New Poseidon Website

Mac's class has been studying ancient Greece and as part of his school project, he created a website on Poseidon. He wanted me to invite all of you to visit his new site, The Power of The Trident.

UPDATE: Mac received his website grade from his teacher and it was an A+!

The Case of The Missing Tomatoes

Lately I've wondered why we weren't getting any more cherry tomatoes from our garden. I check the plants often but only to find unripe, green tomatoes. A few days ago, the mystery was solved. I caught the culprit red-handed (literally). A little chipmunk sitting at the edge of the garden chomping on a cherry tomato. The cherry tomatoes fit perfectly in his greedy little hands.
*This is not my best photography as I had to take the picture through our screen window in order to catch the thief in action. I knew that as soon I opened the door, he would scurry away.

Flying a Kite in Ike

The kids tried to take advantage of flying a kite in almost 60 mph winds after traces of Hurricane Ike moved through Bloomington two Sundays ago. It was almost too windy to get the kite up but they eventually succeeded.

The storm also caused a number of trees to blow over, many of them onto power lines and 30,000 people were left without electricity. We were lucky to only experience the outage for about an hour but our neighbors across the street were without power and phone service for three days.

Cupcakes in Lavender

Today Steph and I went to the nursing home to visit our friend who is celebrating her 83rd birthday. We had a lovely time and conversation with her and her husband, as well as her sister who is visiting from out of town. Steph brought along some beautiful sunflowers from her garden and I brought these pretty little flower cupcakes from my kitchen. They are white chocolate cupcakes with butter cream icing. The fondant decorations are my attempt to make hydrangea look-alikes.

Labor Day Fishing

On Labor Day Keith took the boys, by bike, to Lake Monroe so that Ethan could do some fishing. Even though it was a very hot day both boys decided that they would ride their own bikes down to the lake.

Ethan said the fish were biting but unfortunately he didn't catch any. And while Ethan spent the morning fishing, Mac took advantage of a shady spot and a good book.

Poseidon - god of the Sea

Mac's class is studying the history of ancient Greece. The kids are divided into five different city states and Mac is the strategoi (military leader) of his city state, Argos. Mac chose Poseidon as his Greek name.

The kids have to wear chitons while living in ancient Greece, so Mac and I put together this costume from instructions that he brought home from school that called for using a twin sheet. We made a few adjusts such as only having one sleeve verses two. Mac read that most men only wore the chiton over one arm leaving their right arm free to do work. I also had to hem the sheet as it was too long, and trim the side as it was too wide. All in all it was a very easy project and Mac was pleased with the end result.

Tea With Mad Queen

Last week I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon with Mad Queen while she was in Bloomington for a short stay this summer. She and her family are currently living in Japan and we hadn't seen them for over a year. We had a nice time catching up. It was interesting learning about life in Japan. I was educated on everything from public bath houses to the costly prices of peanut butter.

I made a few little afternoon tea snacks and Mad Queen, Princess Shaleilah and I enjoyed a very special artisan jasmine tea that was a gift from Steph.

Artisan Jasmine Tea - as it brews it unfurls into a beautiful flower

Raspberry Tart

Zucchini bread and crackers with aged Wisconsin cheese, garden tomatoes and basil