Day 273 of 365

McKenna was sick in the middle of the night, so she had to stay home from school today. Of course, she was perfectly fine all day, but it allowed me to do some much needed house cleaning and laundry. She was bored by noon, and spent about one-half hour sitting on the porch waiting for the school bus to bring her friends home. I wouldn't let her play with anyone today, but she greeted them from her chair on the porch.

Day 271-272 of 365

Some of my students can't afford to have senior portraits done, and, since I need the practice, I offered to take them. I love working with older subjects. They are so much fun, not to mention they listen and do exactly what I asked. I can't wait to do more next week.

Day 270 of 365

I think this is Lilly's "I am really sick of you taking photos of me, mom, so just get it over with already" face. I see this one a lot.

Day 269 of 365

Only one more stripe to go before McKenna earns her advanced blue belt. Don't mess with her.

Day 268 of 365

The hydrangea are perfect for clipping right now. I love this pink hue.

Day 267 of 365

It was a great day to be a Bison! After tailgating and connecting with old college friends in the NDSU lot at the fairgrounds, we watched the Bison beat the Gophers in an exciting game. It was just like being back in college (except for our sore feet, heartburn and feeling ready for bed by 10pm).

Day 266 of 365

The first leaves of our maple tree are starting to change. A few more weeks and I'll be dressing up the girls to do our annual fall photo shoot at the nearby park. I love the sound of crunching leaves underfoot.

Day 265 of 365

Love this smile. Kids are so much fun when they're happy.

Day 264 of 365

Thanks to the generosity of a friend and co-worker, we now have a piano. My days of piano lessons (and clarinet, for that matter) were short-lived, but there is actually some musical ability in the Gullickson family so I'm hopeful the girls inherited some of that. For now, they seem excited at the prospect of piano lessons. I may even give it another try myself.

Day 263 of 365

A wonderful babysitter and friend is back home visiting from Mexico so we gathered for some food and drink to catch up with her. The kids performed a "show" for us, complete with Taylor Swift karaoke and dance routines. Such talent is hard to find.

Day 262 of 365

Had a pretty lousy day and didn't take a single photo. Insert frowny face here.

Day 261 of 365

Not sure what others do with all of the artwork generated by kids, but some of ours is displayed on the laundry room and basement doors. It makes me smile to see it each time I walk by those doors.

Days 259-260 of 365

Had a great weekend with my mom and aunts at the cabin. Good food, fun, shopping, laughs and sleep. Got some new goodies for the cabin thanks to my aunts and slept in both days. Couldn't ask for a better weekend!

Day 258 of 365

Made a double batch of caramel corn for my upcoming girls' weekend. My mom, 4 of my aunts and I are headed to the cabin tomorrow. Hoping for one last cruise around the lake on the pontoon.

Day 257 of 365

From 90 degrees to overnight freeze in just a few days. I hope my tomato plants survive - they are absolutely full of tomatoes that have yet to ripen. I picked what I could but would hate to lose all that yumminess.

Day 256 of 365

Gymnastics has started again and Lillian is even more excited than last year. She has the same coach and one of the same girls in her class. We've added dance to the mix of activities this year, so I'm curious which one will come out on top.

Day 255 of 365

It was bound to happen, right? I don't have a photo for day 255; it's the first day I've missed since starting this project on January 1. I'm not one for excuses, but I was at work for 14 hours...

Day 254 of 365

Watching the coverage of 9/11 tonight brought forth a lot of questions from McKenna. We had never really discussed the events of that day with her, and it's hard to put into words that an 8 year old will understand. How to explain the "why" of that day to a child? I just hugged them extra long tonight.

Day 253 of 365

The mini tomatoes are ripening like crazy, and Lillian loves to pick them. None of these even made it into the house, we ate them up while swimming in the backyard with the neighbors. It was our last day in the pool; it's draining as I write this. Looks like some cool weather is on the way.

Day 252 of 365

It was a pizza kind of night. With a limited amount of time between arriving home from work and then having to return to sell football tickets, I went the easy route for dinner. Little Caesar's opened up in our area awhile back, and since I hadn't had their pizza in over a decade, I thought we'd give it a try. For $5 a pizza, I can't really complain!

Day 251 of 365

Went to a fabulous jewelry party at my neighbor's mom's house on Thursday evening. These beautiful pieces are from a designer in Santa Monica and we enjoyed trying them (while drinking wine, of course). I went home with a ring and lots of items for my wish list!

Day 250 of 365

It's only my first week back teaching, and I'm already behind blogging. This isn't looking good, folks. Although I love to cook, I hate rushing to do so when returning home from work. The dreaded "what's for dinner" question often leaves me standing in front of the refrigerator hoping for inspiration. I have found that when I pre-cook things like ground beef or chicken, making dinner is much easier. I usually buy meat in bulk at Costco and then take one evening to cook it all up and prepare it for the deep freeze. These bags of ground beef will become chili, spaghetti pie and goulash at some point this fall.

Day 249 of 365

One of the hardest parts of being a working parent is missing my girls' first day of school each year. As a high school teacher, I am typically gone before anyone else in the house is even awake. That means the traditional back to school photographs fall to my husband. Armed with the point-and-shoot Sony, he poses the girls on the porch and goes to it. I do appreciate the effort (thanks, honey), but oh, how I wish I could be here for these mornings (and not just to take the photos).

Day 248 of 365

We had one last summer meal with our neighbors tonight, and one of them brought this delicious cake. I say this every summer, but I can't believe how quickly these past three months passed by. I remember my mom telling us kids how "time goes faster" when you get to be an adult; she is so right on that one.

Day 247 of 365

Meet the Gizmo, one of my favorite Minnesota State Fair foods. It's a combination of ground beef and sweet Italian sausage smothered in marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. Along with cheese curds, cotton candy, french fries, cookies and a vanilla malt, it was my dinner last night. Oh, how I love the fair!

Day 246 of 365

It was pretty cloudy, but I wanted to snap a few silhouettes of McKenna. She gave me about 5 minutes before declaring the mosquitos were too terrible to continue. I don't love this shot, but I really didn't take many pictures today.

Day 245 of 365

I love Costco. There is something reassuring to me about buying in bulk. I just feel better knowing there are 12 rolls of paper towels, 3 dozen eggs, 250 Ziploc bags and 36 Fiber One bars in my pantry. In the case of emergency, we are set, at least in the food and household goods category.

Day 244 of 365

Went to the nursery today for some dirt and saw the mums on display. I like to buy mine later in September, but just seeing them got me excited for fall.