Zucchini Saxophone

Introducing the zucchini saxophone. I couldn't figure out what to call it. The saxozucchini? The zucchiniphone? I ended up calling it the zucchini saxophone. That works.

See? My kids aren't the only ones who can be creative. 

 

Even More September Catching Up

September 12 was Hug and High Five Day. Some of the teachers at the elementary school were giving high fives as students were leaving. Lucky made sure to give his dad a hug and "high five" when his dad came home from work. 

 

September 12 was also National Video Games Day. I remembered to wear my Mario shirt this time. Woohoo. I went shopping and the gal helping me to check out remarked on my shirt so I told her it was National Video Games Day. She was very happy to find that out because it gave her an excuse to play later. 

I never got to play video games that day but the kids did.

 

September 12 was also Chocolate Milkshake Day. We made woo-woo.

That evening was Lucky's elementary school Fall Festival. He volunteered to help out since he is on the student council. He got to run a booth during the second half of the festival and got to play and eat earlier. And being the sweet boy that he is, he shared his cotton candy with me.

 

September 13 was International Chocolate Day and National Peanut Day. You know what that means. Parfaits! 

 

It was also Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day. I asked the kids to take care of dinner. 

 

It was National Day of Service. I helped tie quilts and took some time to do other service that day. 
Jet had Primary Program practice then got pizza afterward. 

The next day was the Primary Program and he did a pretty good job this year. He sang some of the songs and stayed in his seat when he was supposed to and stood when he was supposed to for the most part. When it was his turn to say his part, he said it so quickly that it was unintelligible but that's okay. Still cute.

After church, Lucky came to choir with me then we decided to walk home together. I walked. Lucky somewhat walked, somewhat ran. Cute kid.

 

September 15 was Agatha Christie's birthday. Nichole and I discussed it because you know she's into mystery writing. 

 

September 16 was Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day. We had cinnamon toast with raisins on top for those that preferred it.

 

September 17 was Monte Cristo Day so of course we had Monte Cristo Sandwiches. We love celebrating that holiday that way. 

 

September 18 was National Cheeseburger Day. I didn't make cheeseburgers but I took some ground turkey and made stroganoff to go along with sauteed zucchini from our garden. And toast because toast is popular around here, especially with homemade bread.

Shelf Cooking

Here's a little shelf cooking I did on August 19, National Potato Day.

I didn't have any fresh potatoes so I pulled out some potato gems to make mashed potato volcanoes with gravy lava, broccoli trees, "those poor people" raisins, and some dino nuggets because dinos and volcanoes just work.

And don't tell me people and dinosaurs wouldn't exist at the same time because I'm a Jurassic Park fan, remember?

I picked a zucchini from our garden that morning and sauteed it for the side because I wanted it but couldn't figure out how it would fit into my volcano scene. 

I asked friends on Instagram and Facebook if anyone had any ideas for next time to let me know. I got several responses from people on Facebook from a Zucchini Dune Sandworm to gravestones for lava covered dinos. I love it when people help me figure out how to celebrate. 

Catching Up August 2025 part I'm not even going to number them this time

August 6 was Wiggle Your Toes Day. I wiggled my toes. Luckily that is an easy one to celebrate because August was crazy and like July, we skipped a lot of things we normally celebrate.

Jeremy and I took a walk around the local farmer's market and saw how crowded it was.

We're still cute. 

Afterward we went home and had root beer floats for Root Beer Float Day.

August 8 was Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbors' Porch Night. I really wanted to celebrate this with zucchini from our garden. The timing didn't work out. Bummer. One was close but it didn't work out.

What I did do that night was go to a Girls Gather activity. Spa Night.

Nichole, Stephanie, and I got together for a relaxing evening. We soaked our feet. We did some meditation. We ate snacks. We played games. We talked and talked.

Oh, I love Stephanie. She is such a good friend and good example. She taught me the following: How do you thrive through trials? Embrace a spa. S=Scriptures P=Prayers A=Affirmations. 

I needed that night and I'm grateful for taking the opportunity to breathe and relax.

 

Like Nichole and Jr. did in July, Lucky took swim lessons in August.

August 10 was Lazy Day. I wasn't that lazy but I did have a moment of resting that day. Jr. came and joined me in my room showing me on his phone what Lucky was doing in VR Golf. I got to watch with Jr. as Lucky made an impossible shot, bouncing off the railing of some stairs down into the area it was supposed to be, maybe even into the hole. I don't remember exactly. It was awesome, though.

Another day we played VR Golf for Family Home Evening. It was my first time ever doing VR. Obviously other family members have done it. Kind of crazy the first time. Lots of "Whoah."

 

August 11 was Play in the Sand Day. I chose not to because of the algal bloom in the lake. I did look at the sand, though, and got a nice morning picture in my spot that I like. 

 

August 13 was Alfred Hitchcock's Birthday. We watched two Alfred Hitchcock movies that day. I slept through one of them.

