Packed out weekend!

This weekend was a full one. I got to help at Javin's end of the school year party on Friday.We had carnival type game stations and group games. I ran the squirt-the-ball-off-the-bottle game. It was very hot so the ice cream sandwiches were a big hit! So was the face painting. Javin only has a few more days of school left. Am I prepared for school to be out already??? Not yet.

Straight from there we loaded up in Dad's big truck and drove on down to the Peck's for a very moving weekend. ;) We got in on the last of their big moving sale and helped pack up the house. We were amazed by all the interesting things we uncovered, like a big bag of sunglasses.

The moving truck comes this coming weekend. We will miss not having them within driving range. The kids especially enjoyed some Uncle Darin time during this trip.

Acrobat Kids

Javin was running on the dangerous side of life today. He spent the afternoon in Mimi's tree making a tree house. But ended taking a hard fall, so that was the end of that.

Then he moved on to daredevil swinging. I snapped some pictures then he fell off of that too. Kailyn joined right in and added her upside down swinging number. All in all, we only ended up with bumps and bruises, although he was just sure he broke his arm during the tree incident.

Always finish with a bow!

I, on the other hand, made some progress on my Slope O Weeds. It now has a section cleared away that will soon be the Slope O Ribbon Grass, thanks to Charlene's generous donation. One person's trash is another's treasure. She was so happy to get rid of it and it will be perfect for hill. The green vegetation on the right side of the picture was how this section of the hill looked this morning.

My irises opened up this week. They are so pretty. My mystery plants started blooming this week too. This plant emerged after a year that I planted alyssum and nierembergia, which are annuals. I left the alyssum in the ground all winter and it never died. I think the 2 mixed and now I have my own version - a hardy, spreading variation of alyssum. I've got pink, red and white flowers. The only downfall is that is doesn't bloom for very long. If anyone wants a start, just let me know.

fun times

Javin has had several more Tball games. They are 3 innings long and last about an hour and 15 minutes. Each kid gets to bat each time and they don't keep track of outs or runs. The kids are easily distracted, especially when it comes to playing in the dirt. Javin loves to goof around. Here he is with his glove on his head. The coaches are so patient with the kids. The have a team huddle and give a team cheer. They are all just learning and the emphasis is on having fun.

Kailyn has added winking to her latest list of talents. She is one sweet and spunky kid!

Gardening Bug Has Bitten Me

Today was a bit cool with some rain sprinkles, but not nasty enough to stop my planting urge. When it's time to plant flowers, I kick into overdrive. When we had that burst of warm weather this week, the gardening bug bit me. We had the garden, that I share with my parents, tilled up and ready to plant this week. So all that was left was to buy the plants and seeds. I am not sure what I was thinking, but I took the kids WITH ME to the greenhouse! That's a crazywoman's idea! However, my kids love flowers, so they thought it was a great idea. Mt Eaton Greenhouse (one of my favorites) may never be same again! It really wasn't that bad, after I confined them to lawn chairs for a "rest" while I picked out plants. You see, they were so excited they just couldn't help running up and down the narrow greenhouse aisles excitedly admiring all the pretty flowers. After I got all my flowers, they wanted a plant of their own. So Kailyn has a pink Summer Snapdragon/Angel Flower and Javin has a purple one. I needed a nap after that trip.

So today the planting began. I don't think I have ever planted my annuals in a sweatshirt and rain before. Ahh the memories! I have purple saliva (for Javin) and pink petunias (for Kailyn) and white petunias ( for Kevin) in my front flower beds. I bought so many things at the greenhouse (there was a discount when you buy a whole flat!) that I had to go digging through the garage for my extra pots. I have scarlet mocha non-stop begonias in the back of the house. I hope Molly doesn't destroy them when she runs through the flower bed. I have got to figure out how to keep her out the there! I hope these do well this year. Some years my begonias do great and other years they haven't been too hot. I love them when they are exploding with blooms. In my pots I have a lemon grass, gerbera daisies, a trailing silvery plant and purple majesty ornamental grass. This year I added a lupine and a columbine plant to my perennial gardens. I tried a lupine one time before but it didn't survive. Hopefully this one will like the new location better. I just love those towering spikes. Okay so flowers make me just about giddy! But I love it!

Then we also planted the garden today between rain sprinkles. The kids each planted their sunflower seeds. Javin has mammoth sunflowers that will grow 12 feet tall. Kailyn has white sunflowers that will be 5 feet tall. We planted row after row of green beans. Hopefully enough for both our families and Joani to can for the year. Last year we didn't have enough, I guess. I am planning to make salsa this year, so we have tomato and pepper plants for that. We have 2 cherry tomato plants, which the kids love to eat straight from the garden. New this year is broccoli. My kids love it and I hope we can grow some nice plants ourselves. So bunnies stay away from my broccoli plants or else! If anyone has broccoli growing tips please pass them along. I did get a zucchini plant so if you find a bag of zucchini on your front porch, you will know that my plant was very productive! Javin was very helpful in planting this year. Kailyn was a bit too helpful, so she went to take a nap while we finished up. We are going to add sweet potatoes and cucumbers yet.

So there you have it - my planting frenzy day!

Mother's Day Blessings

Grandpa and Grandma came up this weekend to see Javin's Tball game and celebrate Mother's Day. Javin loves playing Tball. However, the dirt was calling his name and he couldn't resist the urge to build a dirt pile during the 2nd inning. It was a dust filled afternoon.

