A new addition...

We have exciting news at our house! We have 5 new baby kittens that joined the clan last night. We had a busy day. We had gone swimming in the afternoon so the kids were very tired. At 8 we decided it was bedtime. I came out from putting the kids to bed and the cat was making weird faces at me through the window so I decided to investigate. Upon going outside, it was obvious what was happening! I grabbed Melon and put her in the basket I had ready for her next to the house. She is a young cat and the first litter of kittens. Brandon says I was a good labor coach. Over the next 2 hours we proceeded to have 5 babies. The girls happened to get out of bed so they were able to witness the first 3 babies! They were so excited, they were up at 5:30 this morning to check on them!

The arrival of baby #3!

This was taken this morning. Mama cat must have done her job overnight, all 5 babies were huddled up sleeping. Perfectly content.

I also have a short video of the babies last night. Now the girls have the job of coming up with 5 names!

"No Mama"

We had some pictures done for Matthew's 2nd birthday coming up in July. He isn't very comfortable around the camera and I new going in it may not be pretty. We walked into the store, Matthew says. "no mama!". I ask Matthew to take a picture or play or smile and each time I get the response, "no mama!" I tried everything except standing on my head but I don't know that it would have mattered. This is one example of the "no mama" pose. I am beginning to HATE picture time!!! I wasn't going to have the girls' pictures taken but I put them in coordinating outfits~just in case. That didn't even work!

We harvested our first crop of peas out of the garden today. According to my girls, the peas out of Grandma G.'s garden reign supreme and will not be topped. I guess I will cook up my measly pickings and see how they rate! The peas are ready but could have definitely used more sun! There are a couple huge peas in each pod and then 2-3 more that never grew. Hopefully the rain will stop soon!

The Reward

Emma didn't mind at all helping with this chore. I usually am met with some resistance, I think she knew if she wanted to eat them, she would clean them!

Fresh!

Garden Tour

One thing about the move we made this winter...I now have lots of flowers! They look really good, until a hard rain and some wind knocks them down. I am still proud. Colors are emerging all around. Madie is famous for picking me a bouquet, usually the first flower that has bloomed on that particular plant. Oh well, they grow more!

Perfectly Purple Dahlias

Amber waves of ornamental grass...

I am not sure what these are...

Dazzling day lilies

Not sure what this one is either. It has these iridescent green and purple maple-tree leaves.

Pretty in pink geraniums and some funky spiral plant I found...I rather like them!

Climatis

Vibrant lilies...I love the freckles.

This has been a busy week.

Monday: We took the girls to the local theme park. Madie rode all three roller coasters and loved the first 2, hated the last! Emma did the Silly Silo all by herself. Crazy girl! We stood at the top and watched! The weather turned out to be perfect and we had a great day! I felt guilty for leaving Matthew at the babysitter's but I am quite sure he had more fun playing with John Deere's than sitting in a stroller all day!

Tuesday: The girls had friends over the stay the night. The got along well and had a great time. Emma's friend got homesick and decided she wanted to bail at 9:30 which caused some commotion. After that all went well!

Wednesday: We spent the day recovering from out sleepover. I also tried to mow the lawn. It needed it VERY badly with all the recent rain. I don't have a good working relationship with our new lawn tractor. I am used to something a little smaller and not with jet-propelled blades that suck up everything within a ten-foot radius. I have been mowing since I was 10 and have not destroyed as many things as I have this spring. Lets see...1. I ran over a ground wire for the electric fence 2. I hit the center bar which holds the doors to the morton building shut...jarred it just a little 3. Somehow I must have caught a wire to the chain link fence. Split the thing right in two. I heard a "chink" and the fence split in two and rolled up. Not one of my finer moments. And then, drumroll please, Wednesday I decided to try it one more time. I was mowing along, being extra careful, when I hear a loud clanging noise followed by the machine completely turning off. Come to find out, the arm that holds the deck to the mower decided to snap off. Not my fault but still...really! Did it have to happen when I was driving the silly thing???

Anyway, I had cake class #2 with Betsy and her sister-in-law, Erica. We practiced making stencils with piping gel. This is how it turned out. So much fun! I am rather proud. Brandon and I sampled a taste but we had to leave the cupcake for the girls to see when they woke up!

Thursday: I took the kids to the swimming pool yesterday afternoon. They had a blast! I love that they are finally getting older where they can have a little freedom. I feel comfortable enough to let them go more than 5 feet away from me! Emma loved the water slides and was able to go by herself. Madie practiced putting her head in and jumping. Matthew, it took him a while to get the idea of what we were doing there, but once he did there was no stopping him. He was bailing off the side in no time. He didn't even care if I was holding on to him. My arms are tired today from hoisting him onto the side of the pool...nothing like 50 reps with a 30 pound weight! After a couple hours we were tuckered out and headed home for a nap.

A perfect 1st week of summer! Except for the rain!

Summer has arrived!

Yesterday was the official 1st day of summer in our household. The girls have been out of school since last Friday but I wasn't off of work until yesterday. We started the day out with rain...lots of rain, but it was soon over and we were off. We started by getting some groceries. The kids spent last week at Grandma and Grandpa G.'s house. They had tons of fun and enjoyed every minute. I skimped on groceries since the kids were gone so we were in desperate need of food!
When we got home, we headed outside. Here are some of the day's activities.

Madie rode her bike.

Matthew was on bug patrol. He does NOT like bugs. Here he is telling me "bug!"
I don't know how this boy is going to grow up on an acreage when a single bug will stop him in his tracks!

Playing in the pool.

While we were getting groceries, they had a generic version of the slip-n-slide for 5 bucks. I think we had five dollars worth of fun yesterday. The slide was in use from 12:30-7:30 with a snack break and a supper break. Fun Times!!! Here is Madie taking the plunge.

SlAsH! Emma was trying to see how far she could slide. By the end of the night she was a good 10 ft past the end of the slide. Got grass???

More sliding fun!

Grandma and Grandpa R. stopped by for a grilled burger and to watch the kids slide. Matthew didn't particularly care for the slide, a combo of mud and cold water didn't equal fun for him. He liked watching though. Brandon and I even managed to go down a few times...I will save that picture and keep it to myself. You all don't need to be scarred for life!!!

Happy Summer!