Once on this Island

Here we are at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ. Waiting for the show to start. The main character was one of the contestants (SYESHA MERCADO) from American Idol, so that was pretty cool.  She was great! We had a good time.

camo moth

here is an awesome moth

hot days ahead

After 2 days of work we finally got the pool all situated. The reason it took so long was because they had to run an electric line so we can put outlets on the deck. And also because the pool was broken and we had to get new parts and start from ground zero. So, there you have it.

See who is the first one in?  (with only like 3 inches of water)

Ryan's basement studio

Why can't I ever remember to get the "before" pictures? This corner of our basement was piled with stuff and we spent a few hours cleaning it out and making Ryan this nifty little recording area. Not so bad for an afternoon, huh? Now he has a cool place to play, practice and record.  He is going to make a new CD this summer in between all the other stuff he has going on.

Here they are practicing for Sunday worship at Preakness.  Kyle is doing really well with the djembe.

celebrations and celery

Ryan and Kyle made us a super delicious Chicken Piccata dish for our anniversary dinner.  It was very spectacular!!  We all enjoyed it!

I decided to plant my celery. Now let's see if it keeps on growing now that it's in the dirt. I'll keep you posted.  

This is the Mother's Day card that Kyle made for me. :) I won't show you the inside, but it was very special!! I sure do love my kids.

a dandy bird house

Here's a little surprise for Kyle.  He doesn't know I recorded this.  Ok, so it's not a great recording, but oh well.

There was a patch of pretty dandelions out by the road.  It was so odd, it looked like somebody deliberately planted it there.  (It wasn't me!!)  haha.. but anyway, Kyle is here looking at them and wondering how come they are there.


Here's a quick little look at some of the fun things I've been growing.  It's fun to watch them grow!

Ryan's Wild Journey

THIS.IS.PHE.NOM.E.NAL.

Michigan fun

Here are some pictures from our last day in Michigan.  The boys had such a great time hanging out with their cousins and friends there!  So glad they got to see them.

I had some fun jumping on the trampoline.  I used to be a gymnast and did a lot of trampoline then, and I took high dive lessons (which also used trampoline skills), but the only thing I kept thinking about was that the last time I was on one, I was doing flips to practice for a show, and I was supposed to be jumping from one tramp to another and my foot slipped off the edge, and I ended up landing on my head on the floor and I bent my neck, and couldn't walk for days!  It was pretty bad and so I was afraid to go high this time.  hehe... but I did have fun anyway.  Good thing I have a baby trampoline at home that I probably won't hurt myself on.  It's more my size these days.

And Ryan had a really good time getting some dance lessons from Jon.  I think Shannon enjoyed it too.

Kyle was just very happy to be spending time with friends who missed him and couldn't wait to see him again!

Already planning our next trip back out there!

Hilary's visit

We had such a nice time with Hilary..I'm so glad she got to come over...it was sad to say goodbye!

We celebrated Darlene's birthday as well.

Sad faces...

transition into summer

Yesterday we drove to Grace Bible College to pick up the boys. I foolishly thought they'd be about all packed up and be almost ready to go. haha... boy was I wrong! When we walked in there and I saw that mess, I nearly had a panic attack it was so bad. A while after we were there the Rolff's showed up and jumped in to help. It went pretty fast after that. We got done and went to lunch and had a really nice time.

Then after that we had to take the Subaru to be looked at because a few of the lights were on.  Thankfully it was nothing serious!  We didn't want to drive back to NJ and have it break down on the way.

Today Hilary is here in Canton hanging out with us and meeting the cousins and stuff. Going out to dinner tonight, and then sadly we will have to say goodbye to her.

my Mother's Day ood

See the resemblance?  I was making soup and salad for lunch today, and cutting up some of our white radishes, and suddenly I was inspired by the Ood on Dr. Who.  It really made me laugh so I had to post it for the boys.

