{Nine}

"...Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken..."

-William Shakespeare

I disagree.
True love does alter.
It bends.
It stretches.
It sacrifices.
It strengthens.
It swells.
It grows.

Which is the why and the how it can "look on tempests and never be shaken". For 9 years my love has altered. It is the alteration that makes it true love. Real love must be willing to bend, divide, give.

I am so glad time is not my enemy, and that I will be with this guy forever and ever and ever.


And now, a little flashback from the archives of our wedding pics.
Enjoy!











Happy Anniversary, sweet, wonderful Aaron.
I love you very, very much.

Jam Session

A pint of blackberries costs around $3.
There are 8 pints in a gallon.
Self-reliance = after we ran Saturday morning, we waded through bushes and briers, and between Tia, Kasey, and I we picked 4 gallons of HUGE, fresh, wild blackberries.
That's $96 worth of blackberries.
For FREE.
When I got home, I turned my berries into blackberry jam.
Twenty jars of jam.

Aaron is not Harry Potter

I am afraid of fireworks.
I get jumpy and anxious when they are being lit.
I corral the children and let them watch from a "safe" distance.
I am basically no fun on the 4th of July.
Especially since every freaking firework imaginable is legal here.
I swear, some of the stuff you can get here looks like it came straight out of a cartoon.

Exhibit A:

The boys bought a good loot.

They claimed that the show was "for the kids".
You can see how much the children were enjoying the show.
Notice Tia standing inside with Quincy, watching behind the safety of the doors, while Jared prefers to stand 10 inches away from the show.
They eventually took the show to the street out front to "duel" with Roman Candles.
Because Aaron is Harry Potter now.

Expelliarmus!

So what happens when you give 5 guys lighters and a stack of Roman Candles?

Video 1: It's short. Let's just call it "A Shot in the Dark". If you're wondering about the ridiculously loud buzzing that sounds like a car engine, it is coming from bugs. Yes. Billions and Trillions of bugs. The cicadas buzz once the sun sets and it sounds like an alarm clock outside from mid June until late August. Crazy, but you get used to it, and I'll take chirping and buzzing bugs over the sound of traffic/city noises any day. Check it out.



Harmless, right?
Not really.
Video 2: Kasey took this one. HERE we have the boys (Taylor, Aaron, Brad) getting fired at (by Jimmie and Jared) while trying to light theirs. Uh...take note of the mild screaming of women and children in the background.


What?
You didn't hear the screaming?
Neither did the guys.

We think that during Brad's little "dance" to avoid Jimmies Imperius Curse, he misfired and sent a zillion sparks over Kasey (holding the camera) and into the direction where Darcie and I were holding the babies. One made it over to Addison and sent her running into the fence. A few snapped around me and I put my arms over Corbin and turned around to make a run for it, only to see Darcie frantically patting out flames

in her hair.

Darcie was such a good sport and laughed about the black, melted spot in her hair. I think she is lucky. If it had been me, my whole head would have combusted with all the product (lacquer) I had on there to keep my curls from getting outta control.

A hair fire.
Traumatized children.
A severed toenail (result of Kasey trying to retaliate against Jimmie, who blocked her foot with his kung fu reflexes).

And they had laughed at me for being such a Nervous Nelly. Folks, I spent a lot of time watching cartoons as a kid. I understand the consequences of playing with things that blow up. Is no one familiar with Wile E Coyote's fate at the end of each episode?

Exhibit B:

Case in point.

Spread the Word, Y'all.

Twice, today, I saw facebook status updates that stated that Autism is caused by the MMR vaccine. Twice. In one day. Um...

THE MMR VACCINE DOES NOT CAUSE AUTISM!!!
It. Was. A. LIE.

Those looking for enlightenment might enjoy this goodie.

My guess is that it will take 10 years to undo the 10 years of damage that has been done by Andrew Wakefield. It appears that many have not heard the good news that it is safe to immunize (as it always has been). Help spread the word.

It's Poppin'! It's Poppin'! It's Poppin'! It's Poppin'!

Banana Berry Pops
1 cup blackberries
3 strawberries
1/4 cup blueberries
1 banana
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt

Strawberry Watermelon Pops
3-4 strawberries
5-7 big chunks watermelon
1/2 cup strawberry yogurt
1/4 cup milk

blend.
pour into molds.
freeze.
eat.

Popsicles for breakfast = "Coolest Mommy Ever"
(their words. Just sayin'.)

cupcake

I will never run out of photos like this one.
The other day, Quincy said, "Mommy, I love you like a....like a....like a.... I love you like a cupcake!"

Well, guess what, Quincy Bee? I love you back.

Grow

Corbin = dirt magnet. I think it jumps off the ground to stick to his arms, legs and face.

Kasey made some AWESOME fried green tomatoes.
Click here for the recipe. Yum.

And speaking of tomatoes,
we counted 322 green tomatoes in our garden.
322!
and they are all beauuuuuutiful!


We picked our first carrot.
Yeah. I'm just a little excited.