Lots of things growing around here...

1. My patience for cleaning up after paint

2. The sibling bond :-) Brice was out of the house before 6 one morning, so of course Will had to wake up before I'd gotten ready for work. I played for awhile but finally had to get in the shower. He cried for a bit, then left. Later when I went looking for him I found him curled up next to his sister in her bed. Of course I didn't have my camera set right, and he heard me and moved before I got the next picture!

3. Will continues to grow as well as his constant on-the-move attitude!

4. The lake grew back!

5. 'Growing' new friends :-)

6. Everyone's tolerance continues to grow to Will's "pick me up, let me down" demands, each of which last less than 10 seconds

7. Gabbie's imagination! She thought she was Ariel the Little Mermaid. Hope the lake is as clean as they say it is!

8. Little Kennedy is growing! As well as my bravery as I made the cake for her special day. Main lesson learned: don't do homemade fondant on a hot, humid day

9. The chickens are growing!

10. I'm growing...older. My back is bothering me more in the garden this year. I spend 5 hours weeding one Sunday and have been in pain since. So...I was about to give it up as the enjoyment was gone. However, I have a new best friend! A tiller I can handle. Less back pain, less time, and I love gardening again.

11. With growing older my insanity is growing. 25 cents for plants, but not sure where they will go!

12. The roses are growing; so awesome this year

13. My landscaping project last year wasn't a total failure! The plants are growing! Apparantly the grass is growing as well and needs mowed also!

14. More of the plants growing, and the butterflies they attract

15. More of the landscaping...obviously my happiness is growing that it all didn't die!

16. The baby goats in the background are growing, and the turkeys up closer are growing-on my nerves. Gabbie was in the pool but somehow ducked out of the pic!

17. The garden is growing! Obviously still has weeds, but looking much better!

18. My garden abilities are growing...these 2 rows of tomatoes were all started in the house from seed in late Feb. And they look good with no chemicals/fertilizer used!

19. Basil growing. I LOVE the smell of Basil...we are gonna have some good homemade pesto!

20. The rabbits are growing, because they are getting meals from my garden :-) They have been good at eating the broccoli.

21. The cherry trees are growing and producing

22. So are the plum trees

23. Our house is going to 'grow' again. I have started to gut the bedroom downstairs, where we lose a lot of heat every winter. We are still in dicsussion with what to do with it....there is a bathroom in it now. We are debating a bathroom again, or a walk in closet, or seeing if it can be used to expand the kitchen (which is on the other side of it). For now I'll just hammer out walls :-)

24. The kitten is growing...which we have had for 2 weeks now. She has incredible patience for how she is handled by 2 small kids!

25. Gabbie's talents are always growing! She made a cake

26. Silly picture, but my foot is growing! Medially that is. I was trying to get a photo of the swelling at the end of the day to take with to my 4th opinion...so far the concensus is the bone can not be removed, but they can do a tendon reconstruction. Which will put an end to my running. I figured that was fine, I'd just back off running a bit and do more swimming or biking. Lately I can hardly stand on it at the end of the day without having to take something for pain, so I'm frustrated but will figure it out! I think what bothers me most is I see Gabbie's feet and they look like they will have the same issues as mine someday. We'll have to keep her in good shoes!

Okay enough of the growing theme! We are having an awesome summer. Well, the kids and I are. Brice is having a terrible summer. That will happen when you are still trying to plant crops on June 22nd. And when you spend an afternoon getting the tractor 'un-stuck' from in the field.

I've been continuing making adjustments to our lifestyle, thanks to some 'real food' blogs I've been reading. As far as I know the house is free of aspertame, and as of last Sunday we are free of a microwave. I only got 1 angry phone call from Brice over a lunch hour about "how am I supposed to heat up these lima beans!!" Only 1 box of Mac and Cheese left, thanks to my new fear of yellow dye #5. We have our own eggs, cows milk, and I've been trying to do all homemade bread but haven't been able to keep up with our demand! The garden will help, and already we've had homegrown spinach salad.

That's all from here. Mostly boring to everyone I'm sure, but I keep a blog mostly as a diary to myself anyway. I figure if you are bored you can close the browser window anytime :-) Just kidding, thanks for reading! Have a great weekend and week~

Picture explosion!

These are in random order...but in summary: Gabbie's dance recital, trip to Des Moines for Dam to Dam and the Guard family day with my brother-in-law, and summer stuff :-)

Father son picture at the family day last Saturday.

She thought it was warm enough!

Family picture. I get to look crappy because my sister and I ran 12.4 miles and did not stop to shower before we went to the base :-)

A year ago this would have freaked her out. I don't think she knew who these characters were, but she posed for a pic anyway!

We were surprized she did this!

First Sunday School session last Sunday. I love how you mention school to kids and they assume they need a backpack

Monday she had to plan the menu from the book as well as write the items on her chalkboard. I actually could read that she wrote 'Chocolate Chip Cookies' so that's promising for school this fall.

I'm stuck!!

Cheeeese!

She was reading him a book. Sometimes they get along really good...most of the time they are pushing each others buttons

Time to hatch some eggs; there goes more of my counter space thanks to the incubater

Look what I did! I always find it a milestone when they can do a puzzle without help. For all I know he's been doing this, I just noticed it today

Family day, Brice and Jon

Thanks to Grandpa we got the training wheels on to give this a try. We have lots of work to do; she fell off 3 times the first go round. Doesn't help she has no attention to task

Flowers from Dance recital!

The Finale on Sunday night...most of the little ones in the front row were half asleep I think! 

With Kennedy

My view of the recital for 2 nights (Gabbie is second from the left)

Hundling Grandparents

With Jodi

Ready to perform!

G'ma Linda

Saturday night with Daddy

The Dancer and I

The class and their teacher getting ready to go onstage

This past Sunday Gabbie started T-ball. More proof she is our experiment child: she is the only one who showed up without a glove. Duh Mom!

6 years ago tonight Brice and I were not parents, and we were pulling an "all nighter" driving to Minnesota to get my sister and bring her home to plan our Dad's funeral. I was overwhelmed with phone calls of concerned friends, overwhelmed with the task in front of us of organizing a group of people who did not see eye to eye as well as try to honor the wishes of a man who obviously had not been well, plus do this in a matter of 3 bereavement days before I would need to return to work. I thought the next year was full of more difficulty than I thought one could handle as everyone went about the grieving process in their own manner, looking back now I think this was over several years-especially for myself as I think of my interactions with others and incorporating being a parent 1 1/2 years after Dad passed away. Today I am sad that he is not here to be with his grandchildren, but can honestly say I am happy and for once am not sad for the past or waiting for something in the future. I am confident he is enjoying the kids from his own seat in Heaven. And I am wishing someone would have told me 6 years ago how far we would come by this point...but what would be the fun of that!