Random Pics

 Petyon on a tiny braid adventure with her hair...I never saw the finished product - I remember always thinking things like this were going to turn out better than they really did when I was a kid too!

 Sophie after an ill-advised game of backyard ball on our 38th consecutive day of triple-digit heat...she loves some cool tile for her pink belly!

 Peyton, self-portrait approximately 257!  never trust a future pop-star with your phone!

 Grandma Dar and Peyton exploring the Gardens of Time - curse you Dar!  I am totally caught up the game...I especially like the timed games where 'someone in my garden is in peril'!  jeez!

A classic Murph moment - i Touch in the dark - some baseball app...total concentration - I am so ready for them to find a way for him to do his homework on his i Touch!  I think it would make the whole idea more appealing to him!

Just some random photos from my phone...too cute not to post...saving for posterity, I guess!

Sunday Supper

Sunday, August 7

What a busy and wonderful day!  Got up early, worked out, hit the grocery - (I had hit Central Market the day before!), packed the swim bag and the kids and I took off for the pool.  Patrick and his mom got to spend some time just the 2 of them - lunch and time to catch up and then it was off to pick up mom!

Now you know mom isn't too fond of change in her routine unless it's her idea and Dar was definately not her idea.  I think it makes her nuts that the kids adore Dar...of course Dar adores them, my mom has no earthly idea what to do with them, so it all makes sense to me!  I'm sure 10 years ago it would've made sense to mom, but these days sense is one of the things we struggle with...Anyway, I tried to get her prepared, to make sure she knew it was just going to be a regular Sunday at our house...with a really great menu!

Check out the prep for our dinner - I watched Kelsey's Essentials show on sauces - so we had proscuitto-wrapped asparagus with a buerre blanc sauce and seared rosemary-orange pork tenderloin with a wine reduction pan sauce with balsamic...yum! and those fabulous oven-roasted baby yukon goal potatoes.  And - sorry there's no picture - Paula Dean's Gooey Double Chocolate Butter Cake with homemade vanilla whipped cream....OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG! 

 I probably should have taken a pic before I started to eat, but about 3 bites in, I realized this was a dinner for the blog - so ridiculously delicious!

 And of course, my favorite part of Sunday - dinner as a family!  I wish we lived closer to Dar - like all the way back in Fort Wayne or Auburn...I can still picture my little Sweet Shop in Downtown Auburn...covered in flour and chocolate and way more relaxed than I am these days!  And how cool would it be to make Dar a permanent part of Sunday dinner?  Just looks right, doesn't it?!

Seems kind of wrong to post this pic right after what I just typed ... but I do so love a dinner guest who jumps right in to help with the dishes!  Help...that's a bit of an understatement...I sat my hind end down in the chair next to mom and Dar and my family did all the clean up! 

And let me end this by mentioning that chocolate cake one last time....words cannot begin to describe!

Grandma Dar's first pedi

Saturday, August 6

Peyton had a plan - and you know how Peyton is when she has a plan!  She loves to get pedicures and she knew from the moment we found out Dar was coming to town, that we were headed to the nail salon.  Now Grandma had never had a pedicure and I am not convinced she was nearly as excited as Peyton and I were!  but it was Saturday and the boys were at a baseball tryout for the Dallas Patriots new Fort Worth/Western division, so there just wasn't going to be a better time...

 I'd say she took to it pretty well - the massage chair, the diet soda, the pampering!  Peyton was her 'tour guide' - helping her find the side table and work the chair remote - pretty darned cute if you ask me!  We tried to get her to go extreme in her nail color choice, but I think the experience was extreme enough.  I am pretty sure this pic was taken right after Dar said "This may have been my first pedicure, but I can tell you it won't be my last!"

 Peyton opted for the bright apple green with white flowers...super cute!

And look how fabulous we are - Dar in a sporty pink, Peyton's apple green and me in a bright pinky-coral.  I do so love the feeling of perfect tootsies!

We made it a total girl's day - a trip to Sam Moon for jewels and do-dads, lunch a Martha's, a trip to Target for clothes for Peyton's American Girl doll (and other goodies - I mean, c'mon- it's Target, for goodness sakes!)

