Summer Days

It is so hard to consistently write in here when it is so beautiful out side and there is so much to do.  If I lived some place always hot and beautiful, I might never write again.  Maybe winter and cold rainy days serve the purpose of causing the angst and discontentment needed to write.  I'd like to believe they do, in fact, serve some purpose. 

Since words are failing me, I'm just gonna post some pictures of summer.

After 2nd Convention Day
At the Pool (We had our District
Convention last weekend in Kennewick.)

Soaking up a little Sunshine.

 

Kiddos burning some energy up after
sitting and listening so well all day.

Big Beautiful Strawberries(from the little patch in my backyard)

My Little Vege Garden

Flowers and Herbs

Strawberry Patch

Kloe and Her Baby

Jessy

 



Jessy's Dog Momma, Gertie, right before we brought Jessy home.

 Kloe has been doing such a good job taking care of Jessy.  It hasn't been easy for her either!  Usually summer has a lot of sleep-in days for her, but since Jessy moved in, Kloe gets up a couple times a night to let her go outside and she has to get up early for potty/breakfast/puppy playtime.  Not that all of this has happened with zero whining, but it has been fairly minimal.  Like I said, she's doing a good job.

One Fine Day of Parachutes and Pickles, and some other Stuff

Okay.  So, since I am having a hard time getting started here, I will commence making a list of what my day consisted of:

1.  Woke up.  It was pouring outside.  Derrin had made a good strong fortifying brew of coffee for me (bless you, my son), and after my first cup I drove both kids to school so they could avoid the wet walk to the bus.

2.  Had a second cup of coffee.

3.  Started a third.

4. Off to school to go on a field trip with The Derrin and his class. Experienced a bus ride with lots of loud and kinda smelly 10 year olds (Derrin being the exception of that description, of course). Our destination: The Smoke Jumper Visitor Center, where we learned about all things pertaining to Smoke Jumpers.

Thing that stands out in my mind: To be a Smoke Jumper, you must be sized from 5'3" 120 lbs. to 6'6" 200 lbs. I am baffled how a little 120 pounder would be able to jump out of a plane into trees, cut herself out of the parachute to get out of the trees (because it seemed like that was a pretty common occurrence?), climb out of tree to get off backpack and other carry-ables (all weighing in at 120 lbs. themselves!) and then climb back up the tree to retrieve the stuck parachute, then climb back down the tree and haul her massive pack to make camp and then go cut down trees and chop fire lines. It would take a stronger woman than myself to do all that, or want to do all that. I want to meet a little woman that has done all of that someday. Anyways, Derrin took a lot of pictures (I'll post some) and it was good to hang out with him.

A picture of a picture.  No blue skies today.

Smoke Jumpers have to sew their own fire resistant jumping clothes.

Ropes to hang/dry parachutes

5.  Grabbed lunch for Derrick and myself, came home, balanced Quickbooks (I am practically an EXPERT at this point.  It may be time to start hiring myself out to help other companies with THEIR Quickbook questions.  Heh.), worked on Derrick's website issues, worked on marketing, just plain worked.

6.  Dropped a giant, and very full jar of pickles.  Spent the next half hour cleaning pickles and pickle juice off the kitchen floor.  Tried to see the bright side:  Vinegar is a good cleaner, even if it DOES smell like garlic.  My house may smell like pickles for awhile.  I may smell like pickles for awhile.

7.  Went to the library.  Finally invested the dollar to replace my library card AND paid the fine I have owed for two years.  Such a clean slate.  Kids both got tons of books.

8.  Dinner.  Derrick made his beautiful Salmon, rice and corn. 

9.  And then our Family Study.  Nice lesson on praying for strength, and also about our motivations.

10.  Took a picture of these flowers, because they were beautiful and the sun was finally out, shining through their petals:



11.  Put the kids to bed.

12.  Gave Kloes's lizard Lizzy another warm bath and put vege oil on her.  I'm worried about her:(  She hasn't eaten in quite awhile.  All the message boards I've gone to say warm baths and oil.  Hoping she feels better soon.

13.  Actually, this is what I didn't do today, or any other day for the last week:  Run.  Between the rain and the millions of things I've been doing, when in the world am I supposed to run.  *sigh*  Had a feeling that THAT would be the thing to slip through the cracks.  Darn it.

14.  Watched flooding happen all around us.  I think that we are going to be okay where we are- it would have to come up quite a bit to get us.  I hope.

15.  Wrote this blog.

And I will call that The End.  Of this day.

Beautiful Rain

It is raining outside this morning.  A LOT.  The plants are soaking it in though.  On days like this I like to pretend I'm somewhere more exotic, like Ireland or Scotland. 

It gets so green here this time of year.  If you were to put pictures of Ireland right next to pictures of our area during Springtime, you'd see a lot of similarities. 

Now, if only we could have cooler accents.

I planted some of flowers this weekend- mostly some dahlias I bought awhile ago. All this rain is soaking into their little roots right now.

I also planted a big pot with a dahlia plant and some bulbs that are supposed to turn into big green leafy things. As soon as they start to come up, I'm going to finally do the running water from a flower pot to a buried pot (love water sounds) project (it's in my 'Projects I want To Try' file to the right). I have the water pump, the ten gallon bucket and the flower pots, but I still need some hard wire and big rocks to put over the hole with the big buried bucket.

My Peonies, sitting around, just being beautiful.

I'm hoping it clears up this afternoon. I'd love to go for a run. I did the six miles yesterday where I speed walk uphill (in a residential area that is straight UP) for three miles, and then run the magic dirt road the 3 miles back home.

This is my most favoritist time of year to run. Seriously, it is breathtaking how pretty it is out there.

These Kids of Mine

Kloe as "Queen Ester" at a going away party we had:)

Derrin was David's best friend and King Saul's son "Jonathan"

Darby and Kloe and Anikan- The Three Princesses:-D

The Kiddies spendin' the day together




"This is so demoralizing. 
I HATE being a cat."

 

Kloe's"Clean" bedroom with new "Accessories":)

A tea party

Went for a walk this morning- beautiful and windy.

Still snow in those mountains- just hoping it doesn't come down further.

Spring Flowers

Anticipation

"The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own,' or 'real' life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life." ~ C.S. Lewis---- I just like this quote a lot. It reminds me of winter (and of winter-ish times in life), and of how I wish half of my life away while I pine for Spring to come.

The sun is out today.  I went out for a walk/run, and there was an actual warm breeze blowing in my face  *happy sigh*.  The first day of spring is in 33 more days.  It is coming people!!!  I am looking forward to seeing all the snow melt, and to little tulips and spring flowers pushing up through unfrozen dirt.  Looking forward to walking out my door and being hit with the delicious smell of spring.... also to seeing the fields turn yellow with wild flowers.  Can't wait to get my hands into the dirt,  planting seeds and anticipating their growth.  Soon there will be days and days of sun, just waiting for all living things to come out and soak it up.

In the mean time, I am happy to be here, right now- even if it is still winter.

roses

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