Mark this one down.....

I was working on some house chores yesterday and really going through lots of paper work and loose ends. You know.....cleaning out a junk drawer stuffed with all my "I'll get to that later" junk. I called the insurance company, called in a prescription refill, sorted some recipes to try, filled in my calendar, collected some free meal coupons and put them in my purse...and I even cleaned out my purse. I was on a roll. Then, it hit. The "sleepys" settled over me and I really didn't want to do anymore. My poor brain kept telling me to get moving...but my muscles had a mind of their own. So, what could a gal do? I asked (BEGGED) my son to run to Starbucks to pick up a mocha frappucino for me....and I offered to buy him a coffee, too. I don't know if it was the free coffee or a bit of a sympathetic heart looking at his pitiful, tired mama, but off he went to Starbucks.

I sat and relaxed a little bit while sipping on my frappucino. Oh my goodness, what a miracle beverage. Next thing I know I'm out in the kitchen cleaning out cabinets, doing more dishes, and......LAUNDRY!! Now do we EVER get to stop doing laundry?

Sidenote:

Earlier this week, K made a to-do list for the day and she wrote "finish laundry". I had to gently break it to her that that was actually impossible! I looked at her list later in the day and she had scratched off the word "Finish" and just left laundry. It was a little sad, but she is now old enough to know that it doesn't ever stop! Yep, LAUNDRY is a word that is on EVERY single to-do list I have ever written as an adult (and I write lots of lists).

Anyway...back to my frappucino buzz.

So, here I am working on tossing clothes in the wash, moving things to the dryer, folding clothes and putting them away. Suddenly.... a glorious sight appeared before me! I had to blink and rub my eyes to see if what I thought I saw was really there. I even pinched myself...ok, just a teeny, tiny pinch...but enough to know I was indeed awake. I shouted for Kristin to get the camera!! She ran....while I stood guard to make sure it didn't disappear.

I managed to capture the image and I'm considering having a poster made.

ALL OF OUR HAMPERS ARE EMPTY ON THE SAME DAY!!

So, today I made a to-do list......laundry is on it.

I knew it was an image that would quickly fade. Thank goodness, I managed to mark this one down.

Where in the world have I been???

No, the wolves haven't taken me away!!

We have been swamped the past few weeks. I've missed being here sharing pictures and reading your wonderful comments. So, I'm ready to jump right back in your reading schedule. :) We've had a birthday, a week "stay at home" vacation, movie dates, pool days, garden tending, tennis lessons and even some sort of bug. (can't go too long without someone getting sick!)

I'm also looking forward to checking into all my favorite blogs. I haven't even had time for much of that. Hope everyone is having a great start to their summer...even though technically it's still spring!!

life group...

So, what is a Life Group?

It's a group of friends that come together to study God's word and to do "life" together. It's not all bible study....no, it's much more than that. We share the ups and the downs of life...and do a whole lot of laughing!! Since laughing is healthy for you we don't feel so bad when we find we've spent 30 minutes cracking up to the point of tears on a Friday night. :) A few weeks ago we had a cook-out in our backyard and said farewell to our fearless leaders. They've left us for the other coast and will be greatly missed. Of course, we are still holding onto the hope that in a few years' time they will be back with us!!

My baby hits double digits...

When you first have a child many people will warn you that it flies by so fast and that you better enjoy every second. You can't imagine that it will go too quickly though as you battle sleep deprivation, change umpteen diapers, go through teething, terrible threes (yes, I said threes...I don't know why people call it twos!), and other parenting woes. Then one morning you wake up and your BABY is 10. Yes, I said it...TEN. What is up with that? This is the baby. Not my oldest baby, second baby or even third baby. Nope, this is the honest goodness BABY baby. She had the nerve to turn 10.

I figured we would take a look at some of K's loves and things I love about her.

K loves to be crazy at times with one of her brothers or even by herself.



I love that she loves to laugh and that we sometimes can barely stand up straight during our giggle fits.


K LOVES animals.....tame ones and wild ones, big ones and small ones.


I love the fact that I had way too many photos of K with animals to put on this blog. Pictures of her with dogs, birds, goats, cows, pigs, snakes, guinea pigs, etc....




K loves HOT SAUCE on lots of her foods. I love that she cooked these eggs all by herself and that she is learning her way around a kitchen and takes delight in experimenting with food.



K loves water. I love she has worked through her fear of being underwater....and I love the way the water brings out her blue eyes.


K loves science.

I love how she takes the time to be organized with it and loves to learn the hows and whys.



K loves being creative whether it be with a stick and string.....


or a pencil and watercolor. I love how she has found so many ways to express her creativity and she isn't hampered by a mom that lacks the creative bone.



