A day at the park

Today the girls got to have friends over all day. I thought the kids would enjoy spending some time at the park, so we went this morning before it got too hot. We were the only ones there when we got there- the kids thought that was great!
We played there for awhile and then walked to the pond to let the kids feed hot dog buns to the fish. That was fun to watch- the fish just sucked it right down.
In the afternoon we set up the sprinkler, because our pool isn't ready yet, but the kids had a ball playing with the sprinkler too.
Here are some pics:

Take me out to a ballgame

Tuesday night we decided to go and watch Terri play ball. It was such a perfect night to be outside, I thought it was great timing.
Nick and Chelsea took the little girls to play on the toys in the park and then they got to go to the concession stand for a treat. They all loved it!

We had alot of fun watching the game. The game was going well until we left, so I guess next time we have to stay for the whole thing. (Brenda you'll understand this- I had to leave early so I could get home in time to watch Deadliest Catch!)

I promised Terri I wouldn't put any embarrasing pictures up and I'm keeping my word because I do have a couple of great ones I'm not posting!

Here Terri is at bat- see the next picture to see how she did:



She had a great hit and here she is at 2nd ready to go:


Here she is at her position at Left Field- she had a couple of nice catches there:



We had alot of fun watching and we will be back again to route her on!

Wordless Wednesday

Halle reading to daddy

1st day of summer break

It's the first day of our summer break. I got to sleep in which was very nice. I didn't think that would happen because Halle fell asleep at 7:30 last night so I knew she would be up on time in the morning.

She did wake up early, but bless her heart- she just went to the couch and waited for me to get up. I woke up at 8:15 to start my day.

The girls have been wanting to see this:


I thought it would be a fun way to start our summer. It was a cute movie and the kids all enjoyed it.

We get together with friends tomorrow and then I'm watching my friends kids on Wednesday and Friday we get together with Terri.
This week will be over in a flash. I think my whole summer is going to be like that!

Crazy Weather

Well it's been an interesting weather weekend here. Friday we had some bad thunderstorms come through in the afternoon. I have to set the stage for you to understand how I was feeling. We have been hit by lightning twice now and our neighbors have also been hit numerous times, so everytime lightning rolls through, I'm a nervous wreck. Well it started really storming and all of a sudden, I hear the familiar "BOOM" and at the same time, the frame and decorations I have sitting on my wall shelf fall off as the house shook.

We still had electricity so I assumed we hadn't been hit, but I wasn't sure because something had just been hit. I started looking out all my windows and even quick ran outside to check out the outside of the house, because if we had been hit I always want the fire department to check it out in case my attic is burning.

I didn't find anything, so I just watched and waited out the storm. I found out the next day that it was my neighbor that got hit. She said it sounded like a nuclear bomb went off and I agree seeing as my house shook and all- actually later that afternoon, the whole shelf fell off the wall because it had gotten loose from earlier.

So I was relieved that we got by that time with nothing serious, but my nervousness was again raised Saturday night, when more severe storms came through.
Here is what the sky looked like before it got bad:



It was quite the storm! I believe they said about 40,000 hits of lightning were recorded last night. I read today that a 1 person was killed yesterday and 1 this afternoon when trees fell on their cars.

It's supposed to be bad weather again tonight and tomorrow afternoon. I'll be glad when things calm down a bit again!

I've been tagged

Brenda tagged me so here you go:

5 things I like most about summer:
-picnics
-gardens and fresh fruit and vegetables
-swimming
-green grass
-sleeping in


5 things I hate about summer:
Well- I think Brenda about summed it up so I'm copying her answer

-heat
-humidity
-heat
-humidity
-heat and humidity!!!!!

If you haven't been tagged yet- feel free to play along~

1 more task done

I'm surprised I'm still able to type because I painted again!
It's a sickness I tell you. I decided awhile back that I wanted to re paint my living room. I had some colors in mind so I got some sample paint and had swatches all over my living room. Well we have home groups coming over Sunday and I didn't want my living room looking like that so I decided to just do a couple of walls to cover them up and then I couldn't stop! I ended up doing the whole living room and hall and down the stairs and the basement hallway!

