Pix That Just Make Me Smile

Library Flip Card

The kids got a flip card from the library for doing their summer reading. It's basically a coupon book. Since we've been pretty bored, it was a perfect distraction. 

Our first stop was for cupcakes.

Some free bowling( my phone died so no other pix)

A little Chick-fil-a and some Orange Leaf frozen yogurt

We also got some crazy bread from Little Caesar. We are excited to do the rest of our activities on our cards.

Rain and Sunshine

My pictures of the yard were just a month ago but look how much it has changed with a little rain and some sunshine.  I'm glad they zinnias grew so well.  It looks much less awkward now.  And the garden got ginormous.  I can almost taste the salsa.  Wish my cilantro hadn't all died.  The one thing I sincerely have not been able to grow.

Guess Who

Our kids all look like siblings.  We aren't one of those families that no one looks alike.  While Vanessa and Brigham seem to have more similar coloring, they all have very similar features.  Check out these pics of the little sleepy heads.  They're all different ages, but all toddlers.

Boating

We were invited by Halls and Alphins to go boating with them.  They have a cabin at Bull Shoals and it's a beautiful lake.  They have a perfect spot where the water is always glassy and there are almost never any people.  The kids had a blast, as did Jon and I.  I can't even begin to say how much I would love to have a boat and take the kids boating every weekend.  A girl can dream.

Fourth of July

We started the morning at at some local fountains.  It was designed to look like a natural spring so you can walk up and down the "river" and then the fountain area is at the bottom.  The kids really enjoy it but it's a tough one to do without Jon.

That evening, we had friends over for a BBQ and fireworks.  We had the Durtschis and Doughertys.  Vanessa was so excited.  After we got home from the fountains, I think she asked every thirty minutes when everyone would be over.

Yard Camp Out

We need to plan a camping trip but in the mean time, we decided a good use of the fire pit and tent was in order.  The kids loved it.  It is definitely something we will need to do again.

Make Me Laugh, Make Me Cry

My kids, like all kids, have the potential to make me a stark raving lunatic at times. When you have tried asking, tried time out, tried yelling and they still keep doing it (or not doing it). Yes, I have those finer parenting moments too. Too often, really.

But luckily for me, my kids also make me laugh. Really hard. And they make me smile those awwwww smiles. And they make my heart swell with pride.

So naturally, they should be documented.

Benson doesn't like to say the prayer and we have a hard time getting him to do it. But we finally convinced him one day at dinner. I was helping but he interjected many of his own concerns. "Please bless the turtles. Keep them safe. Help them be healthy." He would repeat a few of my phrases and then remind me again of the turtles. "Please bless the turtles. Don't let them die." This went on the entire prayer and it was really hard to keep a straight face.

Gardening Lessons

One thing I read about gardening is that you should keep a journal and well, that hasn't happened.  I am a horrible journal keeper.  Last year I started out trying the square foot gardening system.  I don't know if I did it wrong or what but we way over planted our garden last year.  By the time everything was full grown it was overwhelming trying to harvest anything.
This year we slimmed down considerably.  I also bought all heirloom, non-gmo seeds.  I felt like the flavors we had last year were not amazing so we're hoping for something mouth watering this year.  Last year we bought all burpee seeds from Lowes. 
When I started my seeds, I kept them in a bedroom upstairs, away from tiny hands.  I used our photography lights (they have fluorescent bulbs) as grow lights and turned our space heater on until the seeds sprouted.  They had all sprouted within 10 days.  I turned the heater off but kept the lamp on and the plants grew way more than they did last year.  I also used little plastic pots I bought on amazon rather than the seed trays I used the year before.  The extra space made a big difference I think.  When I was ready to plant outside, I stuck them outside for almost an entire afternoon and when I went to get them, they were practically dead.  In fact, one plant did die.  I pulled them back inside in their little bubble for a couple days before taking them outside to the covered patio.  I kept them there a few days.  Then I moved them under a tree for a few days.  Then I moved them out for a couple hours a day for a couple days.  Then I finally planted them.  It sounds like more work than it was.  I hadn't considered needing to harden the plants off to the sun as well as to the range of temperatures and wind.  The full range of UV nearly burned the leaves to bits. 
I have been using random organic fertilizers.  I also started a compost pile that isn't going so hot.  Hehe. 
Our strawberries did well this year except we lost more than half our harvest to bugs and decay.  This year, I tried cutting the strawberries down to their crowns one week after they were done bearing.  We have june bearing strawberries, not ever bearing.  I did this about a week ago and they are already starting to grow back.  We'll see if it does anything for our harvest next year.  I may also try putting up a webbing to keep the strawberries off the ground.  I wish they were a plant that could trellis.
As far as flowers go, we are just beginning to dabble in this area.  The zinnias that we planted seem to be growing well.  They are supposed to be full sun flowers so I almost didn't plant them in our morning sun only spot.  They aren't as tall as they are supposed to be but we do have flower buds.  We bought our Japanese Maples from Lowes for $50.  The other day we were at the nursery and their JMs sell for $100-125 but they were much prettier.  I guess you get what you pay for.  I still like ours just fine though. I also planted some daylily bulbs that I had from Lowes.  Only one grew big enough to produce a flower and it is absolutely breathtaking.  It is under the Japanese maple and it leans almost to the ground to get its needed sun.  I wasn't thinking when I planted it there.  So I'll have to move it to a sunnier spot next year.  I think I decided I'm going to plant azalea in my spot to the right.  The nursery guy told me they have some varieties that stay small.  Perfect.  And in front of my hydrangeas will definitely be daylilies.  Considering how much I love this one flower, I need more of them.  And since they are bulbs, I think I'll throw in some tulips for some spring color.  Pretty sure it will be perfect.  I can't wait to count flowers with Vanessa next year.  Hopefully we'll have lots more!

