Whew.... busy couple of days

Thursday - Rachel and I didn't walk or ride bikes, we worked in her garden and goodness - I was totally soaked after a hard 30 minutes but.... we finished her garden!  it's lovely and she's enjoying watering it a couple of times a day.  I've tried to explain that planting in July means some of the flowers may not make it but she came in today so excited that another flower had opened up!  She loves her Garden Fairies that Grammy gave her..  :)  They are so sweet.  We did have one hopeless cause that seems to be holding it's own.  It's a pretty purple cone flower.  The man at the local hardware/garden center  had it in their trash cart, I asked, awkwardly if we could have it since it was in the trash and he said it wasn't their policy but he would be working,,, 'over there for a few minutes'..... wink wink....  it took me about 10 seconds to realize what he was saying.  (way out of my comfort zone ~   I walked  over to their trash cart and picked up the tall cone flower and put it in our buggy and started to leave.  So far so good... then Rachel says nice and loud, "Mom we have to pay for the flowers or it's stealing!"....   hmmm....  

Patrick had a super time at golf camp - oh and on Thursday Rachel and I had a nice breakfast at one of our favorite places; La Madeline's it's  like a French Bistro of sorts.    Yummy breads, pastries, their fruits are wonderful, soups,  salads great, Cinnamon French Toast is to die for  but this special morning had  muffins and hot tea - it was fun - the big surprise for Rachel was  Daddy finished his meeting early and was able to show up too. 

Today (Friday) we went to a local water park with some friends..... whew!  I was completely wore out at the end of the day.  My friend had a meeting to go to so I took all four children to the park and my friend met us about 2 hours later!  Oh my.  I was so glad to see her when she showed up!  Keeping track of four children at such a place made me a nervous wreck.  I got the one picture of the four of them and they pretty much wanted to all  run different directions! We were there five hours!

Oh -and I finished the book!! (not at the water park - I'm not at that place yet)   :) 

Wednesday

It was so hot today - I don't think it was any different than any other day - it was supposed to be about 95 today - but for some reason it seemed warmer.  Maybe the humidity was up - b/c I was dripping sweat all day today and just wiped out. 

Last night we had the most wonderful rain - it was steady and strong - for almost four hours - and right now we are also receiving a nice rain - I don't think it will last as long as last nights but it is so nice.   Of course you don't see rain like you do in Mississippi - we had rains there that used to last for days.....   maybe that's where  I developed my love for rain showers and thunderstorms.  Remember the big porch at Twin Lakes and the storms that would roll in  while there?  :)  Oops - the current rain storm is gone... I knew it.       

Rachel and I did our walking at the track this morning  and we added one more lap, to her dislike.  She likes  sweating less than me.   lol   We did not work in the garden  today - everything  was so wet from  last nights rain that I just didn't feel like planting  in the mud. 

Oh - we also had a wonderful time at our local bookstore - they are having a sale - 40% off and if you brought in a receipt from one of our neighborhood stores .... an extra 10% off - woohoo.  I  didn't have a receipt but the children and I each picked out a new book.  I found the 3rd in a series that I started reading with a book club in the neighborhood and am hooked...  I'm embarrassed to say - with a vampire love story!  I'm also reading  Beowulf - and  while it's a bit slower I've sworn to read the book before seeing the movie they put out last year starring Anthony Hopkins.   I like the books better but it's fun to see them translated into film. 

One picture today... it's  the morning after our rain - everything is greener and I love sun rises! 

Projects Continued

Just a quick update,  day 2 - and Rachel and I rode bikes this morning... no pictures -it takes two hands to ride and Rachel is a Speed Racer.  We rode a couple of miles - I feel like we could have rode all day - it was wonderful.  I used  to ride a lot in my young single days - the most I ever rode was 82 miles but I did it allot.  There is a ride in Texas - well - there are rides all over Texas - they typically coincide with festivals of some sort = In Tyler there's an  Azalea  Festival, Gainsville has a an Oktoberfest - (that one is yummy too), there's one in Frost, TX, Italy, TX - I used to do all these rides but the biggest by far is the Hotter N Hell Bike Ride in Wichita Falls, Texas AND it takes place in August - (ugh) the heat is miserable.  People from all over the world come to be apart of that ride. The last ride I did there.. was in the late  80's and I was  doing the 82 mile leg of the ride - I did the first 40 miles in 2 hours (yea!  I was riding with the wind)  The 2nd half of the ride took me 4+ hours....   I had to stop b/c of the heat and then I was against  the wind all the way back to the finish - I did finish .... never went that far again but today with the wind in my face and pedaling to keep up with Rachel - for that moment it  was wonderful.  Of course when you get to the corner you have to make sure your 7 year old is looking both ways  and signaling and  teaching the next generation about the absolute coolness of riding bikes.    

