Our Newest Addition

No, we're not having another baby....but this one sure felt like it took forever to birth, like a baby :)

We spent 4 days putting together this backyard monster, but it was worth it. the kids are loving it! We've not completed all the landscaping around it, but you can get the idea from the picture.




Here are some other outdoor projects I've been working on. We added a border around the house so I can plant there and hopefully keep the kids and dog out



We added another boarder by the raspberries and currant bush. Added in some bird feeders and generally cleaned up the area.



I added 2 blueberry bushes, in a protected area so the lawn guys don't mow them down this year.



And here are some strawberries that I planted in a tub. I also have one of those topsy turvy strawberry planters with 30 plants in it.



I also added two rose bushes but forgot to get a picture of those. Now if I could just get the garden area tilled then I can start planting there!

Easter 2010

Lillee (5 yrs old) was outside playing with the neighborhood kids when a spontaneous egg hunt began. Since she was in a dress and didn't have her basket she had nowhere to put eggs.

Where do you think she put them?
Made a pouch out of her dress?

NOPE

She stuffed them in her panties. When I saw her, she was lifting her dress to her navel showing the 10 year old neighbor boy what she had done. I drug her in quickly, scolded her and made her change clothes. Her response was, "But mommy, I was just showing him where my eggs were." I told my husband, one day I'll laugh at that line...but right now, that's not happening.

March in brief

So much is going on and I've been overwhelmed (probably my most overused phrase) which is why I haven't posted in almost a month. So here is an idea of some of things we've done:

* I started a beekeeper class in February with Ron, my father-in-law

* Connor has been flying through his school work, eagerly completing his daily workload and then some. I think we'll wrap up our semester by mid-April (with the except of our ASL (American Sign Language) classes that will continue through the first week of May).

* The weather has been awesome the past two weeks so we've spent a lot of time outside, cleaning up from the snow, cleaning up from a puppy visitor we had, taking down our broken trampoline, the list goes on and on.

* Planning our garden---deciding what to plant and where to plant it then ordering our seeds and plants.

* A visit to my parents, which included our first trip to Brushy Mountain, a beekeeping supplier.

* At our beekeeping class we learned to assemble a hive by hands-on construction. After constructing a hive, they raffled it off and we won!!! I knew then, the bees were calling to me.

* After winning the hive, I became obsessed with getting bees. I visited Brushy Mountain, I made a bee jacket and a veil myself(!!!) and found a home for the hive (Jane, my mother-in-law is highly opposed to having bees so our yard is out of the question). My dear friend, Amy, also a beekeeper, started her hive last year and invited us to place out hive at her home. We went to help Amy work her hive yesterday and it was so awesome! I was filled with excitement all day and felt so at-home with the bees flying all around me.

* I started exercising again, my honey made a place for me to do TaeBo in the shed (I've not been able to exercise since last September when I developed asthma). I've found that I feel so much better after exercising, but I spend the remainder of the day wheezing.

* Chase has had another asthma flare up. Saturday morning we were at the park having a grand time, then naptime came. I put him down for his nap, left for a baby shower and when I came back he was on the nebulizer and Al felt we needed to go to the ER. It hit so quick, it was kind of scary. Thank God for our dear friend, Dr John who verbally walked me through Chase's care so we did not have to go to the hospital, again.

I have lots on the horizon, especially with my bees arriving in a couple of weeks, planting and tending the garden and wrapping up our semester. Hopefully I can snag a few minutes to write down a few highlights, but if you don't hear from us, we're enjoying the sun and digging in the soil :)

Mommy, today was a really good day.

That's what Lillee told me before she went to bed, tonight. She was referring to the fact that her day started with a mommy-Lillee outting to the bakery, the library and then Bizarre Bazaar. Then when we arrived home, she was thrilled to find out her cousin Max was over. She played with Max all afternoon until her other cousins Alice, Hannah and Emma arrived (well, Henry was here too but she doesn't care much for older boys, yet). She played, and played and played! Shared her Halloween candy (yes, she still has a bag of Halloween candy at the end of February) and played some more.

After everyone left we started into a furious frenzy of trying to get everyone bathed and church clothes laid out as we have to leave by 8:00am for church on Sundays. After getting clean, putting on her most comfortable pajamas and then brushing her hair, Grandma was waiting to read a book! This is when she announced, "Mommy, today was a really good day."

We have had a really awesome weekend! Our cousins have been visiting and all the kids have gotten along well and played so nice. We were excited for a chance to see the cousins, but we were really coming together to wish Uncle Andy, a farewell before he heads off next Sunday. In one week, Andy leaves for Louisianna for 3 months of training before he then heads off to Afghanistan for 7 months to train Afghans in the medical field. So this is it for 10 months.

We pray Andy and his family are blessed with comfort through the love of Heavenly Father in the coming months. Koryn is about to show us all what a strong woman she is...God bless her! I have the utmost respect for military service men and women and their spouses. And I am extremely grateful for their service to our country and as humanitarians around the world.

8 years and counting

On February 22, 2002 (2/22/02), Al and I were married in the front room of the house we currently live in. We were wearing blue jeans and only had a few attendants (Al's family, sitting on the sofa). Nothing fancy, as you can tell. I think there is only one picture in existence of the event...a little 4X6 that hangs in my bedroom and every time I look at it I think, "I'd like to be that size, again."

In 8 years, we've had some interesting adventures, but none compare to the 4 children we've had. I wonder what the next 8 years will bring.., our children will be 15, 13, 12 and 9. WHOA!!! Maybe I don't want to wonder about that just yet.

Happy Anniversary, honey.