I have been enjoying the rains and breezy spring weather that Texas gives so willingly the first few months of each year. Wildflowers and weeds abound, making the highway hills dance with colorful delight. I have lovingly been the recipient of more handpicked Ella and Anabelle bouquets than I have mini vases for. Sadly, all of that has vanished into thin air and we have been catapulted straight into the brick wall of summer heat. Most of the country is experiencing record high temperatures, but we are just playing out our lot in life and hovering in the mid nineties. Fortunately, no records are being broken, as that would put us well into the triple digits.
It has been an interesting quest, attempting to find indoor activities for the children to sink their teeth into. The battles wage ever increasingly as the boredom grows. I try to send them outdoors each morning before the sun blazes down too harshly. We've eaten watermelon, bathed the dog, run in sprinklers, and swam in lukewarm pools. Playdoh and coloring books are becoming an all too familiar sight and don't seem to hold their attention for very long anymore. I recently told Elizabeth that she will be learning how to do the dishes and will also be responsible for planning one meal each week. The hard part is, I have to teach her how! I am going to make every attempt to make it fun and enjoyable so that she wants to help as opposed to feeling as thought she is my personal slave...secretly, though, isn't that why parents have kids? ;-) I hope to find several inexpensive or free activities to take the kiddos to once swimming lessons are completed. We have about seven more swim sessions and ballet through the end of June before we'll really get any kind of break from scheduled activities. Oh, well, at least the kids aren't complaining!
I finally got my White Mountain ice cream freezer that I have been drooling over for about ten years. We will certainly be running the motor on a weekly basis, and have already concocted the most delicious vanilla bean ice cream I've tasted in years. A friend reminded us of Big Red ice cream, a favorite from many a church pot luck ice cream social, but I think the next on the list will be either peach or strawberry. Either way, it will be yummy and serve us well in our mission to keep cool. I love this particular freezer because it is built to last for generations. I plan on purchasing the hand crank for it so we can have the option of either motorized or manual labor (read: children!!!). Every tyke needs the memory of a quilt-wrapped ice cream bucket, with one sibling sitting on top of the cantankerous hand crank while the others are taking turns churning the machine or licking the rock salt. I will never forget those moments on the ranch from my childhood. I cannot wait for my own son and daughters to forge some memories of their own.
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