the essence

Summer is here!

And, I'm still nesting. Yesterday between my morning & afternoon work shifts I took the girls outside so that I could clean off the back porch. It was SO filthy that even hosing off the entire thing the tile still has black stains. Unfortunately, I think I trashed my old "outdoor" mop so the stains are still there.

We still don't have a kiddy pool yet but I remembered that Ray's grandmother had given us one of those plastic turtles to fill up with sand last year and it was setting empty in our garage. I decided to use that as a little pool for the girls to play in while I cleaned off the porch.

Kate all ready to go outside



Thankfully, they were pretty happy with their "pool"



I scrubbed down all of the furniture that was on the back porch - it gets dirty SO quickly! The girls also enjoyed their lunch outside - then it was back into the water!



While I was cleaning I caught my reflection in the glass. Whoa!



After cleaning it was inside for baths, & Kate went down for a nap while I worked. After work, I made some zucchini muffins with Addison. Ray's dad & step-mom have started a garden & they've brought us a bunch of fresh squash & zucchini. A lot.

Shredded zuchs



So much, that I made a double batch! I ended up with 48(!) mini muffins & 18 big muffins. Of course, when I called the mini muffins "baby" muffins Addison then asked if the big ones were "mama" muffins. This morning she asked me if she could have a "mama muffin" - so cute!



I did put a bunch in the freezer to have on hand when the baby arrives!