The garden is coming along! I have to laugh when I think how puny it was when our garden judges arrived. (Hoping our poster and journal made up for a beginning garden!)
As usual, it is hot and sunny one day and cold and rainy the next. Spring. And, as usual, we already have some prematurely browning leaves. I sure wish I knew how to garden a little better. But, I will continue to try and continue to garden because it really is so worth it.
X-man got some sprinklers for his birthday, so the kids have had fun the last few days enjoying a different sort of water fun than the pool. And so the pool waits for the hot summer days…
Yes! Even the girl who doesn’t like fruit loves our peaches — and has eaten several! Despite the dirty rat, we have more than enough for munching as well as making jam.
Watching our little X-man eat them is so sweet. Every day he asks for a peach. Every day he gets a funny look as he takes the first bite. And, every day he eats about half before giving the rest to the chickens. I think the jury is still out for him on this one! (But how sweet that he gets so excited and keeps asking and trying!)
Every Wednesday and Thursday, the girls look forward to going to art class. And, every Wednesday and Thursday, the boys look forward to playing in the art teacher’s yard. She has a flower arbor leading to her backyard, A stone path has given us lots of opportunities to play leap frog. The secret garden is fun to visit. There are ample hiding spots for hide and seek. But, the biggest attraction of all is the rope swing. Malachi can climb to the top or lets me push him super high. Even X-man enjoys it, as long as it’s not “too hard!!”
We are praying for our sweet teacher as she is currently battling cancer and her daughter is teaching. Looking forward to many more dates with my boys in her backyard next year while my kids continue to learn amazing art techniques!
Q: What do you do when you are given 2 free tickets to Disneyland, but you have 5 kids?
A: You get a babysitter!
It was so needed… a day at Disneyland with my guy. The weather was perfect. There were a few bumps in the road — like getting a text on the way there from our babysitter saying she was sick and couldn’t watch the kids when they were done with school! But, it all worked out. Despite the crowds, we were able to enjoy every minute because of our motto: “It’s all easy without kids!” (Sorry, kiddos!)
And before you feel too sorry for them, know that we are taking them to Great Wolf Lodge next week!
Just outside Natalie’s window, a couple of baby birds appeared the other day. We watched as they hopped around and tried out their new wings. It was quite precious. And, I thought it was especially precious that they were outside of the window of the girl that made me a bird lover. Natalie named them and was able to watch them for a few days before they finally disappeared. Perhaps next year she will have some more sweet visitors.
Just beyond Natalie’s window, we have another tree… and some other not-so-sweet visitors. The rats have eaten dozens of peaches. DOZENS! Thankfully, we still have quite a few, and I am hoping to get to making my peach jam this week.
Sierra… You’re too funny!
Once again we switched piano teachers; (not by choice). But, we were blessed to find someone mid-semester and the kids were still able to participate in a recital. Checking off one activity for the year! (Summer, how I love you!)
Daniel chose a pretty crazy week to have his birthday this year! This week included: state testing, memory master testing, Taekwando testing, garden judging, a piano recital, a Sunday school meeting, buying a new car, dinner for a friend who had a baby, two other birthdays, dog-sitting, a shift trade, an overtime, him teaching a Chinese class, and right smack on his birthday a promotional job interview… all while doing “regular life,” as well! We’re all running on fumes and counting down until summer, but we had a nice day celebrating our wonderful “Papa!” He made us all delicious beer batter fish tacos from scratch, and we made him a toasted coconut cake from scratch. I’d say it was a pretty good deal on my part! Since Daniel was gone most of the morning for his interview, we didn’t plan any big activities. Instead, after the yummy dinner and cake, we put our oldest in charge of babysitting and putting all the kids to bed, locked our door, and had a room date.
Happy birthday, to my favorite man on the planet!
The end of an era… Last night we sent our girls to their LAST Glitter Glam! (The older two, that is!) And… I forgot my camera! Bummer. But, I did manage to snap a few pics before they whisked away to shower and go to bed.
Take a look at some past Glitter Glams:
Meanwhile, I had a date with my 3 boys; poke bowls, milkshakes, and then a trip to Cable Airport where we looked at dozens of planes and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset.
Until next year, Glitter Glam! (… when the big girls become workers, and Sierra goes with friends!)
Our little dude turned 3 this week. Normally, on a day like today I would be editing and posting all birthday-related pictures. Sadly, since I am still unable to post his pictures fully, it seems silly to post party pics.
Our X-man is such a tease. He still says he’s 2, but the twinkle in his eye and the smirk on his lips lets me know he knows he is 3. He is such a smart, witty little thing.
One more from our newly-turned-3-year-old: He has been walking around the house singing :Hallelujah,” lately. I don’t recognize the tune at all, nor do I have a clue where he got it. Sunday school, perhaps? It sure is sweet, though.
My middle gave me the sweetest card today. She had found some jasmine growing wild in our backyard, and knows how much I love it! After she gave me the card, she pulled me outside and showed me where it is. She made my day!
The apricot tree is FINALLY blossoming. I was beginning to get worried, as we already have some ripe peaches, and yet the apricot tree was looking dead. Praying we get lots of apricots; my all-time favorite fruit!
My husband left for Boston this morning, so it is just the kiddos and me this week. I’m considering caving on my “no screen time during the school week” rule, as we are all recovering from X-man’s party, and still very tired.
Laundry: Does it ever end? There is currently clean laundry sprawled all over my floor that was once folded and sorted, but since scattered and messed up as it never got put away. Tragedy.
Blog books! Ok, after years of wanting to publish our blog books so we have a hard copy in case something happens, I finally bit the financial bullet and began. I printed 8 books, which took us from 2008 – 2013. They are SO wonderful to have, and the kids have been devouring them. I am so blessed to have them! Can’t wait for another coupon code so I can start publishing more. (Not-to-mention, they have inspired me to try to keep up with blogging!)
Kids are itching to pick our peaches… don’t they look amazing? (Unfortunately, the rats have helped themselves, as well.
On the bright side, no rats have invaded our strawberries the past few weeks. I’m not sure why, but I am grateful!
The big girls found a bunch of ladybugs on their run, so they sent the little ones out to catch them and add them to our garden. AND THEY DID. Hooray!
Our little greenhouse seeds are starting to grow. 🙂
