Yesterday I was mowing up by the workshop, when I saw a handful of peaches scattered next to it. I started grumbling about Cabol throwing out old fruit for the animals right where I'd mow over it.

Then I looked up and saw 2 dozen bright red and yellow peaches hanging off a tree that appears to be growing under the large spruce next to the workshop. I blame squirrels, but I can't understand how I missed a bunch of peaches growing over my head ALL SUMMER LONG. It's not like it is the first time I've mowed there!

Last weekend, Anya and I went to Tennessee to visit our BFFs, Kimmie and Catie. They normally live far, far away over the sea, but every year or so they get to come back to the land of Chuck E. Cheese...where a kid can be a kid.



Can you believe that Kimmie and Catie were born in August?? It is true. I told you, August rocks for birthdays. We were lucky enough to be in TN for Kim's birthday, and after a day at the mall buying Anya and Catie matching outfits and ransacking the clearance shelves at Gymboree and the Disney Store, we went to the restaurant where the dude in the tall hat waves around sharp knives and cooks things on the table. There were flames that tried to melt Cinderella and wooden clubs being tossed at little girls and a boy that slept through (almost) everything.

We spent a lot of time in the hotel pool. Catie worked on her jumping.



Kimmie worked on trying to keep the camera away...and failed.



I didn't have a suit, so I hopped in with my clothes on. Anya sat on the edge and splashed with her feet. Every now and then, I'd race over, grab her, and carry her around in the pool. We played "keep away" with an invisible ball, learned how well crocs float, and ran away when the sun burned up all the shady spots in the water.

What trip to TN with K & C would be complete without a trip to Cracker Barrel? The last time I'd been was with Kimmie and Catie, and Catie was in a high chair. Anya ate two eggs, two pieces of bacon, and a bowl of grits, and the clouds parted and angels sang.



The last event of the weekend was to visit the Children's Museum in the place where they made The Bomb. Alas, my camera batteries ran out part of the way through. I shoved Kimmie out of the way and stole her camera, but she said I can't have any of the pictures until I remove the picture of her in the pool from the blog. I did manage to get a photo of Anya in some of the dress up clothes the museum had. They were mostly too big for her, and we picked a great mix of things....boy's shirt...girl's underskirt thingy....straw hat partially eaten by a goat.



It was a fabulous weekend, and when we got home we crashed and didn't wake up for three days (no, I had work the next day). Too bad Kc wasn't there. Next time!

August is a big birthday month around Loafkeeper Farm. (Can we still call it a "farm" when there are only two chickens and not much of anything planty growing besides weeds?) I think August is the best month for birthdays. Anya sure messed up.

For my birthday, I requested Andy make me a rainbow cake. Andy has never liked making birthday cakes, and every year I have to do lots of whining to convince him the horror of cake making is less than that of my whining. So, I'd sent him the link to the rainbow cake, and he'd purchased the pack of fancy-schmancy food coloring, and he decided to get started one hot August day when Anya and I were taking a nap. He was doing okay, when out in the kitchen I heard such a clatter that I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Well, no, I really didn't because I knew what the matter was: Andy was making a birthday cake. There was banging and cursing and the sound of things being tossed about. It was really quite impressive.

After nap time, Anya and I emerged and I went to go find my cake. Poor little cake. It was so sad and mangled looking. The top layer was held together by frosting and a prayer, and there was no frosting on the outside of the cake...just between the layers. Andy later told me he'd run out of frosting. I wanted to take a photo of it, but Andy wouldn't let me. He did, however, allow a slice of cake to be photographed. I think the colors are fabulous...and it tasted fantastic. (Even better after it'd been frozen.)



Kenny's birthday is also in August. I made him a card, and I liked it so much I wanted to keep it and play with it, but I couldn't find a charger for it.





Andy's birthday is next (at least in the family), but he doesn't like cake or small, hand-held video game devices. Whatever will I do?

Anya and I went to visit my family the first week of July. Andy was a big poopie head and wouldn't come with us. That's fine. I left him a long list of things to do. (He even did a few of them!)

We had a great time playing in the backyard full of evil mosquitoes and going to our favorite restaurants and shopping at the Goodwill Emporium and getting our hairs cut by Ms. Pat and eating sheep and worm and mouse pancakes and chasing ChewyDog and NonnieCat and BobCat and seeing peaches packed and making cowstumes and squirt-gun-fighting with Grampa and Bubba and having a big ole birthday party with chocolate-cherry cake and candles to blow out! PHEW!