On Sunday the kids were full of surprises and love for their mom on Mother's Day. I was served breakfast in bed by Javin. He fixed me cereal and juice and brought it up all by himself. He did the same for Grandma who was sleeping in the basement. What a sweetheart! They each picked out thoughtful gifts for me and made wonderful cards. It was a wonderful day! We all ate out together and gave the Mom's a break!
In the evening we got to go to my grandparents' house for a cookout and golf ball toss game. I don't remember the name of it. It was a beautiful night to sit around and talk and enjoy each other.

Javin's Big Adventure

Thursday was Javin's big trip to the hospital! After 2 cancellations, I think everyone was ready to get it over with. He got up early and followed the instructions to not eat or drink anything. He had his breakfast at 9 pm the night before - an egg sandwich before bed! He took his cat, snowflake, along as well as his blanket. The first thing he asked the registration lady was - "Who's my nurse going to be?" You see, Stanley's mom, Loretta, was working in surgery today and he really wanted to have her for his nurse. Javin was very brave and courageous as he waited until it was his turn to have his adenoids removed. I got to wear a lovely looking jumpsuit, shoe covers, mask and hat. He thought I looked rather funny. Somehow I forgot to get a picture of that! The nurse came and wheeled his bed back to surgery and I went with him. He breathed in through the mask and was out in no time. The nurse quickly whisked me off before I lost it. I had a moment of panic as I saw him lying there unresponsive, but it passed quickly. Surgery was quick and the doctor was back in no time. Everything went smoothly. I was able to go back to recovery with him after he woke up. He had some pain in his throat from the breathing tube. After he had some water he was feeling better. He even got to have Loretta for his nurse after surgery. He relaxed and watched the Discovery Channel for a few hours and then we went home. Loretta even treated him to a ride in the wheel chair on the way to the car. He complained of a stomach ache when we got home and then went to sleep. He was fine by evening time. He is not sore at all he says. We are so glad it is over with and he is recovering so well.

Weekend Details

Here is a picture of the table that I had fun decorating for the Women's Tea. My weekend took a different turn on the way there as Kailyn got sick and threw up in the car. So that was the end of the Tea for me. She was sick all weekend with the stomach flu! Monday night Mom and I circled the house with oil and prayed for all this sickness to stop. Kailyn slept great Monday night and woke up Tuesday totally better. All praise to God! I am so glad to see her smiling and laughing again today.

It was such a beautiful day today. We enjoyed being outside. Mom and I tackled the mulching chores together. Javin headed straight for the sandbox. That's his favorite place to go and imaginary play for hours.

Grand Opening

I haven't had time to write about the "Grand Opening" of our restaurant last Saturday yet. Javin was so excited to have some guests over to our house and open our "restaurant" for them. So Bill/Joy and Nathan/Liz and Mark/Lois and families played along.

Kailyn welcomed everyone while Javin handed out menus. We had on these cool aprons that were stocked with straws in our pockets like all great servers do! (By the time we were ready to eat there were 3 more kids with aprons and straws - good thing I have a huge bag of straws for just such an occasion and lots of aprons.) Javin took drink orders and delivered the drinks. He had planned to use a tray but, thankfully he forgot all about that and just carried them in his hands. Whew!

It was a fun and lively evening with 6 kids and a dog. Jack kept us busy by tasting everything in my house. chalk and dog food where the most unpleasant on his menu. Javin and Trey put all their straws to good use!

So if you see a sign out at the end of our driveway, stop in for a bite to eat at our restaurant - Advertising -that's the next thing he wants to do!

Sick Bay

The Sick Bay has arrived at my house again. It seems the Sick Bay has visited far too much this year. Javin has been battling with sinus infections mainly, with some ear infections and a round of the flu and the nasty burn on his arm this year. Kailyn has had a cold here and there, an ear infection and the flu, dry skin problems and now a major case of poison ivy.

Javin has been scheduled twice now to have his adenoids removed to clear up his chronic sinus problems. It is very interesting that he somehow developed a fever the night before his surgery so it has been canceled both times. It is so frustrating to have to cancel the surgery because of the problem you are trying to fix is flared up. Right now he is on antibiotics to get over the current sinus infection. The boy hates to take the medicine. He gagged and threw up at least 3 times during the last round of antibiotics. So I suggested a non liquid form this time. He managed to get the chewables down today after much coaxing and a few stern words - crushed up in applesauce is the method of choice.

Kailyn, on the other hand, had to get a steroid shot for her poison ivy this week. Her knee is completely swollen and hot. She has patches of it all over her body. She tries really hard not to scratch which I am very impressed with. She gets this funny look on her face and her hand just wants to go to the itchy spot. You can tell she is trying not to do it. It makes me itchy just talking about it. So I am a bit stressed out today with both kids suffering some kind of ailment. One sick kid I can handle, two sick kids tends to put me over the top.

However, I am getting away for a bit tomorrow night as I go decorate my table I am preparing for the Women's Tea at church. I get to set up a table with my dishes and a centerpiece. I am looking forward to being able to do something creative and a pretty. So check back later to see pictures from the tea.

Tball Time

T-ball has begun at our house! Javin loves it. The kids on the teams are so cute. The ages are 5 and 6 years old. They hit the ball off of a tee instead of pitching. Tonights game ended early because of a storm that was coming in.