Don't You Love...

...the aroma of herbed veggies roasting in your oven? Yeah, me too.

I can't wait till they're done!

Busy Bees

Yesterday, while I was weeding in the garden, my kids were fascinated by the bees buzzing happily around the bright yellow zucchini flowers. They talked excitedly about how bees like nectar and how they makes honey. I didn't think much about it when they wandered off toward the house.

The next thing I knew, they ran down the hill with straws in their hands and told me that they wanted to drink nectar from the flowers too! So they bent down, poked their straws in the middle of the flowers, and tried to suck the nectar out! I started laughing so hard when Noelle looked at me so puzzled and asked, "Why isn't it working?".

They disappeared again into the house and when I walked in later I found that they hadn't entirely given up their quest for nectar. On the table I saw the honey bear with the lid off with two honey covered straws on either side! I thought it was so funny and smart that I didn't even care about the mess!

Apricot Harvest

We've been busy picking apricots, and green beans, and zucchini, and we're STILL weeding... Phew! Farm work never stops!

Sleepy Angels

Joel and I love watching our kids sleep.

So peaceful...
We found this curly mop of hair in our bed this morning. We're not sure when he crawled in with us.

Our precious girl has taken to having her own "slumber parties" on the floor of her room.

Look! They get along when they're sleep! ;o)

Just Because...

...I love this family of mine so much!

Advertising Works

My daughter loves As Seen on TV commercials and it is driving me crazy! Nearly every day I field requests for things like Crazy Art, Bendaroos, and Chixos girls.

Her current favorite is the Bumpit, a strange device that looks like some kind of mousetrap but is apparently designed to give you Tracy Turnblad hair. In Noelle's words, "Mom, I need a Bumpit so my hair can be so big and bumpy too!".

Now she doesn't just think about products that she needs but she thinks of others as well. She is so unselfish that way! She tells Zach that he really needs the gravity defying race cars and her daddy needs the Tool Band-It.

Just this morning she very seriously asked me, "Mom, have you ever thought about using Space Bags? Look the layers of plastic protect your blankets and clothes and squish them down!".

Oh boy.

Perhaps we need to limit TV time a little bit more!

We Are Scheduled!

This is what we have been waiting for all year! The hospital finally called to schedule Noelle's procedure for early August! What a relief that it will be done before she goes back to school and before I go back to work. The other good news is that this time they will only be doing balloon dilation of her aortic arch. NO surgery yet, hooray! She will be in and out of the cardiac cath lab in about a day and a half. We would still appreciate your prayers for Noelle, particularly for her anxiety issues before medical procedures (totally understandable given all she has been through but difficult nonetheless). Your love and prayers mean more to us than you could ever know!

Summer Vacation Part Three- Fireworks!

Our kids have seen fireworks before but this year was their first experience wielding the flames themselves. They were so serious at first, standing stock still, sparklers at arm's length, with eyes as big as dinner plates. Eventually, with Joel's help, they both loosened up a bit although it must have been difficult amid the chorus of both mother and grandmother shouting out, "Don't run with those! Give your sister some space! Don't burn yourself! Don't poke your eye out!", etc.

I was glad to see them having so much fun. Really, I was!

Of course then a couple days later the mommy guilt set in after reading an article online about how dangerous it is to let your kids play with sparklers. To paraphrase, the end of a sparkler is hotter than burning wood or melting metal and as a good parent you wouldn't let your kid play with those other things so why the heck are you letting them use sparklers???

Can't anything be fun anymore? Oh well, my kids were well supervised and they had a blast! So there!

Weeding Nightmare

This is what we get for going on vacation... ATTACK OF THE KILLER WEEDS!!!! We could hardly see the carrots and onions. Poor neglected veggies.

Ahhhh! Much better! After a week of intense weeding we have very sore hamstrings and much happier veggies.

Now this makes it all worth it! We rewarded ourselves with with garden fresh stir fried yellow squash and zucchini (I wish the other vegetables were also from our garden but we're not quite there yet).

Summer Vacation Part Two- 4th of July Parade

We made it to the Johnson Parade again this year. The kids had so much fun and had definitely honed their candy collection techniques with the help of their grandmas!

As usual, anything goes at this parade!

We saw the Peace Band again with a few new uniquely dressed members.

Horrors! Next came the "MAN EATING CHICKEN"! Oops, I mean the man, eating chicken.

What parade would be complete without GI Joe and White Trash Barbie?

Grandpa Bob proudly took his turn on the tractor. So did my parents' neighbor! He was busy reloading his homemade, mega squirt gun from the water tub attached to the back of his tractor. Yes, there are many spontaneous water fights that break out during this parade! It's tradition! And yes, we did get wet!

Another Great Giveaway People!

I got a sneak peek of this one at Becky's house the other day. It is awesome! Check out Everyday Becky for contest details!

Summer Vacation Part One- Grandma & Grandpa's Farm

We spent our family vacation in beautiful Palouse country. I still miss it sometimes.

The kids had such a good time at their grandparent's farm.

We put them to work too! Well, they volunteered because work is so much more fun when granparents are involved!

The highlight of the day had to be rides behind this shiny red tractor! Zach was so excited!

Fresh Basil

After a long week of "vacation" and an even longer trip home, I found peace and rest enjoying simple comforts. Like fresh green aromatic basil from the garden simmering in my spaghetti sauce.

Ahhh, there's no place like home!