We also played in the pool,



and made tree kites,



and Anya dressed up in her hootchie-mama-Goodwill top (which some lady tried to steal out of my cart - the nerve!),



and jumped up and down at Monkey Joe's (but not in the hootiche-mama-Goodwill top).



Although part of the journey and not the actual visit, I would be remiss if I failed to mention that Anya went poopoo on the side of the road (not once, but twice!) on the way to Georgia. Ethical dilemma: do you leave the poo on the side of the road (non-populated area) or clean it up? I mean, surely all sorts of things are out there pooing all the time. But then...what if someone gets stranded and steps in the poo? What if a mower mows the poo? What if a bunch of kids stop there to do a Chinese fire drill and slide in the poo and all is ruined?!?!?!?

Anya sings:

Baa, baa black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.
One for my Mommy,
And one for Daddy,
And one for Bubba,
And one for Grampa,
And one for Gramma,
And one for Gramma,
And one for Anya!

Anya and I were in the newspaper! The photos are here.

Today I learned how to crochet, how to light a BBQ grill, and how to fill a squirt gun with a turkey baster.

Who the heck gives a three year old a badminton racquet?!?

Well, at least it came out 95% in one piece, which is better than the muffin crumbly bits I brought to work last Thursday for breakfast. Hopefully it tastes as good!



Only 4 or 5 cups of raspberries left to use up. And why is there glaze in my ear?

Where did my mommy go?
(thudthudthud)
Where did my mommy go?

MOMMY MOMMY!
(thudthudthud)

Maaahhhhmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?

Mom?

Mawwwoooom?
Woowoowoo?
lalalalalalala woop
mumblemumblemumble

Where my mommy go? Goooo oooo ooo?


MOMMY!

Mommy?

Maahhhhhhhhhhhhhhmeeeeeeeee!
MOMMEE!
Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhmeeee?
Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhmeee?
Maammee?

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaayayayayamee?
Maahhhhhhme?

Mommy? (whinewhine)
mommy?

MOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMYYY! (thudthudthud)
MOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMYYY! (thudthudthud)
(thudthudthud)

(thudthudthud)


(thudthudthud)


MAHMAY!
MAHMEE!
MAHMAY!
Maahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmeeeeeee?
Maaaaaaaaaaaahhhhmeemee?
MOMMY! eh

MAAAAAAAAAAHMEEEE!

(cry) (whine) (whimper) (cry) (cry) (whine) (whimper) (cry)

Our new $267 riding mower, courtesy of the Sears Outlet website.



I was a little concerned when it wouldn't turn over last night, but I borrowed a battery charger today from my boss, and it turns out the battery was mostly drained. Charged it for awhile tonight, and it started up on the first try. I took it down the hill and back. It's been probably 20 years since I've last driven a riding mower, and our hilly, uneven ground was a little scary. But I managed not to tip over!

For the first time since Anya was born, we had a non-holiday / parental-visit meal at the table. Anya was confused.

Anya is now an old fart. (Her cake is not gray; it is purple. I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, and she said purple. So, I made her a purple cake with purple frosting. And sprinkles.)



I couldn't take a picture of Anya in the ole picture spot because we threw that sad changing pad thing out pretty much a year ago. And we moved the cabinet it was on downstairs. And there is a couch in front of that window now. But hey! The couch she is sitting on in this birthday photo is that couch in front of that window, so some continuity has been preserved!

So, what has the old lady been up to this year?

+ Talks in multiple word sentences: "I no eat dinner. Daddy and Mommy eat dinner; I eat goldfish!" (Yes, she uses semicolons, too.)
+ Counts up to 10 or so, but the numbers aren't always in the right order: "1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 4, 6, 13!"
+ Ditched the diapers! YESSSS!
+ Gained a reputation as "Oh, no, that girl!" at the library's story time. You know, that girl who runs around going LALALALALA waving scarves and bouncing off other kids?
+ Can get on and off the potty all by herself.
+ Can get out the screen doors but not back in...yet.
+ Learned about frisbees, kites, and baseball.
+ Helped knock down a wall.
+ I'm sure there's more, and I'll add it when I remember, but this is all I can think of now especially since it is oh so late and past my bedtime.

