George on Church

"This is where I get my sweetness." (George said yesterday as we pulled into the parking lot to drop Emma of at youth group.)

Rachel - Swimming Like A Fish

8 year old Rachel has been participating on the swim team at her mom's this summer. Unfortunately all the competitions are during the day. I took a vacation day and took her to her final meet, the league championship.

There were 9 teams and a total of 508 swimmers of various ages. Rachel competed in 4 races. The 4x25 Medley Relay, 25m Backstroke, 25m Breaststroke, and 4x25 Freestyle Relay.

First up was the Medley Relay, where she swam the 3rd leg (breaststroke). She started in 3rd place and held her position, and her team finished 3rd.

Next was the Backstroke. There were 5 heats, 35 swimmers in all, in the 8 and under girls backstroke. Rachel was in the final (fastest) heat but she was in an outside lane, meaning she was around the 6th or 7th fastest time, coming into the race.

She started decent, swam hard all the way, and finished strong. It looked like she was 2nd, but when they announced the results, Rachel was the champion! Her time was 24.54!

Next came the Breaststroke. She was this time in the 2nd of 3 heats, against slower competition. She swam well again, winning her heat in a time of 32.65. She ended up faster than 2 swimmers in the final heat so she was awarded 7th place overall.

Finally she swam the 3rd leg in the freestyle relay. She started in 3rd, and swam well, almost catching the girl in first. However, the girl in 2nd also swam well, catching up to the girl in first. Rachel's team finished 3rd again.

They had a t-shirt stand and Rachel wanted a sweatshirt. I told her before her first race she had to be top 3 to get a sweatshirt. Well she certainly was, and not only did I buy her the sweatshirt, but I paid a little extra to get a sparkly puppy-dog pawprint on the sleeve.

Indecision

Upon my surprise county child care inspection this morning, day care boys(ages 7, 7, and 11) were promised an ice cream treat on the way home from the park today if they behaved.

I told them when we left the park they would have a choice from a vanilla cone, a strawberry sundae, or a chocolate sundae(nuts optional.) We got to McDonald's about 12 minutes later. They still had not made up their minds. One asked for a chocolate cone and another a shake. I patiently repeated their choices, then one complained I was rushing him.

When we finally left, I heard one griping that I didn't take them to Hershey's(a local ice cream store with about 50 flavors and at least 3 different kinds of cones.) I'm glad I didn't. We would still be there making up our minds.

Things I have washed in the washing machine:

lipstick
gum
balloons
tube of SPF
necklace
Pokemon cards
marbles
race car
permanent marker
calculator
and most recently, a PS3 controller

Jam Time

I've tried my hand at making freezer jam the past two summers, both times using strawberries. This time thanks to the generosity of my brother-in-law, I'm using wild blackberries.

The first time I used the regular recipe. After seeing exactly how much sugar was in it, the following summer I tried this low sugar recipe. It didn't taste as good right away so it was kind of ignored down in our deep freezer. After about 6 months we gave it a try again and it was terrific. I'm not sure what was accomplished by letting it sit in the freezer but it was worth the wait. We got a terrific tasting low sugar jam.

This is the same recipe I'm using today with all the wild blackberries. I'll let you know how it goes.

Easy Low Sugar Freezer Jam

Bless me, Father

Last night while we were weeding the memorial garden at the soccer field George told me he wanted to go to the "confession stand".

I paused for a minute as that brought back some scary memories from my Catholic childhood. Then gave thanks that he wouldn't have to go through any of that. The "confession stand" is at the foot of the cross.

All he needed to know for now was that I didn't bring any money and it was closed anyhow.

What have I done to deserve this?

As mother-in-laws go, I have a pretty sweet deal. She cans. She quilts. She always remembers birthdays. She doesn't get involved in our blended family circus. She sends me sixteen year old vegetables(more on this story next week.)

But I must have done something lately that offended her horribly.

Last weekend, Kevin went to pick up an old Edison phonograph to sell and he came back with this cookie jar. When you open the lid it plays Joy to the World by Three Dog Night. LOUD! He informed me that she was thoughtful enough to install a fresh set of batteries.

George quickly decided it is a great place to store his Magnetix so this frog is singing repeatedly throughout my day. Did I mention how LOUD it is?

The fact that neither of them see anything wrong with a three year old singing about drinking wine bothers me too. Don't be too surprised if this frog encounters an accident real soon.