Why I love my Friday's.......

Those that know me, know I haven't worked a Friday in almost two years. This year or should I say this summer as been has been very stressful, crazy and some days I wonder what I was thinking?? But Friday's are my day to spend with my kids to do whatever we want.

Today, the kids and I didn't go downstairs for breakfast till almost 8:30. For Jack that is really late, usually he is wide awake at 7:00am (At least God loves an early bird). We were lacking in the breakfast food department but we made due and no one really complained. Jack was very concerned why I wasn't eating breakfast.

I had to explain to Jack I was having a few tests this morning and had to fast (I was allowed water) and could eat after it was done. It was just the simple exam for life insurance. No thanks to our previous agent we were forced to shop for new life insurance. So my exam was today. I think Jack was most fascinated with watching the nurse draw Mommy's blood. Maddie didn't speak she just watched with big eyes, not sure if she blinked or not. If you have ever had a conversation with Jack once he is fascinated with something he will not stop asking questions until he is completely satisfied.

20 minutes later we could move on........

Moving on meant getting the lawn mowed before it rained. It started to sprinkle a little but I was successful in mowing the grass so Phil wouldn't have to. Phil will have to weed eat as certain power tools I am forbidden to use. This particular one because it was new and slightly expensive. By the time we were done all of us had green feet and we discovered a few things in the yard.

A locust shell hanging upside down in the tree. Had it been a little closer I would have pulled it off the tree so Jack could get his science lesson for the day. He just thought it was really cool and wanted to know all about it.

Then we come to a slightly creepier event that happened outside today. I have this love hate relationship with spiders. They absolutely fascinate me as long as I can control how close they get. There is a particular spider I have an appreciation for. It is a simple garden spider but there is nothing simple about this spider. It is very scary looking but I love them....weird I know.

I was actually happy to find this spider because it is a part of summer. But you have to be careful there is never just one of them. I usually find 3 or 4 of them in my yard every summer. So far I have only found two. They are good to have because they eat lots of other bugs. But today I found the first one in the yard for the summer. I need to remind you this is a baby spider.

From the tip of the longest front leg to the tip of the back longest leg this one is about 3 inches long. Full grown these spiders I have seen 6-7 inches in length. They never try to come in the house, they love the sunshine and I am just in awe of them. (Creepy, I know).

After the spider science lesson we moved on to pulling up "baby" Bob's and seeing if we could get them to take flight. So before I mowed them all over again Katie and I dug three of them up and planted them in pots to see if we could get them a good start.

This one is Maddie's and she named it Minnie Mouse (original I realize) but affirmed my choice in the Minnie Mouse birthday cake I ordered for her.

This is Jack's. I liked the idea that his would be the tallest. I think he did too. However I don't remember what he named it.

I found this pot in the garage that Katie decorated for a plant we moved to the outdoors so she was only to happy to use it again. That of course is until it gets taller and she wants a mason jar just like Jack and Maddie.

When I woke up I had no idea this Friday would be Science Day but the kids loved it. Funny thing is they were more in awe of the spider than I was. I guest the apple doesn't always fall far from the tree.

Happy Friday,

TTFN~

Madelynn Rose

Lately I have noticed that Madelynn likes to pose for pictures. She doesn't always look at the camera but she loves to catwalk...

Earlier today we went up to Costco and found these really cute skirts for the girls. Madelynn combined an existing skirt with the new skirt, a swim hat and came prancing downstairs.

She then decided to turn the hat inside out and become a pirate. She turned and looked at me and exclaimed, "AYE MATEY!!!!" Needless to say Phil busted out laughing.

I turned to talked to Phil about our little pirate. When I turned back to Madelynn this is what I found. All of the kids ended up with Phil's fantastically long eyelashes. Madelynn was the only one who ended up with my brown eyes and the ever famous kool-aid mustache.

TTFN~

Katie May........

I really didn't have that much to say. Just wanted to share my new favorite picture of Katie May.

Not sure if it is the missing tooth, freckles, smile or that bright orange day lily in her hair. I just love it.

Happy Friday!!

TTFN~

Things the kids learned from the back yard....