Andy's mom came down for the big 3 celebration. We took her to Mabry Mill and had lunch there. Yum. We'll definitely be going back there. Anya ate so much, her tummy popped out of her shirt. See? Yeah, um, that's what happened! Because Anya would never wear clothes that are too small. No way!



In addition to the Cinderella doll, Andy and I gave Anya a wagon for her birthday. It's a honking big wagon and took about an hour to assemble. Anya really likes it but will not ride in it. Oh no. We put her in it and she wailed. So we put Buddy in it, and he scrambled out. In the end, Anya decided the best thing to do with a wagon is to push it.



After wagon pushing, it was time for some gymnastics. Andy showed off his mad tumbling skills by doing a front roll UP HILL. He then wowed the audience by standing. On. His. Head. I've been married to this dude for almost twelve years, and I never knew he could stand on his head.



All in all, it was an interesting birthday weekend.

I have decided that Anya's special talent is frisbee. As someone who has problems throwing a "flying disk" after three decades of practice, I am in awe of her ability to fling that thing. In a few short sessions, she's progressed from tossing it all wonky-skoodle to getting the disk airborne and delivering it to the intended recipient. Okay, so it only goes to the intended recipient if they are standing in the correct place, but shouldn't they be doing that anyhow?

A nice thing about a frisbee over, say, a baseball, is that when Daddy throws a frisbee at Anya and whacks her upside the head or bounces it off her foot, it doesn't really hurt. We are still working on teaching Anya about catching (and Daddy about throwing a baseball).

I don't have any action photos of our practices, but here's a cute picture of Anya on her jumpy.

After the Great Kite Incident of '10, Anya kept asking when we were going to go "choppin" to get a new one. I finally got her one (two actually, so we had a backup), a bit ago, and she was oh-so-very-excited. Turns out the kite I got this time is the super economy model and is about as big as a legal note pad. I also picked up a handle/extra string thing that is (a) purple and (b) heavier and hopefully won't float away if she drops it. I love the laugh on her face in this picture.



(In the upper left of the picture, you can see one of the two plum trees we planted.)

After Anya was done, Andy flew for a while. He got the kite stuck in a big tree on the other side of the power line, but he managed to free it. I was very impressed and did a little cheer.

I have a confession to make: Last week I bought my daughter a Cinderella barbie for her birthday. (SHHHHHHH! Don't tell her.)

Anya likes princesses. I'm not sure when it happened, probably during the millionth or so viewing of Snow White or Cinderella. I'm not too keen on the whole craze...especially all the Disney princess stuff. I don't mind her watching the movies, but I don't really like all the merchandise. A little is okay, but there is SO MUCH of it. You need something...shoes, towel, toothpaste, crayons, bananas, pick ax...you can probably find it with a Disney princess plastered on it. I especially despise that darn princess book they have at Home Depot. (Someone, please tell me why I can't even be safe in a hardwarey store? Why, oh why do they have to carry glittery pink princess books and keep them at kid height and drive me nuts?)

So, last week Anya and I were out shopping together, and she made me go down every toy aisle, and she started grabbing all the dolls and oo'ing and ah'ing at them. Then, silly me, I show her the Cinderella doll and she was all YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOEIEIEIEIEIE OH YEAH WEHEEEHEHEHAHAHAHAH! Then she casually walked over to the cart, dropped the doll in, and kept walking. I think she thought that if she didn't make a big deal about putting the doll in that I wouldn't notice. It sort of worked because I didn't have the heart to remove it, and I ended up buying the doll. I think she's forgotten about it and hope she'll be pleased to see it again in a few weeks.

Today we were back at the Depot. Or maybe it was Lowes. We go to both pretty much every weekend. I'm surprised Anya's favorite colors aren't orange and blue. I'd left Andy and Anya looking at riding lawnmowers (another of Anya's favorite things, that and car magazines, which she likes to look at while on the potty...go figure) and was heading to the powder room. Coming towards me were two little girls with their parents. The girls were probably 5 or 6 and had on fake princessy jewelry and were carrying tiny stuffed dogs in tiny furry dog carriers. I thought how glad I was that Anya wasn't there to see them because I was pretty sure she'd want both the jewelry and the dog stuff, and I had no desire to buy her either. Then I saw an end cap display with a bunch of Disney wall decals, and sure enough there was a huge Cinderella one. I hesitated for a moment, saw the $15 price tag, and kept walking. Then I felt bad. I knew Anya would love it...at least for a while, and $15 isn't really that much, and what kind of meanie was I to not get it or plastic jewelry or fake froofroo dogs for her? Much deep thinking ensued.

