So it's true.

I've become my mother.

I bat my eyes when someone says something flattering,
I secretly wish for what we used to mock my mother about (happy children)
I cross my legs when someone says something funny,
I feed the hungry masses
my garden: she PRODUCES!
and you should SEE my kitchen.

It's a happy disaster.
In the past two days it has produced
two peach pies
nectarine smoothies for everyone
cucumber slices (mandatory) before every meal
(If we don't eat at least a dozen a day, they start attacking)
14 loaves of zucchini bread
a double batch of chocolate chip cookies
and an entire weekend's worth of dirty dishes... artfully piled up in the double sink.

It's official.
Call me Priscill-er.

quote for today

...as we're enjoying a rare, leisurely moment in bed this morning, there were five of us sprawled around each other, chatting and waking up. 
One child said to another:
"Your feet smell like graham crackers!"
A good laugh is a good way to start the day.

The glass is half FULL!

Got an email from my dad today.

This is what it said:

As I was lying in my bed bemoaning the humidity and heat and the tangled sheets last night, all of a sudden I remembered this and I was much better:

There's a little island named Patience

in Narragansett Bay, Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

I'm not sure if this island was named for the Patience I learned about this weekend, but it was named by Roger Williams, who was good friends with her family about the same time that this amazing little girl moved from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to Rhode Island.

There's a little blurb about Patience over at Segullah today.

You've heard of Sand Sculptures?

We visited a few at the Revere Beach Sand Sculpture festival a few weeks ago.

They were pretty awe-inspiring...

HERE at the pool,

we do HAIR SCULPTURES:

really, almost equally inspirational.

Let it be known

That: I love our pool.  When we moved here eleven years ago, I wanted to tell the sellers to TAKE IT DOWN!  Our oldest child was eight years old at the time, and I was afraid of keeping small children away from the water.  We ended up keeping the pool, Dub made some changes to the fencing and we have never regretted it. 

This summer has been a REAL summer!

(Last year it didn't stop raining until mid-July)

We've had Heat, Humidity and HOURS of cooling off in the pool that almost never was.

For this, I am grateful.

Everyone should have an Aunt Candy!

Meet Aunt Candy.

She is the Aunt.

She sneaks ALL the girl cousins out and takes them on SECRET MISSIONS.

Look where they go on their TOP secret missions:

Well, to get CANDY, of course!

Say "WE LOVE YOU, AUNT CANDY!"

These girls were on a CONSTANT sugar-high at Camp Joseph.

Aunt Candy made it all possible.

THANK YOU Aunt Candy!

XO

Behold the Man

"Our vision of you and your work looks beyond the outward appearance of a boy and sees instead a bearer of the holy priesthood outfitted with its attendant powers, duties, and blessings."

-Keith B. McMullin, “‘Behold the Man’,” Ensign, Nov 1997, 40

From this same article by Keith B. McMullin:

"The world uses age as a means of defining one’s readiness for manhood. For example, age is used to determine when a young person is sufficiently mature and responsible to drive an automobile. To youth, the long-awaited time arrives. To their parents, it is a time of sheer terror.

The world also uses age to establish when a man is sufficiently wise and responsible to vote, to make contracts, to be held fully and legally accountable. We call this the age of majority, the time when one ceases to be a minor.

Because youth and age are so visible in the Aaronic Priesthood, we could mistakenly assume they somehow determine the powers and effectiveness of this priesthood. Remember, please remember:

In the Church, it is worthiness and the power of God that qualify men for the work.

Expectation, opportunity, and service contribute more to one’s growth than do birthdays. In the kingdom of God, the age of majority begins with ordination.Think about the mighty works of Samuel, John the Baptist, Mormon, and Joseph Smith. Each was called while in his youth; each was qualified by God for the great tasks at hand; each performed his duties to the everlasting blessing of us all.

Such works can be the hallmark of the Aaronic Priesthood today. It is, in some measure, a matter of perspective. As we look upon a young Aaronic Priesthood bearer, do we see a boy, or a man “called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands”?

How we view him has a bearing on how he views himself. "

My nephew received the priesthood while we were up at Camp Joseph.

I see a man.

Camp Joseph, VERmont.

...so in the chaos of 12 days of company, blogging has gone by the wayside.  Please allow me to heartily recommend Camp Joseph, in Sharon, Vermont at the birthplace of Joseph Smith.  We spent three days there last week, and are still happily reliving all the best moments there.  A river to play in, hiking, fishing, horseshoes, ultimate frisbee and relatives everywhere you looked.  OH.  And we had the place completely to ourselves.  It was a slice of heaven.  No dirt, just pristine and manicured grass.  Real toilets.  Hot water showers.  The option of cabins with bunks.  Is this camping?  We think so, and we love it so much we come back every year at least once.

WE LOVE CAMP JOSEPH!

We'll be BACK.

Guess where we've been?

It was wonderful.

(more later)

“We are doing well when we develop attributes of Christ and

strive to obey His gospel with exactness.”

Preach My Gospel (2004), pp. 10–11

T-I-R-E-D

It's hard work keeping up with summer!

this is WAR!

someone has been feasting on my pumpkin patch.
I am not a happy gardner.
I lost 'em once, I won't do it again.

I am guarding the patch with something from the local nursery.

the active ingredients are dried blood, putrified egg solids and garlic oil.

I can't spray more than two times without needing to RUN for the other side of the yard where I can breathe CLEAN air.  It's that bad.  I just hope it'll keep those hungry animals AWAY from my punkins.