And to top it all off - Murph made the Patriots - first round selection - so proud of him, very excited to see what they are all about.  If they can manage to accomplish and live up to 1/2 of what they said - we are going to be a very happy Fall Ball family

Summer Sophie!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

In honor of Grandma Dar's visit and our 34th consecutive day of triple-digit heat - Sophie got another summer 'do' - this one even shorter than the last, complete with a jaunty bandana!

 I guess being more stream-lined, she fancies herself a super watch dog - check her out barking at one of our neighbors out walking their dog!

she jumps up like this every morning when I leave for work to bark me goodbye!  I must admit, I look forward to it now!  I'm getting tired of cleaning off the nose prints on the window, but you just can't supress that kind of personality!

Last Night of Football Camp

It was late by the time we got there - Grandma Dar came to town last Thursday, so there was catching up to do and dinner to eat...at a place called "Hello!  My Name is EAT!" - funny name, casual place, really good chicken sandwich!

Anyway, Murph seemed to really enjoy the evening and the boys got their Central Chargers Football Camp t-shirts - always a big hit!  Peyton played while they did their drills and she ran out of steam about 15 minutes before Keaton was done.  Talk about a good daddy - she is getting so tall - she's all legs and arms and just isn't easy to carry anymore - but her daddy loves her and she thinks this is just about the best place ever to rest her head!

20 minutes on a Wednesday night...

...peace and quiet at my house?  Really?  Fabulous!  Patrick's at work, Peyton's at Gracie's and Murph is watching Phineas and Pherb.  I am technically ready to head up to bed, but I have a phone full of pix that need a place to live!

I took last Friday off to hang out with the kids - I ran like a crazy woman in the morning trying to get a workout in, get a bunch of stuff taken care of for mom and still make it to the pool by 11:30!  We totally did it!  The kids had a blast - and it was just them - no friends.  They seemed to actually like each other for an entire afternoon!  I can't believe we are running out of summer!  It sure doesn't feel like it - Friday was our 28th or something day of triple digit heat...it's brutal!

Back-to-School shopping has officially started - in the classic Murphy/Moles fashion - a trip to Old Navy Friday night.  Pretty disappointing this year - not nearly the cool stuff from last year - 3 outfits - none of them a "first day of school" possiblity. 

Peyton had fun and looks great in everything...but she has developed this desire to have her "first day of school" hairdo sweep completely over one eye...who was that?  Rita Hayworth?  Lana Turner?  who can remember - luckily, she only has the patience for it for about 4 minutes...then it's tucked right back behind her ears and she is on to other things!

 So Saturday was Patrick's birthday, but our yard doesn't care about birthdays!  Keaton does - so he offered to help out - can't believe he's growing up so fast.  I didn't think anything about it when our neighbor started mowing their lawn when he was 11 or 12, but it freaks me out when Keaton is out there...he's too young!  what if he gets hurt?  he's a bit scatterbrained, like his mother!, so that flies around my brain too!

 Jan and Sue went to Indiana/Ohio for his class reunion and we got to watch Sally!  She is such a cool dog - and CALM!  good heavens!  Sophie is a hot mess around her - she wants to play 24 hours a day and she is insistent...poor Sally!  Every time we'd let them outside - Sophie would torment Sally to play.  She'd bark and chase her and bark some more.  She rolled around in the back yard - found every dusty place and scratched and rolled and rooted, all in an effort to get Sally to play...Peyton tried to fluff and brush her, but she just got grayer and dustier and grayer as the day went on.

 We also got to "pool sit" at their house - I am a fan of "pool sitting" - having the place all to ourselves.  On Sunday it was just Peyton and I - we were having fun until the BEE INVASION...really just one bee...and sometimes just the thought of a bee that created the image of a bee (that was probably a leaf or a fly or a shadow) and the day was ruined for my girl.  She couldn't do it anymore - had to dry her off, get her changed and put her in front of their tv.  I found the float and got a bit of sun...but it just wasn't the same without her.  But still - a pool all to ourselves on a Sunday morning.  Keaton and Patrick were at Yard Dawg tryouts - it had the potential to be perfect...that darned BEE!