K loves school....ok, maybe not the book work, but she loves when...


...she can take time to create a family trivia game or


decorate cakes to look like maps.

I love that she understands that learning is not all about the books and that she works hard in that area knowing the fun stuff is coming.

K loves sports like tennis and fishing.

I love that she gives it a shot before deciding that something really isn't her favorite. Along the way she discovers what she truly does love.


K loves cleaning and organizing. I love that she keeps me on my toes and makes me think if I truly love, want or need an item or if I'm just hanging onto it for no good reason. Yes, people...she is that good at it! ;)



K loves the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I love listening to her sing along to her cd. I also loved watching her smile all through the dinner theater performance that we went to on her last birthday!


K loves playing in the snow. I love that she ALWAYS builds snow mamas with a baby or two.



K loves Pluto. I love that even though she knows it's a costume, she still loves this Pluto.


She's a great girl and watching her grow has been a blessing to both me and her daddy. Fortunately for me, I believed people when they told me my babies were going to grow up way too fast. I have always tried to treasure each moment I have with them...I KNOW and I UNDERSTAND that time flies. I am now one of those people that goes around telling young moms to enjoy it and let the laundry wait. Guess what!?! It STILL goes way too fast.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS K!!

planting day....

Woohoo, the day has finally come. Yes, sirree...today is the day to get some serious veggies in the ground. Last night Mike and I laid them all out in their respective beds. This morning my mom came over and helped me plant them. We were done before lunch, thank goodness. I did plant seeds and have my radishes getting close to harvesting...hopefully! Now, with some sun, water and luck they will do their job and grow and produce. I want lots and lots of yummy veggies.

Here's an early morning picture of the garden. Every plant has been placed in a spot and is just waiting to get plopped down in the dirt to spread it's roots.

We have 16 pepper plants, so far.....hot ones and sweet ones.

We bought three kinds of squash this year, including these patty pans.

Here's one bed of tomatoes and cukes. (we have two)

Here's the squash bed...


...the pepper bed and



the full garden shot.



We have bush beans, bush pickle cucumbers, bush cucumbers, regular cucumbers, hungarian wax peppers, jalapenos, red bells, orange bells, green bells, sweet banana peppers, serrano peppers, a chocolate pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, patty pan, Mr. Stripey tomatoes, better boy, beef master, sweet 100's, yellow pear tomatoes, an orange heirloom tomato, plum tomatoes and a few other kinds of tomatoes. Also, some herbs, radishes, lettuce and carrots. Although...the lettuce looks a little....sad. We'll see. I'm hoping to bring you lots of good yummy pictures during the summer. Wish me luck!

veggie garden update

It's been a while since we checked out our big spring project. Remember we built six raised veggie garden beds.

Let's take a peek....

Ah....the fresh dirt is ready for planting. I checked and its loaded with big juicy worms, too. Just perfect for growing baskets and baskets of produce.

Wait...what's that in the far bed. Is something coming up already? Let's move in for a closer look.

By golly, is it what I think it is?


YEP!


Our first batch of iceberg lettuce is up! I told you all we were garden masters. Wait till you see what's happening tomorrow in the garden.

HINT....it's quite a bit better then our first harvest.

caterpillars...

'Tis the season to be covered in caterpillars. Gypsy moth caterpillars are everywhere and if you stand outside in one place too long you'll wind up with one, two or five on you. They may be climbing up your pants leg...or under your pants leg! You might have one sitting on your shoulder looking like your pet parrot....or sometimes they wind up in your hair....ewwww!

I know they are pests, but when you have a kid that loves all things furry you just wind up excusing that fact. Every year for at least the past 3 years, K has been bringing a few of these "pets" inside and watching them go through their cycle. It's just something that she does and until this year it's been a fairly ordinary thing. This year, however, her body decided that it was now allergic to gypsy moth caterpillars. Oh what a fun event that was. It took me two days to connect them to the huge itching welts that were popping up on her. Just when I figured it was the caterpillars, she pulled one out of the cage and let it crawl all over her hand. I didn't say anything at the moment, other then put him back in and let's see what happens. And see we did! Thirty minutes passed by and her hand blew up. Welts all up her fingers and her thumb was too fat to bend. Hmmm.....ding, ding....we had the connection. Benadryl brought her back to normal and it's been hands off since. That doesn't stop her from watching them and playing with them....yesterday she put her winter gloves on and played hospital rescuing ones that looked weak! Like I said....she loves ALL things furry.

The other night she went out back to take a few pictures.

Is it just me or do you think these caterpillars are organizing themselves to spell out some message?