Swim Update

Emily appears to have had some kind of breakthrough at swimming and had a great time at her last lesson. It was so great to see her running around and having fun with the other swimmers! Too bad that Miss Betsy is on a cruise for the week - I'm afraid we'll have to start from square one when we head back to lessons! For now, enjoy the happy pool pictures! Rock Star heads off to the pool
Surveying the scene

Love love love this picture!

I like the way the straps stick out on the sides of her mask. She looks like Yoda.

In she goes! She earned double candy and a special candy bracelet because of her fine performance that day!

Happy Father's Day!

Donald wanted to cook his own Father's Day dinner this year, so we traveled to Spezzano's in Tyrone and bought some incredible steaks to grill out with the family. Always fun to have everyone come over to eat! Daddy and Emi

Ranch dip has become a specialty for her

Cici was forced to eat at the children's table.

Helping Papa open his prize. Notice the homemade card with peace signs. Peace signs are her new thing. She has some drawn on her legs at the moment.

A little Wii action after lunch.

The brothers face off at sword fighting.

They refused to stay still too long to have their picture taken.

Catching some fireflies in the evening

She got one! Love the one purple fingernail.

Such concentration!

Mini-Vacation

Donald and I took a mini-vacation to Serenbe last week and had a wonderful time. Even though we only stayed overnight, it's hard not to become addicted to all of that beautiful scenery and incredible food. We went last year around the same time and I made friends with some beautiful black piglets. No piglets this year, but one friend at the barn seemed awfully fond of me, so perhaps he was one of the babies who remembers me from our last trip! We had a delicious dinner and breakfast at the Farmhouse, bought some wine and chocolate in the community, had a lovely lunch at the Blue Eyed Daisy bakeshop with a group of red hat ladies (I LOVE them!) and toured through several open houses before heading back home to see our sweetie. When we win the lottery, I'm planning on putting down stakes there. You're all welcome to come and visit any time!

Lovely view from our porch

My favorite picture!

Such a friendly guy!

Resting after a walk around the lake

Beautiful wildflowers on the path back to the cottage

I love this arbor - looks like it's been there for years. I would like one at home, but my thumb is black.

Adventures in Home Canning

Donald, Emily, and I took a trip to the farmer's market this week and picked up some wonderful fresh produce. We decided to undertake canning some homemade pickles after trying some absolutely fantastic pickles made by one of Donald's coworkers. The three of us spent this afternoon peeling cucumbers, boiling jars, and packing pints and are pleased with our outcome. I've been wanting to try canning for quite a while (channeling my inner Laura Ingalls - y'all know I love her!) and am excited to go back to the farmer's market and pick up some tomatoes! Stay tuned for rag rug weaving next week.

Sterilizing the jars

The jar lifter came in really handy. Glad we bought that starter pack of utensils!

Letting everything boil

Finished product!

More from the Boys

Here are a few more pictures I took of our new boys today. Emily built what she termed the "ultimate blanket house" in the living room floor using all of the couch cushions, blankets, and chairs that she could find. She put the cats' bed inside to lure them in and they spent a cozy time there this afternoon. I found the boys sleeping in the collapsed tent later and they were so cute together that I had to snap some pictures. This is what cat contentment looks like.

John wears the green collar because he was originally given the green ear dot to identify him.

Ringo gets to wear the fabulous purple collar.

I love this look - I think I disturbed him with my picture taking!

New White House Interns

Many of you know that we lost our good friend of ten years, T.C., this summer. I was surprised at just how empty the house seemed without him running around. Donald and I decided that the best way to deal with his loss was to use it as an opportunity to give two other boys a good home, so we visited our friends at RescueCats in Fayetteville and are proud to introduce you to Ringo and John. Until we get them collars, the only way to tell them apart is that John has wider rings around his tail....and a green dot inside his ear that the nice adoption lady drew on with a Sharpie! They are still a bit shell shocked in their new environment (who wouldn't be with a four year old chasing you around?) but are becoming quite snuggly. It's fun to watch their night crazies - they're chasing each other around the living room as I type this! I highly recommend RescueCats if you're interested in adopting a new cat. You can visit them online at www.rescuecats.org. Wonderful mission! Hope you enjoy the pictures of the new interns at the White House. We'll post more soon when they stop running around so much! First night home
Love those big ears!

I love the way Emily's holding my ear in this picture. You can tell she's sleepy.

Sunday morning in a sunny patch on the couch

They're very elegant for lanky teenagers

Catching some snuggles after Nanny's dinner party

Hey...who ate the last treat?

A Miscellaneous Posting

This posting is just a mishmash of pictures that I've taken the last couple of weeks and wanted to share with all of you. Hope you are enjoying these first few (extremely hot!) weeks of summer! Our tomatoes should be coming in soon. As for the other fruits of our labors, see below.

A rock star pose for a photo we emailed to Donald who is (unfortunately) working during the summer. Emily calls this "earning candy money".

Modeling her new G-wear at the US v. England World Cup match. You ARE watching the World Cup, right? I calculated that it is the White family's fourth World Cup together. Emily enjoys watching the games because the popular World Cup shoe this year is....you guessed it, purple.
Sporting her purple butterfly apron and munching some celery while she helps prepare a veggie tray for the game. I think she ate more veggies than she actually put on the plate.

I had to take a picture of the girl with the teeny tiny curl after church on Sunday. Remember that nursery rhyme?
There was a little girl with a teeny tiny curl
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very very good.
But when she was bad, she was horrid.

Not that she's ever horrid. Usually.

Thank heavens for hand-me-downs! Because I'm a mean Mommy and won't indulge in toddler bikinis, Auntie Yam recently donated Emily a huge bag of bathing suits that Abby has outgrown. She was overjoyed to discover a bikini, complete with cover-up skirt. She wanted to model for a photo before heading down to the hot tub. She's actually grown to love the swim cap because it means no pesky comb-outs after swimming. She's also sporting a diving ring for some underwater practice. Summertime fun, except the hot tub water is exactly the same temperature as the air outside!

And as for the fruits from our garden, this is a picture of Squirrel Nutkin that I snapped through the living room window. Emily discovered Nutkin having a lovely breakfast of fresh strawberries on the patio one morning. We haven't had any new strawberries since this picture was taken. Not sure if that's because none have grown, or if Nutkin is picking them off before we can get to them! Oh well, I guess we can get to Publix and he can't, so perhaps we should share.

More Swim!

Today was our third swim lesson. Abby and Emily are both doing really well, although Emily still tends to have stage fright during class. She bravely does everything that she's asked to do, but there are tears throughout the entire experience. The other Moms laugh because every time she gets out of the pool, she blows me a trembly kiss and whispers that she loves me. They tell me to enjoy it while it lasts - sooner or later she'll become a teenager and stop speaking to me! Ms. Betsy is extremely patient and kind - even when Emily repeatedly asks how many minutes they have left in the lesson. Speaking of, I've got to have a talk with her about that before Thursday! Enjoy the pictures of our watery afternoon.

Floating - her favorite part
All lined up and ready to go!

Ms. Betsy had to keep telling her to let go of her finger. She had a death grip.

Second attempt

She loves her "rock star" bathing suit

The look on her face breaks my heart - or cracks me up, depending on my mood.

Swimming across the shallows with a little help

Abby dives in for some noodle swimming

Deep breath!

Practicing knee dives

I love the way Ms. Betsy uses the backs of their swimsuits as a handle