Here it is. High summer. It’s hot round these parts, after a lot of rain last week. It was honestly almost cold one day, and I kept hearing Natalie Maines’ voice in my head chortling “…here’s your cold day, iiiiiiin Juuuuuuuuu-lyyyyyyyyy”. No more. It’s near 100 today, and the kids are just full of complaints about how hot they are.  Last night there was much sprinkler running, some tears, a popsicle or two, too late of a bedtime, and grumpy kids today. Basically a summer night.

Did I mention Beanie got a BUGLE? As in, real, honest to goodness, brass-band BUGLE. Looks just exactly like this one.  A musical friend has moved on to the trumpet, and when hanging out the other day, Beanie saw his bugle, picked it up, and ripped off three notes the first try. The friend said most people can’t get it to work the first time, let alone actually play a note- so he sent Bean home with it- and we’ve been enjoying bugle music ever since. Well, most of us have been enjoying it- Jeffrey is annoyed, but everyone else thinks it’s cool. Well, maybe the neighbors don’t, but I didn’t ask them. As we were coloring on the driveway the other night at twilight, Beanie was marching up and down the court, bugling to high heavens. It was fantastic. His face just glows with happiness when he’s blowing on that horn, so it’s all good to me.

Uncle Todd was here too, yesterday. Hooray for Uncle Todd! We love him. Mo was over with her gang for the day too, and her poor baby burned the bottoms of her feet on the hot driveway/porch. Terrible feelings were had by all for a while. Then, running water in the sink helped, as did M&M’s. Poor baby. She feels better today.

Garage sales were OK this morning. I found a new birdcage for the FOUR birds we now have. Daivd and Bean are currently at the pet store getting a feed-dish to fit the new cage. It told him if he came back with another bird, I would filet and fricasee all the birdies for dinner, and he would be very, very sorry. But a bigger cage was desperately needed, and new cages are a lot of money!

I found a mid-centruy small bookshelf with sliding glass doors, and talked the lady down from $15 to $10. It’s just like this one, only it has another shelf in the middle, behind the glass doors.

It’s perfect for all the kids’ art supplies. And, it fits juuuust right in my dining room. It’s wood like this one, but I’m thinking of using my free Glidden paint that came in the mail to give it a coat of  Spicy Pear- Did anyone else get their free paint?

I also found a few small things- a recipe box with polka dots and strawberries on it (25 cents), a potholder (25 cents), a skirt for myself ($1), and a potato ricer from the 1960’s ( $1). So, not a lot, but still nice.

David and Beanie just got back. No bird. ::exhale:: I didn’t want that fight. At all.

Oh, and one final note- we’re done with diapers, as of today. It’s going to be brutal, it’s going to be rough, the floors might suffer. I will probably swear. But when one cannot get the diapers taped anymore, it is time to move on. A milestone has been reached. Or else.