Winding Down...

Cherry Tomatoes

Slicing Tomatoes

Orange colius


Red Colius

Enjoying the benefits of a garden... vegetables, fruit and flowers.

While Daddy's away...

the mice will play. I decided to try my hand at grilling. We grilled zucchini from the garden and chicken for Bento. Joey came out and said, "What are you doing? That's Daddy's job." Yes, it is Daddy's job, but sometimes you just have to try. I must say, it wasn't up to Daddy's par, but it was good. And everyone ate. They even ate some zucchini. It wasn't their favorite.

Summer fun at the property!

Molly loves the property. She hangs out, goes for walks, and wades in the creek. Jeep was so happy... I didn't get any pictures of Jeep. I think that he was just moving around too quickly!

Stefan taking a break from playing catch with big brother and Jeff.

Joey decided that he didn't want his picture taken, so he kept shoving his finger up his nose. Like that is going to stop me?!?! Now, he has a picture with his black eye and his finger shoved up his nose.

Emmi loved hanging out with the big girls. She loves Nicollette!

Happy Birthday to Joe and Emmi!

Tante started mailing the kids packages... so now they all want to get their birthday present in the mail.

We were finally all together to celebrate Joe and Emmi's birthdays. We had a wonderful dinner that started with roasted garlic and crab soup. Emmi requested "libs" (ribs), mimi mac, and green beans. I made a rum cake for dessert for the adults (although the kids could eat it as well) and funfetti cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for the kids. The best part... Tante was here for a visit.

First Day (a week late)

The boys were so excited to start school. They were up and ready to go. New supplies, backpacks, etc.

Somehow, Joey takes the cake with "First Day of School" stories. He himself has had a good laugh over these... so there is no harm in sharing them with all of you!

#1: I drove to school behind the bus to help Stefan get to class. Joey says to me... don't you come to my class (well, of course now I have to go to his class too!) After I get Stefan settled in, I head down to make sure Joey is set (when he was in 1st grade he said the same thing and went I went to check on him he was in the doorway like a deer in headlights). So, I enter his room and put my hand on his shoulder and tell him to have a good day. He turns and says, "What are you doing here?!?!?!" Another mom is standing nearby and said Joey, look at me I'm here taking video and pictures of my son. Joey just turned away, completely embarrassed.

#2 The kids get off the bus that afternoon. I see Stefan, I see all the neighborhood girls, but no Joey. I yell to the substitute bus driver to check for Joey... she can't hear me. So she crosses me across the street. I start to walk up the bus steps when Joey finally realizes that the stall is for HIM! He leaves the bus totally embarrassed. (traffic was held up in both directions) I ask him if he had fallen asleep or if he was just chatting with friends... "... no Mom, I was just daydreaming."

Oh, boy... what a year this will be!

and... Stefan just had a good day!

YUCK!

The kids participated in a summer YUCK Olympics with the church kids club. This was called yuck. It was a substance that broke down in water to slippery goo. The kids all ran and slid... they had a blast. It was everywhere. So much fun!

Windy Seaside

We headed to Seaside Oregon for a fun day on the beach. On arriving, as we had suspected, it was the weekend of the annual Volleyball tournament. Joe was a volleyball player... a very good volleyball player. He immediately ran into an old friend. We found a spot to rest our things and tried to start to play. The wind was so bad that the sand was whipping up all around us. After a few moments of trying, with sand in everything and on everybody, we decided to call it a day. We were all disappointed as it would have been so great to watch some volleyball, but sometimes things just don't work out. Better luck next year.