I was waken  from a night of continued torture from my stomach bug, by crying children.  #1's beloved guinea pig was found dead this morning.  Last night, I was jolted from slumber by news of her sickness, and we were afraid that this was coming soon.  #1 takes these things so hard!  He has lost one guinea pig previously and two gerbils.  I know that one of the reasons that it is good for kids to have pets is to experience life and death, but it doesn't make it any easier on them.  He is very close to his pigs, and he was truly devastated. 

We buried sweet Milky Way in the back yard near her pet predecessors. 

I promised #2 that I would take her garage saling for some mommy and me time.  She didn't seem to really care that I was fighting this stomach bug, so off we went.  We had a lot of fun just talking and holding hands from sale to sale.  She reminded me that when #3 got to do this, she got lunch at McD's afterwards, so we headed there next.  I enjoyed just listening to her talk.  She is the child that I have the hardest time really "getting."  I love her dearly, yet sometimes I just don't understand her.  I enjoyed having today to just listen to her.  She chatted on and on about all the wonderful things she could make and her plans for this or that.  She was delighted with the FAVORITE meal - chicken nuggets, apple dippers, and chocolate milk.  We headed home.

I took to cleaning the dreaded kitchen window.  The window is one of the very few windows we haven't replaced. It is old and in bad repair, and is AWFUL to clean. It requires a ladder and two people.  Jp helped which made the nastiness go faster, and it is amazing how much a clean window can brighten a kitchen!  When I said that, JP looked at me like I had grown an extra ear or something.  He is just a man you know! 

We decided to tackled the berry picking next.  I love blackberries, but they are painful work.  I have made 10 pints of jam already, but really wanted to get more done, so off I went to the berries.  I dragged the kids out there as my reluctant help with my mantra of "He who does not work, does not eat!"  They didn't seem to think that was quite fair, but they tried anyway. 

When #4 woke up from his nap, the whole family headed down the trail at the end of our street.  It heads into the local park.  We went armed with a berry bucket, BB gun, and two excited puppies.  We picked another entire bucket of berries just on ONE trail.  Again, the kids weren't much help, but they tried.  We are going to head down another path tomorrow.

In the midst of the berry picking, #2 decided I had to have some wild flowers.  She knows that daisies are my favorite. 

I promised them that if they helped pick the  berries, I would make a blackberry pie. One major problem.  I have NEVER made a blackberry pie.  So, I trusted ole Betty Crocker. I figure she has been doing it alot longer than I have, so I began.  I was quite proud of myself.  I even attempted the lattice top!  I was so excited with myself by the second one, I called JP from his spot on the couch to come see!  I made him take my picture!

After I slipped my beloved creations in the oven, I glanced around my kitchen and sighed. What a mess for two little pies and 5 more pints of jam!

Here are the finished products.  I forgot to put tin foil around the crust edge so my edges are quite done, but hey it was my first shot.  I don't think that they are half bad.  I hope the taste great!

After all the all was done, and I wanted the kids to head to baths and bed, JP decided that they should light of some more bottle rockets.  It just seemed like the SENSIBLE thing to do.  At least they had fun. 

For some reason, they can't shoot them out of a BOTTLE.  They use our unused plumbing supplies to shoot them like a BAZOOKA. 

We even had to finish the night off with sparklers!

All I can say is...  WHAT A GREAT DAY!