My hand is officially sore and I'm really done now!

Here's the before shot:




Here's the after shot- you're going to have to take my word that the couch doesn't clash with the walls, because the color is not coming through quite right:
Edited to add- the couches are actually a sage green- see what I mean about the colors not coming through correctly!!

Wordless Wednesday

I'm sad- my last baby just graduated from Kindergarten

The big project results

Over Memorial Day I told you that besides the landscaping, We were working on a big project. It's finished and it's time to show the hard work.
Our house has vinyl siding and cedar shakes on it. We were both really tired of the dark stain on the cedar so we decided to paint them.

Here's a photo of work in progress so you can see how dark it was before:


Here's the finished product: Don't look too close at the siding- a bird blessed us and Mark doesn't want to power wash it yet until the paint sets for awhile!




I'm very happy with how it turned out- I think it took 20 years off the house. I said that to Mark and he told me- well since it's only 16 years old- we're in the hole! Between the painting and the landscaping we've done- it's a completely different look out front.
What do you think??

Award

Mari gave me a very nice award- this is one that I really loved getting.
I love my family very much, but I'm going to pass this one on to my very closest friends. God has richly blessed me with a circle of friends that I love. We would do anything for each other and I know that if I call they will be there for me and vice versa.
I'm passing this on to Michelle- we've tried to get her to blog, but she's not responding favorably yet!
Julie at Memories
Brenda at the adventures of the Yonker Family

Love you guys!

I'm going to change your life for the better!

You need to run- not walk to your grocery store and get the following ingredients:

1 Pork Tenderloin- you know- the round-log like roll
Brianna's Real Fench Vinegrette Dressing- In Family Fare this is in the first Aisle across from the bakery- not the normal dressing aisle.

Marinate the pork for 4 hours and then grill till done.

I have to give credit for this recipe to Bev Powell. I ran into her in the meat department at the store and we got to talking and she was buying the tenderloin and told me about this recipe and how good it was. She said she always buys it when it's on sale and freezes it so she always has some on hand. I will be doing this now too.

I'm telling you- this recipe makes me want to stand up and sing- IT IS SOOOOO GOOD!

My whole family loved it- the kids asked for 2nd's and we were all fighting over the last piece. I can't wait to make it again and it's so simple- who could ask for more!
Enjoy!

Busy weekend

We had a busy weekend. We had alot of fun though. Saturday, we had to wake up early because it was Arianna's last soccer game and we had to be there at 8:20 a.m.
She was excited because after the game she got a trophy and her coach gave her a gift certificate to Dairy Queen.
Next fall it'll be twice as busy because Halle is going to play as well!

After soccer we got to go to the zoo. A couple of weeks ago, Halle came home from school with a certificate for the whole family to have free passes to the zoo and it also included 2 free stingray touches. She's been asking me constantly when we were going to go and I wanted to go before it got too hot outside. It turned out to be perfect for the zoo, the weather was very comfortable and it wasn't very busy!









Sunday after church we decided to get lunch and take it to the beach to enjoy the beautiful weather:



I think this picture sums up pretty well how warm the water was!

Ouch!!

Halle had a special day at school today. It was Camp Kindergarten. They go on a field trip and get to do all kinds of special activities. She's been counting down to this for weeks now.
The time came to go out to the bus this morning and of course she was running and the first one out the door. I was grabbing my coat when I heard a thud and then crying. She missed the front step and did a major face plant on the cement.

I got her cleaned up in time for the bus and she still had a great time at camp.
Here's what she looks like:

The Landscaping

I promised you pictures of the hard work we did in our landscaping.
We worked so hard this weekend, and I'm so happy with how it turned out!
We started by taking out the lilac tree. Mark worked so hard getting that thing out!
I will miss the lilacs, but it was getting so bushy and out of control it was time for it to go:


We also put in all the edging and put in new Hostas and begonias:




Instead of the lilac tree, we got a crabapple tree:


One of my best accomplishments was to paint our old bench. It used to be green on the sides and the wood was stained a dark brown. We painted the whole thing and it looks so good- I absolutely love it!