I know if I give Anya a Snow White bedspread or a Sleeping Beauty nightie or a book with all the Disney princesses in it, she'll squeal with joy and carry the stuff around and grin like a maniac. I also know that if I don't give her those things, she's still going to squeal with joy and grin like a maniac...she'll just be carrying around a handful of freshly mown grass or a dandelion puff or a pile of ribbons instead. Her not having a ton of the former probably helps her have more fun with the later.

This may not seem like an epiphany to you, and in some ways it wasn't to me, either. I knew this before. Just somehow it finally clicked: because I know something will make Anya happy and I can afford it doesn't mean I need to give it to her or that I'm an evil grumpinator if I don't.

A month or so ago, I read an article online about some strange shower gadgets that had been designed to let folks know when they'd been in the shower too long and used too much water. One was a shower curtain that starts to inflate and slowly suffocate you. Another was a wall of inflatable cones that will eventually stick out perpendicular to the wall and stab you. Here at Loafkeeper, we had our own version of the eco-friendly shower: one with a hideous whine. It's hard to dawdle in a shower that goes "eeeeeeeeeeeeeee...............eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...............eeeeeeeeeeeeeee." At first we were able to get rid of the whine by wiggling the shower/tub toggle. After a while, that didn't work. Then whines became more and more frequent. They were at 20 second intervals. Then 14. Then 8. Pretty soon it was like showering inside an ambulance.

Eventually the water pressure throughout the house began to go wonky, and Andy did his research and found out that our well reservoir tank was probably having bladder control issues. I suggested we get it some Depends, but Andy called the reservoir tank dude instead. TankDude came out and made some serious faces and poked the tank and nodded and then replaced the tank with Big Blue.

This morning I almost fell asleep in the shower. Maybe I should get some of those inflatable cones.

Saturday (or maybe it was Friday) it was windy outside, so we got out the kite Anya received from the Easter Bunny. Ok, it's almost always windy here, but it was windier than normal. Anya thought it was the greatest thing in the world, especially once we finally got it to stay aloft for more than 15 seconds. She stood in the driveway holding on to the string with both hands, because she wanted to do it all by herself. Then she let go.

It ended its life with the string stuck to the telephone/power lines, and the kite flapping madly until it was consumed by a kite-eating tree in the woods on the other side.

I'm at home today, and every now and then I take a break from job-work to do a little house-work. One of the first things I did was grab an empty Easter basket and wander around the house in search of discarded plastic eggs. It was a bit surreal seeing the brightly-colored eggs split in half and lying empty on the floor, couch, counter, desk, table, toy shelf. The Easter Bunny hid nearly 60 eggs around the house, or so he told us, and I have no reason to doubt him. It took Anya a while to figure out what was going on, but once she did she was running around hollering for "CANDY!" When she found an egg, she'd squeal and do a little dance.

Saturday we went to the local nursing home for an egg hunt, where Anya found five or six eggs. It was hard to find eggs with all those other kids racing for them, but she had fun. It was a little weird because I felt a bit like we were on exhibition for the residents, which we were. I hope they enjoyed seeing the kids running around for a little while. I felt like we should stay a bit and read to some of the folks or something.

This weekend we bought two plum trees, which I hope we'll plant tonight. I also got two rows done in the berry bed and planted the blueberries and one type of raspberries. I dug another row out this morning and plan to make it cozy this evening and get more raspberries planted. This is going to take a while. I also planted some onions and a few flowers to make the berry bed look a bit happier while the berries are still pretty much sticks. While I gardened and Andy painted more, more, more trim, Anya ran around and did Anya things. Like put a bunch of rocks to bed in a bucket of water. They were safe there from the monsters, and we were not to disturb them. I tried to teach her how to pee outside, but she wasn't going for that, which sucks because the potty is a long way from pretty much everything.