberries and wild strawberries from our yard.

Mulberries fall out of the trees everywhere. The concensus of all the small people is that they are delicious. The wild strawberries didn't meet with the same approval. Paige announced that they were just "TOO LITTLE". She should know! The little minx has been picking all of my strawberries ripe or not, all season. We'll see if I actually get any into the house. Really bunnies actually do less damage than Paige!

This is little miss minxlet's hand. You can tell that the berries are way small. I had to stop her from eating them long enough to grab a photo. Tiny little berry with huge seeds.

These are what Rappling feet look like during Mulberry Season.


P.S. These berries met a seriously amazing demise. They were made into all sorts of concoctions that I was privileged "to judge." Hard to choose. Really, really hard. Kate and Faith made sure to clean up as they went. Smart, smart girls.
P.P.S. I love summer.

Working in the garden...

I actually got shots of the girls working at "The Botanicals"....most of the time they only play but "Mr. Matt's spray that smelled like dinner" was to good for Sydney to resist. Once Syd started helping then Paige had to help too. Kate well she's just gathering bugs. She's knows beneficial insects and isn't allowed to capture them. Bugs.....good for hours and hours of fun.

Mr. Preying Mantis is only an 3/4 to 1 inch long! The big stalks are actually chives. Checkout his hiding technique between the two chives.Pretty little purple hot peppers on a compact plant...not sure on the variety(I'll double check tomorrow!) Peppers are about an inch long and each little plant produces a bunch. Okay I just can't stop myself from thinking this. Peter piper picked a peck of purple peppers. Glad I got that out my head sorry to put it in yours.

MOM!!!!

We've been outside today...it is beautiful, a little hot in the sun but perfect in the shade. I was weeding my shade garden. Things I discovered today in the garden... stinging nettle- AGAIN! For the love of a horse you'd think I'd learn. Every year this happens, I don't wear gloves and Wow! My hands are still stinging seven hours later. Here is a photo of the offending plant make yourself familiar...

Stinging Nettle shootsStinging Nettle stems
Stinging Nettle Flowers

Nature is gross... alright finding dead feathered nature while you're weeding is gross. I planned on conducting a speedy burial so that the smallest Rapplings wouldn't find out. Most moms don't yell frantically for a shovel to be delivered to the back yard. Kate wanted to know, "Mom what is wrong with you?" I sent Kate to the garage to quickly retrieve the shovel. I finally realized five minutes later that she had moved on to another project when she couldn't immediately locate the shovel. Completely forgetting to let me know that she was moving on to another task more urgent to her ten year old self. I will admit she is definitely my daughter. I left the dead nature hidden in the weeds and retrieved the necessary burial tool myself. Luckily Paige and Sydney still hadn't asked what I was up to. I was not in the mood for a burial ceremony, complete with eulogy, that all dead nature requires if discovered by the little ladies.

Later Kate invited Faith over. She is lot of fun. The girls went hunting toads. We have a lot of toads of the American variety, Bufo Americanus living in our shady spots. As I was walking out to the studio to see what the ladies wanted for lunch.

Kate burst out of the door, almost knocking me down, "Mom! Mom!!!! They're mating."
Me, "Really??! How many toads do you have, exactly?"

Kate, "Only three mom.... but just two are mating. We looked it up on the Internet."

At this point I was disbelieving but thought I should go check out the "fun" going on in my studio. Amongst my piles of fabric, paper, and general kid messiness were two toad habitats. The girls had separated the mating toads from the non-mating toad.

This is when Kate announced..."So we know how to tell the difference between the boy and girl toads!"

I just kept thinking good lord NOOOO!!!!! Poor Faith!
AND I DEFINITELY didn't want to have this discussion with Sydney today! Believe me we've had quite interesting talks with Sydney or Paige and when you put Sydney, Paige and Kate together for these "conversations" you won't have always get the facts but you also won't stop laughing for hours.

"So mom do you want to know how? You squeeze them!"

"What???!!!" Poor, poor toads.

"Well you squeeze them... and the boys well.... (wait for it) the boys make a sound when you squeeze them and the girls don't! And mom it worked! The boy and girl toad are definitely mating!!!"

Amen to children looking up scientific information on the Internet! I pulled up this website so that in the future Kate, Faith and Sydney would know how to correctly identify toads without squeezing them to death.

On the way into the house while laughing Faith stopped me and said, "Oh, when I came into the studio to check on the toads a, well.... a squirrel ran out the door right at me."
REALLY it all happened here TODAY!!!

No toads or squirrels were harmed in the creation of this blog... they only had the pee scared out of them.

My littlest gardener...

Caught Paige and Sydney dead heading the grape hyacinths. I mentioned that I needed to do this in passing a few days before. They went to work on their own. Scissors are always available in my gardening bucket. Sydney got frustrated with sharing her job and went to the car. Paige stayed the course. Luckily I saw her and was able to supervise before things got out of hand. Obviously they listened and thought they'd help me out.

Lights, camera, umbrella...

While I was busy weeding at the Botanical Garden the Rapplings were up to their usual silliness. I wanted to share this video, one of thirteen made by our Kate, future director and boss of the universe (in a mostly benevolent way)... Sydney our little ingenue, her acting well it's truly inspired(you will almost feel a raindrop)... and Little Miss Paige, all she wants is for them to get an umbrella!

I can hear them while they play but can't see them so this was a treat! I wish my parents had movies of me being the boss of the universe... then again maybe I don't.