The saga continues....

please note- this post written in jest!

I wrote a post awhile back- you can read it here
Another chapter has been written tonight.
You see, I've had sleepless nights about the hard feelings Bob has had toward me. It is such a sad situation and I couldn't take it for one more minute.
So I thought to myself- I'm going to rise above all this viciousness and try to extend a hand of forgiveness to Bob.
I decided to bake for him. I slaved in the kitchen for hours and made this beautiful pie for him:



Look at what happened next:



Apparently, he doesn't like blueberry pie because he threw it at me!



Actually, I'm just kidding- that's what happens when your mind goes a little crazy with an idea to blog about!

I certainly hope he feels the love that went into this pie and he starts appreciating me again!

What a great weekend

We had such a great weekend! We pretty much worked all weekend around the house doing yard work etc.. but the weather was perfect we couldn't have asked for any better.

Friday night we decided to do some pretty major landscaping- we worked on that Saturday and Monday-I'll show you the results tomorrow-here's a sneak peak though:




On Monday we also put in the garden, put up the pool and 1 other huge thing- but it's not done yet so you're going to have to wait on that also.

Here's some pictures of the girls helping Mark put in the garden we planted green and yellow peppers, onions, jalapenos, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, zucchini:

7 Facts About Me

Here are 7 facts about me:
1. I only can think of 1 nickname I had when I was younger- my dad started it and I don't really understand it but it was "Luke".

2. I loved being pregnant and still wish I would have had the chance to do it just 1 other time without complications so I could have felt a baby move 1 more time.

3. I really really really love to laugh!

4. I work in real estate and never imagined I would love it like I do!

5. This is going to be shocking to most of you-NOT- but I hate the heat.
I have always hated it- even when I was a baby I got heat rash and still to this
day I can't stand it when it's hot out.

6. I love to cook and bake. If I could have a dream job it would be to own my own
baking business.

7. Some day I really hope I get to go to Hawaii- it looks so beautiful there.

I'm not tagging anyone- if you'd like to do it jump on in!

Happy Birthday

It is a very big day today! It is my newest sister's Dena's Birthday today!
We are so excited to have her in our family. It's a little sad to have a new family member and I've never had the chance to meet her in person (hint hint Dena) but don't worry Dena- I will definately be eating a piece of cake to celebrate your day today!!

We all wish you a terrific, wonderful, special birthday today. I hope you get pampered and lots and lots of Birthday hugs and kisses from Annie today. If you get a chance- head over to her website and wish her a special day.

Hugs from Michigan!

Yummy recipe

I tried something different with my meatloaf recipe for supper tonight and it was delicious so I thought I'd share.

1 pd hamburger
2 eggs
onion
salt and pepper
1 roll of Ritz crackers crumbled
1/2-1 16 ounce tomato sauce

Mix all together.- Then take a green pepper cut off the top and bottom and slice it horizontally into rings- I got 2 rings out of a pepper. Fill them with the meatloaf mixture and put in 9x13 pan.

Top with sauce:

16 ounce can of diced tomatoes- I used the ones with basil in them
8 ounce of tomato sauce

Bake at 350 for 1 hour- enjoy!

1 more for her resume

Arianna absolutely loves to write. She now has 1 more book under her belt. She came home from school and had written a book about dogs. The sweet thing is that she wrote this one for Halle's class library.
Here are some pages from her book:








The last page I found especially sweet- check this out:

In Memory

You've probably already seen a similar post over at Terri's and Mari's- but I didn't want this day to go by without paying a little tribute to my mom.
My mom died 5 years ago today and she is greatly missed.
I feel so blessed that she was my mom- she was very patient and loving and she was so very proud of all of us.
I hope one day that my kids will feel that I was as good of a mom as she was to me.
I love you and miss you so much- the reunion we will have in Heaven will be so sweet!