Palindrome Days

It's always fun when there are interesting dates on the calendar. Remember 2-22-22?

Or 12-31-23?

 

I recently told my brother of an experience I had.

Me: Happy 04-14-24

Paco: That's a good one! Happy sequential day to you, too!

Me: Thanks. It was funny how I realized it. I was putting away dinner leftovers and as I was putting the date on the label, I saw 4-14-24, thought it was cool, and quickly added a 0 to the front.

Palindrome dates are fun, too. We had fun in January of 2021 with 1-21-21 and 1-22-21, etc.

 

My brother and I texted each other a few times during recent "palindrome days." 4-20-24 through 4-29-24 or 42024 through 42924. Palindrome days!

 

4-20-24 I'll blog about later. But here's a hint.

 

4-21-24 Tuna Rights Day. Lucky ate tuna. Bwah ha ha ha!

I walked home after choir after church.

4-22-24 Jelly Bean Day. I had a handful of jelly beans.

 

4-23-24 Cherry Cheesecake Day. I made Cherry Cheesecake from a box. Jr. Jr. loved it. He ate more than anyone else.

4-24-24 Pigs in a Blanket Day. I made Lil' Smokies in a Blanket.

We also got Nichole home from BYU!

My brother texted me: Happy 42424! Not as cool as the last one, but is a palindrome for Life, the Universe, and Everything. 

 

Speaking of Life, the Universe, and Everything, Jeremy and Nichole went to that writing conference in February. During these Palindrome Days, they watched some videos online from another writing conference for fantasy. And Nichole shaped a cheeseball that looked like a dragon for them to snack on while watching classes.

4-25-24 Telephone Day. Nichole used a cell phone in a video game. 

Zucchini Bread Day. I made zucchini bread (and the next day I took some to a friend who I knew liked zucchini bread). 

World Penguin Day. We had fish sticks (and zucchini bread). 

National Plumbers Day. Jr. played Mario music on guitar. 

Perfect Date Day. It was nice weather until it rained. My sister and brother-in-law went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. I didn't but here's a picture of tulips.

4-26-24 I text my brother again to wish him Happy 4-26-24

 

4-27-24 I made baked donuts but... filled the batter too much so they had muffin tops. So Lucky and I pulled off around the outside parts to make them a little bit more donut shaped.

4-28-24 Terry Pratchett's birthday. Look for a blog post about that soon. 

4-29-24 We had family home evening while I was making dinner so the kids colored pictures while sharing the table with ingredients.

 

Those were our recent Palindrome Days.

A Few August Celebrations

August 5 was Work Like a Dog Day. I made the kids work hard...

with the occasional dance break.

It was also Night Out Day. The van needed gas so Jeremy and I took a quick jaunt out to the gas station together that night.

 

August 7 was Raspberries 'n Cream Day. We didn't have raspberries but we had fresh blackberries our neighbors picked so I made cupcakes which we topped with whipped topping and blackberries. Close enough.

August 8 was Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch Night. Nobody put any on our porch but friends gave us some zucchini later so we could celebrate the holiday observed. Sweet friends.

A Week of Celebrating

Monday, August 8, was Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch Night. We didn't but look what we harvested later.

 

Tuesday, August 9, was Book Lover's Day. There was a lot of book reading in our home. Go figure.

Wednesday, August 10, was National S'mores Day. Jr. Jr. had a special chocolate bar he wanted to use on his s'more so he did. The rest of us had milk chocolate or dark chocolate.

Thursday, August 11, was Sons and Daughters Day. I took my sons and daughter to the UCB potluck. Jeremy joined us a bit later but it was again nice to be around our friends, the birders.

The kids have had enough experience now with a number of these people, they aren't all strangers. I love it. Plus there was another toddler birder running around the kids had fun playing with.

 

Friday, August 12, was Middle Child's Day. Once again Jr. Jr. picked what we'd have for dinner besides julienne fries which I was going to make anyway because it was Julienne Fries Day. He was okay with that.

We also wanted to see the meteor shower like we saw last year. It was cloudy and there was a really bright moon and it was late so some of us stayed home and some of us went anyway. We only saw a few shooting stars because of the clouds and moon. A couple kids fell asleep on the drive and slept through it but they didn't miss much. Jeremy and I did have a little bonding time with our exact middle child and that was so nice.

This is the three of us... in shadow form. Notice if you can my bunny ears, thanks to my husband, not my middle child... this time.

The next morning, my sister heard a big boom that shook her house. It was decided later that it was a meteor entering Earth's atmosphere and causing a sonic boom.

 

For our at home potluck on Sunday, August 14, I fried up that zucchini from our garden.

Before, After, and After After

 

And this is the rest of what we ate:

Lucky wanted to learn how to make chicken Caesar salad wraps so I taught him for this. He did a good job, he just needed some help with rolling them up.

Nichole made a cheeseball that looked like a lizard on a rock because August 14 was World Lizard Day.