Sunday salon - Monsoon Madness style

Living in the desert like I do brings a real appreciation for the wet stuff - RAIN.

We love it.

Today is a juicy, humid, rainy, monsoon filled day!

We love it.

It has rained off and on all day, including thunder/lightning and flash floods.

We love it.

Okay, we love it when we are protected and safe and have working A/C.

As it is Sunday I thought I should update my week....

I read here this week. 

I read about Albert Einstein, Jane Goodall, science experiments, The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews for some light mindless reading, and started Matched by Ally Condie.

I love this corner of my library.

J and I took this from the yard and made this...

and hung it in the library!

Love my rocks and sea glass too.

Creative juices were flowing.

Just in time to use them to get ready for a new school year to start!

(sorry about the photo quality...night shots and I don't always get along:(..)

My little corner of the room is coming along.

We're eating quite well here....

(Heavenly Raspberry cupcakes I made for a friend's wedding... okay we I licked the beater a lot...)

And we are staying hydrated with Eegee's~~ L.O.V.E. it!!

Watermelon makes life worthwhile.

I loved having a helper in household chores this week.

She helps with dishes, laundry and she motivates me to keep the floors clean.

It doesn't matter how many times I sweep and mop...her little knees always get dirty!

The favorite sounds of the week were...

rain dripping on the roof

and

baby belly-laughs.

We bought a printer. 

We finished a puzzle.

 (My First! I know that's hard to believe but it's true! I had a lot of help!!!)

We finished the week.

It's been a great one!

Happy Sunday!

Saturday Snapshot - Washing Dishes!

I hope I never forget how fun it is to wash dishes....with her!

I remember a saying I read by Ann Landers/Dear Abby that went something like...

Thank God for dirty dishes;
They have a tale to tell.
While others may go hungry,
We're eating very well
With home, health, and happiness,
I shouldn't want to fuss;
By the stack of evidence,
God's been very good to us.

True, true, true!

(I'm linking to West Metro Mommy - Happy Saturday!)

PS....I promise the sponge was clean and brand new :)

Saturday Snapshot - Happy 4th of July

We spent the day in the best way possible...celebrating with our friend as she become a citizen of the 

United States of America!

There is not a better way to appreciate all we have than going to a Naturalization ceremony.

 It was incredible.

Over 200 others took the oath with her this day and our hearts cheered!

There was red. There was white. There was blue.

This was better than fireworks!

Congratulations, Echo!!

I'm linking to West Metro Mommy for this Saturday Snapshot of our life!!

Books = Brain Food!

Being a bookworm boosts your brainpower into old age

(Study out of Baylor College of Medicine via MSNBC and Today's Health)

Now there's proof that holing myself up with a book is good for me....

So...in order to stave off old age I am cramming my little neurons with delightful pieces of information!

For example, here are some of the words I learned while reading, Top of the Morning; Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV 

by Brain Stelter....

evinced, polymath, panopoly and plenteous. 

Whoa! 

I discovered what the Principle of Favorability is while reading The Alchemist by Paul Coehlo.

I was able to peer into the mind of a furniture refinisher in Looking for Me by Beth Hoffman.

I discovered what 'freegans' are while reading the mystery,

Bookplate Special by Lorna Barnett.

I learned that Philippe Petit walked between the twin towers in 1974...in broad daylight(!!) when I read 

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordecai Gerstein. 

I discovered a new set of heroes in 

Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan when I read 

Helen Keller; Out of a Dark and Silent World 

by Sandra H. Shichtman. Those two women astounded me.

Thank you, dear books! 

Now, back to the stacks...