"Digamarole" (dig' uh muh rohl) n.
the confused, rambling, nonsensical and smelly path we are forced to travel
when canal construction mucks up the traffic on a major thoroughfare
and we have to futz around barricades
and cones
at 10 mph for months on end.

After driving through the aforementioned digamarole on our way home from an
after-church brunch at Jack-in-the-Box,
I grabbed my camera and a couple of tag-alongs
and went back to take some pictures.
Why?
Because I can.

~*~*~*~*~

We parked
in the
park
parking lot
kitty-korner to all the construction and walked over from there.
On our way, we saw some pretties:

And one of these bougainvillea flowers managed to find its way into

Laurenti's hair.

Crossing over the canal bridge, we were pretty impressed with how fast the water was flowing:

So here we are, looking across at the
ridiculous tomfoolery they have
begun in this intersection.

The lane narrowing starts sooooooo far in advance of this corner,
it's really a puzzlement...

One big digger:

Another big digger:

Big digger and gi-normous culvert:

It really stinks when they mess with the canals.
Literally.

~*~*~*~*~

Oh pretty!  An Hibiscus just begging to be photographed:

This was peeking over the fence in front of a little Hispanic church with "Salmo 23" on the sign out front.
There were lots of cars leaving as we crossed their driveway... good for them!

~*~*~*~*~

One more stop, as the rain began to fall again.
We had to go across to the big empty field in the SW corner of the intersection,
because there is an EPIC pine tree there,
and the girls desperately wanted
pics of it.

This tree is the only thing in the field - and I pray no one will ever be so
criminal as to cut it down.

It's a really awesome tree!!

~*~*~*~*~

Though absent from my blog I have been for quite a while,
I can report nothing exciting;
and yet, many good things have kept me busy,
all of which add up to --
living life day by day.

~*~*~*~*~

I've been blessed with an extravagance of reading material for my spare moments --
at the table,
while children are doing their math,
in the kitchen,
while stirring supper on the stove,
in my recliner chair,
while Jacob reads his history upside down on the couch,
in the car,
while Jacob is in karate class,
and back to my recliner chair,
late at night after all have gone to bed...

My "currently-in-progress" stack grows ever, precariously higher,
all because I am a greedy little book worm,
who wants to devour all
their goodness
at once!

~*~*~*~*~

There has been some experimentation of late with different bread machine recipes,
all of which have been thoroughly enjoyed --
although this batch began with a bang:

The silly machine just walked right off the counter during the kneading phase!

I was unsure if Humpty Dumpty would be salvageable,
but sure enough --

Got it all fixed up right as rain, and went on to make several more tasty batches. 
However,
I thought it prudent to move the bread making station to a
more secure location
to prevent a re-occurrence!

~*~*~*~*~

The end of this week God has poured out blessings of rain upon us,
and the children are wringing every drop of fun they can
out of the cool wetness.

They sloshed their way through the gutters all around the cul de sac across from our house...

Biking through puddles in the rain --
does it get any better than this?

Of course, this is pretty close to heaven...

And this...

...and this...

~*~*~*~*~

That's it. 
That's all she wrote, as it were...
just livin' life here, and thanking God for His simple gifts.

Fair warning though -
this coming week?
Killer schedule, with dental appointments for the whole family,
a doctor apt. for Jake,
karate,
the usual bi-weekly monster shopping excursion (with its inevitable attendant adventures),
and packing so we can spend next weekend up north.

Should be fun!

Let the whirlwind begin...

This is the
best invention!!
Ostensibly, the idea behind getting one of these dealie-ma-bobs
was so Jacob could get some practice in at home
without having to spar with the girls
(which invariably left HIM bruised)
--
But I tell ya,
it's already clear to me
that the girls
have at least as much aggression to vent
as
The Boy.

Meg's got some power in her punch!

This is going to be LOTS of fun.

I might even throw a few kicks myself...

~*~*~*~*~

 

Well, well, well. 
My two oldest girls survived their first all-girls overnighter at church,
and when I picked them up this morning a bit before 8 am,
they were brimming with tales of charades
and nail painting
and cookie eating
(their chocolate/mint-chocolate-chip cookies were a HUGE hit)
and movie watching. 
It's been a bit draggy around here ever since...  

While they were gone,
the younger two were having a hoot of a time role playing in the back yard under the moon.
 They played a mage named Justin,
whose power was making and throwing golden balls of lightning;
and a traveling gypsy witch named Veronica,
who could shoot purple and blue fire from her staff. 
They asked me to take pictures. 
Then they asked me to tweak the pictures to show their powers. 

Here are the results of THAT:

Veronica looking at the moon, but with no flash. 

Veronica looking at the moon again!