Summa Summa Time

I feel like 60% of our day someone is like this:

My kids are soooooo bored. I can't and don't want to entertain them 100% of the time but they really want me to do just that. My goal is to do one quality time activity a day, giving them my full attention for at least an hour or more. After that, I would really like to be able to give them activities and then get something done, or even read a book! Some activities we have done lately include going to Jon's softball game and then getting Andy's with friends. Playing mini golf. Story time. Parks. And activities at home like sprinklers. Vanessa's best friend down the street is moving and we're all really sad. It looks like we are going to need to do some friend hunting as well as get Reese over for play dates.

Yard Projects

Here are some updated yard pix.  The front flower bed is a work in progress.  I have given up on the hydrangeas, even though one of the two is growing.  It is going to be an eternity before it is big enough to see.  It is currently surrounded by zinnias that I planted from seed.  I am hoping we get some blooms, but we'll see.  I decided that next year I am going to buy some of the big beautiful vanilla strawberry hydrangeas that I am in love with.  I get excited just thinking about them.  There is also going to be a gap in front of the hydrangeas.  I will need to put something there, I'm thinking maybe daylily.  I planted a clematis that you can't see very well in the picture to grow up the column.  And I still need something to fill the spot to the right.  I think we are done for this year though and we'll wait to add more next spring.  I only want to plant in perennials (other than the zinnias, it was $3 for the seeds though) so I'm just taking my time, trying to plan it out.

 We built a patio off the back patio so now the back entry is completely accessible.  Except that Benson can't open the doors.  But at least his chair can get up and down without any problems.  We plan to build out the patio and do some walkways because we have a major mud problem.  We get a small river just a few feet away from this patio during rainstorms and our house is constantly full of mud.  It will require lots of gravel and tons of work but I think we can remedy it.  This patio was a ton of work because we first used the cement mold you can buy at Lowes and make your own concrete pavers.  I saw it on pinterest and it looked like a great, cheap way to do it.  We had the project completely finished and decided we just didn't like it at all.  So we pulled up all the pavers, moved them to another part of the yard and hauled in sandstone. It really did take forever.  But it's gratifying to finish and think of all the cash you saved my doing it yourself.

 Here is our garden this year.  We have three different varieties of peppers (two each) and three kinds of tomatoes.  Green onions, white onions, garlic, and watermelon.  The strawberries are pretty much done but they were yummy, same with the lettuce.  I also have a pot of basil since it tried to take over the garden last year.  Now that we have pulled the lettuce I think we are going to plant some pumpkins so we can grow our own jack-o-lanterns.

 Opposite side of the back yard from the garden we built a fenced in area for Rocky to try to contain the poop but it isn't working.  He holds it until he can go by the oak tree.  Grrrrr.  And we also put in a fire pit, that we have already used a couple times.  The long term plan involves a patio surrounding the fire pit and being connected with the other patio.