So after the pool - it was off to get mom.  We had clean laundry, mended shirts, prescriptions and a plan for a day-late birthday dinner for Patrick.  Pretty fabulous - carnitas in the slow cooker, homemade birthday cherry crisp and vanilla ice cream!  YUM!

  We cooked again Monday night - here's Peyton working her knife skills on the Caesar salad.  It was Murph's first night of Chargers Football Camp, so we thought it would be nice to feed him something hearty and healthy as a reward!  She is my best helper in the kitchen!

How funny is this?  They just write the boy's last names on their forearms.  That's just not a very YMCA thing to do...but it's apparently a football thing to do...cuz it didn't seem to bother anyone else!  I think Keaton actually kind of dug it!

Tuesday night was night 2 of football camp and I made a deal with Peyton to drop him off and hit Justice to do some 'sparklier' back to school shopping!

 She really is fabulous!  We didn't hit the jackpot, but we got 3 very adorable outfits - 2 of which are total contenders for "1st Day of School" outfits!

 I know you can't see him - but I know he's out there...this is some kind of defensive drill - he wants to play Left Outside Linebacker...and he's going to try out for Center too since that's what he has always played...but the other 7th graders have shot up around him and he seems tiny with this group!

So, Left Outside Lineback...but also awesome brother...he let Peyton show him every sparkly piece of clothing she got and listen to the stories of what she can wear with what and what else we still need to look for...I love him!

Tuesday was LONG - and hot...and did I mention LONG!  I got to bed about 11:30pm and had to be up at 4:30...well, 4:45 by the time I actually rolled out...because today was AST meeting day (formerly RBMM day) and I had a big part PLUS a conference call with Dallas to educate them on YFL...pressure!  Then, to top it all off - it was a lunch month...you guessed ice breaker and PotBelly...really?  why?  and then a couple of phone calls that made me nuts and a really messy desk! 

Could have ended badly...but ...

Sophie got her "100 Hairdo" - 100 degrees=shave the dog!  She is so much happier!  and she got a doggy bandana - how adorable is she?  And she made the dregs of the day go away!

I still had to take Peyton to Gracies, Murph to Football Camp, hang the new shower curtain at mom's, switch out her towels...ended up staying to play "Christmas Trivia" with Jimmye and mom and her cronies...fun!, drop off membership cards at Northpark and pick Keaton up from football...but Sophie got a hairdo and all's right with the world...like I said, Patrick's at work, Peyton's at Gracie's and Murph...well...

he loves his momma!  and loves flying solo when it's just us.  Chick-fil-A, Phineas and Pherb, Century Sundae...who could ask for anything more???

Night!

Family Night at Meadow Lakes

We just got back from Mom's - they had Family Night at Meadow Lakes tonight with homemade ice cream, an ice cream contest and entertainment.  We were late - so we missed the ice cream contest, but Tammy made sure we got to try 4 of the flavors and she made mom a "suicide sundae"!  5 mini scoops of different flavors!

We tried Chocolate Chip, Banana Nut, Orange Sherbert and a Tropical Freeze - the chocolate chip was the kid winner, but Patrick and I both liked the orange!  I am dying for an ice cream maker for my Kitchenaid - I will end up fat as a fart, but I have all kinds of ideas for flavors to try!

 

The kids are still all about the duct tape crafts - they went to Target today and got Neon Pink, Green, Purple, Zebra stripe and Cheetah print...who knew!?  So Peyton wanted to surprise Grandma Peg, so they started a rosebud pen for her while the entertainment was playing.  He was good, but he was the son of a Southern preacher, country/gospel singer...not quite up their alley!  Anyway, Mom got to watch them finish up the pen while we finished our ice cream - how cute are they?

I hope they schedule a few more family-type events - it's an easy way to get the kids to want to go over and to have fun once we get there.  I guess I'll keep my eyes open and plan better next time so we aren't quite so late!

Okay, have to get Patrick to download some new something/upgrade for my phone...my thinking cap is in the laundry!  'night!