So in whatever spare time we might have (LOL!!!!), while the kids are playing outside Phil and I have been working on the yard. This usually consists of me mowing and Phil weed eating and we clean up the flowerbeds. As I was mowing one day I noticed out of the corner of my eye the fence moving. This is what was moving. They kids were ecstatic and wouldn't stop touching it.


One day Phil was working and dug up a bunch of landscaping rocks and brought them home. It took Phil, Katie, Jack and myself and the wheelbarrow to get them out of his truck and put them in the back yard. I wasn't quite sure what to do with them when we first started. As I cleaned out around the crepe myrtles we started placing them it all came together. I was really happy they way it all came together and it was free.



Something else we found in the yard were "Baby Bob's". For those of you who don't know, back in 99 we planted a tree not knowing what it was. So we named the tree Bob. It turned into this beautiful tree that has served as homes for the birds, shade for the kids and a perfect anchor for some wooden rope swings.

As I was mowing the other day, I discovered some of the acorns that fell from Bob (Yes, we now know he is an oak tree) in the fall rooted and new trees are growing. I harvested one and moved it to another part of the yard. Hoping it will grab hold and just grow till it's heart's content.

Below is picture of Bob today. I am hoping that in a few years I will the "Baby Bob" starting to become like the original. My only worry is that Bob is a hard wood tree and in a bad storm his branches won't bend they just break, fall down or crash into the house. Always hoping Bob remains good to us.

TTFN~

VBS 2011

Over the last two weeks we have been very busy. Upon returning from DC, Kaitlynn and Jackson attended Vacation Bible School (VBS) and had a great time. They rode with me to the office and then went off to VBS. All week they were singing song and telling me Bible stories.

Kaitlynn was excited one of her Sunday school friends ended up in her VBS class. Jackson just loved it. He loved it so much one morning he woke up, dressed, and came in my room. He realized it it was way too early (try 4:30 AM!!!) so he crawled in my bed fully dressed (hat and all) and went back to sleep.

TTFN~

Honeydew and Chocolate Pie

Recently the kids have discovered honeydew. They get excited when they see it and fight over it.

If I let him, Jack will literally stand in the kitchen and eat it as fast as I cut it up. Maddie likes it so well I bribe her with it to eat foods that are not her favorite. I make her take a bite of the meat she doesn't like so well (trying to get her used to it) in return she gets a bite of honeydew.

That is until it backfired the other day and she bounced up and down in her seat shouting , "Honeydew, Honeydew, Honeydew!!!" Since she ate half of a cheeseburger and she really dislikes ground beef I gave in and she turned into 'hoover sucking up honeydew'.

Since that adventure went so well I decided to get creative. I went snooping through the cupboards, freezer and refrigerator and found the following.....pie crust, chocolate pudding, cool whip, chocolate chips.

After baking the pie crust, filling it with the pudding and cool whip and grating the chocolate chips over the top I snapped a picture and sent it by text to Phil. I titled it, "Tonight's Dessert". Within a few minutes Phil walked in the door. After dinner everyone inhaled the pie.

As the kids were clearing the table I asked Jack if he would put the pie in refrigerator. Phil looked at me and said, "Are you sure that is safe?"

To take precautions I asked Katie to open the child gate and open the refrigerator so Jack could safely put the pie on the shelf. Phil looked at me and said, "Whatever."

I explained he has to learn to help and try new things, besides Jack makes life exciting. Just then I hear, "SPLAT!! Oh No!!!"

"Mommy I dropped the pie!"

I walked in the kitchen and Jack didn't just drop the pie, he dropped it putting it into the refrigerator and it went everywhere. On EVERY SINGLE shelf, in, on and under the drawers and on the floor.

Phil walks in sees the mess and says, "Is that exciting enough for you??"

Point taken.......at least everyone ate a piece before it hit the refrigerator and floor. Jack and I cleaned up the mess and YES it was interesting enough for me. Besides how else is Jack going to learn if I don't let him try knowing it could be a messy result.

So I learned that my kids love Honeydew and Jack is not ready to carry pie from the dining room table to the kitchen.

TTFN~

Graduation in VA.

This past weekend we had the opportunity to help Phil's niece celebrate her high school graduation. As three generations of family came together, the afternoon was full of laughs. There was a boys on girls basketball game with the players ranging from 5-22. Lets not forget the scooter races or just cousins just getting to know each other. There were lots of smiles all around.

TTFN~