 

So, it's Mother's Day. It is always nice to be reminded that my decision to stay home and raise my kids is the best thing I ever did, and the most important job I'll ever have. I'm so thankful to God that I was able to do it, and thankful that my husband supported my decision and encouraged me when I felt inadequate. I can vividly remember many days when I felt I had made a mistake keeping my kids home from normal school and trying to teach them myself, but I don't regret it for 1 second. I know that raising my boys, training them up in the Lord, and teaching them was my job, not the government's. I wasn't smart enough to teach them, but God in His goodness, covered my back and picked up my slack. He truly is the God who was strong in my weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

gardening fun

I told you I'd keep you updated on my celery, so here it is. Isn't this fantastic? My sweet potatoes are starting to grow roots now as well...and my onions are doing fabulously. I might have to put them in my garden soon.

Here is my 2nd batch of lettuce from my garden. It's so cool to eat food that you've grown yourself. I love that.

Darryl and I had so much fun working on the garden today. I got it all mulched with grass clippings (mmm, they smell so good and they are so soft on my feet) and Darryl got the fence put up so no critters eat my goods. So happy to have the garden this far along before we leave.

Our dryer has a problem so I hung my stuff up outside today.  What a gorgeous day.  Made me wish our little pool was up and filled with water.  I hope the dryer gets fixed soon since the boys are coming home, and I don't have a clothes line.  

Mother's Day roses

I found these beautiful roses outside my front door yesterday. I admit I was shocked...I thought they were from Darryl. lol but then I was even more shocked when I discovered they were from my eldest son!

They are just beautiful, Ryan!! And I'm so glad they came ahead of time so I can enjoy them before we go to Michigan...otherwise, you know, they will be all dead and yucky when we get back.

I had a good day today even though I'm exhausted from not sleeping last night. I got some tomato and pepper plants in the garden, as well as turnips and carrots. Our radishes are doing splendidly, and we also had some different kinds of lettuce with our lunch today. What a treat! I think the garden is going to do really great this year. I wanted to get it mostly done before we head to Michigan. Darryl got me some gardening tools and a really cool foot bath/massage thing for tired, achy feet. It felt so good. oh yeah, we got Kyle's room mostly back together last night. But no pics because I want the boys to be surprised when they get home. hehe

bear in our yard

Finally saw a bear in our yard after not seeing one all last year. He walked through the back yard and then went and played on the trees Darryl cut down, munching on some sweet leaves. And then he wandered over to our compost pile and sniffed around all the yummies. Then he went back to the woods, which is where I shot this video. So, here you can see him.

Darryl and I finally got most of Ryan's room put back together. Hoping to get Kyle's underway tomorrow night. In the mean time our oven stopped working because the control died on it. Funny, huh? Sears should be here a few days after the boys get back from college. So anyway, I worked so hard at getting a nice floor plan for our kitchen but it looks like Craig's plan is a go. I like it just fine, but I had to be sure about everything. Now it's a matter of details and decorating decisions (color, tile, cabinets, wood, etc, etc). But I think that will be the fun part!! I feel relieved already knowing that it is getting closer.

designing my kitchen

This is what I worked on all day. Yep, seriously. I measured everything, planned, thought, considered, plotted, and learned some new software called SmartDraw. It was definitely time-consuming. I made 5 different kitchen/dining room floor plan iterations in total. I think it was a day well spent.  I hope Craig will be proud of me.  I hope to continue on into the family room at some point.

This was my mental diversion for today. I was shocked when I saw that the flowers had opened up. It looks so utterly amazing. It's party plastic looking, and partly fluffy.

holy hoya!

Ok, so here are some fun pictures.  These first 2 are from my hoya that Jennifer Speers gave me the clipping of when we went to Orlando for the World's yoyo competition a couple years ago. I looked up and saw this funny looking flower and I reached up to grab it b/c I didn't think it was real.  It was hard to see b/c it was underneath the leaves.  haha.. I'm so glad I saw it before it dies!

Here are a few of my year old radishes.  haha... they are so good!

And here are all the little celery sprouts that are growing... aren't they cute?  I will keep you posted!