Veronica.

Justin throwing a lightning ball!

Justin throwing TWO lightning balls!

Veronica and Justin about to engage in an epic battle of fire-and-lightning!

Veronica and Justin in the thick of battle.

It was all SOO dramatic!!

As I say... today is a bit draggy as a result of late night fun.
I let everyone have the day off of school to recover,
and because the girls will not be doing math with dad this afternoon,
I am sending him with Jacob,
and staying home to make supper in my own kitchen
(oh so rare anymore).
Pressure cooked pork chops, and .... something.
I don't know what side-dish whimsy will take me...
life is full of mystery and surprise.

Continuing on through the morning,
I found Megan at one point
in her room
on the phone.
(Typical teenager.  Look at her, telling me to "Talk to the hand!")

Just kidding!!!  
My kids never do that to me! 
She was waving while talking to her grandma!

I spent a fair portion of the morning working on a very special cake.
We are just becoming more acquainted with the Feast Days that are celebrated in
the Catholic Church,
and I discovered that
July 16th is celebrated as the Feast Day of
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel,
which, according to Wikipedia,
"is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the late 12th and early to mid 13th centuries. They built a chapel in the midst of their hermitages which they dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, whom they conceived of in chivalric terms as the 'Lady of the place.'"
Learning this new and interesting fact about Megan's birth date,
I resolved to find a way to celebrate both
in some way.

Obviously, "caramel" would have to feature prominently.
I decided to try something I've known about for years but have never done before.
This is the method of boiling sweetened condensed milk for 4 hours
n the can to create caramel.
I didn't quite boil the cans for that long, as I didn't really have the time,
but the result was still a very lovely caramel sauce
to use as a filling.

The ingredients for our
Mt. Carmel Cake:

This is the before shot -- It needed to chill a bit before the final touches were added.

During the afternoon I worked on supper -
a big batch of home-made macaroni and cheese
using a custard-cheese-sauce,
and two alternatives - one with sausage/ground beef,
the other vegetarian with bell peppers, onions, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower.

Here's the crew, getting ready to eat dinner.

And finally,
the Pièce de résistance:

Mt. Carmel!

This. Cake. Was. AMAZING!

Next year it will be even better because I will have the right size pans for the tiers, and I will make it in advance so the layers will have a chance to freeze first, and wont slip and slide off to the side.
(Although, Jeff said he thought I did it on purpose to make it look more authentic...Lol!)

And here is Megan with her birthday present from us,
her very own camera (and nifty clamp on to anything tri-pod)!
She was THRILLED!!!
Which of course makes my day.

And after supper, Jeff took us all out to see
"Despicable Me"
which was quite hilarious.

A wonderful finish to our day of celebration!

~*~*~*~*~

A birthday that falls on a Friday means it's almost like a holiday at our house,
since every other Friday Paul gets the day off. 
Of course, having DAD around usually means that he is non-stop-busy,
working like a mad-man to keep the property and vehicles in working order. 
Today was no exception. 
However, considering our heat-wave in the neighborhood of 113-115 this week,
he didn't stay outside too long.

The job he worked on was one that has been long overdue. 

There are plenty of people willing to trim your trees around here - for a price - but Paul has the equipment and the long ladder, so it's just been a matter of waiting for a day when nothing else was more urgent.
I only took a few pics...
just standing outside in the shade looking up at him
nearly gave me a heat stroke!

Here's a big branch falling to the ground...

Every time my husband has business up on the roof,
it is invariably the case that all the children clamor for the chance
to join him up there.
Today, Geneva received his blessing to climb up the ladder to the roof,
and here she is,
perched:

I'm not sure exactly what that face means -- if it were me,
it would mean sheer terror!

Lots and lots of branches came down.
Our yard will be brighter for a while, but hopefully this pruning
(and regular watering)
will yield some healthy new growth.

~*~*~*~*~

HAPPY
14th
BIRTHDAY

MEGAN OLIVIA!!!!

You bring so much joy and beauty to the world through your laughter and your many gifts!
God bless you this coming year,
and may you grow ever closer to Jesus as you seek to serve Him.

~*~*~*~*~

All's quiet on the western front,
and we're occupied with all that is typical and mundane:
school...
chores...
story writing...
staying inside to avoid the 114°F we were told to expect today.
Nothing whatsoever out of the ordinary...
except... perhaps...
the tiniest hint
that
tomorrow
is a special day for someone...

If you are wondering where the
Birthday Tree
went,
let's just say,
it has seen better days,
and thus
having laid it to a much deserved rest,
we have now ascended
to the
next level of birthday extravagance,
the
"Birthday Wreath."

~*~*~*~*~

First, they tell me that on Nettie's Xanga,

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!