After our ride we worked in Rachel's Garden - Very successful - more weeding and cleaning and then the fun stuff began..  :)    She's pretty proud and we are  working on placement of the plants.  

A very  good day...  and I had some yummy tomatoes for lunch! 

Promised Projects...

Part of me doesn't want to say them out loud or show them to anyone because there will be accountability but.... at the same time, I'd like to accomplish some things this summer and think this might be a good way to share and be held accountable.   I'll keep you posted...

 

#1 - Rachel wants a garden.  I didn't plant my vegetables this year and while July isn't the best time to plant in Texas we are moving forward with it.  Being a 'good' mother I want my daughter to appreciate what it takes to make a good garden so I give her garden gloves and the smaller of the rakes and hoeing tools and we begin to clean out the garden.  It's small for gardens out there in the world; just 4x8' but the right size for us right now. 

 

So before pictures and after 15 minutes... needless to say after five minutes of hoeing

 I heard my name being called, "Momma, I don't think I want a garden"  She thought we  would just go and buy the flowers and  plant them.... So she's learned a new word today; prepare  or make ready the flower bed before we put our new plants!  I wanted to do it while the bed  was in the shade - knowing full well if it were sunny and 95 - I would have lost in her in 3 minutes.  

I was walking around the yard making note of all sprinkler heads - we want to put a patio in and need to understand the placement and moving over everything to make it happen. 

#2 A little bit of exercise every day... so after we dropped Patrick off at golf camp, breakfast

 with Daddy - Rachel and I went up to a local middle school and walked around the track a couple of times.  Rachel wanted me to run it....  Yea,,, not there yet - walking is good for me right now.  

#3  My mother recently lost 10 pounds and so she challenged to me lose some with her - so we are shooting for 10 pounds in the next month and a half - hence the little bit of  exercise every day.  It's a good thing... 

#4 More fresh foods and less fast foods.....  I went to our new local farmers market and purchased all this for only $25  ( I think it was a good deal) corn on the cob, new potatoes, onions, green and yellow peppers, green onions, peaches, plums, tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe and some fresh made pasta by a local couple that sell to a couple of the 4 & 5 star restaurants that are nearby and a yummy dill cucumber dressing I love.  

Have a super week!    I'll keep you posted....  

Notes between Daddy and Daughter

Rachel is always writing us notes on this cool  toy - and they are random and constant at the same time - but always  precious - I wanted to get this one down -b/c she brought it to me and wanted me to take a picture of it so she could keep it....... do you see why?..... Her daddy wrote a note back to her...   I love the little things that make life so precious -not just that her daddy wrote her back but she wanted  to keep it by me taking a picture of it.... she's always thinking.  

The Wedding Book - rough draft #1

It is my first attempt  at taking wedding pictures all by myself and the Apple people make it so easy to put a book together.   I hope you all enjoy it!  There are some pictures that will need to be cropped differently but I wanted something to show everyone right away!

I'm pretty proud!   

Love you B! 

It's so hard to do housework..........

I wanted you to see why it's hard for me to get any house work done....   :) 

Their names are Lucy  & Goldie (our rescue puppies) I say puppies but Lucy is three years old and Goldie is now 8 months old and 50+ pounds! She is a Golden/collie mix and Lucy is our Golden/Aussie mix and our lap dog.   Super dogs. 

They follow me around and are consistantly bumping into me or Goldie has actually knocked me down before as I was bending over in the pantry.  When I sit down to fold clothes - the next thing I know I've got Lucy on my right and Goldie trying to 'help' me fold clothes by taking them or trying to roll in the basket or some silly thing. Oh - and the slobbery toys that are dropped in my lap are non stop - yuck.  :) 

In the picture - I had just unloaded the dishwasher and was  trying to put more in when .... they decided to take a rest  right in front of the sink and between me and the dishwasher....  

We have a routine most every night; after hubby and I watch a bit of TV (after kiddos are put to bed) I come downstairs to take care of furry children.  The furry girls get one last time outside for 'business' and chase June bugs then I sit down and work with pictures, email or blog and that is  when Goldie sits very close to me most of the time with her head on my lap - she is such a sweet dog.  I am  in total dismay of  how many animals out there need to be rescued and that I cannot do more.  I wish we could adopt more but two is our limit.  

signing off,   

Pack Leader.....